Chen Xiaochan stood on tiptoe, her eyes shining, her face full of anticipation.
"Try them!"
"Dad!"
Beside her, Yang Chan folded her arms, smiling broadly. "Qingquan, Xiao Chan'er kneaded the dough and added the seasonings herself. Before you came in, she kept saying that now you'd been promoted to True Lord, your duties must be exhausting, and insisted on cooking you a bowl of something sweet."
Chen Wei looked at the bowl in his hands, then at his daughter's expectant face.
Really.
What father could withstand that?
"I'll eat them!"
"Right this instant!"
Chen Wei picked up the jade spoon, scooped up a tangyuan, and put it in his mouth.
There were no surprises. It was so sweet it turned bitter, cloying enough to choke him.
"Dad?" Chen Xiaochan blinked and tilted her head. "Is it good?"
Seeing her expression, Chen Wei forced a look of delighted surprise. "Good? It's wonderful! These are the second-best tangyuan I've ever eaten in my life."
Yang Chan's lips curled upward slightly.
There was no question who had made the best ones, so their daughter could only take second place.
Even so, Chen Xiaochan clapped her hands in delight. "I knew it! Mom said you love sweet things!"
Chen Wei maintained his smile while his peripheral vision swept swiftly around the courtyard. Chen Xiang, whom he had just reprimanded and hauled all the way home, was tiptoeing toward his own room.
An idea came to him.
Better a fellow cultivator perish than this poor Daoist.
The Heavenly Court's rule was to share blessings and bear hardships together. All the more so with his own son, right?
"Xiang'er." Chen Wei's voice was gentle, brimming with fatherly love. "Stop right there."
Chen Xiang, who had been about to slip away, stiffened all over. He reluctantly turned