Chapter 49.1 – Kiss

K-kiss where?

The distance was just too close, and Jiang Que couldn’t help but step back.

His waist bumped into the cart, making a collision sound, adding a touch of ambiguity to the already delicate atmosphere.

Shen Tazhi watched Jiang Que retreat calmly:

“Weren’t you the one who wanted me to give birth to little tentacles for you? How come you’re so nervous now just talking about kissing?”

How could he compare these two things?

Jiang Que’s face was about to turn as red as a blazing fire.

Even though he had hardly seen humans kissing before, he could still sense that kissing was something special, completely different from giving birth to little tentacles.

“It’s not the same…”

Jiang Que muttered softly.

Shen Tazhi didn’t move closer but stayed in place, questioning, “So, what’s different then?”

Jiang Que didn’t know, he couldn’t answer. His racing heart and overloaded brain didn’t allow him to think too much at the moment. He could only take another step back, watching as he was about to push the cart into the shelves.

Under Jiang Que’s nervous gaze, Shen Tazhi took a few steps forward.

Jiang Que felt even more uncomfortable, wanting to step back, but at that moment, Shen Tazhi reached out and held the cart, saving the shelves behind.

His movements were natural and smooth, as if he had simply intended to grab the cart, making Jiang Que’s nervousness seem unnecessary.

“Let’s not talk about that for now, Que Que, what else do you want to buy?”

Shen Tazhi skillfully steered the conversation away.

Jiang Que understood that it was being let go. He slowly walked to Shen Tazhi’s side, his heart still racing uncontrollably. He casually said:

“Anything is fine.”

At this point, he had no intention of choosing snacks anymore.

His gaze couldn’t help but fall on Shen Tazhi’s lips.

Behind the sunglasses, he couldn’t see the color clearly, but he had seen Shen Tazhi many times before, and he knew exactly what Shen Tazhi’s pale lips looked like.

Shen Tazhi has thin lips, which may seem cold when he makes a smirk, but his lips should be warm and soft.

To kiss him…

Jiang Que couldn’t imagine what would happen next.

He suddenly regretted a bit. Just now, Shen Tazhi had pressed his forehead against his, so close that Jiang Que could have easily pulled Shen Tazhi’s collar and kissed him. No matter what would happen after the kiss, it wouldn’t be as awkward and indecisive as it was now.

But opportunities come and go, and now it seemed that there was no longer a possibility of doing so.

The tentacles in his backpack wriggled slightly due to his hesitation.

They had been hesitant to move before because of the crowded supermarket, but when Shen Tazhi forced them to answer, they were as nervous and dumbfounded as Jiang Que, but later, they boldly blamed their main body.

Especially the thickest tentacle:

Shen Tazhi has kissed me before, what’s wrong with you kissing him now!!

Jiang Que was so angry that he wanted to open his backpack and beat it up:

You talk so easily, if you’re so capable, why don’t you try it yourself!!!

In that situation just now, how could he possibly react properly.

Just as Jiang Que was about to start a fight with his own tentacles, Shen Tazhi’s voice came from beside him:

“Que Que, we’re approaching the snack section, are you sure you don’t want anything to buy?”

Jiang Que snapped back to reality, afraid of Shen Tazhi noticing his previous thoughts. Without looking, he randomly grabbed a few snacks and put them in the shopping cart, flustered, saying:

“Okay, it’s fine, I’m done choosing.”

Shen Tazhi quietly stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly blurted out a random sentence:

“If what I said earlier made you uncomfortable, you can pretend I didn’t say it, don’t be so nervous.”

How could he pretend that he didn’t say it? It was obviously something important.

Nervously looking up, Shen Tazhi had already turned his head to look ahead, his voice calm:

“Alright, let’s go buy the ingredients for making cookies.”

The baking area in the supermarket has a wide range of supplies, not only matcha powder but also various colors of vegetable powder.

Butter, flour, matcha powder… Hmm, let’s also add chocolate powder and vegetable powder.

As Shen Tazhi put things into the cart, he couldn’t help but use his peripheral vision to observe Jiang Que, who had been absent-minded since earlier, and sighed softly in his heart.

The probing just now was indeed a sudden impulse, but it was also something he had been vaguely worried about:

Jiang Que had seen many dark sides of humans, including scenes related to desires.

He could speak out about wanting to ** with him without any reservations because he didn’t think it was a very special thing, and it could even be called quite ordinary.

In other words, Jiang Que didn’t know that desire and lust were actually related; he was more inclined towards lust than love for himself. If someone mistook this as love and wanted to become his lifelong partner in a muddle-headed way, it would be unfair to both him and Jiang Que.

Thinking back to Jiang Que’s look of being on guard just now, Shen Tazhi chuckled self-deprecatingly.

Maybe when Jiang Que truly understood, he might even develop feelings of disgust and aversion towards him.

If Jiang Que was scared off like this and suddenly realized that his previous impulses were not love but rather a timely loss prevention, it would actually be a good thing.

Shen Tazhi forcefully suppressed the bit of disappointment and sadness in his heart, turned around, and called out to Jiang Que, who had been staring blankly beside him:

“Que Que, we’ve finished shopping. Do you want anything else? If not, shall we go home?”

Jiang Que, who had been lost in thought, suddenly snapped back to reality.

He had been thinking a lot just now. First, he was contemplating Shen Tazhi’s nonsensical words, then he was pondering the issue of kissing. As a result, for the latter half of the shopping trip, he was practically being dragged around by Shen Tazhi and hadn’t noticed at all when Shen Tazhi had already bought everything.

Huh? What expression is Shen Tazhi making?

Jiang Que looked at Shen Tazhi and hesitated for a moment when he saw his expression. The “okay” that was about to blurt out took a sharp turn at the last moment and turned into another sentence:

“I didn’t feel uncomfortable.”

He was answering Shen Tazhi’s previous question.

This was the answer Jiang Que had wanted to give a long time ago, but he hadn’t realized it at the time. By the time he became aware that he should reply, Shen Tazhi had already turned and left.

Now, seeing Shen Tazhi’s expression, Jiang Que inexplicably returned to that topic.

Having said that, Jiang Que simply blurted out the results of his recent contemplation in one breath, “I didn’t know how to answer just now, so I didn’t speak, because I’ve been regretting it.”

“Regretting?” Shen Tazhi didn’t quite understand.

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Que whispered, “I regret it. When you asked me if I wanted to kiss you just now, I should have just kissed you right then.”

Shen Tazhi was stunned in place by his words, as Jiang Que continued on his own:

“Because I’ve never seen anyone kiss like that before, so I didn’t know what to do at the time, and you… you were too close, I couldn’t think straight.”

He raised his head, took a step towards Shen Tazhi, and pulled on his sleeve, saying, “Gege, can you ask me again, I’ll do it properly this time… Mm.”

Jiang Que couldn’t finish his sentence.

Because with one hand supporting his shoulder, Shen Tazhi bent down and placed a kiss on the corner of his lips.

He kissed at the corner of his lips, which could actually be considered more of a cheek kiss, but Jiang Que dared not move, afraid that Shen Tazhi would leave at any sudden movement.

He smelled the fragrance of Shen Tazhi’s body wash, similar to his own, and the mild scent of butter from when they had selected it earlier.

Time felt incredibly long at that moment, yet seemed to pass in a flash. When Jiang Que came back to his senses, Shen Tazhi had already stood up and was smiling at him.

“Que Que, you’ll slowly understand this on your own, right?”

Understand what?

Dazedly, Jiang Que reached up to touch the corner of his lips where Shen Tazhi had kissed him, and his heart began to race belatedly.

It was as if Shen Tazhi had understood what was on his mind, as he said, “Understand liking someone.”

“I…”

Jiang Que’s face blushed once again, recalling his silly appearance when Shen Tazhi had kissed him earlier, and he just hugged his face and squatted down into a ball on the ground.

“Y-You, you said you wanted me to kiss you, why did you suddenly…!”

And he didn’t even kiss his lips, just a kiss on the corner, that’s clearly breaking the rules!!

Shen Tazhi also crouched down beside him, smiling as he leaned in closer, saying, “Then I’ll let you kiss yourself now, will you do it?”

Jiang Que raised his head slightly from Shen Tazhi’s hand, then quickly buried it back down, muttering, “You stay a bit further away from me.”

After saying that, Jiang Que realized his words might be misunderstood, so he added, “You’re too close to me, I can’t think properly, I don’t know what to do.”

Shen Tazhi chuckled beside him, stood up as suggested, no longer getting too close to Jiang Que, and didn’t mention the kiss, patiently waiting for Jiang Que to regain his composure.

Jiang Que squatted for a good ten minutes before feeling the heat on his face gradually dissipating, then slowly stood up.

Finally understanding what had just happened, he accused Shen Tazhi, “You did that on purpose.”

Suddenly kissing him without giving him any time to react.

Shen Tazhi grinned, “Didn’t you ask me to teach you what ‘liking’ is, Que Que?”

Jiang Que was speechless for a moment before finding his logic, “But that’s not how you teach someone.”

The normal teaching method shouldn’t be like Du Lulu’s, guiding him to understand what ‘liking’ is first, and then let him experience it himself. Shen Tazhi’s behavior of directly kissing him like that in public was simply…

Thinking about it made Jiang Que blush again.

Innocently, Shen Tazhi said, “Didn’t you ask me to ask you again? Instead of asking you multiple times, isn’t it quicker if I take action myself?”

“You’re bad,” Jiang Que scolded him in frustration.

At this moment, he understood why so many people described Shen Tazhi as a cunning fox. The feeling of knowing he was deliberately teasing him but not being able to find fault made Jiang Que want to jump up and bite Shen Tazhi.

Shen Tazhi still smiled, patted his head, and said, “Alright, let’s go home. I’ll teach you how to make butter cookies.”

“Okay,” Jiang Que didn’t hold a grudge, even though he had just been teased, and followed Shen Tazhi home.

On the way to the checkout counter, he suddenly said, “By the way, Shen Tazhi.”

“Hmm?” Shen Tazhi responded, indicating he was listening.