GRMFBS CH286

“Why are you back?” Ghost King Minghe asked.

Wan Yan swiveled his head left and right, avoiding Minghe’s gaze: “Ah… it’s nothing.”

Minghe’s gaze swept over him. Di Ting’s current demeanor… looked exactly like the times in the past when he would go out to play with Bai Ze, only to suddenly come running back as if he had been frightened.

A fleeting smile appeared at the corners of Minghe’s mouth: “When do you plan to head out again?” Wan Yan had searched for Bai Ze for so long and finally found him; even if he got spooked temporarily, he would surely go back to find him again, right?

Wan Yan shook his head vigorously: “No, no, no, I’ll stay here for now. We can talk about it after Lin Yuan finishes his seclusion.”

Lin Yuan still didn’t know the true identities of his mom, dad, sister, and brother; he had to tell him once he came out.

Bai Ze’s current family situation was simply too complicated. Di Ting didn’t have much confidence in his own lying abilities. If he went out and bumped into the Chongming Demon King and Tianshi again, what would he do if they demanded he listen to Gu Jiancheng’s inner voice? Should he reveal Deep Shadow’s identity or not? Wasn’t this putting him in an impossible position?

His brain, overwhelmed by a mountain of gossip strips, slowly began operating again. Forget about all those big and small melons for now, and ignore the romantic gossip of those big shots.

The biggest harvest of his outing this time was that he found Bai Ze!

This is great. Even if you forgot me, and even if I forgot you, we still ended up becoming friends.

The little cat’s tail swished happily. It’s so good. I knew you were definitely still alive. Mmh… I’ll go play with you after your troubles are resolved.

Sitting in front of his parents, Zhan Yan blinked his eyes; on the surface, he looked well-behaved, steady, and incredibly calm, but inside, he was actually quite panicked.

Sigh, I kept an eye on the gossip strips the whole way and only saw how Mom and Dad questioned Xiao Gu in the car. On the surface, the three of them chatted harmoniously, but I have no idea what they were actually thinking in their hearts.

In the past, he could somewhat glean his parents’ thoughts from the Gossip System, but now he couldn’t see anything at all; it was probably because he had already returned Di Ting’s single horn.

Mmh, if only I could get Di Ting over here to help. But that’s only wishful thinking. If Di Ting actually came, Mom and Dad would probably grab him first to ask what Xiao Gu is thinking. Oh right, Xiao Gu also knows Wan Yan is Di Ting; he probably wants to find out what Mom and Dad are thinking from Wan Yan too.

Di Ting’s ability really does tend to invite trouble for himself; the fact that Wan Yan is Di Ting must be kept hidden as much as possible and absolutely cannot spread.

Zhan Yan’s thoughts spun wildly in circles.

Right now, it was just him and his parents; he had used the excuse of dropping things off to have Gu Jiancheng return to the dorm first.

The excuse was perfectly legitimate: There are some things that are inconvenient to confess with Xiao Gu present.

Zhan Yunkai and Ji Yueming assumed Zhan Yan was referring to the fact that they all had identities in the supernatural world, while Gu Jiancheng was just an ordinary person.

Gu Jiancheng assumed Zhan Yan meant he needed to confess to his parents why he hadn’t told his family he had a boyfriend.

Both sides were very understanding, their thoughts arranged perfectly according to plan.

Facing his parents, Zhan Yan sat with perfect posture: “When we first started dating, I didn’t know if it would work out, so I didn’t tell the family. Later, when I felt like it was going to work out, you all started dropping your secret identities one by one, and I just didn’t have the energy to bring it up.”

Zhan Yunkai and Ji Yueming’s expressions didn’t shift at all, silently admiring their youngest son’s glib and plausible explanation.

Yan Yan had been like this since he was little: whenever he got in trouble, he would play cute first; if playing cute didn’t work, he would start reasoning. Every time, he would spin things around until he made his explanation sound entirely justified and logical.

After appreciating their youngest son’s performance, the couple directly skipped over this unimportant topic.

“Have you looked into his character?” “Is he genuinely good to you?” “He is. There are no issues with his character, and he treats me exceptionally well.” “Then that’s all that matters.”

Zhan Yan: “Ah?” Aren’t you going to ask more about anything else?

What else was there to ask? Their family didn’t lack anything. When Yan Yan dated, the only things that mattered were that the person was genuinely good to him and had good character. As long as they liked each other and could live happily together in the future, that was enough.

They had chatted in the car; that kid was quite smart and good-looking too. Downing six cups of milk tea in one breath could be called foolish, but it could also be called devoted.

When it came to investigating his character and feelings, no one could do it more thoroughly than Yan Yan. If Gu Jiancheng had done anything bad or harbored ulterior motives, it would be absolutely impossible to hide it from Bai Ze.

Given all that, what was there to object to?

They themselves had fallen in love at first sight and dated freely, after all.

Of course, the most important point was that Gu Jiancheng was an ordinary person; he definitely wouldn’t be able to bully Yan Yan in the future.

Zhan Yan stared at his parents for a long while, seeing neither of them react further.

You’re really not going to ask… If I knew it would be this easy to pass, why was I even worrying before?

Zhan Yan’s little expression was incredibly obvious.

Caught completely off guard, Zhan Yan’s cheek was pinched by his mom, and his head was rubbed by his dad.

Hmph, trying to play mind games with your parents.

“What’s with your hair?” Zhan Yunkai casually tried to smooth out his hair a couple of times, but couldn’t get it untangled; the little curls were all hooked together. He plucked two fine bird down feathers from Zhan Yan’s hair. Tsk, annoying.

Ji Yueming had already pulled out Zhan Suiru’s all-in-one automatic wash-cut-and-dry plush hat from the luggage.

“Ah… this,” Zhan Yan scratched his head and obediently pulled the hat on.

He then recounted the story of helping his professor retrieve his phone from the falcon’s talons, narrating vividly and dramatically, determined to successfully divert his parents’ attention to this so they would stop focusing on his relationship.

Although Xiao Gu seemed to have passed the test with Mom and Dad on the surface, there was still the massive issue of Xiao Gu’s secret identity. The little star’s information confidentiality couldn’t forcefully alter others’ memories and logic; if Xiao Gu let something slip in a minor detail, his identity would still drop.

In the dorm room, Gu Jiancheng was organizing things according to the list Zhan Suiru had sent him.

Since she already knew Yan Yan’s partner was Deep Shadow, Zhan Suiru had completely let herself loose while packing her younger brother’s luggage. She had secretly stuffed in many slightly over-the-top gadgets.

Mmh, didn’t tell Mom and Dad.

Rong Sui: [The little blue box doesn’t have candy in it, it’s oral cleanser. Just hold it in your mouth and it automatically cleans your teeth. Wait until it completely turns into foam, hold it for another two minutes, and then spit it out. The yellow ones are lemon-flavored, the green ones are mint.]

She had originally intended to send the instruction manual to her brother; she hadn’t expected Gu Jiancheng to be the one organizing the luggage.

Unable to resist, Gu Jiancheng tried one. Half a minute later, he rushed to the bathroom, bubbles bubbling and foaming out of his mouth as if someone had tossed dish soap into a blender.

Deep Shadow: [Are you sure Yan Yan won’t find this suspicious?]

Rong Sui: [Don’t worry, he’s long been used to his sister pulling out all sorts of bizarre things from time to time.]

That makes sense. If Rong Sui wanted to give things for her family to use, she definitely would have come up with an excuse long ago.

Gu Jiancheng absentmindedly packed things: “Do you think we should all grab a meal together later?”

Zhan Suiru: … Are you actually asking me for a walkthrough?

Rong Sui: [Don’t ask me.]

Rong Sui: [I haven’t brought Yang Ran to meet Mom and Dad yet either.]

Deep Shadow: [Then we should be an alliance even more so.]

Rong Sui: [Just focus on packing your things.]

Is you meeting Mom and Dad the same thing as me meeting Mom and Dad? Mom, Dad, and I all have our secret identities exposed; you and my parents are still interacting using ordinary identities over there.

Gu Jiancheng’s packing speed slowed down, his slender fingers gently stroking the merchandise he had pulled out.

Packing wasn’t the main point; when he went down depended entirely on when Yan Yan finished chatting with his parents.

Gu Jiancheng was somewhat anxious. Although they had chatted well in the car, were Yan Yan’s parents ultimately satisfied with him or not?

Zhan Yan’s freshly washed, cut, and blow-dried little curls were clean, soft, and sweet-smelling. Zhan Yunkai and Ji Yueming couldn’t resist each ruffling his hair once.

“Don’t you have classes this afternoon?” “We’ll be heading out first.”

Zhan Yan was slightly bewildered. Mom and Dad came to see me, and they’re leaving this quickly?

Xingxing didn’t want to leave, clinging to Zhan Yan’s chest and acting spoiled. Zhan Yunkai picked the kitty up: “Aren’t you going to class later? I’ll head back first, your mom will stay around here for a while longer.”

Having the Shoude Company find an excuse for an investment inspection was much faster than him arranging a film crew. It also happened to coincide with him needing to head back to monitor matters regarding Monster Doctor, so he would let Yueming stay here first.

Ji Yueming rubbed Xingxing’s head: “It’s inconvenient for you at the university. I’ll bring him to you again over these next few days.”

The husband and wife left as swiftly and decisively as they had arrived.

It still felt like something was off. Did Mom and Dad really let it go this easily? Zhan Yan sent a message to Gu Jiancheng, sat for a while, and, unable to figure it out, decided to find someone to discuss it with.

Mmh… right now, the only person who knows the specific situation and can discuss it with me is Jie.

Zhan Yan opened his messages and poked Zhan Suiru, explaining the situation in detail.

Zhan Suiru: “…” You young couple really do have tacit understanding; both of you treated me as a consultation hotline?

Zhan Suiru: [What’s there not to understand?

Zhan Suiru: [As long as he treats you well, that’s enough.]

Zhan Yan stared at this line of text for a long while, then suddenly smiled.

The autumn sun was crisp and bright, filling the curved arcs of his smiling eyes with sunlight.

He had spent a long time agonizing over how to get his family’s approval for Gu Jiancheng.

But actually, as long as Gu Jiancheng treats me well, that’s enough.

Gu Jiancheng came down to find Zhan Yan, catching sight of this exact scene.

The slight anxiety in his heart dissipated instantly.

Gu Jiancheng: “Have Mom and Dad left already?”

Zhan Yan managed to discern a trace of slight nervousness from his pitch-black eyes: “They left. Mom and Dad didn’t object.”

Gu Jiancheng’s eyes lit up instantly: “Really?”

Zhan Yan: “Really.”

He casually opened Mom and Dad’s gossip strips. New content just happened to refresh inside the gossip strips.

[After leaving Northern Agricultural University, Tianshi Ji Yueming immediately returned to the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and began investigating Deep Shadow Gu Jiancheng’s past experiences.]

[After leaving Northern Agricultural University, the Chongming Demon King Zhan Yunkai immediately utilized the Wan Yao Alliance’s channels and began investigating Deep Shadow Gu Jiancheng’s past experiences.]

The two big shots talked casually, but the moment they turned around, they practically wanted to dig up Gu Jiancheng’s ancestors for eighteen generations.

Zhan Yan: … I knew it!

Both of their phones began pinging incessantly. Opening his phone to check, it was the class group chat.

Someone had posted a picture in the group: a massive pile of milk tea sat on the large table in the major’s classroom.

“Come on, come on, anyone who isn’t in the major’s classroom, come get some milk tea, there’s enough for everyone.” “The delivery rider just brought it over, saying someone ordered it for the whole class to drink.” “Holy crap! Who ordered this?” “Regardless of who it is, allow me to shout first: Thank you, Daddy!” “I don’t know, the rider didn’t say. Let me check the receipt.” “[[Picture]]”

The group had been bustling with lively jokes, but the moment this picture was posted, the chatter stopped instantly.

The delivery app account Gu Jiancheng had temporarily registered used his real name. The three characters “Gu Jiancheng” were printed clearly on the image.

Gu Jiancheng ordering milk tea for the class?

Isn’t this completely out of character?

Why? Why?

Everyone in the group was dying to gossip, but since Gu Jiancheng was also in the group, they felt too awkward to gossip to his face, and equally awkward pulling together a separate gossip side-group.

The group seemed to be muted for several seconds.

Looking at the group chat, Zhan Yan couldn’t stop laughing, leaning sideways to rest his head on Gu Jiancheng’s shoulder: “Hey, what were you thinking, downing six cups of milk tea in a row?”

Gu Jiancheng’s face flushed red. Yan Yan’s parents really did tell Yan Yan about this too. “I just… forgot for a moment that I could order delivery.”

Gu Jiancheng popped up in the group chat: “It’s nothing.” “I was drawing prizes for an event.”

Huh? What event?

A bunch of classmates immediately started searching up this milk tea brand and instantly found its collaboration event with the Dawn World game; the characters included in the lucky draw featured the very one Zhan Yan had cosplayed for the commercial.

This isn’t milk tea, this is dog food!