Chapter 071: Anomalous Time 37

Chapter 071: Anomalous Time 37

Yu Bai's voice was light and his tone slightly rising, clearly in good spirits.

Xie Wufang, however, paused upon hearing this, before responding, "I see."

Yu Bai nodded first, uttering an 'oh.'

But he sensed something odd about Xie Wufang's reaction.

After some thought, he asked straightforwardly, "What do you know?"

Xie Wufang replied honestly, "I know you're drunk."

"..." Yu Bai was taken aback, thinking he might have misspoken earlier, and hurried to correct, "No, I'm not drunk!"

His tone was firm. The man beside him seemed on the verge of speaking but held back, eventually saying after a while, "Yan Jing said that when you drink too much, you keep insisting you're not drunk."

Upon hearing this, Yu Bai immediately glared over Xie Wufang's shoulder at the muscle-bound man quietly eating behind them.

"Don't listen to his nonsense," Yu Bai refuted strenuously. "It might have been like that before, but I'm really not drunk now."

He was perfectly sober!

"Really, really," he reiterated. "I'm not drunk, you have to believe me."

The talkative drunkard indeed proved Yan Jing right.

The deity who disliked lying was now caught between a rock and a hard place.

The human, standing close by, gazed over with clear, lustrous eyes, expectantly awaiting His acknowledgment.

So the man hesitated for a moment, then merely responded softly, "Mm."

Yu Bai felt that this must mean he believed him.

Good.

Satisfied, he withdrew his gaze and continued chatting with the elderly man seated on the other side. When their conversation came to a natural end, he smiled at Zhang Yunjiang, said something, and then rose from his seat.

Just as Yu Bai was about to leave, he heard Xie Wufang ask, "Where are you going?"

He had consumed too many beverages and needed to use the restroom.

There was no need to tell such a worldly affair to a being untouched by human concerns.

Thus, Yu Bai leaned in close and whispered, "I'm going to wash my face, I'll be back soon, just a few minutes."

Yet Xie Wufang also stood up, "I'll go with you."

He looked as if he didn’t trust him at all.

Seeing this, Yu Bai was somewhat surprised. He raised his eyebrows. "You don’t have to accompany me. I’m not drunk. Why are you so nervous?"

Hearing him say that, Xie Wufang could only give up on the idea of accompanying him. His expression was complicated and indiscernible as he silently watched him leave the restaurant.

This restaurant had its own toilet, but in order to avoid making users feel awkward, it thoughtfully set up a side door for entering and exiting from the outside, completely separating it from the dining area.

After Yu Bai finished taking care of his physiological needs and washed his face at the sink, when he pushed the door open and walked out into the cold evening breeze, he finally figured out that the expression on Xie Wufang’s face earlier could probably be called helplessness.

…Why would he be helpless?

Yu Bai couldn’t understand it. He planned to ask about it after returning. Just as he was about to cross the corridor and return to the restaurant, he was stopped by a somewhat familiar female voice.

Under the dimly lit eaves, there was a flickering orange spot of light. A fashionably dressed woman held a long, thin cigarette between her fingers. She stared at him with an unpleasant expression and called out, "Doctor Xiao Yu?"

Yu Bai stopped and remembered that this was Zhang Yizhe’s mother.

He couldn’t remember her specific name. Although Zhang Yunjiang had introduced everyone during the banquet, how could he remember the names of so many strangers?

In any case, they were all detestable people.

The other party clearly wasn’t here with good intentions. Yu Bai was too lazy to put on a smiling face and responded coldly, "What do you want?"

Seeing his reaction, the woman was taken aback. Then she sneered and said, "No more pretending? You were all smiles in front of the old man, making him so happy…"

Her tone was sharp, causing Yu Bai to frown. A strong sense of disgust surged in his expression.

Tonight, he really did want to talk to someone.

But not detestable people.

Moreover, these words were too boring.

If he used his heel to think, he could guess what the woman was going to say next.

It was nothing more than thinking that they had come prepared with ill intentions, making the elderly man happy in order to take advantage and inherit his wealth and company.

Firstly, this was a deliberate misunderstanding.

Secondly, this large group of children were doing the same thing themselves.

How dare they criticize others!

Therefore, Yu Bai, who had no patience to listen further, directly interrupted her and said coldly, "At least Uncle Zhang was truly very happy tonight. Have you ever seen him like that before?"

His sudden question and aggressive manner left the woman momentarily stunned. "I—"

Yu Bai didn’t need her answer. He continued, "You think it’s because we tried every means to please him, because we accompanied him to play Go, because we went to great lengths…"

"But none of that." He chuckled softly, a faint hint of derision in his voice. "It's because we never mentioned anything about property to him; we simply interacted with him purely as a person."

"But what about you?" he asked coldly in return. "All these years, Uncle Zhang has been good to you. Could it be for money as well?"

The young man with brown hair made no effort to hide his disgust for them. Through the hazy smoke, he walked away straight, leaving behind the words, "How revolting. Don't bother me."

The woman left alone stared blankly at his retreating back, unable to come back to her senses for a long time.

Until the cigarette burned down to her fingers, dropping a trail of gray ashes into the cold night.

In the warm restaurant just beyond the door, Yu Bai had just taken his seat.

The man beside him seemed to finally let out a sigh of relief upon seeing him return safely, but then, a wave of surprise rippled across the gray-blue lake in his eyes.

"You have a new scent on you," he said.

Startled by this, Yu Bai immediately raised his hand to smell his sleeve. "Is it tobacco?... It seems there is a bit."

It was from talking to the smoking woman earlier.

The scent was actually very faint, so much so that he hadn't noticed it himself, but Xie Wufang picked up on it.

Worried about setting a bad example for non-humans, Yu Bai quickly explained, "I didn't sneak out to smoke. I just caught someone else's smoke. It'll dissipate soon."

Xie Wufang, who had spent these days among humans, had certainly seen humans smoke before.

He didn't ask further, merely giving a light acknowledgment.

But the talkative drunkard fell silent for only a moment before leaning over again and whispering, "I don't like the smell of smoke. I won't sneak out to smoke."

"..." Xie Wufang paused for a moment, and this time, he could genuinely say, "I believe you."

"Oh, good."

Hearing the word 'believe', the drunkard seemed delighted, his eyes sparkling.

Interrupted repeatedly, he completely forgot to ask Xie Wufang why he had seemed helpless earlier, and continued on his own.

"Brother Tian and Uncle Li both smoke, but they never do it in front of me."

Unaware that he was bringing up others, Yu Bai mentioned them, and the man beside him was about to suppress the instinctive cold glint in his eyes when he heard him continue, "Once... I forget how old I was, but I was in my teens, I stole a cigarette from Uncle Li's pocket and wanted to try it."

"Don't tell him!" Yu Bai warned, then shook his head. "But, Uncle Li might have known all along. If you can smell the smoke on me, the captain of criminal investigation probably could too."

"In any case, he didn't notice it at the time, or pretended not to... Later, I never tried smoking again on my own initiative because it was really choking, bitter and spicy."

"I still remember that day, I almost coughed my lungs out, my face turned red, and I was so regretful. Why did I even try it? It was obviously choking even to smell."

"So, I bought two cans of cola, gave one to Uncle Li – it was actually to make up for the cigarette – and drank the other one myself, chugging it down."

Yubai, at this point, sincerely exclaimed, "Iced cola is truly delicious, it's been so good from childhood to now."

Rarely did he voluntarily speak of his distant self and the scattered trivialities, his tone so bright and lively, as if shimmering with brilliant gold.

Thus, the chill in Xie Wufang's eyes gradually faded, replaced by a faint smile rippling across the gray-blue lake of his irises.

Yubai, who was chattering on, was intently gazing at him. Upon seeing this scene, he too began to laugh, his eyes sparkling with starlight.

It was unclear whether he found it amusing that a deity would listen earnestly to a human praising iced cola, or if he found his own antics after secretly smoking and then chugging cola hilarious.

In the quietly spreading haze of golden radiance, the lavish feast thus came to an end.

Everyone familiar with Yubai, except for himself, could tell that he had probably had too much to drink. Zhang Yunjiang, in particular, urged him and Xie Wufang with a smile, "You two should head back to your rooms and rest. Have a good night's sleep, and you'll be fine when you wake up!"

Yubai vaguely recalled that Teacher Xiaoxie had just recovered from a high fever, and he nodded seriously upon hearing this: "Uncle Zhang, don't worry, I will take good care of him."

The elderly man couldn't help but chuckle, "Alright, alright, Teacher Xiaoxie, you should also take care of him a bit!"

Yubai promptly corrected him, "I'm not sick, there's no need to take care of me."

Xie Wufang, however, didn't refute this. He acquiesced to the drunkard's words and quietly accompanied him into the vast night.

The courtyard was beautiful and tranquil. Just before they were about to return to the house and open the door, Yubai suddenly turned around, his gaze directly locking onto the person beside him.

Xie Wufang stopped in his tracks and asked softly, "What's wrong?"

Yubai looked at him, seemingly wanting to say something.

Xie Wufang scrutinized him, asking somewhat anxiously, "Are you feeling unwell?"

"No," Yubai denied, then blurted out, "I want hot chocolate!"

"..." Xie Wufang was taken aback, clearly not expecting such an answer, "Hot chocolate?"

"Yes," Yubai said somewhat resentfully, "I originally wanted hot chocolate tonight, but I changed my order to alcohol because of Uncle Yuan. How can alcohol compare to chocolate..."

Not being able to have that cup of hot chocolate today, he felt he might not be able to sleep.

This was definitely the fault of the iced cola.

With the drunkard beside him still fixated on the hot chocolate, Xie Wufang offered, "Go back to your room first, I'll go to the kitchen to get it for you."

But Yubai shook his head, "They must already be cleaning up in the kitchen, I don't want to trouble them any further."

He tilted his face slightly upward, looking expectantly at the man who was taller than him, "I remember there's an induction cooker in the room. Could you make me a cup of hot chocolate? Please?"

Surprised, Xie Wufang subconsciously wanted to agree.

However.

The man hesitated for a moment, his tone apologetic as he said, "I'm not sure if I can make hot chocolate."

A deity who had just been introduced to food was still unfamiliar with the culinary knowledge that humans took for granted.

Thus, he nearly blew up the kitchen trying to fry some chicken.

Seeing that Yu Bai didn't get an immediate agreement, he complained somewhat sullenly, "You've even made me beef Wellington! Hot chocolate is much simpler than that."

Xie Wufang was bewildered by this unfamiliar term. "...Beef Wellington?"

"It's a fillet steak baked in puff pastry, the process is particularly complicated. Didn't you make it before?"

Having instinctively explained, Yu Bai then realized something and muttered, "Oh, you haven't done that. It was another you, in another timeline."

In one of the loops where he instructed Xie Wufang to cook, they spent an entire day in the kitchen. He taught the non-human many human cooking basics not found in recipes, and also shared several dishes he wanted to eat.

Then, he tasted the perfect replication of the recipe, still yearning for the exceptional culinary skills of his neighbor with an extraordinary learning ability.

At this moment, Yu Bai had unintentionally let slip something he shouldn't have. Normally, he would probably be very nervous, trying to cover it up and act as if nothing happened.

But now...

What was nervousness?

Yu Bai finished speaking with a calm expression. Seeing that Xie Wufang seemed to want to ask something, he frowned slightly and urged, "Forget about all that, I want to drink the hot chocolate you make!"

Indulged and obeyed by those around him, he didn't care whether Xie Wufang could use the kitchen or not. He only focused on making his own demands, his beautiful light-colored eyes shining brightly, carrying a hint of a somewhat spoiled smile.

Tonight, he wasn't wearing glasses, and the alcohol had melted away his usually more mature and reserved demeanor, as if he were a different person, completely unlike when he was sober.

Yet, it suited his naturally stunning appearance better.

As if it should have been this way all along.

Never having experienced the hardships of life, possessing only the brilliance of joy.

So even the splendidly lit night paled in comparison.

The man who had been watching him, after a brief daze, asked no further questions.

He nodded gently, "Alright."

The cold winter wind carried a gentle response.

"I'll make you hot chocolate."