GRMFBS CH286

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

Wan Yan’s head turned left and right, completely avoiding Ghost King Minghe’s gaze. “Ah… it’s nothing.”

Minghe’s gaze circled around him.

The way Di Ting was acting right now… really looked like all those times in the past when he’d go out to find Bai Ze to play, only to suddenly get scared and run back.

A fleeting smile touched the corners of Minghe’s lips. “When do you plan to go back out?”

Wan Yan had searched for Bai Ze for so long and finally managed to find him. Even if he was scared off for the moment, he’d surely go back eventually.

Wan Yan shook his head frantically. “No, no, no. I’ll just stay here for now until Lin Yuan emerges from secluded cultivation.”

Lin Yuan didn’t even know the true identities of his father, mother, younger sister, and younger brother yet. Once Lin Yuan came out, he had to tell him.

Bai Ze’s current family situation was way too complicated. Di Ting didn’t have much confidence in his own lie-detecting or lie-telling abilities. If he went back out, what if he ran into the Chongming Demon King and Tianshi again, and they asked him to listen to Gu Jiancheng’s inner thoughts? Should he reveal Deep Shadow’s identity or not? Wouldn’t that just be making things impossible for him?

His brain, which had been completely stunned by the barrage of gossip entries, slowly began to function again. Setting aside all those big and small pieces of gossip, as well as the big bosses’ romantic scandals…

The biggest gain from his trip out this time was that he had found Bai Ze!

That was so wonderful. Even if you forgot me, and even if I forgot you, we would still become friends.

The little cat tail wagged happily.

It’s so good. I knew you had to still be alive.

Mm… once your troubles are resolved, I’ll come find you to play again.

……

Zhan Yan sat in front of his parents. On the surface, he looked obedient, steady, and extremely calm, but in reality, he felt quite a bit of nervous panic inside.

Sigh. He had been staring at the gossip entries the whole way back, only seeing how his parents questioned Xiao Gu in the car. Though all three of them appeared to be chatting in complete harmony on the surface, Zhan Yan had no idea what any of them were actually thinking in their hearts.

In the past, he could at least glean a little bit of his parents’ inner thoughts from the Gossip System, but now he couldn’t see a single thing—it was probably because he had already returned Di Ting’s single horn.

Mm, it’d be great if I could bring Di Ting over to help. But that was just wishful thinking. If Di Ting actually came, he’d probably be dragged over by his parents first to be interrogated about what Xiao Gu was thinking. Ah, right, Xiao Gu also knew that Wan Yan was Di Ting; he’d probably want to find out from Wan Yan what his parents were thinking as well.

Di Ting’s ability really was quite prone to bringing trouble upon himself. The fact that Wan Yan was Di Ting had to be kept hidden as much as possible and couldn’t be spread around.

Zhan Yan’s thoughts wandered in a full circle.

Right now, it was just him and his parents. He had used the excuse of delivering items to have Gu Jiancheng head back to the dorm room first.

It was a very legitimate reason: with Xiao Gu present, certain things weren’t convenient to confess.

Zhan Yunkai and Ji Yueming thought 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 thought Zhan Yan was referring to explaining to his parents why he hadn’t told his family after getting a boyfriend.

Both sides were completely understanding and had been managed perfectly.

Facing his parents, Zhan Yan sat in a well-behaved posture. “When we first started dating, I didn’t know if it would last, so I didn’t tell the family. Later, when I felt like it was going to work out, you guys started dropping your masks one after another, so I just didn’t have the energy to bring it up.”

Zhan Yunkai and Ji Yueming’s expressions didn’t change as they sat there admiring their youngest son’s plausible-sounding arguments.

Yan Yan had been like this since he was little. Whenever he got into trouble, he’d act obedient first. If acting obedient didn’t work, he’d start laying out logic, winding around in circles every time until he somehow made himself sound completely justified.

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

“Have you checked his character?”

“Does he treat you with genuine sincerity?”

“Yep, his character is totally fine, and he treats me exceptionally well.”

“Then that’s fine.”

Zhan Yan: “Ah?”

You’re not going to ask anything else?

What else was there to ask? Their family wasn’t lacking anything. For Yan Yan to date someone, the only things that mattered were that the person treated him with genuine sincerity and had good character. As long as the two liked each other and could live happily together in the future, that was enough.

They had chatted in the car earlier; the kid was quite smart and possessed good looks. Drinking six cups of milk tea in one breath could be called foolish, but it could also be called devoted.

When it came to checking his character and feelings, no one could check more thoroughly than Yan Yan. If Gu Jiancheng had done bad things or harbored double-minded intentions, it would be absolutely impossible to hide it from Bai Ze.

Since that was the case, what reason was there to stop them?

The two of them had also fallen in love at first sight through free choice, after all.

Of course, most importantly, Gu Jiancheng was an ordinary person—he would definitely never be able to bully Yan Yan in the future.

Zhan Yan stared at his parents for a long moment, seeing that neither of them reacted.

They really aren’t going to ask further… If I had known it was this easy to pass, what was I worrying about earlier?

Zhan Yan’s tiny expressions were quite obvious.

Caught off guard, Zhan Yan first had his cheek pinched by his mother, and then his head rubbed by his father.

Hmph, still trying to play mind games with your parents.

“What’s going on with your hair?”

Zhan Yunkai casually smoothed his hair a couple of times, but couldn’t smooth it out—the little curly locks were all tangled together. He picked out two thin down feathers from Zhan Yan’s hair. Tsk, annoying.

Ji Yueming had already pulled out Zhan Suiru’s yarn hat—the one capable of an automated all-in-one wash, cut, and blow-dry—from the luggage.

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

He proceeded to recount the story of helping his teacher retrieve a phone from the talons of a falcon, painting a vivid and colorful picture to ensure he successfully diverted his parents’ attention so they wouldn’t keep focusing on his dating life.

Although Xiao Gu seemed to have passed the test with his parents, still! Xiao Gu had one massive mask problem left. Xingxing’s secret concealment couldn’t forcefully alter other people’s memories and logic. If Xiao Gu slipped up on some detail somewhere, his mask could still drop.

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

Now that she knew her younger brother’s boyfriend was Deep Shadow, Zhan Suiru had been completely unrestricted when packing her brother’s luggage. She had stealthily stuffed in a lot of little items that went slightly over the line.

Mm, without telling their parents.

Rong Sui: “The ones in the small blue box aren’t candy; they’re oral cleansers. Just hold one in your mouth and it automatically cleans your teeth. Wait until it fully turns into foam in your mouth, then wait two minutes before spitting it out. The yellow ones are lemon-flavored, and the green ones are mint-flavored.”

She had originally intended to send the instruction manual to her brother, not expecting that the one organizing the luggage would be Gu Jiancheng.

Gu Jiancheng couldn’t help but try one. Half a minute later, he rushed into the bathroom, bubbles gushing furiously from his mouth like dish soap had been dumped into a blender.

Deep Shadow: “Are you sure Yan Yan won’t suspect this?”

Rong Sui: “Rest assured, he’s long been used to his sister pulling out all sorts of strange and eccentric gadgets from time to time.”

True enough. If Rong Sui wanted to give things to her family to use, she had surely already come up with excuses long ago.

Gu Jiancheng’s mind wandered while organizing the items: “Do you think we should grab a meal together later?”

Zhan Suiru: “…”

Are you really asking me for a walkthrough strategy guide?

Rong Sui: “Don’t ask me.”

“I haven’t even brought Yang Ran to meet my parents yet.”

Deep Shadow: “Then we should be an alliance all the more.”

Rong Sui: “Just focus on organizing the stuff.”

Is you meeting the parents the same thing as me meeting the parents? My parents and I have already dropped our masks, while you’re still interacting with my parents using an ordinary person’s identity.

Gu Jiancheng’s speed in packing slowed down. His slender fingers gently stroked the merchandise he had pulled out.

Packing wasn’t the main point; when he would go down depended on when Yan Yan finished talking with his parents.

Gu Jiancheng felt a bit anxious. Although they had chatted quite well in the car, were Yan Yan’s parents actually satisfied with him or not?

……

Zhan Yan’s freshly washed, cut, and dried little curls were clean, soft, and fragrant.

Zhan Yunkai and Ji Yueming couldn’t help but each stroke his head once more.

“Don’t you have class this afternoon?”

“We’ll be heading off first.”

Zhan Yan felt a little dazed. His parents had come all the way to visit him, and they were leaving this quickly?

Xingxing didn’t want to leave, clinging to Zhan Yan’s arms and acting spoiled.

Zhan Yunkai picked the cat back up. “Don’t you still have class later? I’ll head back first; your mother will stay around here for a while longer.”

Finding a reason for the investment inspection at Shoude Company was much faster than organizing his film crew. It just so happened he needed to head back to focus on matters regarding the Monster Doctor, so he’d let Yueming stay here first.

Ji Yueming rubbed Xingxing’s head. “It’s inconvenient for you at school, so I’ll bring him over for you over these next few days.”

The couple left as impetuously as they had arrived.

Something feels a bit off. Did his parents really just let him off that easily? Zhan Yan sent a message to Gu Jiancheng, sat for a while, and really couldn’t figure it out, so he wanted to find someone to discuss it with.

Mm… right now, the only person who knew the specific situation and could discuss it with him was his sister.

Zhan Yan opened his messaging app and began prodding Zhan Suiru, explaining the situation to her in detail.

Zhan Suiru: “…”

You young couple sure have great chemistry—both using me as a consultant?

Zhan Suiru: “What’s there to be confused about?”

“It’s enough that he treats you well.”

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

The autumn sun was crisp and bright, brimming with sunshine inside his curved eyes.

He had spent a long time thinking about how to get Gu Jiancheng to win the approval of his family.

But in truth, as long as Gu Jiancheng treated him well, that was enough.

Gu Jiancheng came down to look for Zhan Yan and happened to witness this exact scene.

The slight anxiety in his heart instantly dissolved.

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

Zhan Yan could distinctly sense a trace of nervous apprehension behind those dark eyes. “They’re gone. Mom and Dad didn’t object.”

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

Zhan Yan: “Really.”

He casually opened his parents’ gossip entries.

A new update happened to refresh inside the gossip entries.

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

[After leaving Beiling Agricultural University, Chongming Demon King Zhan Yunkai immediately used the channels of the Wan Yao Alliance to begin investigating Deep Shadow Gu Jiancheng’s past experiences.]

The two big bosses spoke so nonchalantly on the surface, but behind his back, they couldn’t wait to dig up Gu Jiancheng’s ancestors for eighteen generations.

Zhan Yan: …

I knew it!

Both of their phones began ringing incessantly.

Opening the phones for a look, it was the class chat group.

Someone in the group had snapped a photo: on the large table in the specialized classroom sat a massive pile of milk tea.

“Come, come, come! Everyone who isn’t in the specialized classroom, come over to drink milk tea! There’s a portion for everyone!”

“The delivery guy just brought it over, saying someone ordered it to treat the whole class.”

“Holy crap! Who ordered this?”

“No matter who it is, allow me to say first: Thank you, daddy!”

“I don’t know, the delivery guy didn’t say. Let me check the receipt.”

“[Image]”

The group had been boisterously cracking jokes, but as soon as this photo came out, it instantly went dead silent.

Gu Jiancheng’s newly registered delivery app account directly used his real name. The three characters “Gu Jiancheng” were printed crystal clear on the receipt image.

Gu Jiancheng bought milk tea for the class?

Wasn’t this style a bit out of character?

Why? Why on earth?

Everyone in the group was scratching their heads in desperate curiosity to gossip, but Gu Jiancheng was also in the group. They felt embarrassed to gossip in front of him, nor did they feel comfortable starting a separate small gossip group.

The chat group remained muted for several seconds.

Zhan Yan laughed uncontrollably looking at the group, leaning over to rest directly against Gu Jiancheng’s shoulder. “Hey, what were you thinking, drinking six cups of milk tea in a row?”

Gu Jiancheng’s face turned red. Yan Yan’s parents really had mentioned that to Yan Yan too.

“Just… momentarily forgot I could order delivery.”

Gu Jiancheng popped up in the group: “It’s nothing.”

“I won a sweepstakes event.”

Ah? What event?

A group of classmates began searching for the milk tea brand, immediately spotting its crossover event with the Dawn World game. Among the characters participating in the sweepstakes was the exact character Zhan Yan had previously advertised for.

This wasn’t milk tea—this was dog food!