Bai Tang contemplated for a long time on how to approach Su Siyuan, and the final answer was to go with the flow.
Going with the flow is good; it’s like the wind scattering dandelion seeds, like Su Siyuan stirring up Bai Tang’s heart. Those unnamed feelings swayed and fluttered along with the wind, taking root and sprouting in some corner of the heart.
One day, they will bloom.
The next morning, Su Siyuan accompanied Bai Tang to the training camp. When they met, Bai Tang didn’t avoid eye contact. The young man greeted him naturally as usual.
Su Siyuan was momentarily surprised; his amber eyes lit up with a hint of delight. At that moment, Su Siyuan thought that popping bubbles was indeed quite effective.
He quickly dismissed this untimely thought, popping it like a bubble.
The man’s eyes curved, and a smile spread from the corners of his eyes to his brows. “Good morning.” Each word seemed to take a few turns from the softest corner of his heart, tumbling and rolling all the way.
Su Siyuan was genuinely happy. He ate an extra bowl of breakfast joyfully and even smiled more at the snail babies, frightening them as they all took a step back, exchanging glances to see if flowers had bloomed on each other’s faces.
“I think…” Little Chi Yi whispered, “Uncle Su’s face looks like it’s blooming.” He tilted his head, recalling the lessons from kindergarten teachers, and recited, “He smiled, like a sunflower in the sunlight.”
Other snail babies nodded in agreement, nodding in a practiced manner. “Then Tang Tang is a rose.” Chi Jue enthusiastically declared, “Roses are the prettiest.”
“It’s a narcissus! Tang Tang is a narcissus!” The snail babies quickly forgot the original topic and started arguing loudly.
At this point, Bai Tang and Su Siyuan were already sitting on a bench. Su Siyuan maintained a proper posture, not touching Bai Tang. He sat quietly behind, and after a while, Su Siyuan suddenly spoke, “Look at the sky today.”
Bai Tang raised his eyes to the distance. It was a flawlessly azure sky, pure as a giant sapphire.
“No flowing clouds,” Su Siyuan’s voice came from behind. “Do you like clouds?” he asked softly.
Bai Tang naturally liked clouds. He liked walking barefoot on them, strolling around happily. He enjoyed lying down in the clouds, flipping over, with his warm buttocks facing the sun.
Su Siyuan took out a transparent little bag from his pocket, filled with tiny seeds. “Give me your hand,” Su Siyuan said to Bai Tang.
Bai Tang hesitated for a moment, then opened his hands, placing them in front of Su Siyuan.
Four seeds spilled into Bai Tang’s palms from the bag. As the wind was a bit strong, Su Siyuan held Bai Tang’s small hands, allowing Bai Tang to close his hands together.
The back of Bai Tang’s hands was covered by Su Siyuan’s warm palms. This realization made Bai Tang unable to resist moving his fingertips. He lowered his head, avoiding eye contact with Su Siyuan.
Su Siyuan’s hand completely enveloped the youth’s hand, holding it as if cradling a precious treasure. Slowly, Su Siyuan raised Bai Tang’s hand to his lips. The young man in front quickly glanced up, resembling a shy and timid little creature.
A naive deer, a young bird in early spring, a white fox in the snow – all the pure and gentle qualities seemed to be present in the youth.
Su Siyuan chuckled, lowering his head and blowing a breath onto the young man’s hands.
Countless pure energy flowed through the gaps between the fingers, reaching the seeds. The seeds, mischievously lying in Bai Tang’s palms, instantly expanded as if inflating cotton candy – they swelled rapidly.
Gigantic and soft “clouds” escaped from the youth’s hands. They fluttered away with the wind, rushing towards the azure distance in groups, forming a vast sea of clouds due to their immense size.
“This is mutated cotton.” Su Siyuan finished speaking and couldn’t help but ruffle the young man’s head. In addition to selling precious medicinal herbs, his company also sold various magical plants.
For example, these extraordinarily large cotton seeds were quite popular in the human market, and four seeds could fetch a good price.
However, cultivating them required the energy Su Siyuan provided. Today, the energy used to stimulate these four seeds is limited, only allowing them to maintain this form for a while before quickly withering. Therefore, even when they fell to the ground, there would be no pollution.
While Bai Tang continued to gaze at the sea of clouds, Su Siyuan casually turned his head to look.
He wasn’t actually interested in these things; in fact, he wasn’t interested in most things in the world. Su Siyuan slightly turned his face, silently gazing at Bai Tang. In that moment of looking at the youth, his brown eyes were filled with emotions even softer than the clouds.
When those “clouds” completely disappeared from Bai Tang’s sight, he reluctantly withdrew his gaze. That sea of clouds looked especially like the cloud bed he had once laid on, and Bai Tang really wanted to take a nap on it.
“Do you like it so much?” Su Siyuan spoke gently, “Do you think they resemble cotton candy?”
“What is cotton candy?” Bai Tang asked in confusion, “I just felt that if I could sleep on a cloud bed, it must be very comfortable.”
“Cotton candy is a unique food for humans,” Su Siyuan explained. “It looks like clouds and tastes sweet.”
“Wow—” Bai Tang fell into a reverie. He hadn’t eaten cotton candy before, but he had eaten clouds, and clouds weren’t tasty—they were flavorless and dry.
“Next time we go to the temple to see the koi spirit, I’ll buy you cotton candy, alright?” Su Siyuan softly suggested.
Bai Tang quickly nodded, enthusiastically agreeing, and the small green sprout on his head swayed in agreement as well.
When they arrived at the training class, Su Siyuan helped Bai Tang put on a veil. After watching Bai Tang leave, he looked up at the azure sky.
Not a cloud in sight, probably because I’ve eaten all the cotton candy. Su Siyuan thought with a contented mood.
…
In the classroom, Bai Tang began his studies. The learning atmosphere was good, and Bai Tang was attentive. However, by noon, he noticed that Zhen Aichi was going around asking others for food.
The hamster spirit ran to Xiao Feige and asked for a small piece of oatmeal bread. Then, he went to She Rao and requested a piece of dried meat. When it came to Bai Tang, the little hamster glanced at him, “Oh, you’re the one who drinks flower dew,” then looked at the stone spirit, Qing Dai, “Oh, you don’t eat anything.”
Zhen Aichi, feeling distressed, rubbed his stomach, “Stop calling me. You’ve become a little potbelly; it’s time for you to learn how to lose weight on your own.”
“What’s wrong?” Bai Tang curiously asked.
Zhen Aichi, feeling a bit embarrassed, scratched his head and explained the situation to Bai Tang.
As a gluttonous and big-eating hamster spirit, Zhen Aichi ate three meals a day, but after meeting Tang Jinlang, all his meals were taken care of by him.
The food Tang Jinlang cooked was better than what was available outside. In the first two days, Zhen Aichi would still eat the lunch he brought, in addition to a bit of the bento given by Tang Jinlang.
However, after getting used to it, Zhen Aichi became too lazy to bring his own food, eagerly awaiting the daily feeding.
“But today, he seems really upset and didn’t bring anything.” Zhen Aichi whispered, pointing to the downcast Tang Jinlang. “I don’t think the small bread and dried meat are enough for the both of us.”
“He looks so sad,” the hamster spirit’s voice became smaller and smaller, “I don’t know what to do.”
Bai Tang glanced at Tang Jinlang, and it seemed like a heavy cloud hung over the young man, with elements of sorrow silently surging.
What should be done in such situations?
Bai Tang suddenly remembered how Su Siyuan comforted him yesterday when he was upset. So, he advised the perplexed hamster spirit in front of him, “Go and hug him.”
“….Huh?” Zhen Aichi stared at Bai Tang, looking bewildered.
“Hugging is the warmest comfort. If you hug him, he won’t be so sad anymore,” Bai Tang sincerely said, “Last time when I was upset, being embraced made me feel better.”
“Is that so?” Zhen Aichi was convinced by Bai Tang’s words. Holding a small bread in one hand and a piece of dried meat in the other, he carefully stashed away the food. After that, he nervously rubbed his small hands and decided to give Tang Jinlang a hug.
After a long time of rubbing, Zhen Aichi finally transformed back into his original form. The palm-sized hamster jumped onto the desk, making a noise that caught the attention of the sorrowful young man.
Tang Jinlang raised his head and saw a round little meatball approaching him. It was a snow-white hamster with shiny black eyes, a pink nose, and a mini little tail.
The mini tail bounced and struggled, supporting the small meatball to complete a high-difficulty airborne bounce—
Snap!
Tang Jinlang was plastered with a face full of hamster pancake.
The hamster’s belly was soft and warm, carrying a sweet and fluffy fragrance, somewhat like the scent of toasted bread.
“C-classmate Tang!” The hamster stammered, “If you’re feeling sad, I’ll give you a hug, and you won’t feel sad anymore.” While saying this, he used his mini tail to desperately kick Tang Jinlang’s face as he was about to fall.
Tang Jinlang hesitantly reached out to support the hamster’s little buttocks, and the hamster immediately sat in the youth’s palm, panting, “Are you still sad?”
The youth looked down at the hamster in the palm of his hand, and after a while, he smiled.
“I’m not sad anymore,” the youth said.
…
“Indeed, my method is fantastic,” Bai Tang, who observed the whole process, gave himself a thumbs up.
System: “…”
Well, as long as you’re happy.
Feeling satisfied with the good deed he did, Bai Tang continued studying happily. After school, he returned home joyfully, only to find a few more monsters in the living room.
They were the dads of the snail babies, Chi Cainan and Bai YinHao. Behind them stood a one-armed man, a giant towering nearly two meters tall.
The snail babies seemed quite afraid of this unfamiliar “giant.” They all retreated several steps, timidly running to Bai Tang, seeking comfort and hugs.
Being engulfed by the small round creatures, Bai Tang quickly comforted them. When things settled down a bit, he lifted his head and locked eyes with the one-armed giant.
Bai Tang saw the simple and dark face of the man, revealing a gentle yet melancholic smile.
Author’s note:
Why is Tang Jinlang sad, and why is Su Siyuan happy? Welcome to today’s adorable lesson in “Happiness and Sorrow Amongst Different Families.”
Mini Scene 1:
Tang Jinlang: Why date within the same species? I don’t want to be with a female mantis; I’ll be eaten.
Su Siyuan: Why not? Dating within the same species is natural. Of course, I want to be with Sugar and then eat sweets.
Mini Scene 2:
Bubble: You’re poking me even though I’m so cute?
Su Siyuan: Poke.
Bubble: Ah~
Su Siyuan: Poke, poke, poke, poke, poke.
Bubble: Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Ah~
Su Siyuan: …Suddenly don’t feel like poking anymore.
Raise your hand if you want an extra story about Lin Mengzhu. If there are more than twenty, the author will write it.
