Chapter 4 – Tomorrow… what is it?

Editor: Xinghe

Translator: YuQiChen/Churen

It wasn’t until the sweetness in his mouth dissipated, that Jiang Que came back to his senses.

Taking a step back, he broke free from Shen Tazhi’s embrace, feeling even more alert.

Something was off. Shen Tazhi was off. Why did he easily cry in front of Shen Tazhi twice in just a few minutes of meeting each other?

He wasn’t someone who cried easily.

Jiang Que pursed his lips, refraining from muttering to himself in front of Shen Tazhi. But it was clear that his little tentacles had already been won over by the chocolate:

[Delicious, I love it!]

[Is there more? Sweet, want to eat that sweet chocolate.]

[Love it, Shen Tazhi is good.]

Shen Tazhi was not surprised when Jiang Que pushed him away, now more composed. He patiently interrupted the whispers of Jiang Que’s little tentacles:

“Xiao Que—can I call you that? I have other food here, would you like to try?”

Jiang Que frowned, instinctively rejecting the overly cute and uncool nickname: “Don’t call me Xiao Que.”

Then he shifted his gaze slightly, eagerly looking at the backpack behind Shen Tazhi, hoping he would take out something else.

“Okay, Que Que,” Shen Tazhi smiled warmly.

“And don’t call me—”

“Do you want to try a milk candy, Que Que?”

Jiang Que’s protest was cut off halfway as Shen Tazhi decisively unwrapped the candy and stuffed it into his mouth.

It was a sweetness different from the chocolate, leaving Jiang Que stunned with wide eyes, even his little tentacles, previously slightly annoyed by the nickname, were now dizzy from the sweetness.

[It’s okay to let him call you that, humans are very fragile. If he dies from this sadness, there won’t be anything to eat.]

[Wait, aren’t we supposed to be fasting? And didn’t we let Shen Tazhi stay to hear the story?]

[Yeah, what about Ye Bingli? How is she going to seek revenge?]

[Milk candy… sweet…]

The tentacles were as chaotic as Jiang Que’s thoughts at the moment, flashing with all sorts of ideas. Meanwhile, Shen Tazhi, under the watchful gaze of these huge and terrifying tentacles, calmly unzipped his backpack and began to pull out items.

If initially, when faced with the unknown and threatened by Jiang Que, Shen Tazhi had a hint of fear, now he had no fear of Jiang Que at all.

This was his Jiang Que, just like the one from his previous life, a little bird who cried easily, lacked common sense, and needed patient care and guidance.

Shen Tazhi quietly activated the signal transmitter hidden deep in his backpack to reassure the people waiting outside. Then he stood up, bent slightly, and fearlessly poked Jiang Que’s face, still holding the candy, without any self-awareness that he was facing a monster capable of destroying humanity.

“Que Que, it’s already seven o’clock now. You shouldn’t eat oily food at the beginning. Tonight, I’ll prepare something easy to digest for you, okay?”

Jiang Que, still with the candy in his mouth, took a while to respond. “…Okay.”

The words Shen Tazhi spoke were a bit hard for him to understand. Terms like “seven o’clock,” “oily food,” and “easy to digest” were all new to him. But that didn’t stop Jiang Que from catching the key word immediately—

Food.

Shen Tazhi was going to give him food.

Even the little monster who had been fed two candies in a row was easily distracted by this thought.

[He’s going to give me food. Could he really be one of the few good people?]

[I guess…? He’s much better than other humans, I like him!]

[What’s he going to feed me? What’s he going to feed me?]

Filled with anticipation for food, Jiang Que sat down quietly, watching Shen Tazhi’s movements attentively.

Shen Tazhi took out a strange little stove from his bag, then two cylindrical objects and a vacuum-sealed bag of food. Next, he pulled out a lighter from his pocket and skillfully lit it.

“Click.“

Startled by the sudden flame, Jiang Que flinched, closing his eyes uncomfortably. But the overly bright light disappeared the next second.

He cautiously opened his eyes, seeing Shen Tazhi standing in front of him, back turned, shielding him from the firelight that he was unaccustomed to, explaining gently:

“This is an alcohol stove. It needs to be lit to heat up. It might be a bit bright for you. Do you need an eye mask?”

Jiang Que shook his head, then curiously peeked out from behind Shen Tazhi to see the flames dancing at the bottom of the pot.

The fire illuminated a corner of darkness, making him feel for the first time that the depths of the earth were not as cold as he had thought.

“Fire…”

Jiang Que whispered softly.

He recalled the volcanic eruption he had seen earlier and mused to himself, “It’s all red, so beautiful.”

He liked such bright colors, completely different from the darkness he was most familiar with.

A barely noticeable chuckle seemed to bubble up from Shen Tazhi’s throat as he continued to open the can in his hands, saying, “If you like, after we get out, I can take you to see a volcanic eruption.”

“Get out?”

Jiang Que tilted his head, looking at Shen Tazhi by the firelight. “I can’t get out. The array that traps me is beneath your feet.”

He wasn’t worried about revealing this in front of Shen Tazhi. After all, his activities underground were limited, and Shen Tazhi would easily notice. It was better for him to admit it.

Moreover, he couldn’t leave the underground, but he had the ability to completely restrain Shen Tazhi here. This was his territory. From the moment he decided to let Shen Tazhi stay, he had mentally prepared for everything.

As they spoke, a sweet aroma filled the air. Jiang Que stopped the previous conversation, looking at the bubbling liquid in the pot and asked, “What is this?”

Shen Tazhi smiled gently, “It’s Eight Treasure Porridge, with lots of red beans. You should like it.”

“What about this?” Jiang Que pointed to the vacuum-sealed bag on the pot lid that Shen Tazhi was heating.

“This is rice ball for me to eat. If you want to try it later, you can.”

Shen Tazhi quickly extinguished the fire. Most of what he brought was convenient instant food, even if cold it could be eaten directly. He brought out the alcohol stove just to have something hot for Jiang Que.

The porridge was ready. Shen Tazhi carefully noticed Jiang Que’s slightly reddened eyes from staring at the light for a long time, so he didn’t mind his lukewarm rice ball.

Jiang Que sadly watched the extinguished flames, blinked his sore eyes, and obediently took the spoon Shen Tazhi handed to him. He imitated the few humans he had seen eating and scooped a spoonful of porridge from the pot.

As the warm Eight Treasure Porridge entered his mouth, Jiang Que made a sound, almost biting through the delicate spoon.

The porridge contained soft red beans that broke upon entry, mixing with the sweet and thick porridge. As he swallowed the hot mixture, it felt like warmth spreading throughout his body, even reaching his previously still heart.

It was delicious.

Jiang Que didn’t even have time to ramble with his tentacles this time. This was the first time he had eaten something warm, almost on the verge of tears again.

Delicious, warm, it was like… like what?

Unable to find the right words, Jiang Que took another big bite, then looked up with shining eyes at Shen Tazhi.

“I like this.”

Shen Tazhi hadn’t opened his rice ball yet and sat there smiling at Jiang Que, “If you like it, that’s good. I have plenty more to eat. You can try something else tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

Jiang Que repeated Shen Tazhi’s words, asking, “When is tomorrow?”

Shen Tazhi paused, “It’s after twelve o’clock… No, wait.”

“Tomorrow is when you wake up hungry again. That’s tomorrow.”

Listening to Shen Tazhi describe it like that, “tomorrow” seemed like a very happy concept.

Jiang Que nodded happily, “Okay, then I’ll go to sleep now and wait for tomorrow.”

The small tentacles swayed their pointed ends:

See, Shen Tazhi must be a good person!

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