Chapter 81: Replication Experiment 5
The young Zhuang Ningyu was, as expected, very cute. Fair and clean, his eyes a size larger than they were now, black and round. When he squatted down with his head tilted, he looked like a fluffy little kitten basking in the sun. Zhuang Yan and Zhong Yu were very busy with work, traveling all over the country, so he had lived in Fuxing Court since he was a child, raised by his maternal grandparents. His leisure activities were also very traditional. As soon as the weekend came, he would go to Tashan Park, and every time he went to Tashan Park, he had to take a ten-yuan tourist photo that included a full set of makeup and costume. And after looking at more than twenty photos of him in dragon robes, Yi Ke finally came to understand the most unshakable absolute truth in the universe—my wife came into this world to be an emperor.
Zhuang Ningyu found it hard to explain what had possessed him as a child. Once, the dragon robe was snatched away by another child before he could wear it, and he had even sat in the pavilion and wailed for a full half-hour. His grandparents were at their wits’ end. In the end, thankfully, a small jade vendor nearby had a stroke of genius and respectfully presented a “Jade Seal of the Realm” with both hands, which finally coaxed him into a good mood.
And Zhuang Ningyu’s philosophical reflections on whether “power should be sharp or smooth” also began on that day. In the end, he concluded that it was better to be smooth, because if it was too angular, it would be uncomfortable to hold while sleeping. The biggest unsolved mystery at Fuxing Kindergarten during that time was why Xiao Zhuang always had press marks on his face when he arrived in the morning, and you could even make out words. Sometimes it was “受” (shòu – to receive), sometimes it was “命” (mìng – fate/mandate), and sometimes it was “于天” (yú tiān – from heaven).
Yi Ke was utterly charmed by his cute wife. Zhuang Ningyu promptly held out his hand—”Stop, stop! Don’t pounce on me!”
He didn’t want to stay in the room and reminisce about his childhood, so he said goodbye and went out, planning to go downstairs to buy some cold side dishes. It was already past the morning market hours, so the supermarket wasn’t crowded, which was perfect for taking his time. Zhuang Ningyu opened the glass door of the food counter, and was just about to pick up some celery beef when another pair of tongs rudely reached over, clashing with his with a “clang,” carrying obvious malice.
It was a woman in her forties, her hair disheveled, her face sallow. One could see that her features were good underneath, but due to lack of care, many dark gray spots had appeared on her skin. Zhuang Ningyu retracted the tongs, nodded slightly, and took the initiative to greet her, “Mrs. Wei.”
The woman’s eyes were still filled with malice. As if venting her anger, she pressed all the celery beef into the disposable lunchbox in her hand until it was almost overflowing. Only then did she casually toss the greasy lunchbox into her shopping cart, without a lid and without weighing it. She then walked away, leaving a trail of chili oil, which drew complaints from the supermarket’s cleaning staff. Zhuang Ningyu didn’t rush to leave. He lingered in the supermarket for a while longer. About three to five minutes later, an argument indeed broke out at the checkout counter.
“If you’re not going to buy it, don’t waste it! Look how much you’ve spilled in the cart! You took it and then said you don’t want it!” The braised beef was an expensive item at the cold dish counter. A full box like that was worth at least two hundred yuan. Now it had all been dumped into a shopping cart, and she had deliberately pushed it around, making the floor oily everywhere. So the staff quickly came to stop her, but they only stopped her and didn’t intend to make her compensate—anyone who would do such a thing was either a rogue or truly not in their right mind. A normal person couldn’t afford to provoke them, and there was no need to. The main thing was to get her out of there quickly.
The woman didn’t appreciate this kindness. She raised her voice and started cursing, her voice sharp, speaking in an obscure dialect that few could understand. But there was no need to understand, because just by looking at her expression, you could tell they weren’t nice words. The security guard shook his head repeatedly, pushing her shoulder to try and escort her out. But the woman refused to go. Her peripheral vision caught sight of Zhuang Ningyu, and she immediately grabbed a large handful of the cold-tossed beef and threw it hard in his direction! Chili oil flew everywhere. The onlookers cried out in alarm and scattered to the side. Zhong Pinghe, who had just arrived, promptly pulled Zhuang Ningyu away. Xiao Zhang and the investigation team’s driver took the opportunity to step forward, grabbing the woman from either side, and coaxed and tricked her into the car. With a step on the gas, they sped her home.
Zhuang Ningyu scanned the payment for the beef to the person in charge of the cold dishes and returned to the guesthouse with his grandfather. In the elevator, Zhong Pinghe looked at him and asked carefully, “Are you okay?”
Zhuang Ningyu shook his head. “I’m fine.”
Zhong Pinghe didn’t ask any more questions, just reached out and patted his back as a form of comfort. They entered the room together.
Seeing her husband return, Grandma busied herself with reheating the food. Yi Ke looked at Zhuang Ningyu’s empty hands and asked, puzzled, “Didn’t you go down to buy side dishes?”
“They were sold out.” Zhuang Ningyu stood at the sink, squeezing out hand soap. As he turned, there were a few noticeable drops of chili oil on his khaki pants. Yi Ke frowned and was about to say something more when someone patted his shoulder. He turned his head. Zhong Pinghe shook his head slightly. Yi Ke understood and forced a smile. “Grandpa, have a seat. I’ll go heat up the scallion pancakes in the kitchen.”
The scallion pancakes were delicious, a master-level secret recipe the two had found online. One-third of the dough was made with oil, one-third with hot water, and one-third with cold water. After being pan-fried, they were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Zhuang Ningyu had eaten three by the stove in the morning and still hadn’t had enough. He had originally planned to introduce them to his grandfather, but now he was in no mood. He simply lay back in the rocking chair with his eyes closed, feigning sleep. Yi Ke didn’t disturb him. He first ate with his grandparents, then quickly helped clean up the dining table and kitchen, and then politely said goodbye with his wife.
The car was parked in the underground garage. Zhuang Ningyu got into the passenger seat. Before he could fasten his seatbelt, Yi Ke grabbed his wrist and pulled him in his direction, asking with some concern, “What happened just now?”
“…” Zhuang Ningyu didn’t want to say anything at first, but seeing the look in Yi Ke’s eyes, he sighed and confessed, “I ran into Wei Liying at the supermarket.”
Hearing this name, Yi Ke’s brow twitched imperceptibly. Zhuang Ningyu’s success rate in breaking rules wasn’t one hundred percent. He had failed once, and Wei Liying was the “victim” of this failure, or rather, the “victim” in some people’s eyes.
“Let’s not talk about it,” Zhuang Ningyu pulled his hand back. “Just drive. I want to sleep for a bit.”
Yi Ke said “mhm,” helped him recline his seat, and pulled a blanket from the back seat. It was thick and soft, with a faint, clean scent of roses. Zhuang Ningyu pulled the blanket up high. He had just wanted to be quiet for a while, but the warm scent really did make him a little drowsy. So he simply shut down his chaotic mind, blocked out all external sounds, and fell asleep with single-minded focus.
He slept soundly. When he woke up, he was already back on the familiar large bed in the apartment. The curtains were drawn tightly, and only a small floor lamp by the bed cast a faint light. Zhuang Ningyu pushed the covers away and sat up, rubbing his throbbing temples with the side of his palm. He groggily glanced at the silent clock on the wall—seven in the evening.
He had slept for nearly six hours. He moved to the bathroom on weak legs, turned on the tap to wash up. The shock of the cold water finally cleared his head. The faint sound of pots and bowls clattering came from downstairs. Zhuang Ningyu straightened his hair in the mirror again before walking out of the bedroom. At the stove, Yi Ke was draining vegetables, preparing to make a refreshing tomato salad. Bread was baking in the oven, and the pleasant smell of wheat filled the entire room. Zhuang Ningyu sniffed twice, hugged him from behind, and pressed his face against his back, asking softly in a hoarse voice, “Why did you let me sleep for so long?”
“It’s nothing. What else is there to do besides sleep?” Yi Ke chuckled and shook the water off his hands. “Help me get the orange juice.”
Zhuang Ningyu yawned, bent down, and took a bottle of orange juice from the refrigerator. He unscrewed it and took a couple of sips himself before handing it to him. His phone buzzed. Yi Ke glanced at it and asked warily, “Who is it?”
“The Evolver Management Center,” Zhuang Ningyu said, swiping to answer and turning to go to the living room.
It was a routine follow-up call from the doctor’s assistant, just asking if the evolver himself had experienced any abnormalities recently. Zhuang Ningyu glanced at the busy Yi Ke in the kitchen and answered “no” to everything. There really weren’t any, or even if there were, he could control them well. For some reason, as he answered, the words “proud self-control” suddenly popped into his mind, and he let out a “pfft” of laughter, his mood improving slightly. After hanging up, he had intended to go back to the kitchen, but he hesitated, then opened a few of his frequently used apps. He didn’t find anyone mentioning what had happened at the supermarket that morning. It wasn’t that it hadn’t become a hot topic; no one had mentioned it at all.
But there had clearly been many people taking photos or videos at the time.
The last time Wei Liying had stopped him on the street, it hadn’t caused as big a scene as this time, but it had still been pushed to the top of the trending list by some people with ulterior motives. Although the vast majority of people knew the truth of the matter, on the internet, the mainstream was often not the silent majority. Moreover, there were people deliberately stirring up trouble. So Huo Ting had no choice but to approve a half-month leave for him, sending him to the seaside to relax, aiming for “out of sight, out of mind.”
How come it was so quiet this time?
Zhuang Ningyu thought for a moment and seemed to realize the reason. He looked up towards the kitchen. Yi Ke happened to be glancing in his direction. Their eyes met. He raised an eyebrow slightly, looking like he was deliberately trying to be cool, and he was indeed very handsome. So Zhuang Ningyu laughed along and ran over in his slippers. “I’m hungry.”
“Time to eat,” Yi Ke said, picking him up with one arm and holding a salad bowl with the other. “After dinner, we’ll watch a movie together.”
Zhuang Ningyu was placed on a dining chair, truly living a life where he “didn’t even have to walk himself.” It seemed his childhood dream of being an emperor wasn’t entirely unfulfilled.
One of them had his sleep temporarily metabolized away by evolution, and the other didn’t need much sleep to begin with, but had slept for the entire day, so he was even more energetic at night. Yi Ke chose a movie that was neither new nor old. Just from the title, one could tell it was incomparably romantic. But Zhuang Ningyu didn’t want to watch it. He offered his opinion, “Why watch this? I want to watch a horror movie.”
Yi Ke insisted, “No way. Why watch a horror movie at night? We should watch a romantic, artistic love story!”
Zhuang Ningyu couldn’t win against him and thought it would be fine to watch it. But less than five minutes into the movie, he was so dizzy with sleepiness that he could barely keep his eyes open. Yi Ke had to resort to his trump card, “My friends acted in this.”
“…Huh?” Zhuang Ningyu forced his eyes open. “The male lead or the female lead?”
Yi Ke: “Both.”
Zhuang Ningyu, out of respect, rallied his spirits, thinking he could hold on a little longer.
Half an hour later, he was lying on Yi Ke’s shoulder, his breathing even and long.
I can’t stand it, it’s so boring.
In the “Super Perfect Human Hype Group”—
Yi Ke: I’m really advising you two to change careers.
