Perhaps due to being fed a lot of eggs, Shen Tazhi was able to get out of bed that day. He moved his slightly sore muscles and watched Jiang Que, who was using his tentacles to sort clothes into the washing machine and dry cleaner. Shen Tazhi couldn’t help but smile.
“During this time of maturity, all the clothes in the wardrobe need to be washed again.”
Blushing, Jiang Que glared at him. “…It’s your fault for not being home.”
He knew he was in the wrong, and his words lacked any power.
Shen Tazhi raised his hands apologetically. “I’m sorry, it’s my fault.”
He also helped tidy up the mess in the house. After all, it would be too much to call for a cleaner to deal with this kind of mess.
By the time they finished cleaning up, it was already afternoon. Shen Tazhi hadn’t eaten much proper food these days. He glanced at the sky and turned to Jiang Que, asking, “Shall we go out to eat today?”
With no groceries left at home, buying and preparing food would take time, so driving out seemed like a good choice.
“Okay,” Jiang Que agreed.
He thought for a moment and said, “I’ll drive.”
Even though Shen Tazhi seemed fine, it would be unfair to make him drive at this point. Jiang Que had obtained his driver’s license a few days ago, so driving was not a problem.
Shen Tazhi didn’t refuse, he just started to look for clothes in the wardrobe and casually asked, “What should we have for dinner tonight?”
“I haven’t decided,” Jiang Que replied, selecting his outfit for going out. Most of their clothes were still hanging outside, so their wardrobe was quite sparse.
Although Shen Tazhi was understated, being a young master, making him dig out out-of-season clothes from the closet was truly putting him in a difficult position.
Jiang Que picked out a gray turtleneck sweater and handed it to Shen Tazhi, while he chose a white one. Holding two similar padded coats proudly, he said, “Matching outfits!”
Looking at the desolate scene outside the window, Shen Tazhi couldn’t help but remind him, “Que Que, it’s already winter.”
When they got married, it was almost autumn, and now it was winter. Going out in these clothes would make them freeze.
Jiang Que was puzzled, “Huh? Can’t I wear this in winter?”
This was his first winter in the human world. Normally, he would go from the underground garage directly to indoors, never experiencing the feeling of winter arriving.
Shen Tazhi nodded, “It will be cold.”
He also remembered that Jiang Que hadn’t really been out before. Checking the sky, he suggested, “How about taking a walk this time we go out? I was thinking… we could have barbecue?”
He had promised to take Jiang Que out for barbecue before but for various reasons, it got delayed until now.
Jiang Que readily agreed and then was bundled up by Shen Tazhi, wrapped into a small ball.
Looking at himself in the mirror wearing a white down jacket, Jiang Que curiously touched the furry material on the hat and then pouted, “This doesn’t look good.”
Only his face was visible, and the normally trim figure of the young man was completely hidden by the bulky down jacket, which didn’t look flattering at all.
The only advantage of this outfit was that it could hide his tentacles. After all, who would suspect that under the puffy down jacket wasn’t clothes but something strange?
When Jiang Que had just emerged from the abyss, he didn’t mind, but after living in human society for a while, he preferred his flamboyant appearance. He felt beautiful, and Shen Tazhi’s eyes on him would be particularly endearing. He liked that.
Shen Tazhi was also getting dressed and laughed, “Where are the good-looking clothes in winter?”
It was only because Jiang Que didn’t go out much that he wore various stylish and beautiful coats every day.
Shen Tazhi also turned into a ball, and Jiang Que looked at him, laughing, curiously pinching Shen Tazhi’s sleeve back and forth, “Gege looks good.”
Shen Tazhi patted his head, “You only know how to act cute.”
Jiang Que happily dragged Shen Tazhi out the door. As soon as they stepped outside, a gust of cold wind blew, causing Jiang Que to shiver and pull his neck back.
“The wind goes through these clothes,” he muttered, secretly extending a tentacle to wrap around his neck like a scarf.
Looking at Shen Tazhi, who showed no change in expression, he even silently positioned himself upwind and turned to ask him:
“Feeling cold? Should we just drive instead?”
Jiang Que:…
Feeling underestimated.
“No.” He decisively refused and pulled Shen Tazhi along, walking briskly. “I just haven’t experienced this kind of cold wind before, feeling a bit uncomfortable. I’ll be fine soon.”
Shen Tazhi chuckled and followed along.
As Jiang Que and Shen Tazhi occasionally had to go to work, they no longer lived in the Shen family’s old mansion but bought a small villa in a central location. The barbecue stand Shen Tazhi mentioned was near a small shopping center close to their neighborhood.
On a winter afternoon, even the roads seemed somewhat deserted. Jiang Que led Shen Tazhi across the street and into the shopping center, finally stopping at the entrance of the barbecue stand.
Although it was called a barbecue stand, it was actually a proper outdoor barbecue restaurant with seating. Since it wasn’t mealtime, there weren’t many people in the barbecue restaurant, and the heating wasn’t turned on.
Braving the cold wind, they entered, their hands already icy. Jiang Que didn’t let go of Shen Tazhi’s hand and looked at him with a pleading gaze, making it clear: What should they do next?
He had never been to this kind of small shop before.
Shen Tazhi led him to the counter, greeted the busy lady boss in the kitchen to place their order, and then found a place for them to sit inside the shop.
“You can scan the QR code on the table with your phone. Just order whatever you want to eat,” Shen Tazhi pointed to the QR code on the table.
Following his advice, Jiang Que scanned the code and started adding items to his cart:
Grilled eggplant? Never tried it, let’s have two.
Grilled oysters, grilled cilantro1DISGUSTING, lamb skewers, grilled pork belly…
Grilled octopus tentacles.
Jiang Que paused.
He looked at the picture of octopus tentacles on the menu, which bore some resemblance to his own tentacles, hesitated for a moment, and decided to add two portions to try.
On the same table, orders could be seen on the same app. Jiang Que only noticed that Shen Tazhi had already ordered when the app prompted, “You have already added this item, do you want to add it again?” Shen Tazhi had ordered a full ten skewers.
Jiang Que: ?
He looked up at Shen Tazhi, who seemed to sense his gaze and smiled, “What’s the matter?”
Jiang Que huffed lightly, “You’re teasing me.”
Shen Tazhi appeared innocent, “I’m innocent. I saw you ordering two skewers at a time, and barbecue portions are usually small. So, I just helped you order more.”
Jiang Que retorted, “…You liar, you added the grilled octopus before I even ordered it.”
Shen Tazhi finally understood what Jiang Que was huffing about earlier and chuckled, “I thought you must want to eat it, so I ordered it directly.”
Puffing his cheeks, Jiang Que fell silent. He did indeed want to eat it, and Shen Tazhi’s reasoning made sense; he couldn’t argue back.
The two of them ordered over two hundred yuan worth of barbecue, considering that Shen Tazhi had asked for a mild spice level.
The lady boss worked swiftly, taking their order and getting the grilling started. Jiang Que and Shen Tazhi took hot soy milk from the warmer, sipping it slowly while chatting aimlessly.
Perhaps it was because it was their first time experiencing winter, the topic of how unexpectedly cold it was dominated their conversation.
Not even a fifth of the soy milk had gone down when the first plate of barbecue was served.
The curly, sauce-red tentacles with small raised granules on top were indeed the grilled octopus tentacles that Jiang Que had ordered.
Jiang Que picked up a skewer of grilled octopus tentacles, his eyes widening, “Is it just this small? They are not even adults yet and they’re being eaten?”
Even his smallest tentacles were never this tiny.
Shen Tazhi chuckled, “Octopuses don’t grow big. Didn’t you become an adult not long ago, little baby octopus?”
“I’m not an octopus, I’m Que Que,” Jiang Que rebutted seriously.
Muttering “poor things”, he didn’t hesitate and took a bite of the grilled octopus tentacles.
“…Delicious!”
Jiang Que exclaimed.
The octopus tentacles were chewy and had a bounce to them, combined with the flavors of charcoal and cumin chili powder. There was no fishy taste, just a burst of seasoning on the taste buds.
Jiang Que couldn’t help but glance at his own transparent tentacles on his neck: so if his tentacles were grilled…
Jiang Que was playfully tapped on the head by Shen Tazhi.
“Don’t even think about grilling your own tentacles,” Shen Tazhi warned.
Jiang Que averted his gaze, “I wasn’t thinking about that. I was just thinking, if I knew grilled food was so delicious, I would have grilled some for you in my past life.”
Shen Tazhi fell silent for a moment before sighing, “Then I wouldn’t have wanted it either, Que Que.”
He didn’t want Jiang Que to hurt himself, just as Jiang Que didn’t want him to get hurt. This lesson had been brutally taught to Jiang Que not long after he emerged from the abyss, so he obediently responded now:
“I understand. I was just thinking… since I can’t go back anyway, is it wrong to think about it?”
As they spoke, another plate of barbecue was served, this time with four servings of garlic eggplant.
Although Jiang Que didn’t particularly like garlic, the seasoned garlic eggplant was incredibly fragrant. He couldn’t resist taking a spoonful.
Then —
“This is delicious too! Shen Tazhi, this is delicious!”
The texture of the garlic eggplant was even more amazing than the grilled octopus tentacles. The eggplant was soft and fragrant, the garlic wasn’t spicy but had a unique aroma mixed with the barbecue seasoning, and the eggplant even had a meaty texture.
Shen Tazhi also picked up a spoon and nodded after tasting it, “Indeed, it’s delicious.”
They weren’t in a rush, ordering more food. Winter evenings were short, and by the time they finished eating, night had already fallen.
The barbecue stand became more crowded, with people sitting outside under the orange-yellow lights, creating a lively atmosphere. Beer bottles clinked against glass cups, and the scent of barbecue filled the air.
After the meal, Jiang Que and Shen Tazhi took a stroll, each buying a cup of fruit tea to aid digestion.
Just then, a drop of water fell on Jiang Que’s nose.
He touched it and looked up at Shen Tazhi, “Shen Tazhi, it’s raining. Let’s head back.”
Shen Tazhi, also feeling the droplets, looked up and chuckled, “It’s not rain.”
“Not rain?” Jiang Que was puzzled.
He followed Shen Tazhi’s gaze and saw the sign of a 24-hour convenience store illuminated.
In the light, clusters of white things were lazily falling down, not like rain, which falls quickly.
“It’s snow, Que Que.”
Shen Tazhi’s voice came from beside him.
“According to the weather forecast, there will be heavy snow tonight. You’ll wake up tomorrow to see the whole yard covered in snow.”
Jiang Que was momentarily stunned, reaching out to catch the falling snow.
Even though it melted quickly, he saw that the snowflakes had shapes.
“It’s snowing,” he exclaimed.
“Shen Tazhi, I see the snow.”
In his previous life, he promised Shen Tazhi that they would go out and see the heavy snow together. Although he broke that promise in the end, after all the twists and turns, he finally got to see it.
Feeling the warmth in the palms of the person beside him, Jiang Que happily embraced him. “It’s wonderful, big brother.” Shen Tazhi slowly returned the embrace. “Yes… it’s wonderful.”
As the first snowfall in the capital descended, Jiang Que was still by his side.
In the vast night, as the cold wind picked up, in the gradually intensifying snowfall, the tall and handsome youth lowered his head and kissed the man’s lips.
