Dusk fell, and the last ray of sunlight escaped from the window lattice. The hall gradually darkened. Xia Chi sat on the futon, tilting his head, his eyes tracing every inch of Jiang Nan's sleeping face.

The copper bells on the eaves were plucked by the evening breeze, making a clear sound.

Jiang Nan's eyelashes trembled slightly, like ripples blown by the wind. His brows furrowed unconsciously, and he snuggled into Xia Chi's arms again, instinctively looking for a more comfortable position.

The fingers playing the piano were resting loosely on the edge of the cushion, as if they would wake up at any moment.

But he didn't wake up, so Xia Chi didn't move, letting the night soak into his clothes.

He remembered the warmth of Jiang Nan's lips brushing against his cheek during the day, the heartbeat he felt against his chest when he was carried in a princess hug, and the hand he extended to him and held in his palm without hesitation.

Fate is like a mysterious book that no one can comprehend. Who could have imagined that parallel lines that were never supposed to intersect would become entangled in this incense-filled temple? Xia Chi looked at the white moonlight so close at hand, and in a trance, he felt that all this beauty was almost illusory, like sand on the fingertips. The tighter he held it, the more he feared it would slip through the cracks.

Outside the hall, the morning star rose quietly.

Jiang Nan slept soundly, from the afternoon of the previous day to noon of the next day, without showing any intention of waking up.

Xia Chi couldn't bear to wake him up, so he carefully placed the backpack under his head and gently put his coat on his shoulders.

He stretched his stiff arms and legs, wandered around the Kitchen God Temple, and discovered that there was a deserted courtyard behind the main hall.

The yard was overgrown with weeds, the blue brick floor was covered with mottled moss, an old locust tree had branches leaning over the eaves, and the door to the east wing was ajar.

The moment I pushed the door open, old dust danced in the light. At one end of the room stood a large carved bed from an unknown era. The curtains had long faded, and the faint pattern of the Chinese character "Fu" could still be discerned.

There is an octagonal table under the other wall, and a rattan chair next to it.

Xia Chi rolled up his sleeves and first found a broom to sweep away the accumulated dust. He then wrung out a rag and roughly cleaned the dust on the surface before wiping the rattan chair clean. He filled the wooden bucket with water and ran it back and forth several times, wringing the rag over and over again, until the years of dirt on the rattan chair were completely wiped away.

As the sun rose higher, Xia Chi returned to the main hall. Jiang Nan was still sound asleep. Xia Chi bent down, carefully picking up the man as if he were a feather, and carried him on his back. As they crossed the courtyard, the old locust tree shook off a few clusters of locust flowers, which rustled onto their shoulders and slid down their clothes.

The east wing has been completely renovated. Xia Chi hunched his back and slowly placed the person on the rattan chair. The rattan chair made a slight creaking sound. Xia Chi slowly squatted down and listened to Jiang Nan's even breathing. For Jiang Nan, who had suffered from insomnia for many years, such sleep was really a huge luxury.

He held his breath, afraid of disturbing this rare tranquility.

Jiang Nan curled up slightly, and a thin section of his collarbone was faintly visible under the collar of his clothes that had been opened at some point.

Xia Chi's throat rolled unconsciously. Thinking of the passionate kiss yesterday, the tips of his ears turned slightly red. He suddenly felt that all this was like a fragile dream.

[This time...] He thought to himself, [It was you who took the initiative.]

Those thoughts that were suppressed by reason grew wildly.

[I really want to take it seriously. If you dare to regret it...]

He bit his lower lip and stared at Jiang Nan's cheek with an almost paranoid look.

【Since you kissed, you have to take responsibility. 】

Xia Chi lowered his eyes and swallowed back the surging, uneasy, almost childish possessiveness.

Don't leave me again...

Her fingers gently poked his chest, which seemed to have sparked a small fire, and his breathing became disordered for a moment.

My mind started to race restlessly.

【Finally it fell into my hands...】

[I'll eat you up completely...]

[First this... then that...]

【Jie jie jie jie……】

The devil's claws stretched out towards Jiang Nan...

“Ding Dong!”

There was a noise in my pocket.

When I picked up my phone, a red bubble lit up on WeChat. It was actually the nouveau riche Tu Sihai.

Xia Chi raised his eyebrows and clicked on Tu Sihai's murderous avatar, and three voice messages with a sense of martial arts came to his face.

"I'm inviting you to dinner, would you mind? It's twelve o'clock, at Zhuangyuan Garden."

"If you don't want to come, you can feed the dogs."

"Xia Chi, are you on a fucking dead phone? I sent a message and it's been ages and you haven't even said a word."

Xia Chi was afraid of disturbing Jiang Nan, so he ran to the main hall with his cell phone and sat on the stone steps at the door.

Since Tu Sihai recognized him as his father, he believed in metaphysics more and more, stuck to him closely, and tried to build a relationship with him every now and then.

But none of his words sounded nice, and three out of five of them were about wanting to be Xia Chi's father.

I don’t know how to get along with that hypocritical richest man.

Xia Chi looked at his watch and saw that there were still five minutes until twelve o'clock, so he replied.

"What's the rush?"

Send failed!

Um?

Is the signal at the Kitchen God Temple bad? No, I checked the message board last night.

So I sent it again.

"Why are you so anxious?"

Send failed!

“…”

Xia Chi had a bad feeling. He remembered the second rule of the Kitchen God Temple Code of Conduct: Please use civilized language.

You don’t have to obey even when sending a message.

So I took the plunge and gave it a try.

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

Sent successfully!

【yeah?】

Tu Sihai on the opposite side was used to bickering with Xia Chi, and he almost vomited when he saw this message.

"Fuck Xia Chi, you took an aphrodisiac."

Xia Chi: "I don't care about your grandfather."

Send failed!

"I'll eat your uncle."

Send failed!

"I'll eat your sister."

Send failed!

"I'll have a feast."

Sent successfully.

Xia Chi: ...

Tu Sihai was startled and immediately replied:

"You're fucking sick, you're cursing me."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly remembered that this person was indeed good at fortune-telling. His imagination ran wild and a chill ran down his back.

"What kind of feast are you having?" Tu Sihai's voice was a little weaker. "You damn bad mouth, explain it to me."

Xia Chi was getting a little angry and his fingers were typing away.

"Who are you talking about? I am your father."

Send failed!

"I'm your father!"

Send failed.

"I'm your daddy."

Send failed.

【!!!!!!】

Xia Chi was so angry that he was about to explode.

Throw the phone aside.

But then I thought again.

How come the Kitchen God knows English? What about Chinese Pinyin...

Xia Chi dared to test the boundaries of the Kitchen God.

"I die."

Send failed.

"You die."

Sent successfully.

???

Xia Chi was a little confused.

Tu Sihai was also confused.

He stared blankly at the phone screen, his lips trembling.

Eat the feast...you die...

"What do you mean? I'm going to die?"

Xia Chi then realized that something bad was going to happen, and hurriedly pressed the undo button.

This withdrawal just confirmed Tu Sihai's idea, and he felt like the sky was falling.

My good days didn't last for many days.

"Xia Chi, explain your thoughts to me clearly!!!"

Xia Chi hurried to explain.

"Um, it was just a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding."

Sent successfully!

Tu Sihai's voice messages came like a barrage of bullets: "Bullshit, I just saw it, you want to eat my feast?"

"You bastard, if you've made a fortune, don't take it back! Have you figured something out? If you don't explain yourself today, I'll overturn your business, believe it or not!"

"You s--%..."

Xia Chi typed halfway and then silently deleted it.

He slowly turned his head and looked at the statue of the Kitchen God.

"Kitchen God, you shouldn't be like this. You're so diligent in blocking my words, but you pretend not to see when others are swearing? You have a double standard. How can I perform well if you take sides?"

The Kitchen God sat there, unmoved by anything.

It seems like the whole world is polluted but my jurisdiction is clean.

Xia Chi sighed and decided to follow the local customs and be more elegant.

"This is a misunderstanding. I pronounced it in pinyin. Die means dad."

Sent successfully.

Tu Sihai waited for a long time before he received the message, and he relaxed completely.

"You scared me, damn it! I've even decided where to bury my body. You're going to eat my meal."

He just breathed a sigh of relief, but suddenly bounced back.

"It's my dad who's going to die?"

"What's going to happen to my dad?!"

Xia Chi was speechless.

"Are you a pig? How can you draw inferences from one instance?"

Send failed!

"Are you the chubby, gluttonous, four-legged farm animal nicknamed Hengheng?"

Send failed!

"You're so smart."

Sent successfully.

Xia Chi was so angry that he laughed.

Tu Sihai really cried. He had been handling funeral affairs for his family since he was in high school. He had gained experience, efficiency, and psychological trauma.

He had already begun to seriously consider what to do after his father's death. Although He Guiren had privately acknowledged him and the paternity test had successfully matched him, he had not publicly acknowledged his identity. Without his father at this time, wouldn't it be a waste of time and effort?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel resentful and vented it towards Xia Chi.

"What the hell are you talking about!"

"It's not your father who's going to die."

"Have you ever experienced what it's like to be an orphan?"

【Ir……】

Xia Chi felt depressed and tapped his phone, not wanting to care about it anymore.

Whatever you want.

But Tu Sihai called immediately and started roaring.

"Fuck you, Xia Chi, what on earth do you mean!!!"

"I……"

Xia Chi was so shocked that he almost bit his tongue. The words came to his lips but no sound came out.

I endure it.

Xia Chi calmed himself down and got straight to the point.

"Ask your father if he has bought a piece of land in the old Fu'anli area and plans to develop real estate?"

Tu Sihai was furious: "What the hell does it have to do with you?"

Xia Chi: "I..."

I've suffered internal injuries from enduring it.

He clutched his chest and took several deep breaths.

Xia Chi: "I'm putting this out there. It's up to you whether you want to listen or not. If you don't want to listen, what can I do?"

It took a lot of effort to change the subject.

Tu Sihai felt that Xia Chi was a little hypocritical today, and he didn't know what was wrong with him.

"Don't be so hypocritical here. If you have something to fart, just fart now."

Xia Chi: "I don't care about anything else, but tell your dad that the Kitchen God Temple at 186 Qingshiqiao Road cannot be moved."

Tu Sihai: "You said we can't move, so we can't move. Are you the king of the world?"

Xia Chi: "I, your ancestor..."

Zong couldn't get out and was sweating profusely.

"I'm a VIP user on your family tree homepage, the original node of bloodline inheritance, the upstream general agent of the incense supply chain, the founder of the Underworld Antiques Association, and the administrator of the cloud-based ancestral hall!!"

[Hey, Pleasant Goat, it's so hard to have a fight, and we even have to encrypt it.]

Tu Sihai: "What a mess, Xia Chi, are you crazy?"

Xia Chi held his heart and shouted loudly.

"I'm not crazy. The Kitchen God Temple is where the true deity resides. Don't disturb the ground. If you do, expect your father to take it away... Pick up this cold, hard carbon-based body that has been stripped of its autonomous consciousness, its metabolism terminated, and its physiological systems scrapped."

Tu Sihai: "What the hell are you talking about?"

Xia Chi: "I...meow meow meow means, hurry up and tell He Guiren, the richest man you just met, the upstream of your Y chromosome inheritance, the chief producer of family ethics dramas, the private RMB throughput machine, to go and tell him."

There must always be someone in the family who can keep a clear mind. Xia Chi hung up the phone angrily.

I finally know why Sang Biao stutters.