Chili Devotee

A husband?

Shen Rui'an was startled by his own thought for a moment. Why had he thought that?

Feeling a little guilty, he awkwardly glanced at Su Tingbai, who was still busy in the kitchen, then looked away and silently rubbed his slightly burning face.

But...

Wasn't Su Tingbai practically no different from a husband now?

Right! It was Su Tingbai's fault! Shen Rui'an thought, utterly lacking in justification but full of confidence.

"It's ready. It's a little hot, so wait for it to cool down before eating, okay?" Su Tingbai brought over the fried chicken. After reminding Shen Rui'an, he called Little Zhu and the others over to try some too.

He then prepared several dipping dishes for the fried chicken: plain chili powder, cumin powder, and black pepper.

He also brought over Korean spicy sauce, honey mustard, and other sauces. How they ate it was up to their personal tastes.

Most of what he had fried were mid-wings and drumettes, along with some large drumsticks. There was a huge amount, neatly piled onto a large platter, looking especially impressive.

But none of it would go to waste. He had counted the number of people, and it should be enough to finish it all.

Freshly fried chicken smelled especially delicious. The aroma tempted Shen Rui'an so much that he wanted to dig right in. If Su Tingbai hadn't reminded him it was hot, he might really have picked one up and started gnawing on it.

"Here, gloves." Su Tingbai put a pair of disposable gloves on Shen Rui'an.

His fingers were long and slender, making the gloves easy to slip on.

Shen Rui'an let him put the gloves on, then suddenly remembered his lemonade. He turned to get up and retrieve it from beside the beanbag chair, but before he could stand, Su Tingbai pressed him back down. "I'll get it."

He refilled the lemonade in Shen Rui'an's cup before bringing it over, and also grabbed a large bottle of cola.

"Ya-ya, bring over some ice."

"Okay." Ya-ya went to the refrigerator, opened it, and brought over half a small bucket of edible ice cubes.

Little Zhu poured cola for everyone, while Meng Meng added ice to their cups. Ice-cold cola with fried chicken drumsticks—an absolute match!

Meanwhile, A-Ming adjusted the livestream camera angle. He aimed it at the dining table and shifted it slightly to the right, so it could capture the others while only showing Shen Rui'an's hands. Satisfied with the adjustment, A-Ming walked over.

Baisui caught the scent of fried chicken in the air and greedily circled everyone's feet. After wagging his tail, he sat down neatly on the floor, raised his fluffy little head, and gazed at everyone with watery, pleading eyes, letting out soft whimpers.

The sight amused everyone. Su Tingbai brought over the roasted chicken drumstick he had specially prepared for Baisui, while Shen Rui'an gave him an order. "Baisui, bring your dog bowl over."

Baisui immediately barked, then wagged his tail as he quickly brought over his stainless steel bowl.

This bowl was the one he regarded as his food bowl. Shen Rui'an had seen how much he liked it, so he hadn't replaced it with another one.

Stainless steel was pretty good anyway—durable, resistant to damage, and easy to clean.

With a clang, Baisui set down his food bowl. Seeing the little dent in it, Su Tingbai laughed. "Baisui really is a dog from Gui Province. So thrifty."

He knew that many families in Gui Province liked to use stainless steel bowls as dishes. When he had gone there to learn how to make Snail Rice Noodles, most of the dogs he saw also ate from stainless steel bowls. They were the sort of bowls passed down through three generations—people came and went, but the bowls remained. If a bowl became dented, it would usually end up as a cat or dog's food bowl.

As if he understood that Su Tingbai was praising him, Baisui sat even straighter. Without blinking, he stared at Su Tingbai's movements. The moment he saw the deboned drumstick set down, he immediately barked his thanks before launching into a frenzied feast.

Shen Rui'an held a large drumstick in his hand. Seeing Baisui start eating, he began on his own fried chicken drumstick too. He had been craving it for so, so long!

He took a small bite of the fried drumstick, and the fragrant, crispy chicken skin immediately filled Shen Rui'an with satisfaction.

He had finally gotten to eat it!

He first took a bite of the original flavor without dipping it in anything. Since the drumstick had been marinated, it was flavorful even without seasoning. Crispy on the outside and tender inside, the meat was juicy beneath the crackling skin. That crispy coating made Shen Rui'an feel like he wasn't eating stewed chicken, and he was instantly content.

He dipped it in a little black pepper powder. The faint spicy kick stimulated his appetite even more.

Delicious!

He repeated the process with some cumin powder, and it became an entirely different flavor.

Shen Rui'an secretly glanced at Su Tingbai, then quietly reached for the chili powder. Even as he reached, he carefully watched to see whether Su Tingbai had noticed.

Su Tingbai definitely wouldn't let him eat chili powder!

But fried chicken without chili powder was like fried chicken without a soul!

Shen Rui'an actually wanted to try the Korean spicy sauce too, but it was too far away, so he gave up.

The livestream viewers saw the whole scene.

Even though only a pair of hands appeared on camera, the movements were so sneaky that everyone found them irresistibly amusing.

[Those hands belong to Shen An'an, right? He's always so cat-sneaky. He seriously kills me.]

[Why does he have to take chili like that every time? Can't he just ask openly?]

[Because if he asked openly, he'd probably get refused, so he can only sneak it.]

[Why isn't he allowed to eat spicy food? Is it something he can't eat?]

[I heard Shen An'an is frail and has a bad stomach, so he can't eat anything too spicy. That's why Su Tingbai restricts him.]

[Su Tingbai, look at those little hands beside you! They're about to reach the chili!]

[Oh-ho, he got caught.]

The barrage was full of people gleefully watching the drama unfold. Shen Rui'an was the only one heartbroken, because he had been caught red-handed by Su Tingbai.

Su Tingbai had noticed Shen Rui'an's little movements long ago, but he hadn't said anything. Only when Shen Rui'an was about to touch the packet of chili powder beside him did he calmly grab a certain little cat's paw.

Meeting Little Cat Shen's guilty, evasive gaze, Su Tingbai raised an eyebrow. Shen Xiaoyao really did have a special devotion to spicy food!

Fine! Since he had behaved himself for the past dozen days or so, Su Tingbai would let him have a little taste.

"You can only have a little. You can't eat too much, understand?" Su Tingbai slowly loosened his grip, his gaze falling on Shen Rui'an's wrist. This time, no red marks had been left on the jade-pale skin. Su Tingbai breathed a sigh of relief. He had gotten the force right this time.

Shen Rui'an was practically overjoyed. His eyes brimmed with surprise and disbelief. "You're letting me eat spicy food?"

His expression was so delighted that it was as though Su Tingbai had given him not chili powder, but the greatest treasure in the world. Everyone couldn't help smiling knowingly, as if the sight of his smile had healed them all.

Su Tingbai's gaze settled on those dark eyes. In those limpid autumn-pool eyes, he saw the smile on his own face. He poured a little chili powder into Shen Rui'an's dipping bowl. "Mm. You can have just a little."

Just enough to satisfy his craving.

At that moment, Shen Rui'an couldn't take in anything else. His mind was full of the fact that he could eat spicy food. He nodded blissfully, then coated the drumstick he had already bitten several times in chili powder. He looked as devout as a chili devotee, as if he had offered a prayer in his heart before stuffing the chili-covered fried drumstick into his mouth.

Su Tingbai looked at the bright red chili powder in his own bowl, then at the tiny amount of chili on Shen Rui'an's drumstick, and fell silent. "..."

If he hadn't known the whole story, Su Tingbai would have started to suspect that he had been abusing Shen Rui'an.

The others were also endlessly amused by Shen Rui'an.