Spicy Shrimp

The grilled eel smelled absolutely incredible. Its oily skin had been charred until fragrant, while the snowy white, boneless flesh inside was tender from the grill. A sprinkle of salt was all it needed to taste amazing.

Su Tingbai had made several flavors for everyone to choose according to their preferences, and he had also prepared some seasonings.

He had grilled a huge number of skewers and arranged them neatly on a table. They looked mouthwatering, and there was enough for everyone to make a full round of them.

So Su Tingbai took a break for the moment, sitting beside Shen Rui'an and starting on some skewers himself.

A crab shell from the King Crab held a small bowl of cheesy crab fried rice. Su Tingbai placed it beside Shen Rui'an and thoughtfully brought him a spoon.

The rest was served in a large crab shell in the middle of the table.

"Your crab fried rice. Want to try it?" He placed the little spoon in Shen Rui'an's hand, then paused when his fingers touched Shen Rui'an's delicate hand.

Shen Rui'an did not notice the touch. His eyes lit up as he accepted the spoon. "Su Tingbai, you're such a nice person."

Xing Ying's gaze shifted between the two of them. Oh? Had Su Tingbai just gotten the good guy card?

Huo Heng could not resist being a pain. "Su Tingbai, you're such a nice person. Could you serve me a bowl too?"

Su Tingbai shot him a look. "Are your hands broken?"

Huo Heng clicked his tongue, then eagerly scooped up some fried rice himself and stuffed it into his mouth. He immediately gave Su Tingbai a thumbs-up. "Delicious!"

Everyone began eating. Shen Rui'an had felt a little awkward at first, but seeing how accustomed Su Tingbai and the others were to it, he gradually got used to it as well.

He held his spoon and took a bite of fried rice. It was so good that he could not stop himself from nodding. Baisui, who had been circling around his feet, was teased by Shen Rui'an's swinging foot and began running back and forth.

Su Tingbai's gaze swept across everyone before finally settling on Shen Rui'an's face. Seeing how happy he looked made him feel as though he had downed an iced cola in the heat of summer. He was immensely satisfied.

The viewers in the livestream had long since been driven wild with hunger.

[I swear, it still has to be Su Tingbai. This level of skill...]

[He made an entire tableful all by himself, holy crap!]

[As a chef, I love seeing that look of complete satisfaction on diners' faces when they eat!]

[Holy crap, everyone's eating so deliciously. You've made me hungry!]

[It was supposed to be barbecue, but it turned into barbecue plus a seafood feast. Who's jealous? I'm not saying!]

[My mouth has been watering nonstop and I can't make it stop!]

[Idiot, that's drooling because you're craving it!]

[When will someone invent phones that can share taste sensations? I'm seriously dying of cravings!]

[Holy crap, this really made Su Tingbai happy.]

[The one beside Su Tingbai is the new guest, right? Am I the only one who noticed that he looks at the new guest more than anyone else?]

[You're not the only one!]

Little Zhu and A-Ming took turns operating the camera, filming close-ups of everyone eating, except Shen Rui'an.

When the camera turned to Su Tingbai, he was peeling shrimp for Shen Rui'an.

"Can I have that shrimp with extra spice? I don't really want to eat this one," Shen Rui'an said.

From the corner of his eye, Su Tingbai glanced at Ya-ya's shrimp. She had piled on an enormous amount of chili; even someone who could handle spicy food would be left tongue-tied by it.

Su Tingbai refused. "No. That's way too spicy. Forget you—even Little Zhu might not be able to handle Ya-ya's level of spice."

Little Zhu nodded. "Yeah, Ya-ya can eat incredibly spicy food!"

Ya-ya, who had been eating with her head down, looked up amid her busy meal and smiled embarrassedly. "I'm from Sichuan Province, so I can handle spicy food really well. An-an, don't try it lightly!"

Half of Shen Rui'an's heart died, but he still refused to give up. Ya-ya's shrimp was covered in chili and looked especially appetizing. "I'll just have one bite!"

He held up his index finger to demonstrate.

Su Tingbai shook his head. "No."

Shen Rui'an pulled a sullen face. "Hmph. Then I want yours!"

The shrimp in Su Tingbai's bowl had chili on them too, though not nearly as much as Ya-ya's. Most of the others had some chili as well, while Shen Rui'an's alone had only cumin powder.

He was unhappy. He wanted to eat grilled spicy shrimp too!

The viewers, delighted by the spectacle, began egging them on.

[If the kid wants to eat it, let him eat it. Su Tingbai, hurry up and say yes!]

[That little hmph just made me lactate. How can he be this cute? I can't take it anymore! Su Tingbai, hurry up and agree!]

[Holy crap, so spoiled and adorable. Hiss, ha—]

[So pretentious. Can't he eat his own? Does he not have hands? Why does someone have to peel shrimp for him?]

[Oh, oh, oh, jealous again? Su Tingbai is happy to do it!]

[I also think the new guest is a little pretentious. If he can't eat spicy food, why insist on it? It's so annoying.]

[This counts as making a fuss? It's just flirting between a little couple. I'm shipping them first!]

[? Su Tingbai has a partner?]

[? The new guest is Su Tingbai's partner?]

[No wonder he treats the new guest so specially.]

[No! He doesn't! Don't believe or spread rumors! Stop misleading passersby!]

Su Tingbai ignored the livestream chat. Every time he streamed, he got deeply immersed in it and rarely interacted with his fans unless it was a fan-focused stream.

Whenever he cooked on stream, he became absorbed in cooking. If Meng Meng did not occasionally remind him, he might not even lift his head.

Faced with Shen Rui'an's request, he still refused, because the shrimp in his bowl were also very spicy. "No. You've already eaten quite a lot of spicy food, and your lips are red. You can't eat so much. Your stomach can't handle that much irritation."

Feeling guilty, Shen Rui'an touched his lips, which had been turned bright red by the spice, and looked toward the others.

Everyone who met his gaze silently looked away. Shen Rui'an, with his spice-reddened lips, had no idea how heart-stirring he looked right then.

Spicy food easily made his face flush, and even his eyes were slightly red, not to mention his lips. He had always been fair-skinned, making it stand out even more now. He looked as though someone had made him cry, so pitiful that anyone who held his gaze for three seconds would probably be unable to resist granting his request.

But the great demon king beside him was watching like a tiger, so no one dared move. They could only look away.

"Eat this instead. Cheesy crab leg—you wanted to try it before, didn't you?" Su Tingbai said softly, placing the plumpest crab leg before him. Yet his eyes remained on Shen Rui'an's face before finally dropping to his bright red lips.

They even seemed a little swollen.

Shen Rui'an's body really seemed to mark easily. He turned red from spicy food, and he would turn red if someone pinched him a little too hard too. Who knew...

Su Tingbai drifted off again. While he was distracted, Shen Rui'an picked up the shrimp from his bowl and tentatively licked it with the tip of his tongue. The spice made him jerk, and he put the shrimp down.

Su Tingbai came back to himself and handed him a cola, both irritated and amused. "You idiot, I told you it was spicy!"

Shen Rui'an was no longer curious. He obediently drank his cola, and after the burning sensation in his mouth faded, he guiltily scooped up crabmeat with his spoon. In the end, he even ate the cumin shrimp Su Tingbai had peeled for him, while leaving the spicy shrimp untouched in his bowl.

Su Tingbai took it, bit through the shell without peeling it, and swallowed it whole.

Xing Ying and Huo Heng exchanged a look, stunned. The skewers in their hands nearly fell to the ground.

Didn't Su Tingbai especially dislike eating food that other people had already touched? He did not mind now?

Little Zhu and the others were surprised too, but they were already used to it. After all, their boss had drunk coffee that Shen Rui'an had already drunk last time.

Su Tingbai came back to himself and remembered how that shrimp had been lightly licked by Shen Rui'an's bright red tongue. His heart immediately began to itch, and only then did he realize that his face was heating up too.

Ahem. He had only done it to avoid wasting food. There was absolutely no other meaning behind it.