GRMFBS CH281

Looking at the Gossip System, Zhan Yan’s brain buzzed on the spot, and the mugwort sticky rice cake in his mouth suddenly lost all its flavor.

Finished, I’m completely finished. How could I have forgotten about this detail…

Back when Tianshi wanted to recruit Approaching Science, she had offered to gift him a lightning talisman. He had replied that he needed six, so he turned her down. Why on earth did he say he needed six? Couldn’t he have just accepted that single lightning talisman at the time?

How was he supposed to cover this up?

Say it was for Xingxing? …Xingxing hadn’t even joined their family back then. He had already confessed to his parents the timeline of when he found out about their secret identities; all Mom had to do was cross-reference the dates to realize that when he asked for six lightning talismans, not a single person in the family had dropped their secret identity yet.

If he could time-travel, he would absolutely grab his past self by the collar and scream in his ear: “Agree to Tianshi! Don’t say you need six!”

Unfortunately, he was not the Candle Dragon.

What reasonable excuse could he possibly spin? That he was a fan of Tianshi back then and wanted to keep one separately as a collectible? That he was too excited at the time and accidentally miscalculated the number? That he…

Zhan Yan racked his brain for half the day, but couldn’t find a single usable excuse.

His parents loved him, but they weren’t stupid…

Seeing him not take another bite for a long time, Gu Jiancheng picked up a piece of pickled fruit with his chopsticks for him: “This is tasty.”

Looking at his blissfully ignorant face, Zhan Yan sighed internally with worry.

Eat, just eat. Not eating won’t solve the problem either.

Back home, Mom and Dad were still discussing this issue.

Zhan Yunkai: “When did Yan Yan say he wanted six lightning talismans?”

Ji Yueming recalled the timeframe: “Right when the first semester of his junior year began last year.”

At that time, everyone’s secret identities were still intact; it was perfectly normal for Yan Yan to want to get one for the entire family.

Thinking about how Approaching Science worked so hard grinding quests just to exchange for ordinary versions of the lightning talismans, Ji Yueming wanted to laugh but also felt her heart ache. He hadn’t even let his studies slip; how exhausting must those days have been for him?

Zhan Yunkai remembered his small bronze statue that had suffered a tragic rejection: …Yan Yan wanted six lightning talismans but never even considered redeeming a protective bronze statue personally dotted by me? Are lightning talismans really that cool?

He looked up and saw his wife looking right at him.

Right! Lightning talismans are exactly that cool!

Ji Yueming: “What are you thinking about? Who do you think Yan Yan wanted the sixth lightning talisman for?”

“It must be someone he met at university… Suiru, does Yan Yan have a girlfriend at university?” Zhan Yunkai narrowed his eyes, a flash of golden light abruptly flitting across his double pupils.

Activating his divine ability!

He wasn’t some control freak; he had never specifically used his double pupils to observe whether his family members were lying before.

As for the members of his family, when he didn’t activate his double pupil divine ability, he couldn’t see through any of them. Both Tianshi and Rong Sui possessed unquestionable mental strength—if Jinli lied, he might be able to tell, but that child practically never spoke.

Zhan Suiru: “Ah… I’m not too sure. He shouldn’t have one, right?”

Deep Shadow is not Yan Yan’s girlfriend. Therefore, she didn’t lie.

Zhan Yunkai detected no trace of lying on his daughter. Mmh… so she really doesn’t know.

But her not knowing doesn’t prove Yan Yan isn’t dating anyone.

Ji Yueming said regretfully: “If only I had remembered this earlier.”

Then Old Zhan could have just asked Yan Yan directly.

Zhan Yunkai clicked his tongue: “I can’t see through him.”

Bai Ze knows all things, and its mastery over the concealment and revelation of information was near absolute. If he lied, it could only be deduced through logic.

Concealed beneath Zhan Suiru’s tough, tranquil mental exterior, her heart was churning with tempestuous waves: Dad is actually using his divine ability for this, it’s not like it’s that serious… Well, it’s not entirely uncalled for; an ordinary partner wouldn’t warrant this, but Deep Shadow certainly does.

What to do, I’m feeling a bit of schadenfreude.

Ah… it’s not like I can do anything anyway, so I’ll just cheer the young couple on!

Ji Yueming: “Yan Yan is a fifth-year senior now; it’s completely normal for him to date.”

But why didn’t he tell Mom and Dad… Sigh, the child is grown up and has his own thoughts now.

Zhan Yunkai: “He was only a junior when he wanted to gift the lightning talisman. And to like someone enough to want to gift them a lightning talisman, they must have been dating for more than a year.”

Could Yan Yan have been kidnapped and led astray right after starting university?

Ji Yueming nodded: “He worked so hard to save up points, he must really like the other person, right?”

Zhan Yunkai: “Let’s go to his university and take a peek secretly.”

The husband and wife reached a consensus.

Zhan Suiru lowered her eyes, assuming a well-behaved posture.

Ah, Mom and Dad are going to the university. How should I break the news to Yan Yan later? How will Deep Shadow react when he finds out? Oh man, I really want to tag along and watch too~ Should I find an excuse to go with them?

Missing out on something this fun would be a lasting regret…

Having reached their consensus, Zhan Yunkai and Ji Yueming exchanged a glance, tacitly deciding to initiate the next phase.

“I’m going out to buy some groceries,” Zhan Yunkai stood up and said.

Halfway through eating melons, Zhan Suiru looked up blankly.

Huh? Why did we suddenly jump to this?

Ji Yueming smiled brightly: “Go on, go on. I’m craving tomato soup, buy some tomatoes on your way back. Suiru, is there anything you want to eat?”

Zhan Suiru: “Ah? Oh, there’s nothing in particular I want. Don’t we still have sweet fermented rice at home?”

Already at the door, Zhan Yunkai pointed at the fridge: “There’s also milk curd and fruit jam inside.”

Before Zhan Suiru could even process where this plotline was heading, Ji Yueming had already ushered her to bring the sweet fermented rice, milk curd, and assorted flower and fruit jams out onto the coffee table.

The TV was tuned to the latest hit drama, and snacks from the cabinet covered the entire table. Holding a bowl of cold milk curd, Zhan Suiru scooped up a spoonful along with the rose jam drizzled on top and put it in her mouth.

So it’s over just like that? Have we already reverted back to normal family daily life?

It didn’t seem wrong, either. Mom and Dad already knew about Rong Sui’s situation, and she had finished explaining everything regarding her younger brother.

Zhan Suiru gradually relaxed.

Ji Yueming chatted casually with her: “Did you make the doll employee in Jinli’s shop?”

Zhan Suiru complained: “Yes. Yan Yan forgot to tell me Brother’s secret identity back then; I only figured it out after I went to his cake shop and saw the doll.“

“Mom, you have no idea how annoying Brother is when placing an order. He made me revise a single order eighteen times.”

“Then drag him to the amusement park once he gets back.”

“Isn’t his divine ability still unhealed?”

“Yan Yan said Deep Shadow helped find Di Ting’s horn; he should be recovered by the time he returns.”

Zhan Suiru clicked her tongue internally. What “Deep Shadow helped find”? Yan Yan was definitely the one helping him again. Honestly… if Deep Shadow dares to mistreat my brother in the future, the whole family will gang up and beat him!

On the TV, the protagonist was about to embark on a dangerous mission and was calling his family to say he’d be traveling far away.

Zhan Suiru was watching intently when she suddenly heard a sigh-like whisper beside her ear: “When a child encounters trouble, they don’t tell their parents, and only think about gambling their own life…”

Zhan Suiru turned her head and saw Ji Yueming’s eyes.

Her mother’s eyes were gentle and bright, like a clear sky, tinged with a sorrow resembling impending rain.

A sudden wave of guilt welled up within Zhan Suiru.

“Back then, I…”

Busy eating melons from afar, Zhan Yan forgot all about eating his meal and was fed another bite of mugwort sticky rice cake by Gu Jiancheng.

He chewed while his mind wandered.

Ahhh, Jie is so loyal; she didn’t directly expose the fact that I’m dating Deep Shadow.

So I still have room to maneuver. Let me think about how to spin this…

Wait, why are Mom and Dad coming to see me? It’s just dating, right? Do they have to treat it this seriously…

Zhan Yan agonized over the gossip strips, the food losing its appeal entirely.

Xiao Gu still foolishly leaned in to ask him: “Is it not to your taste?”

“It is, it is.” How could the food silly Xiao Gu feeds me not be to my taste?

Hmm… if the fact that I have a boyfriend gets exposed, so be it; but the fact that my boyfriend is Deep Shadow must be kept hidden a little longer. Otherwise, I’m afraid all the favorability Xiao Gu farmed with Mom and Dad will plummet in the exact same manner. I can already guess how Mom and Dad will react—Oh, so you helping Rong Sui and Lin Yuan Ghost King had an ulterior motive all along? Impure intentions!

He couldn’t tell Xiao Gu who his parents were either. Dad had already deployed his divine ability, but Zhan Yan had the Gossip System’s little star and his acting skills were up to par. If Xiao Gu lied to Dad, it was highly likely he wouldn’t be able to hide it. If Mom and Dad found out and felt Xiao Gu was the one who led him astray, then Xiao Gu would truly be finished.

While Zhan Yan was stressing out, he saw his sister confessing to their mother about what she had done during the apocalypse border merger.

Jie… I didn’t tell Mom and Dad that you had a death wish back then, okay! You exposed that yourself!

Ji Yueming had already deduced ninety percent of the truth.

She had surveyed Rong Sui’s battlefield back then. The triggering mechanism of a lightning talisman was different from a feather talisman; feather talismans sensed the wearer’s condition, while lightning talismans reacted to external situations. Under those circumstances, it was impossible for her lightning talisman not to trigger.

The only explanation was that Zhan Suiru had taken the lightning talisman off.

Under what circumstances would a person take off a silver locket they never part with?

Ji Yueming also thought of Yang Ran and the doll employee in the cake shop; they possessed puppet bodies completely indistinguishable from living humans.

Suiru had said back then that she was attending an art salon and would return in a few days. Who was she planning to have return?

Zhan Yan stopped looking at the gossip strips for now. Let Sister and Mom hash it out.

Mom and Dad were coming, and they wanted to see Xiao Gu.

Sigh, is there any way to stall for time? How can I let Xiao Gu farm plenty of favorability with Mom and Dad as an ordinary boyfriend—the kind of favorability that won’t plummet even after his secret identity drops?

The difficulty level is a bit high… Most importantly, can Xiao Gu manage to keep his “Deep Shadow” identity hidden from Dad?

Zhan Yan flipped through the Gossip System.

The little star in the ability column was just a tiny bit away from upgrading.

He had always wanted to grind this little star to put on his mother, but the energy gauge had been accidentally emptied out twice; now, it was finally almost full again.

Since Mom and Dad had already dropped their secret identities and Mom didn’t need this little star anymore, he might as well finish charging it and hang it on Xiao Gu first.

I’ll continue grinding ability entries right now!

After packing his things, Zhan Yan prepared to lie in bed, using rest as an excuse to go grind entries.

Having been separated for so many days, and having finally managed to farm his future brother-in-law’s favorability, Gu Jiancheng was currently very excited.

I want to cuddle! Even if we can’t do much in the dorm room, just sitting together and chatting is nice.

But why is Yan Yan going to sleep so early? Didn’t he say he missed me just this morning…

Zhan Yan kept his eyes closed and rubbed the large head that was nuzzling against him.

“I’m tired, let me lie down for a bit.”

Gu Jiancheng: Disappointed…

But Yan Yan woke up suddenly in the early hours of the morning today, so he probably didn’t sleep well, right? And those two large suitcases were very heavy too.

Anyway, since I can officially meet the parents now, next time I should just go straight to Yunjin City to pick Yan Yan up for school.

Thinking about it, the only thing that would stop me and Yan Yan from being together now is Infinite. Since Yan Yan is tired, I’ll go deal with Infinite right now!

Brimming with energy, Gu Jiancheng opened his communicator and began rushing the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and the Wan Yao Alliance.

Are we going to discuss Monster Doctor and Infinite or not? These are extremely important matters!

Stop procrastinating! Let’s hold the meeting within these next two days!

Ji Yueming and Zhan Yunkai received the messages one after the other.

Zhan Yunkai frowned. This was indeed a major issue. The conceptual overlay of the network and mental space had loosened; no one was sure if Infinite possessed means to exploit the vulnerabilities.

“We probably won’t be able to go see Yan Yan these next couple of days.”

Ji Yueming sighed in admiration: “Truly worthy of being Deep Shadow. He even pulled the people from the Retirees’ Alliance in as well.”

Their hatred for Infinite is truly profound.