Ruan Qiuping: "..."
Ruan Qiuping lowered his head and mumbled softly, "At least you should have discussed it with me first."
Xia Fushui glanced at him, "Would discussing it with you make any difference? Do you have the option to refuse? Out of forty-nine heavenly thunderbolts, how many could you withstand?"
Ruan Qiuping: "...Five... seven... eight! I think I could withstand eight."
Xia Fushui: "I think you'd fall after just three!"
Ruan Qiuping: "..."
Xia Fushui looked at Ruan Dongdong, who was squatting in the vegetable garden not far away, watching ants. She said softly, "But compared to Dongdong, you do meet the conditions better."
After saying this, Xia Fushui walked past Ruan Qiuping to find Ruan Dongdong.
Ruan Qiuping couldn't see Xia Fushui's expression, but he clearly heard the melancholy in her voice.
He lowered his head, pressing his thumb against each of his other fingers in turn until they ached. He opened his mouth, and finally managed to say softly, "...Mom, I'm sorry."
Xia Fushui paused for a moment. She turned to look at Ruan Qiuping, her delicate face showing no particular expression, "What are you sorry for?"
Ruan Qiuping: "...I know you've always wanted to arrange a marriage between Dongdong and the God of Fortune."
That's why she wanted to bring Dongdong down to the mortal world, why she went to trade for beautiful clothes for Dongdong, why she taught Dongdong etiquette... But in the end, it was he who became engaged to the God of Fortune.
Xia Fushui frowned slightly, "What did you do wrong?"
Ruan Qiuping was stunned for a moment, then stammered, "I... I ruined your plans."
"Is that your fault?"
"...I... because I'm the God of Misfortune, that's why this happened."
Xia Fushui looked at Ruan Qiuping silently and said, "Ruan Qiuping, you can apologize for anything, but you must never apologize for being the God of Misfortune."
"Because that's not your fault."
Ruan Qiuping's lips trembled slightly, but he didn't say anything.
A gust of wind blew through the courtyard, rustling the leaves on the trees. Yellowing leaves fluttered down, with one or two landing on Ruan Qiuping's shoulders.
Xia Fushui reached out her hand, her face expressionless, and used her magic to brush away the leaves from Ruan Qiuping's shoulders. "Do you understand?"
Seeing Ruan Qiuping nod, she finally relaxed her furrowed brow and turned to leave.
Watching Xia Fushui's retreating figure, Ruan Qiuping slowly reached out his hand and touched his own shoulder. Ruan Shengfeng was a nature immortal, while Xia Fushui was a transformation immortal. Xia Fushui's original form was a lotus flower, so the magic she used took the shape of a large lotus petal. Just now, when Xia Fushui brushed away the leaves for him, that lotus petal swept across Ruan Qiuping's shoulder, the touch gentle and soft, like being caressed by a mother's hand.
The corners of Ruan Qiuping's lips turned up slightly, and he smiled, feeling a bit happy.
.
It was time again for the daily "practice" session. Ruan Qiuping lay in a pile of fallen leaves on the back mountain, contemplating life.
So... not long after Yu Huan returns from his mortal trial, he would be marrying Yu Huan?
It felt so strange...
Ruan Qiuping rolled over in the pile of leaves.
He didn't know how to define his relationship with Yu Huan before, but now it was simple - they would be partners.
Ruan Qiuping suddenly remembered that when Yu Huan returned from his mortal trial, he would be officially deified, becoming the true God of Fortune with boundless magical powers. Surely he wouldn't be afraid of the little bit of misfortune clinging to Ruan Qiuping, which meant... which meant he could touch Yu Huan freely?!
Ruan Qiuping had never dared to think about marriage before, but now he was actually going to have a partner!
And not just any partner, but one he could touch freely!!!
Ruan Qiuping's face suddenly turned a bit red. He rolled over on the ground again, but this time, he was clearly happy.
Ruan Qiuping casually picked up a maple leaf beside him and lightly placed it over his face.
Wait a minute!
Ruan Qiuping removed the maple leaf from his face, thinking of a serious question. No one had told him whether two male immortals together would have to endure heavenly thunderbolts, and if so, how many?!
He couldn't withstand too many!
But who could he ask about this?
Ruan Qiuping wracked his brains for a while, and finally thought of a way to find out - the Communication Mirror!
The Communication Mirror, as a common celestial tool in the immortal realm, became extremely popular as soon as it was invented. Immortals called the inquiries and exchanges in the Communication Mirror "mirror communications."
This celestial tool, invented several thousand years ago, was somewhat similar to human smartphones.
Ruan Qiuping immediately became restless. He used instant teleportation to return to his room and started looking for his Communication Mirror.
Ruan Qiuping had been quite fascinated with "mirror communications" for a while because people there didn't know he was the God of Misfortune, so no one ostracized him. It felt really good. But more than seventy years ago, a friend he usually chatted with quite well seemed to have found out his identity and suddenly started attacking and insulting him. Ruan Qiuping was upset for a long time after that and hadn't opened the Communication Mirror since.
It took Ruan Qiuping more than twenty minutes to find the Communication Mirror in a dusty box under his bed.
Ruan Qiuping cleaned the Communication Mirror and turned it on. Immediately, quite a few messages popped up, but they were all from several decades ago.
Ruan Qiuping glanced at a couple of them and found that most were still from that "friend" insulting him, with occasional messages from strangers saying things like, "I heard that talking to the God of Misfortune brings bad luck. Does communicating with the God of Misfortune through the mirror bring bad luck too? Let's try it, hehe."
At the time, Ruan Qiuping would have been very upset seeing these comments, but now he didn't feel much. He even found the sarcastic tone at the end of that sentence quite amusing.
He deleted all these messages with one click, then focused on searching the "communication root system" for "do two male immortals together need to face heavenly thunderbolts."
However, after trying several keywords, he couldn't find a single "chat tree" on the topic. He only found an anonymous old tree from decades ago titled "What to do if you discover your flirtatious mirror communication partner is the same sex? It's so disgusting, I want to kill him." But even after Ruan Qiuping scrolled through the entire chat tree from top to bottom, he couldn't find anyone mentioning whether two male immortals together would face heavenly thunderbolts.
Ruan Qiuping thought for a moment and decided to plant his own chat tree.
But remembering the experience of being chased and insulted seventy years ago, Ruan Qiuping changed his nickname as a precaution.
He had been very careful when choosing his nickname before, thinking for two whole days before settling on "Swing in Autumn." This time, he casually changed it to "Have a Question," and immediately planted a chat tree: "Do same-sex immortals face heavenly thunderbolts when they get together? Urgent, please respond."
Soon, he received a reply: No need. It was required several decades ago, but it's been reformed in recent years, so it's not necessary anymore.
Ruan Qiuping patted his chest, finally breathing a sigh of relief.
That's great, he wouldn't have to be struck by lightning to the brink of death on his wedding day.
After thanking the person who answered his question, Ruan Qiuping was about to log out of the mirror communication.
Just then, a new message suddenly popped up in his private grove.
Ruan Qiuping returned to his grove and saw that the person sending the message was actually "Banner Full Sky" - the "friend" who had insulted him for several months seventy years ago!
Ruan Qiuping's heart skipped a beat, and he nervously opened the message.
Banner Full Sky had actually sent him the post he had just made, "Do same-sex immortals face heavenly thunderbolts when they get together? Urgent, please respond," with a comment: Is this you?
Ruan Qiuping: "?!!!"
How fast! He had even changed his name, how could this person still find him?!
Seventy years have passed, isn't this over yet?!!
Ruan Qiuping originally thought he had grown and wasn't afraid of being insulted anymore, but then he wondered, what if this person's tongue had become even sharper after 70 years?
Just then, Ruan Qiuping suddenly noticed a small red dot in the upper left corner of the mirror. After clicking on it, a new function called "Felling" appeared, with an explanation: After using the Felling function, the other person can no longer send you messages and cannot enter your grove.
Afraid that insulting messages might come through at any second, Ruan Qiuping hurriedly clicked on this new function and felled Banner Full Sky.
How satisfying!
Ruan Qiuping stretched lazily and tossed the Communication Mirror back into the drawer.
He hummed softly, taking out the Good Deeds Record Book from the bookshelf.
He filled his fountain pen with ink, feeling there were many good things to write about today.
While the items from the God of Fortune brought good luck, the auspicious energy clinging to these objects had an expiration date. Given enough time, the lucky essence would naturally fade away.
So Ruan Qiuping planned to bring a new "protective charm" for Yu Huan every day before descending to the mortal realm. Fortunately, there were still some fragments of broken cups in the God of Fortune's trash bin, along with other items, which should suffice for a while.
After collecting the fragments, Ruan Qiuping swiftly moved to the Gate of Dust Observation. He had arrived too early; the Recorder of Fate wasn't there yet. Only Qi Yue and Ruan Qiuping stood before the gate.
"There's no inspection from the higher-ups today. You don't have to go down," Qi Yue said.
Ruan Qiuping kicked at the steps and replied, "I want to go myself."
"Why?" Qi Yue asked expressionlessly. "Aren't you afraid your bad luck might cause another accident for Yu Huan?"
Ruan Qiuping's foot hesitated for a moment before he said, "...I have my own solution. I won't let anything happen to Yu Huan again."
"Actually, an accident might be good," Qi Yue seemed to chuckle softly. "If the mortal Yu Huan dies in an accident, wouldn't he return to heaven earlier to marry you?"
Ruan Qiuping frowned, feeling that Qi Yue's words were oddly sarcastic today.
"Ruan Qiuping!" Jing Yang's voice came from not far away. He was dragging Chen Hai along, his eyes sparkling.
Seeing others arrive, Qi Yue silently walked away.
Ruan Qiuping glanced at Chen Hai, who was being dragged along the ground like a dead pig, and asked, "What's wrong with him?"
"Nothing much," Jing Yang said. "He just gets extremely hungry for a few days every month."
"Let's work together today!" Jing Yang suggested.
Ruan Qiuping nodded, "Of course, that would be great."
"We won't be disturbing you, will we?" Jing Yang winked and whispered.
"...No, it's better if you come along," Ruan Qiuping replied.
"Why?"
Ruan Qiuping's ears turned slightly red, unsure how to explain.
He had only gone down for one day yesterday, yet he had already fully experienced Yu Huan's passion and energy.
He couldn't imagine to what extent he could resist if he were to be alone with Yu Huan again today.
To be honest, he didn't particularly dislike intimate contact with Yu Huan, it was just... he had never been this close to anyone before, and this person was the little Yu Huan he had watched grow up. Although for Yu Huan, decades had passed, in Ruan Qiuping's memory, the last time they met, Yu Huan was still a 17-year-old boy. Going further back, the Yu Huan he saw just over half a month ago was still a child barely reaching his waist.
So every time Yu Huan... every time Yu Huan kissed him too passionately, he felt a bit strange, a mix of indescribable shame and peculiarity.
Ruan Qiuping felt he might need some time to adjust to the change in his relationship with Yu Huan, but because one day in heaven equaled one year on earth, Yu Huan simply couldn't wait.
They passed through the Gate of Dust Observation and were transported to the mortal realm.
The moment they opened their eyes, vast expanses of blue filled their vision.
"Ah! The sea!" Chen Hai, who had been lifeless and too hungry to walk just moments ago, suddenly sprang back to life. He ran towards the sea in excitement, shouting, "I'm coming, big crabs! I'm coming, big lobsters! I'm here, underwater feast!!!"
Jing Yang followed Chen Hai, while Ruan Qiuping looked around, searching for Yu Huan within a hundred meters.
Soon, Ruan Qiuping spotted Yu Huan in a glass-walled beach house about eighty meters behind him.
The entire glass wall was enormous and spotlessly clean. Ruan Qiuping could clearly see Yu Huan's features through the glass.
Yu Huan was sitting at a desk not far from the window, talking on the phone, his profile visible to Ruan Qiuping.
He seemed to be dealing with some thorny issue. He loosened his tie, and although his expression remained composed, his furrowed brow betrayed his less-than-optimistic mood.
Ruan Qiuping couldn't hear what he was saying, but he could see the anger in Yu Huan's posture as he put down the phone.
Then, the door to Yu Huan's room opened, and a string of executives in suits walked in.
After entering, they called out "President Yu" and then lowered their heads, slightly bending their waists, faces pale, looking extremely nervous.
Yu Huan glanced at them, picked up his cane from beside him, stood up, and walked step by step towards one of the men who kept wiping sweat from his brow.
He stopped in front of this man, looking down at him.
Although he hadn't said anything or done anything, his tall, straight posture and deep, unfathomable eyes gave off an indescribable sense of pressure.
He remained silent for a long time before finally saying something softly, but it was enough to make the man suddenly start trembling all over.
Yu Huan turned around, seemingly about to retrieve a document from the glass cabinet nearby.
But just as he touched the document, he froze.
Seeing the reflection in the glass cabinet, he whirled around to look at Ruan Qiuping outside the glass wall.
Ruan Qiuping waved, greeting him.
Suddenly, a smile blossomed on Yu Huan's face, his eyes sparkling, his expression bright and radiant.
Then, he quickly grabbed his cane and strode rapidly towards Ruan Qiuping.
—And promptly collided with the glass wall.
Ruan Qiuping: "..."
The executives behind him: "..."
Yu Huan rubbed his head, but the clear, bright smile remained on his face, seemingly unperturbed.
He kept his eyes on Ruan Qiuping as he changed direction towards the door.
Ruan Qiuping also walked forward, but before he could reach the main entrance of the beach house, Yu Huan had already emerged from somewhere, the joy on his face seemingly impossible to contain.
Yu Huan's steps grew faster and faster. When he was about five meters away from Ruan Qiuping, he suddenly let go of his cane and lunged towards him.
It was the familiar reunion from his memories.
Ruan Qiuping smiled and opened his arms, ready to receive the embrace.
But the expected hug didn't come. Instead, Yu Huan's right hand firmly locked around his waist, forcing him to step backward.
Caught off guard by this sudden move, Ruan Qiuping stumbled in his hasty retreat. Fortunately, Yu Huan was holding his waist so tightly, almost lifting him off the ground, that he didn't fall.
Ruan Qiuping was forced back against a palm tree behind him, his entire back pressed against the rough, uneven trunk. He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, his chin was lifted, and an impatient kiss fell upon his lips, almost stealing away all his breath.
Behind them was the blue sky, white clouds, and the sea. Beside them stood enormous palm trees and banana trees. They stood under a palm tree, with the large leaves of a nearby banana tree drooping down, obscuring most of their figures.
Yu Huan pinned Ruan Qiuping against the tree trunk, kissing him as if he were a desert traveler who had found an oasis, or a dying man who had encountered a deity—passionate and reluctant to part, overcome with emotion.