The children chattered about how tall Pei Yubai was.
Since Qiguan Yuan was crouching, he had to look up at Pei Yubai. Tilting his head back, he asked, "Finished your run?"
Pei Yubai nodded.
Qiguan Yuan noticed he was still a little breathless and asked, "Why are you panting so hard?"
Pei Yubai said nothing. He had indeed run faster than usual, and his breathing still hadn't settled.
But he didn't answer.
Qiguan Yuan didn't press him, either.
He looked down at the silver ornaments covering him and reached up to straighten the silver crown on his head a little.
The silver crown had been crooked for so long that he had gotten used to it. Straightening it actually felt uncomfortable, so he tilted it back again.
Pei Yubai's gaze swept over the silver ornaments one by one before finally settling on Qiguan Yuan's face.
Surrounded by silver, Qiguan Yuan's face was so fair it seemed to glow. His lips curved upward, his eyes were smiling, and he looked happy all over.
"The livestream's about to start," Pei Yubai said, his voice a little tight. "Time to go back for breakfast."
Qiguan Yuan was in a good mood and answered readily, "Okay."
He looked down at the silver bangle in his arms, then at the rings and chains on his hands, and began taking them off.
He moved quickly, taking the silver crown off his head, glancing at it, and handing it to the child with the little topknot in front of him. Relying on his memory, he returned every child's silver ornaments.
Finally, he took out the silver bangle in his arms, glanced at it, and handed it to an older boy beside him who hadn't said a word.
The older boy was about eight or nine. He stood outside the crowd, empty-handed, and hadn't offered any silver ornaments or put anything on Qiguan Yuan.
He had only stood there, watching Qiguan Yuan the whole time.
Qiguan Yuan held the bangle out to him. "Yours."
The older boy froze.
He had been standing outside the crowd the whole time. How had the pretty big brother known the bangle was his?
The pretty big brother had clearly been looking at the other children all along.
Qiguan Yuan said nothing more. He pressed the bangle into the boy's hand, then reached out and patted his head.
"Little dumpling, happiness is something human cubs should have. You should have it too. You have the right to ask to be doted on," Qiguan Yuan said.
The older boy's face instantly flushed, even redder than the others'. He hugged the bangle to his chest and lowered his head, the tips of his ears glowing red and his eyes slightly reddened too. "Okay..."
After returning all the silver ornaments, Qiguan Yuan stood up.
He had crouched for so long that his legs had gone a little numb. He swayed as he stood, and Pei Yubai reached out to steady his arm.
Once Qiguan Yuan had his balance, Pei Yubai withdrew his hand and slipped it back into his trouser pocket.
Qiguan Yuan didn't look at Pei Yubai. Looking down at the children, he reached out and patted each of their heads in turn.
"I'm going back now," he said, his voice quiet and gentle. "You should go home for breakfast too."
The children looked up at him, calling, "Bye, big brother!"
Some little dumplings also called, "Come back tomorrow, pretty big brother!"
Qiguan Yuan didn't answer. He smiled, turned, and left.
Pei Yubai followed him. They headed back along the flagstone path, Qiguan Yuan walking unhurriedly with light steps.
Pei Yubai walked beside him without speaking.
"Those human cubs are adorable," Qiguan Yuan suddenly said.
Pei Yubai gave a hum of agreement.
Qiguan Yuan tilted his head to glance at him. "You don't like little dumplings?"
Pei Yubai thought for a moment, then answered honestly, "It's not that I dislike them."
He didn't dislike them, but he wasn't particularly fond of them either.
Qiguan Yuan nodded and asked no more.
The two entered the stilt house and went up the stairs.
The second-floor door was open, and voices came from the living room.
Shen Yuzhou's voice was the loudest, saying, "Seriously?" Then came Cheng Yanqiu's laughter, followed by Lin Yanru's gentle voice.
All the guests were awake by now. That meant the livestream had most likely started too.
Pei Yubai pushed the door open.
The living room was full of people. Shen Yuzhou sat on the sofa, munching on a flatbread.
Cheng Yanqiu sat in a chair opposite him, holding a cup of water and smiling brightly.
Lin Yanru sat beside Cheng Yanqiu, writing something in a notebook on her lap.
Jiang Wantang sat in a chair by the window, listening to their conversation.
Ji Shiyu came out of the kitchen carrying a pot of congee and smiled upon seeing Pei Yubai.
Everyone looked over when Pei Yubai entered.
After Pei Yubai came through the door, another figure walked in behind him.
Then everyone saw Qiguan Yuan.
The livestream had already started. The follow-along camera had originally been pointed at the living room, but the moment Pei Yubai pushed the door open, the camera operator instinctively turned it toward him.
On-screen, Qiguan Yuan stood in the doorway. He wore a black shirt, his long silver hair falling over his shoulders and chest. His stand collar was loosely fastened, revealing a stretch of collarbone.
A red thread wound around his wrist, and his cuffs were rolled up twice, exposing his fair forearms. Morning light shone from behind him, gilding his outline with a thin layer of gold.
No one in the living room spoke.
Qiguan Yuan stood in the doorway, looking at them.
His clear, languid voice reached them, sending a tingle through their ears. "Good morning, everyone."
Ji Shiyu and Shen Yuzhou knew Qiguan Yuan would be staying with them for the next couple of days.
They were only surprised by his current look.
Every time they had seen Qiguan Yuan, he had been dressed in a long red robe.
Suddenly seeing a different side of Qiguan Yuan had enough impact to leave them both momentarily dazed.
But while Ji Shiyu and Shen Yuzhou knew Qiguan Yuan was there, Cheng Yanqiu, Lin Yanru, and Jiang Wantang didn't.
Suddenly seeing Qiguan Yuan's face, so beautiful it could outrage gods and men, paired with his eye-catching look, had the greatest impact on those three.
Still, everyone quickly recovered.
Shen Yuzhou spoke first. "Qiguan..."
Qiguan Yuan spoke before he could continue. "Just call me by my name."
Faced with Qiguan Yuan, Shen Yuzhou really couldn't bring himself to call him by his name, so he called him, "Brother Yuan."
The others greeted Qiguan Yuan too.
Meanwhile, the moment Qiguan Yuan appeared on camera with his new look, all the viewers who had bullet comments enabled could see nothing but a dense sea of:
[!!!]
[!!!!]
[!!!!!]
Exclamation marks filled the screen.
The viewers whose gazes had been firmly captured by Qiguan Yuan's looks had already swiftly turned off the bullet comments before their brains could catch up.
They lost themselves in the peerless beauty of this gorgeous man with hair that was both silver and long.
Inwardly, they cried, I'm done for!
They fell straight into the pit.
This beauty was so fierce, so unreasonable. He had hammered them straight to the bottom of the pit, leaving them no way out.
Of course, they hadn't wanted to get out anyway.
Watching the numbers soar wildly, Meng Xu slapped his thigh in excitement.
Qiguan Yuan really was his lucky star!