It took Ruan Qiuping quite a while to come back to his senses. Only then did he remember that there was another underage "victim" of this film. Ruan Qiuping hurriedly turned to look at Yu Huan.
Yu Huan was still standing in the same spot, his face expressionless, but Ruan Qiuping could tell that the boy had been significantly shocked.
At this moment, Ruan Qiuping deeply regretted not being more composed and careful when selecting the film earlier. If he had taken this task seriously, he wouldn't have made such a blunder, and more importantly, wouldn't have left such a big psychological shadow on little Yu Huan...
Wait... Could the child be frightened? Why hasn't he moved for so long?
Ruan Qiuping stood up and walked over to little Yu Huan, calling out cautiously, "Little Yu Huan?"
Yu Huan looked at him, his expression still relatively calm: "What is it?"
Ruan Qiuping glanced at the laptop on the table and very sincerely admitted his mistake: "Little Yu Huan, I'm sorry. It's all my fault for accidentally buying the wrong disc. Are you alright? Were you very frightened?"
Yu Huan was silent for a moment, then spoke: "I'm fine."
Ruan Qiuping breathed a sigh of relief. He reached out his right hand, stopping it in front of Yu Huan's eyes.
While softly saying, "Forget what you just saw," he made a grabbing gesture, as if catching the air and throwing it away.
"What is Ruan Ruan doing?" Yu Huan asked with a smile.
Ruan Qiuping thought for a moment, then said, "A spell, trying to make you forget the bad things you just saw."
Of course, Ruan Qiuping didn't actually know any memory-erasing spells, and even if he did, he wouldn't use them on Yu Huan. His gesture was at most for peace of mind, hoping little Yu Huan would quickly forget about this incident.
"What we just saw... was it a bad thing?" Yu Huan suddenly asked.
"Of course," Ruan Qiuping seriously explained to him, "You're still young, there are some things you don't understand yet. Everything in the world follows the principle of yin and yang balance. The union of a man and a woman is the right path. Things like what was in that film, if it happened in our... hometown, it would incur... heavenly punishment!" Although so far, Ruan Qiuping hadn't heard of any immortals being struck by heavenly lightning for such things, relationships between humans and immortals, immortals and demons, spirits and humans, and other cross-species romances were all subject to heavenly lightning. By extension, this kind of cross-gender love should probably also be subject to heavenly lightning, though he wasn't sure how many bolts...
Yu Huan silently lowered his eyes and said nothing more.
Just then, Ruan Qiuping suddenly noticed another DVD they had bought on the table.
Ruan Qiuping carefully examined the cover and breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, this one wasn't a mistake.
Ruan Qiuping pointed at that DVD and said, "Here's a normal DVD. Do you want to continue learning from this one? Maybe it can override the terrible memory from earlier."
As he spoke, Ruan Qiuping prepared to go over and put in the disc, but as soon as he turned around, Yu Huan grabbed his wrist.
"No need," Yu Huan said. "Actually, I'm not completely ignorant about these things."
"Don't try to act tough, of course you don't know any..."
"I got perfect scores in biology and health education in middle school," Yu Huan interrupted Ruan Qiuping. "I pretended not to know anything in the conference room just to tease you, but I didn't expect you to take it seriously."
Ruan Qiuping was stunned.
So little Yu Huan actually understood everything, but he, Ruan Qiuping, had been pretending to be knowledgeable while giving Yu Huan a clumsy education and explanation?
"Little Yu Huan, you..."
"Are you hungry? Want to eat?" Yu Huan asked.
"Don't try to change the subject, little Yu Huan. How could you deceive me again?"
"I didn't mean to deceive you, I was just joking, but I didn't expect..."
"Didn't expect that I'm so stupid that I couldn't even tell it was a joke?!" Ruan Qiuping asked, gritting his teeth.
Yu Huan: "..."
"Well, well, little Yu Huan, you've even started to think I'm stupid..."
"I don't think you're stupid..."
"You clearly do think I'm stupid!!!" Ruan Qiuping said angrily.
Yu Huan only denied looking down on him, but didn't deny that he was stupid!
Yu Huan: "..."
Ruan Ruan is actually quite smart.
To make amends, Yu Huan took Ruan Qiuping out for a big meal. Ruan Qiuping ate with great gusto, but he noticed that Yu Huan seemed a bit distracted, not only eating without much enthusiasm but also frequently zoning out.
"Little Yu Huan!" Ruan Qiuping waved a crab leg in front of Yu Huan's face. "What are you thinking about?"
Yu Huan snapped back to reality. He took the crab leg from Ruan Qiuping's hand and helped him pick out the meat: "Nothing."
Ruan Qiuping shook his head and sighed, with a look of having seen all the vicissitudes of life: "Ah, the child has grown up, now keeping secrets and not telling me things."
Yu Huan: "..."
Yu Huan put down what he was holding and asked seriously: "Ruan Ruan, in your opinion, what's the closest relationship between people?"
"Parent and child?"
"Besides parent and child?"
"Partners?"
"Then what kind of relationship do Ruan Ruan and I have?" Yu Huan asked in a deep voice.
Ruan Qiuping was taken aback for a moment, then answered: "Friends?"
Yu Huan lowered his gaze: "...Just friends?"
Ruan Qiuping thought for a moment, then said: "If you want to say parent and child, that's fine too. After all, I've watched you grow up, so you're like half a son to me. To be honest, a few years ago I even thought about asking you to recognize me as your godfather."
But then he thought that if he really became Yu Huan's godfather, he might be scolded by Yu Huan after his tribulation for taking advantage of him in the mortal world, so he painfully gave up on this idea.
Yu Huan: "..."
Ruan Qiuping suddenly noticed that Yu Huan's face had darkened. He realized that what he had just said wasn't very appropriate, so he corrected himself: "...If you don't want me to be your godfather, I can be your brother instead. From now on, we'll be brothers from different parents!"
Ruan Qiuping found that Yu Huan's expression still hadn't improved much.
Ruan Qiuping scratched his head, truly not understanding why little Yu Huan was unhappy.
Eh, as children grow older, their thoughts become more complex, and he couldn't even guess what was going on anymore.
Just then, Ruan Qiuping suddenly saw a beautiful figure flash by outside the window.
Ruan Qiuping excitedly grabbed Yu Huan's hand: "Look! The school beauty! The school beauty!!"
Yu Huan frowned: "Why are you so excited?"
At that moment, the short-haired girl next to the school beauty suddenly pulled her back. She looked at Yu Huan, waved her hand somewhat excitedly, and greeted him: "Yu Huan! I didn't expect to run into you here! Yiqing, this is my classmate, Yu Huan."
Ouyang Yiqing smiled gently: "Hello, I'm Lin Duoduo's friend, Ouyang Yiqing."
Yu Huan nodded expressionlessly.
Ruan Qiuping looked at Yu Huan and Ouyang Yiqing, strongly feeling the call of destiny.
Ah, is this predestined love?!!
Ruan Qiuping poked his head out and smiled at Ouyang Yiqing and Lin Duoduo: "Have you eaten yet?"
Lin Duoduo shook her head: "We were just about to go eat!"
"Then come join us!" Ruan Qiuping invited enthusiastically.
"...That doesn't seem appropriate."
"What's not appropriate about it? Aren't you all Yu Huan's classmates? I actually have some questions about Yu Huan that I'd like to ask you."
"...Well, if you insist. We'll come in through the front door."
After the two left the window, Yu Huan frowned slightly: "Ruan Ruan, why are you doing unnecessary things again?"
"How is this unnecessary? I'm laying the foundation for your love story!"
"I don't want to date," Yu Huan said. "I'm only 15, still too young."
"What do you mean too young?! This is the perfect age for romance..."
Yu Huan suddenly spoke up: "Ruan Ruan is so much older, but hasn't dated either, right?"
Yu Huan paused, then said slowly: "...By the way, how old are you exactly, Ruan Ruan? You've aged well. Ten years have passed, but you don't seem to have changed at all."
Ruan Qiuping: "..."
Ruan Qiuping hurriedly lowered his head to peel the crab in front of him: "...Oh, this crab is so hard to peel... Such a big crab, but there's so little meat to eat. Although it tastes good, we shouldn't come to this restaurant again in the future..."
Ruan Qiuping felt like he was about to break out in a cold sweat.
Oh no, how could he have forgotten about this? It seems he'll have to make himself look a bit older when he descends to the mortal world tomorrow, but not too obviously older... This is going to be difficult, so difficult...
Yu Huan observed Ruan Qiuping's hurried attempt to change the subject, lowered his eyes, and quietly sipped his tea.
"Excuse us."
At that moment, Ouyang Yiqing and Lin Duoduo pushed open the door of the private room, politely smiling at Ruan Qiuping.
Ruan Qiuping quickly stood up, smiling as he invited them to sit.
Because Ruan Qiuping's side of the table was a mess from eating, while Yu Huan's side was very clean, Ruan Qiuping deliberately pulled Yu Huan to sit next to him, allowing the two girls to sit across from them.
The waiter also happened to come over at this time, bringing two sets of bowls and chopsticks.
"I hear you're little Yu Huan's classmates. Please take good care of him in the future," Ruan Qiuping said, patting Yu Huan's shoulder and sighing. "This child has been a handful since he was young."
"Yu Huan is a handful?" Ouyang Yiqing laughed. "I thought he was the kind of good student that parents could always rely on."
Ruan Qiuping suddenly sensed a subtle atmosphere. He blinked and teased, "It seems Ouyang actually knows our Yu Huan quite well!"
Ouyang Yiqing's cheeks reddened, and she quietly lowered her head. "...Actually, I don't know him that well."
There's potential here!
Ruan Qiuping's blood was boiling.
Is this the unique path of love blessed by the God of Fortune? How smooth and unobstructed it seems!!!
Ruan Qiuping rested his chin on his hand, squinting as he said, "It's good that you don't know him too well. It means there's more room to get to know each other in the future."
As he spoke, Ruan Qiuping gestured towards Yu Huan: "The more you get to know him, the more you'll discover that our Yu Huan is even more outstanding and lovable than you imagined. Don't be frightened by his cold face; he's actually just a child at heart."
"Yiqing is the same!" Lin Duoduo said excitedly. "Others say Yiqing seems unapproachable, but she's just shy. She's actually super, super cute on the inside!"
"Is that so? It seems Yu Huan and Ouyang are very similar," Ruan Qiuping remarked.
"Yes, and since middle school, Yu Huan and Yiqing have both been very famous. People from other schools even call them the golden couple of Yusen Middle School!"
"Duoduo, stop talking..." Ouyang Yiqing said, blushing as she nudged Lin Duoduo's arm.
Ruan Qiuping leaned close to Yu Huan's ear: "Why don't you just date, little Yu Huan? There aren't many people in this world as well-matched as you two."
"Ruan Qiuping."
Yu Huan rarely called Ruan Qiuping by name. He looked up and asked, "Are you that eager to push me onto someone else?"
Yu Huan stared at Ruan Qiuping without blinking, his eyes as dark as spilled ink. The emotions swirling in his eyes were like rolling storm clouds, seemingly harboring a cold intent of an impending tempest.
For some reason, Ruan Qiuping suddenly felt a bit unnerved by the gaze of this 15-year-old boy.
Just then, Lin Duoduo spoke up again.
"By the way, you're Yu Huan's older brother, right?"
Ruan Qiuping turned his head.
Brother?
Ruan Qiuping wasn't quite sure how to answer.
A few minutes ago, he had discussed this very question with little Yu Huan, but whether he said they were friends, father and son, or brothers, Yu Huan didn't seem satisfied. So what kind of relationship did little Yu Huan want them to have?
"He's the person I like," Yu Huan suddenly said, his gaze cool and devoid of warmth, as if mocking or sulking. "I'm gay."
"Clatter!"
"Clatter!"
"Clatter!"
The chopsticks of the other three people fell to the ground in unison.