Chapter 59.1 Inquiries
The door to Room 202 was closed. Yanluo knocked a few times, but there was no response. The gods who lived there were not home.
He went downstairs to the first floor, but the family of three was not in the living room either. Instead, Fan Wujiu was leaning against the sofa, fingers moving nimbly across his phone screen as he typed something. It was unclear who he was chatting with.
“Your Majesty.” Seeing Yanluo, Fan Wujiu immediately exited the chat, locked his screen, and sat up straight to greet him. “Are you heading out?”
“Mm.” Yanluo wasn’t actually sure where he wanted to go, but that wasn’t important. What mattered was that he wanted to go out with Thanatos.
Unfortunately, Thanatos had refused. He had shut himself in his room, clearly not in a good mood. With that, Yanluo lost interest in taking a walk and decided he’d just stroll around the aprtments complex before heading back.
As Fan Wujiu locked his phone, the screen flickered for a brief moment, just long enough for Yanluo’s sharp eyes to catch a glimpse.
“Unlock your phone.”
Fan Wujiu’s heart skipped a beat. Forcing himself to stay calm, he said, “Your Majesty, a phone is personal property. Isn’t this a bit inappropriate……?”
Oh no, had King Yan seen the group chat? Was he not fast enough in closing it?
Yanluo’s tone remained unchanged as he repeated, “Unlock it.”
Fan Wujiu dared not disobey. With a pounding heart, he turned his screen back on, revealing only the home screen.
Silently, he prayed that Yanluo wouldn’t ask him to open his social media app. Otherwise, he’d see the group chat named ‘Proletarians of the Underworld Must Unite to Overthrow the Capitalists.’ Worse, he’d discover that his subordinates had too much free time on their hands, gossiping about the King of Hell and the God of Death’s relationship every single day.
They would probably all have to work twice as hard while their salaries were cut in half.
Fortunately, Yanluo showed no interest in the social media app’s icon. Instead, he simply stared at the home screen.
What’s so interesting about that? Fan Wujiu glanced at his own screen.
Ahem. It was indeed interesting. His wallpaper was Xiao Bai.
He had never changed it, not since the day he secretly snapped that photo at the dessert shop. Xie Bian sat across from him, eating cake, the atmosphere just right. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to replace it.
Yanluo kept his gaze fixed on the screen, eyes filled with interest, hesitation, and a trace of determination.
The silence stretched long enough that Fan Wujiu started to feel a sense of crisis. Could it be that King Yan wasn’t dating the God of Death at all, but had fallen for Xiao Bai instead?
Absolutely unacceptable. Even if King Yan was his boss, he’d fight to the bitter end.
Just as he had already plotted out how to contend with his superior who was trying to steal his beloved, Yanluo finally spoke, slowly and deliberately, “Where did you buy the cake he’s eating?”
Fan Wujiu: “……”
He mechanically gave the address of the pastry shop.
Yanluo nodded. Now that he had a destination in mind, he set out to buy cake.
Lately, he had been introducing Thanatos to a variety of Chinese cuisine and traditional Chinese pastries, but he had never given him any Western desserts. He had assumed that the little reaper would have already tasted them before. But when he asked, he was surprised to learn that aside from underworld pomegranates, Thanatos had never eaten anything at all. The underworld simply had nothing else.
What kind of ascetic life was he living? Yanluo’s heart softened a hundredfold.
He himself only cared for traditional Chinese pastries such as osmanthus cakes, mung bean cakes, jujube shortbread, and he didn’t have much love for Western sweets. But since the little reaper had never tried them, he had to buy some. Besides, wasn’t there a saying that desserts could improve one’s mood? The little reaper was currently unhappy and needed this.
For the sake of the little reaper, the King of Hell was about to step into a dessert shop he had never once set foot in before.
At this point, Yanluo had fully embraced the mindset of a doting guardian. If the kid liked it, he would buy it. If the kid had never eaten it, he would buy it. His own preferences could wait.
Even after Yanluo left, Fan Wujiu was still confused.
Why did King Yan look at a cake with such a complicated expression?
But since he had narrowly escaped disaster, Fan Wujiu wasted no time in sending a message to the group chat.
Fan Wujiu: That was close. King Yan almost found this group chat just now. I was chatting with you guys when he suddenly appeared and made me unlock my phone. You all know that my wallpaper is that photo of me and Xiao Bai at the dessert shop, with Xiao Bai sitting across from me eating cake, right? He even got cream on his lips and licked it off like a kitten. So freaking cute it melted my heart.
Xie Bian: ……You could have left out that last part.
Cui Jue: We’ve heard your love story with Lao Xie eight hundred times already. No need for the excessive detail. What everyone actually cares about right now is His Majesty’s love life. Get to the point, what happened with King Yan?
Fan Wujiu: He asked me for the bakery’s address.
Wei Zheng: WTF.
Zhong Kui: WTF?
Lu Zhidao: WTF!
Granny Meng: WTF?!
One sentence was enough to bring even the lurkers out of hiding.
Everyone in the underworld knew that King Yan was the embodiment of Eastern traditions. Every aspect of his life followed this principle down to his choice of pastries. He only ate Chinese sweets.
And now, he was going to a Western bakery? This was like a sheltered maiden stepping into a bridal sedan for the very first time.
Cui Jue: As everyone knows, His Majesty never eats Western desserts.
Wei Zheng: It must be because the Western God of Death wants to try them.
Zhong Kui: His Majesty is going to the bakery for the God of Death.
Granny Meng: I’m shipping to death! I need to scrap my fanfiction and rewrite everything. What I wrote is not as sweet as the original content!
Lu Zhidao: Miss Meng, how exactly do you plan to make it sweeter than the real thing? His Majesty is already throwing away his principles and sparing no expense for love. I don’t think anything could top that.
Granny Meng: Then, I have no choice but to drive the story off-road.
All members: ……
All members: Well, if you’re talking about that, we’re all ears now.
—
Following the address Fan Wujiu had given him, Yanluo drove to a bakery called Candy Western Pastry House, only to find that it was already packed with people.
It was a scorching day, and any shop with both WiFi and air conditioning was bound to be full. But this bakery was clearly beyond packed.
Business was this good? Was their dessert really that amazing?
It wasn’t until Yanluo stepped inside that he realized these people weren’t here for the pastries.
They were here for the faces.
“Aaaahhh, they’re so hot!!! Handsome guy, look at me! This family is insanely good-looking! There’s no way they’re ordinary people. Are they famous overseas? What’s their ship name? I’m already obsessed with this cp!”
“The blond one’s a guy, right? I heard him speak just now.”
“That makes it even better!!!”
“The one with blue hair and blue eyes looks so elegant, and the one with blonde hair and green eyes is absolutely stunning!”
“The genetics of foreigners are insane. I’ve never seen people this good-looking in my life, and now I’ve seen three at once!”
“Well, there are also plenty of ugly foreigners. These three are just exceptional.”
“Yeah, but I’ve never seen any Chinese person who could compare to them…… Hey! Why are you filming me? You messed up my shot!”
“Shhh, look, isn’t that handsome guy who just came in Chinese? He’s just as handsome as them! A total classic beauty. His elegance is on another level.”
“Holy crap, you’re right. He just saved our reputation. Our national pride is intact!”
“Black hair and black eyes are forever the best!”
A fresh wave of excited shrieks erupted from the crowd.
Yanluo: “……”
The ones causing all the commotion were none other than Poseidon and Venus, who had come to the bakery with their son, Cupid, for some cake. They had chosen a quiet corner, trying to keep a low profile, but their looks were too eye-catching, making them the center of attention.
Yanluo hadn’t found them at the apartment earlier. Who would’ve thought he’d run into them here?
The moment he stepped inside, half the gazes in the shop shifted toward him. People glanced back and forth between him and the other three, their eyes darting around, unable to take it all in.
In terms of sheer visual impact, Venus was the most breathtakingly beautiful, the kind of beauty that struck like a lightning bolt. But in terms of aura, Yanluo’s scholarly elegance was truly captivating.
Yanluo ignored the stares and walked straight to the pastry display, carefully browsing his options. Initially, he had planned to buy just one cake and head back. But there were too many varieties in the dessert counter, each one exquisitely crafted.
He wasn’t familiar with Western desserts, nor did he know which flavor Thanatos would like best. After hesitating for a long while, he realized he was now suffering from the same decision paralysis as the little reaper.
Since he couldn’t decide, Yanluo simply resorted to throwing money at the problem, buying one of each cakes, éclairs, cookies, puddings, and so on.
After all, if he selected everything, there was no need to choose.
When he swiped his card, he did so without hesitation. The cashier, meanwhile, was drowning in waves of pink, heart-shaped bubbles.
A cold, dignified, ridiculously handsome man buying this many desserts? The contrast was too cute. Her girlish heart was about to explode.
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