Su Tingbai's Alt Account

Whenever people felt awkward, they always seemed especially busy. Su Tingbai diligently served Shen Rui'an, as if apologizing for having reddened Shen Rui'an's wrist earlier.

"Shen Rui'an, try this. Didn't you want ribs? Salt-and-Pepper Ribs, mildly spicy. You should like them." He used the serving chopsticks to place the most perfect piece of Salt-and-Pepper Ribs into Shen Rui'an's bowl.

"And this too, soy sauce chicken leg. Have you had it before? It tastes pretty good. Try it?"

"And..."

Shen Rui'an's eyes darted busily after Su Tingbai's hand. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Su Tingbai spoke again and cut him off.

Seeing that his bowl was nearly overflowing, Shen Rui'an puffed out his cheeks, frowned, and said to Su Tingbai in a huff, "My bowl is almost full. You can't keep giving me food. I want those wild greens. Stop already."

His voice still drifted out a little weakly, giving it an airy quality, but it was so pleasant that Su Tingbai found it as adorable as a hissing kitten.

"Fine, serve yourself." Stop acting cute, Su Tingbai thought.

Su Tingbai felt his ears getting a little hot and reached up to touch them. If Shen Rui'an had looked up, he would have seen that Su Tingbai's ears had turned red.

Little Zhu and A-Ming looked at the small plate in front of Shen Rui'an that was meant for holding food. It was already piled high, then they looked at themselves. Little Zhu shamelessly held out his rice bowl. "If you can't finish it, give it to me!"

Su Tingbai shot Little Zhu a glare. "There's plenty on the table. Serve yourself!"

"Pfft—" A-Ming and the two girls raised their glasses to cover their mouths, exchanging glances. Little Zhu really was a silly kid.

Little Zhu did not take it to heart. He had a big appetite and had already gnawed through one chicken leg earlier. Now he picked up another. "Delicious! Young Master Shen, hurry and try it. It's really good. Our boss's cooking is pretty decent!"

Little Zhu truly deserved his reputation as half a food streamer. He ate so appetizingly that Shen Rui'an kept glancing at the soy sauce chicken leg Su Tingbai had put in his bowl. Finally unable to resist, he picked it up and took a huge bite like Little Zhu had. His eyes immediately lit up. "It really is!"

Su Tingbai felt pleased. Seeing Shen Rui'an eating so happily, he could not help feeling a little buoyant, his heart full of accomplishment. Even his own meal tasted better.

Ya-ya opened a bottle of cola. "Who wants cola?"

"Me, me!" Shen Rui'an raised his hand, still holding a chicken leg. He rarely got to drink things like this, so he was truly craving it!

Without drawing attention to himself, Su Tingbai handed over his cup. Ya-ya filled it, and Su Tingbai took it back and set it in front of Shen Rui'an. The cola had been chilled and was still fizzing, giving off a cool chill.

"Thank you, Su Tingbai!" Shen Rui'an took the tissue Su Tingbai offered and wiped his hands, then cradled the cup and took a sip of cola. Instantly, both body and mind felt satisfied.

Because of his weak health, the Shen Household rarely let Shen Rui'an drink chilled things. Even chilled juice was out of the question.

Once, Shen Rui'an had secretly tried chilled juice. He ended up with an upset stomach, and the Shen Household stayed brightly lit all night. After that, Shen Rui'an learned his lesson and did not dare mess around on his own again.

Later, under a nutritionist's guidance, he had drunk juice with ice a few times. Sometimes nothing happened, sometimes it did, and Shen Rui'an could not figure out the pattern. So he simply avoided it altogether.

But he loved watching food streams. Cola with ice, fried chicken, Fire Chicken Noodles... just watching it looked unbelievably satisfying!

Now that he was with Su Tingbai, Shen Rui'an had truly let himself go. He just did not know whether this mouthful of cola would make him suffer afterward.

Shen Rui'an had been conquered by the chilled cola and had no attention left for such concerns. At worst, he would be weak for a few days!

Shen Rui'an drank more than half the cup. Su Tingbai frowned tightly. "Hurry and try the ribs while they're still hot. They taste better that way." Stop drinking so much cola.

Su Tingbai did not put it so bluntly. His instincts told him that if he really said it, he would probably anger Shen Xiaoyao again.

Shen Rui'an, whose fur had been smoothed the right way, obediently began trying the ribs after finishing the chicken leg. The mildly spicy, savory flavor filled his mouth, and he felt saliva constantly gathering. He sped up and gnawed clean the rib, then ate some white rice to cleanse his palate before turning his attention to the Oil-Braised Prawns.

The prawns were huge. With their heads removed, they were not so pokey to eat, but their shells were still on.

Shen Rui'an did not like shell-on prawns. Even though the shells had been fried crisp and coated in sauce, he stared at one in distress for a while. He tried a bite, and it did taste good, but he still did not like prawns with shells on them.

Shen Rui'an set down the prawn and planned to peel it. His long fingers held the prawn as he awkwardly tried to remove the shell. Before he had even gotten halfway, the prawn seemed to come alive, slipping from between his fingers and falling onto the small plate.

Su Tingbai, who had been watching him from the corner of his eye, paused. He did not like prawn shells?

He set down his bowl and chopsticks and wiped his hands.

Shen Rui'an blinked blankly. Just as he was about to pick it up and continue peeling it, a strong, sturdy hand in a glove easily grasped the prawn. In no time, the shell was removed, and it was placed steadily in front of Shen Rui'an. "Here."

Su Tingbai peeled prawns as though he were putting on some kind of artistic performance, his movements smooth and fluid. Shen Rui'an stared in amazement. "That's incredible. Thank you, Su Tingbai."

Calling Su Tingbai by name was becoming more and more natural to Shen Rui'an.

He picked up the prawn and ate it in one bite. Without the shell, the sauce coating it tasted a little less intense, but it was still incredibly delicious to Shen Rui'an. He ate with exceptional satisfaction, his eyes narrowing as though he were a full, contented cat preparing for a nap.

The corners of Su Tingbai's lips lifted almost imperceptibly. "You're welcome."

When Shen Rui'an was nearly full, he picked up a few bites of Indian Aster, then sheepishly set his chopsticks down. Well, it really did help clear the heat, but he did not like eating it.

The bitterness of stir-fried Indian Aster became milder, leaving behind a faint sweetness. It was excellent for cutting through greasiness, making a few bites perfect alongside such rich meat dishes.

Perhaps Shen Rui'an was simply too full. He felt the ribs were still the best, but after picking at them twice, he ultimately decided to finish with a sip of mushroom soup.

Su Tingbai noticed, but he said nothing. He merely took a few more bites of Indian Aster. Before long, the Indian Aster had been completely divided up between him, Meng Meng, and the others.

Everyone enjoyed the meal.

After eating and drinking their fill, Su Tingbai led his team into work. The editors edited, and the music team handled the soundtrack.

Su Tingbai did not need to supervise any of it. He only needed to review the final product and decide whether to release it.

While Little Zhu and the others got busy, Su Tingbai was also occupied in his room.

He imported everything he had filmed from the camera onto his computer, edited it, and uploaded it to the alt account where he posted daily vlogs.

Some of his fans knew about his alt account, but it had far fewer followers than his main account. So he treated it like a social media feed, and it felt more personal that way.

Since it was a lifestyle vlog, Su Tingbai did not chase traffic. He edited it according to his own preferences, added music, and uploaded it. Before long, his notifications had hit 99+, but he did not check them. He shut down the computer, stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, and looked at the small, slender figure in the distant pavilion.

While everyone else was frantically busy, Shen Rui'an, full and satisfied, was taking Baisui—who was equally full and ready for a nap—for a walk around the courtyard.

Su Tingbai's estate was beautifully built and quite large, like a little park. Shen Rui'an walked and stopped as he pleased, not wanting to disturb their work inside. In the entire estate, he was the only idle wanderer.

Baisui was nodding off, so Shen Rui'an had no choice but to carry him into a small pavilion and sit down to rest. He turned his phone's volume all the way down and began scrolling through Douyin.

The terrifying thing about big data was this: Shen Rui'an scratched his head as he watched the video. Had he somehow come across Su Tingbai's alt account?