"...It must be that their hearts weren't sincere," the man said.
"How do you tell whether someone's heart is sincere or not?" Li Ping'an asked in confusion.
"For last year's rites, our county offered three hundred pigs, two hundred sheep, and countless treasures of gold and silver..."
The man counted them off one by one.
"What about the other counties?"
"They gave offerings too, but even put together, theirs weren't as much as our county's."
At this, the man paused.
"That's understandable, though. Ours is the richest of these counties. Even all the others combined can't compare with us."
Li Ping'an shook his head. "If that's all it takes, how could he deserve to be a god?"
"Hey!"
The man hurriedly clapped a hand over Li Ping'an's mouth and glared fiercely at him.
"The Sea God knows everything. You can't go saying things like that!"
Li Ping'an smiled apologetically. "I misspoke."
Night grew late, and he took a hot bath.
He changed into clean clothes and lay in bed, drinking piping-hot rice broth.
Kitten drank three bowls in a row, with only her little furry head poking out of the covers.
Looking at Big Ping’an, who neither ate nor drank, she hooked a claw into his clothes.
When she saw Big Ping’an turn to look at her,
she lowered her head as though she didn't care and played with her paws.
It was as though nothing had happened.
But when Big Ping’an turned his head away, she reached out a paw to tug at his clothes again.
"What are you doing, Fairy?" Li Ping'an finally couldn't help asking.
"Meow~"
"Does Big Ping’an have something on his mind?"
"Yes."
"You can tell Fairy what's on your mind."
"You should go read, Fairy."
"Fairy finished reading."
"Then go have Niu Niu play