The warm sun at around five or six o’clock felt comforting on their skin.
Being out with Shen Tazhi made Jiang Que so happy.
Thinking this, Jiang Que glanced at Shen Tazhi and saw a hint of a smile on his lips. Confirming that Shen Tazhi was also very happy, Jiang Que relaxed, held his hand, and pointed at the balloons above, saying:
“I want that little black cat one at the top. Gege, could you get it for me?”
After buying the balloon, Jiang Que went to have a cold drink, ate a grilled sausage, and seemed to have fully recovered from the scare brought by the haunted house. Taking this opportunity, Shen Tazhi asked.
“Is there anything else you want to play?”
As they talked, the roller coaster whizzed by overhead, bringing screams.
Jiang Que’s eyes lit up instantly. He hadn’t forgotten that it was the screams from the amusement park that had drawn him outside the Cantonese-style tea restaurant. He quickly pulled Shen Tazhi, saying, “Let’s go on the roller coaster!”
“Alright.” Shen Tazhi wasn’t afraid of roller coasters.
Glancing at Jiang Que’s still reddened eyes, he thought, as long as this guy wasn’t scared, there shouldn’t be a problem.
Although it wasn’t good to think this way, Jiang Que’s appearance with teary eyes after coming out of the haunted house was indeed quite beautiful.
Shen Tazhi always found it hard to resist Jiang Que in such moments. His emotions were conflicting. He was afraid of Jiang Que crying, but at the same time, there was a faint expectation to see Jiang Que shed tears.
Of course, Jiang Que had no idea what was going on in Shen Tazhi’s mind. If he knew, there would surely be some playful teasing.
Excitedly, he found the entrance to the roller coaster, and together with Shen Tazhi, they entered through the express lane. However, they were stopped at the ticket counter.
“Sorry, here we need to store personal items before entering.”
The person at the ticket counter smiled politely, pointing at Jiang Que’s backpack and his glasses, adding, “Otherwise, it’s easy for things to fall off during the roller coaster, causing safety hazards.”
Jiang Que was taken aback for a moment, then quickly said, “Sorry, I got the wrong queue. I won’t ride the roller coaster.”
With that, before the staff at the ticket counter could realize what was happening, he turned and walked away with Shen Tazhi.
It would have been fine if it was just removing the glasses, as the sun wasn’t too strong at the moment. Enduring it would have been bearable, but removing the bag—
He would scare everyone present to death, wouldn’t he?
Shen Tazhi obviously realized this issue as well. He was forced to walk along with Jiang Que and asked, “Should I call the park now and negotiate?”
Carefully observing Jiang Que’s expression, clearly worried that he might be upset about this.
Jiang Que shook his head, “It’s okay, we can ride it another time.”
Seeing Shen Tazhi’s expression, he teased, “What’s with that look? I’m not angry.”
The staff’s words made sense; indeed, his backpack would cause trouble for others. Was he really such a troublemaker in Shen Tazhi’s eyes?
Shen Tazhi glanced at Jiang Que again, seeing that he didn’t seem pretentious, he relaxed. “Then what else do you want to play? I’ll accompany you. After the park closes, we can have it all to ourselves and play whatever you want.”
“Really?” Jiang Que exclaimed, and any lingering disappointment vanished.
The park was vast, and even if they were destined to miss out on rides like the roller coaster this time, there were many other attractions waiting for Jiang Que to experience.
They caught goldfish together, watched a play at the immersive theater, then strolled around the souvenir shop. Jiang Que didn’t find anything he liked, but he happily bought hot dogs and cola with Shen Tazhi for dinner.
During this time, he didn’t feel that gaze he had sensed in the morning. Jiang Que even started to doubt if it was all just his imagination.
By the time they exited the souvenir shop, it was already past seven o’clock. The sun had completely set, and the park’s colorful lights started to illuminate one by one.
Jiang Que looked in amazement at the butterflies dancing on the ground with light projections, saying, “It’s just like in the videos.”
The streetlights were shaped like bluebells, lighting up on both sides of the road. The colorful lights of various attractions shimmered, but the most prominent was the giant Ferris wheel in the center of the park, brightly lit.
Turning to Shen Tazhi, Jiang Que said, “Gege, let’s go on the Ferris wheel.”
Because Du Lulu had told him that the Ferris wheel was best enjoyed at night, he deliberately saved this activity, which he looked forward to the most, for the evening.
He even asked Du Lulu why the two people in the park’s promotional video were kissing on the Ferris wheel. Du Lulu explained the story about how “two people kissing at the highest point of the Ferris wheel will stay together forever.”
Jiang Que didn’t believe it at all, but he wanted to kiss Shen Tazhi.
Shen Tazhi, apparently recalling the park’s promotional video from that evening, turned his head and ambiguously responded, “Hmm…”
The night breeze of summer wasn’t as hot, bringing a slight coolness. Jiang Que held his unfinished cola, while Shen Tazhi carried the folded umbrella, walking slowly towards the direction of the Ferris wheel under the streetlights.
As they got closer to the Ferris wheel, Jiang Que, who had suggested this in the first place, began to feel a bit nervous.
He thought for a moment, realizing he hadn’t actually asked Shen Tazhi if it was okay to kiss at this moment. Then he considered that Shen Tazhi hadn’t rejected him or corrected him, so it should be okay. But then he thought, with Shen Tazhi’s indulgence towards him, even if he did something wrong, Shen Tazhi wouldn’t speak up.
He muttered quietly to himself in his mind, “Really, don’t always indulge him like this.”
In reality, the distance from where they were to the Ferris wheel wasn’t that close, but Jiang Que was so absorbed in contemplating whether he was doing the right thing that he didn’t notice the distance at all.
By the time he snapped out of his thoughts, he found himself walking through the express lane with Shen Tazhi, about to pass numerous people waiting in line to ride the Ferris wheel.
Jiang Que: ?!?
So fast?
He hadn’t made up his mind yet. Were they really going to ride the Ferris wheel now?
The ticketing staff clearly didn’t understand his feelings. They quickly checked their tickets, opened the cabin door of the Ferris wheel, and gestured for Jiang Que and Shen Tazhi to enter.
With a stiff posture, Jiang Que followed Shen Tazhi onto the Ferris wheel. Following the staff’s guidance, he sat opposite Shen Tazhi to balance the cabin.
With a click, the door of the Ferris wheel cabin locked, and it began to rise slowly.
In this narrow space, only he and Shen Tazhi remained.
Jiang Que placed his hands on his knees, sitting upright with nervousness, watching Shen Tazhi across from him, who had leaned back on the seat since they boarded the Ferris wheel, gazing out the window.
The colorful lights outside illuminated Shen Tazhi’s face. Shen Tazhi didn’t speak, and Jiang Que didn’t know what to say. The cabin fell into complete silence for a while.
Only their knees touched due to the close seating.
Jiang Que couldn’t help but look down and saw Shen Tazhi’s slightly cramped long legs in the confined space. In this tense atmosphere, his thoughts drifted away.
When would he ever be as tall as Shen Tazhi?
“*Pfft.*”
At that moment, a light laugh1yall thought it was a fart from ahead interrupted Jiang Que’s thoughts.
He looked up to see Shen Tazhi, who had turned his head from gazing out the window, smiling at him. “Que Que, why are you looking down? Don’t you want to look outside?”
Look outside? Look at what?
Jiang Que looked outside in confusion.
By this time, the Ferris wheel had ascended to half its height. Looking down from above, the entire amusement park lay before his eyes. Countless colorful lights shimmered on the dark ground, the lights from the ice cream carts, barbecue stalls, and balloons, the yellow lights on the boats in the artificial lake, all creating a brightly lit festive night scene.
In the distance, he could even see the hotel where he and Shen Tazhi were staying. The unappetizing revolving restaurant was brightly lit, and even from afar, he could see the intertwining of glasses and cutlery through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
“This is…” Jiang Que was momentarily at a loss for words.
“This is the world of humans, Que Que,” Shen Tazhi added the second half of the sentence.
“The world of humans?” Jiang Que murmured to himself.
“Yes,” Shen Tazhi said, “Today, you saw many humans. What do you think of them?”
Jiang Que didn’t expect Shen Tazhi to suddenly ask such an unrelated question. After some thought, he replied, “Not much, quite boring. Most people are like Du Lulu, just ordinary people you can see through at a glance. There are bad people too, but not that bad.”
Except for the gaze that had been fixed on him.
As Jiang Que spoke, he suddenly realized, “You’re trying to tell me that not all humans are bad people?”
Shen Tazhi grinned and said, “No, that’s not from me, that’s what you said.”
Jiang Que glared at him.
There’s a bad person right there.
As they spoke, the Ferris wheel reached its highest point.
Before Jiang Que could think about anything else, with a sharp sound, a light ascended, and Jiang Que tensed his tentacles vigilantly.
The next moment, the light burst, and orange fireworks illuminated the night sky.
Soon after, numerous fireworks soared into the sky, bursting into colorful blossoms, quickly lighting up and then fading in the black sky.
So beautiful.
Shen Tazhi was also drawn in by the fireworks, turning his head to look at the fireworks outside. Jiang Que, who had already let go of his tentacles, turned to look at him.
Shen Tazhi under the fireworks was also beautiful.
Thump, thump, thump.
The sound of his heartbeat seemed to synchronize with the sound of the fireworks. Jiang Que frowned, touching his right chest, recalling the knowledge he had learned from Du Lulu.
This kind of heartbeat is called palpitations.
But why was his heart racing at this moment? Was it because Shen Tazhi looked so good under the fireworks, or was it due to the overly cramped space and the close distance? Or maybe it was because of Shen Tazhi’s words that had left him dazed earlier, the hormone stimulation from being happy all afternoon?
Jiang Que didn’t know.
He grabbed the hem of Shen Tazhi’s clothes, leaned in close to his ear amid the sound of fireworks, and asked, “So can I kiss you now, Gege?”
Shen Tazhi responded with a barely perceptible nod.
Jiang Que smiled and, imitating Shen Tazhi’s earlier demeanor, lifted his head to kiss Shen Tazhi’s lips. He didn’t know how to kiss, so upon feeling the warm and soft lips, he instinctively nibbled, only realizing after a while that he should be hugging Shen Tazhi. Like waking from a dream, he reached out and embraced Shen Tazhi.
Shen Tazhi chuckled softly, and Jiang Que, with a flushed face, stopped his actions, keeping the hug and burying his face in Shen Tazhi’s chest.
“Don’t you dare laugh at me.”
By now, the fireworks had scattered, leaving only his heart still beating on its own. Jiang Que belatedly noticed that his tentacles seemed to have curled up nervously into a ball.
He inwardly cursed his own lack of composure, then blushed upon hearing Shen Tazhi’s chest also beating rapidly.
He lifted his head and said, “One more kiss.”
This time, without seeking Shen Tazhi’s opinion, he went in for the kiss, trying to express his unknown and tender emotions by kissing and nibbling Shen Tazhi, attempting to consume him with his raw, inexperienced feelings.
After this kiss, both of them were a bit breathless, especially Jiang Que. He could clearly feel his tentacles slowly relaxing, all while feeling excited at the thought of doing something mischievous.
However, even if these guys came out, they couldn’t do anything.
Reluctantly, Jiang Que hugged Shen Tazhi’s waist and whispered, “When will my tentacles reach maturity… Can we have the Anomaly Investigation Department check again?”
Shen Tazhi patted his back, “The Anomaly Investigation Department already checked last time. They said they didn’t have relevant experience, and maturity is just a prediction. You might not have a maturity period.”
“I do,” Jiang Que insisted, “I can feel it. My tentacles have a maturity period.”
Shen Tazhi stiffened at his words but then chuckled helplessly, “Well, that’s…”
If what Jiang Que said was true, that would be troublesome indeed.
The Ferris wheel had started to slowly descend. They couldn’t exchange many words in the end before the unlocking sound of the cabin door from the outside staff interrupted the ambiguous atmosphere.
As they stepped out of the Ferris wheel, Jiang Que realized he was covered in sweat, feeling a bit cold as the night breeze blew over him.
Shen Tazhi wasn’t faring any better, his hand holding Jiang Que’s was also sweaty.
Jiang Que didn’t find Shen Tazhi dirty, but he couldn’t stand the feeling of his own sweaty body. He urged Shen Tazhi to return to the car to prepare to go back to the hotel for a shower.
Shen Tazhi drove, while Jiang Que sat in the passenger seat watching the scenery outside. Recalling everything that had happened throughout the day, he couldn’t help but say, “Shen Tazhi, I had a great day today.”
First, they spontaneously went out for breakfast in the morning. Then he got to see the revolving restaurant he wanted to see. Although the food wasn’t great, Shen Tazhi took him to a delicious Cantonese restaurant. In the afternoon, they went straight from the restaurant to the amusement park.
He could ask for anything, and Shen Tazhi would provide. Shen Tazhi was like a wish-granting magician straight out of a fairy tale.
Suddenly, Jiang Que remembered that he had used a similar metaphor to describe Shen Tazhi while in the abyss. He added with a smile, “Thank you for accompanying me. Every time, you take me to see so many fun things and give me delicious food. I really like you.”
Unlike in the abyss, he no longer needed to be on guard and suspicious, he could trust Shen Tazhi wholeheartedly.
Jiang Que even felt like snuggling into Shen Tazhi’s arms and being a bit spoiled.
Shen Tazhi was driving and naturally responded, “No need to thank me. It’s something I want to do.”
Why?
Jiang Que originally wanted to ask this question, but before he could ask, he remembered Shen Tazhi’s previous answer: because he liked him.
But why does he like me? Shen Tazhi seemed to have mentioned that it was because of the events from the previous life.
The previous life? What happened in the previous life?
Jiang Que was suddenly stunned.
He realized that Shen Tazhi had only mentioned the beginning and the end of the previous life’s story to him, but had never specifically told him what they had both experienced during that time.
The story began with Shen Tazhi being framed by Shen Liushi, falling into the abyss, and meeting him. The ending was his death, Shen Tazhi’s rebirth. Yet, he had no idea about what had happened in between.
Was it intentional that Shen Tazhi didn’t bring it up, or did he consider it unimportant to tell him?
Jiang Que looked at Shen Tazhi with a scrutinizing gaze, quickly reviewing all the past events in his mind, and came to a conclusion—
Shen Tazhi intentionally avoided mentioning it to him.
As for the reason…
Jiang Que lowered his gaze, thinking that the reason was actually quite obvious.
From Shen Tazhi’s intense reaction when he mentioned returning to the abyss, Jiang Que could infer that their story in the previous life probably wasn’t a pleasant one. That’s why Shen Tazhi avoided talking about it so vehemently.
He had initially planned to slowly coax the information out of Shen Tazhi, but now he suddenly felt that his initial decision was wrong.
For such an important matter, he should have pressed for all the details in one go. Why did he give up on asking back then?
Jiang Que puffed his cheeks, remembering the situation from a few days ago.
He had been busy eating various foods, attending classes and studying, and desperately trying to figure out what “liking someone” meant to get closer to Shen Tazhi. There were just too many things going on, and this matter, which didn’t seem very important at the time, was pushed to the back of his mind along with the completed ‘Rebirth of the Divine Doctor: Clumsy Miss is Too Arrogant’.
He needed to find a way to bring up this matter in front of Shen Tazhi. Even if he reacted strongly and resisted, he had to get the answers out…
The journey from Haitian Amusement Park to the Hai Xi International Hotel was only about ten minutes by car. After Jiang Que’s distracted contemplation, Shen Tazhi had already parked the car in the parking lot.
As the car engine turned off, Jiang Que quickly snapped back to reality, nonchalantly got out of the car with Shen Tazhi, and walked into the hotel, returning to their room.
The assistant had already come to tidy up in the afternoon. The large bed in the hotel room was neat again, and everything in the wardrobe and drawers had been removed.
Jiang Que dropped his backpack, retrieved his pajamas from the suitcase, greeted Shen Tazhi, and headed to the bathroom to prepare for a shower. Meanwhile, Shen Tazhi began to pack up the luggage they had brought today.
As the bathroom door closed, Shen Tazhi’s previously tense demeanor relaxed.
He absentmindedly touched his lips, feeling a bit surreal.
He had actually kissed Jiang Que just now.
Though technically speaking, it wasn’t really a kiss; it was more like Jiang Que lightly nibbling his lips. However, it was indeed a kiss with their lips touching.
…Shen Tazhi, calm down. You are so much older than Jiang Que, you shouldn’t be losing your composure at this moment.
Shen Tazhi slapped his own face, squatted down to start packing, and slowly realized why the assistant had taken the initiative to prepare so many things for him:
He had booked the presidential suite near the amusement park for Jiang Que, specifically requesting a single large bed. It all seemed very suspicious, so it was understandable why the assistant had misunderstood.
In reality, when he booked the room, he had just thought that Jiang Que liked sleeping with him, and a larger bed would make it easier for Jiang Que’s tentacles to stretch out.
As Shen Tazhi thought this, he was about to take out his phone to message the assistant, who had been so diligent all day, when he heard a scream from the bathroom:
“Shen Tazhi!!”
Shen Tazhi quickly put down his phone, went to the bathroom door, knocked, and asked, “Que Que, what’s wrong?”
From inside, Jiang Que’s voice, a mix of surprise and disbelief, replied, “Come in quickly!”
Puzzled, Shen Tazhi worried that Jiang Que might have encountered a problem in the bathroom, so he immediately pushed the door open and entered.
The next moment, he was stunned.
He saw Jiang Que sitting in the bathtub with his back to him. The eight fierce tentacles at the shoulder blades were raised high, allowing him to see the back under the coiled tentacles.
In the midst of the dark tentacles, a small, tender tentacle tip emerged from the original lump on the fair back.
