Chapter 61: Anomalous Time 27

The old man spoke with utmost sincerity. The young man, whose earlobes had turned red from the warm indoor air, briefly zoned out before blinking his clear, pale eyes and softly agreeing.

“…I haven’t worn them these past few days.”

In weather that swung wildly between cold and heat, glasses that fogged up at the slightest provocation were nothing but a hassle.

After he spoke, a touch of embarrassment crept over him, and he quickly changed the subject. “Um, about those ice cubes we mentioned earlier…”

Zhang Yunjiang had just finished some idle chatter when the same thought struck him at nearly the same moment. He chimed in eagerly. “Right, the ice cubes! I’ll have someone prepare them right away!”

“Okay.” Yu Bai acknowledged him, hesitated for a moment, then murmured softly, “Thank you, Uncle Zhang.”

Thanks for the generous and warm hospitality.

And thanks for a few other things, too.

The one quietly savoring this stolen affection wasn’t just the old man himself.

Noon had passed. The sun hanging high outside the window gradually shed its blinding glare, easing into the longer, gentler light of afternoon.

When the clock on the wall struck exactly three o’clock, a faint patter of footsteps sounded in the elegantly appointed suite.

The footsteps crossed the living room, where he waited alone, and quietly nudged open the tightly shut bedroom door. A rush of frigid air hit him in the face.

This bedroom, once like a sweltering summer inferno, was now crammed with every cooling item the mansion had to offer. Its temperature was barely above the winter chill outside—no longer enough to warm the living room beyond.

Dressed in thick winter layers, Yu Bai peered inside from the doorway and shivered involuntarily for a split second.

He could no longer see the man on the bed.

The other man had shifted positions again, now completely buried in the fluffy, soft quilt. Only a few strands of tousled, curly black hair peeked out from the edge of the pristine white cotton blanket.

…How could a god burrow into the covers during sleep just like a human?

Yu Bai grumbled silently to himself but felt no worry or tension.

He had observed carefully earlier: the lower the surrounding temperature, the more serene and settled Xie Wufang’s expression became, his feverish heat fading slightly.

Burrowing under the covers must be a sign he found it comfortable.

So very human.

Where had he picked that up?

The footsteps lingered at the bedroom door for a moment before retreating.

Time marched on. The golden sunlight grew warmer still. On the living room sofa, Yu Bai’s phone screen lit up with scrolling news reports of a terrifying cold wave engulfing the globe, interspersed with silently arriving text messages.

“Global” wasn’t quite accurate—at least not for the Southern Hemisphere, already deep in winter. No real change there.

In the Northern Hemisphere, where summer should have reigned, humanity’s remarkable adaptability shone through. After a brief wave of panic, people accepted the new reality. They rummaged deep into closets for winter clothes, swapped doomsday theories with loved ones, and mobbed supermarkets for life essentials: food, toilet paper.

And queued at banks to withdraw cash.

…Why cash, of all things!

Every apocalypse, they tormented the bank tellers!

Nestled on the sofa like a chubby snowman, Yu Bai could never wrap his head around it. His fingers flew across the screen as he replied to concerned messages from Uncle Li and Doctor Chen, forwarded a video of the teeming bank lines, and vented to his absent best friend.

Yan Jing, who was warming up with hotpot in the restaurant, fired back a sympathetic reply in short order.

[Me? Nah, I wouldn’t bother with the bank. Too dumb. Hey, you sure you don’t wanna come grab a bite? Hotpot in winter hits different! The broth smells incredible!]

Yu Bai, who still hadn’t managed lunch, stared for a second in disbelief.

[…How are you even eating right now? You a pig or what?!]

[Haha, gotta test the chef’s skills for Brother Xie, right? See if stir-fry or what hits better. He’ll wake up starving—he’ll need something to fill the tank.]

[Oh. Just ask him what he wants then.]

[Nooo way! That’s all you!!]

The round clock’s hands ticked relentlessly to exactly four o’clock.

Footsteps sounded once more.

Little Doctor Yu was heading toward the still-silent bedroom for his routine check on the “patient” when a soft knock echoed from outside.

He glanced back in mild surprise.

Butler Uncle Ah had knocked, then moved to the window and beckoned the young man in the living room.

Yu Bai pivoted quickly and went to answer the door.

“Little Doctor Yu!”

The Uncle Ah outside used the same form of address as Zhang Yunjiang, his voice hushed. “Someone’s here at the house looking for you!”

Yu Bai blinked in surprise. “Is it Tian—I mean, a middle-aged guy?”

“Yeah, that’s him!” Uncle Ah nodded, urgency creeping into his tone. “Come with me, quick!”

Yu Bai hurried after the spry old man.

At the same time, a flicker of doubt stirred in his mind.

Why did Uncle Ah seem so flustered?

Tian Ge had come specifically to see him and knew this was his friend’s place. He wouldn’t cause a scene… would he?

Yu Bai rushed through the courtyard, spotting several unfamiliar servants in heavy coats whispering among themselves. They stared in shock toward the front gate.

The sight only heightened his unease, that all-too-familiar bad feeling swelling in his chest.

Please don’t let it be—

Well, truth be told, he couldn’t picture what Sun Tiantian might do.

Why had Tian Ge asked how many friends were staying here?

And said he was dropping off some things… What things?

Moments later, a thoroughly baffled Yu Bai found out—in the form of a bone-crushing bear hug, like long-lost brothers reunited.

The stunned brown-haired young man’s face plunged into a sea of silky black mink fur, leaving him gasping for air.

“Finally found you!”

The rugged, martial-looking father figure pounded his shoulders in excitement. “Had me worried sick! If you hadn’t slept in, I’d have driven through the night!”

Only when the young man in his arms began to squirm did Sun Tiantian hastily loosen his iron grip. “Whoops! Too much force, huh?”

“…I’m okay.”

Finally freed from the oppressively warm mink, Yu Bai exhaled a long, relieved breath, on the verge of suffocation moments before.

“Your frame’s too frail—you gotta bulk up. Get Little Yan to train you sometime!”

With a hearty wave, Sun Tiantian gestured behind him. “Anyway, you do you. I’ll drop the goods and bounce. Take your pick! Prime new stuff, toasty warm!”

Yu Bai, Butler Uncle Ah, and the growing crowd of curious servants all turned to look.

Behind the ex-Black Boss—buzz-cut sharp, draped in an exorbitant black mink coat—two beefy pickup trucks idled at the understated mansion’s gate. His sharp-dressed goons, padded suits defying the winter chill, unloaded cargo with military precision.

In the ensuing hush, only the thud of footsteps, clatter of goods, and deferential murmurs filled the air as the men passed him by. “Young Master Yu!”

Young Master Yu slowly covered his face, struggling to process the absurdity.

Tian Ge, bandit chief straight out of some snowy wilderness, wasn’t just rocking mink himself—he’d hauled a truckload for Yu Bai and his friends.

An image burned into memory forever.

And…

Could they stop calling him that?!

Glasses off today, he’d pass for a pint-sized bandit boss for real!!

As Yu Bai stood there dazed, soul-searching, Butler Uncle Ah stammered a refusal beside him. “No, no—this is far too precious. We can’t accept!”

“Hey! What’s with the ‘can’t’?”

Sun Tiantian slung an arm around the old man’s shoulders in hearty camaraderie. “Little Bai’s friends are my friends. Cut the formalities!”

He hadn’t expected Little Bai’s friend to be quite so… senior, though.

“Right, Little Bai—I rushed over, only thought to grab the furs. Need anything else? House too cold? Electric heaters?”

Uncle Ah, bro-hugged despite himself, interjected hastily. “No need! We’ve got winter gear covered! Oh man, I gotta fetch Yunjiang. This… this is over the top. We can’t possibly…”

Yu Bai couldn’t watch any longer. Time to rescue the trapped elder. “Tian Ge, I actually do need one more thing from you.”

Sun Tiantian’s eyes lit up. He released the flailing butler. “Name it!”

“I’ll get it sorted pronto. Knew this freak weather drop would leave you short on stuff!”

Yu Bai said, “I need a ton of ice cubes.”

Zhang Yunjiang’s kitchen was for family cooking only—no commercial ice stockpiles. They couldn’t whip up enough on short notice.

And even after that uncontrollable power blanketed the planet, the outside chill still felt warmer than Xie Wufang’s bedroom.

So Yu Bai figured the temperature in there wasn’t low enough yet.

“No problem, I’ll get it for you right away!” Sun Tiantian patted his chest and added casually, “Ice cubes, huh? Exactly what you need in winter.”

“—Wait, ice cubes?!”

“That’s right.” The person bundled up in winter clothes nodded solemnly. “Ice cubes.”

When the clock on the wall pointed to five in the evening, the man who had changed into a thick white mink fur coat slipped quietly out of the bedroom that had grown all too familiar—and increasingly frigid.

The handsome pickup truck shed its fluffy, toasty mink fur coat and hauled in a truckload of commercial cooling ice blocks, the only items not selling today.

Tian Ge’s arrival had made a real difference.

For instance, the expensive, hefty coat paired perfectly with the bedroom that felt like a walk-in freezer.

Without it, he wouldn’t have dared peek in on Xie Wufang.

That guy actually seemed to be sleeping even more soundly.

Not surprising, coming from a non-human.

Outside the bedroom door, the pale young man wrapped in the coat let out a tiny sneeze and couldn’t help rubbing his empty stomach.

He hadn’t eaten lunch and was starving now.

He decided to head to the dining room and grab something to eat.

This time, as he crossed the courtyard, he could faintly hear lively chatter drifting from some of the rooms.

Zhang Yunjiang’s children had started arriving one by one, but the old man knew he was busy tending to the patient and hadn’t come to disturb him. They’d make introductions at dinner instead.

Dinner was almost ready.

What dishes would they have tonight?

Would there be any more of those eye-popping, whisper-inducing oddities like last night’s candied sweet potatoes?

As Yu Bai pondered this, he instinctively glanced back. The bedroom window, which he had deliberately curtained off, gradually faded into the lush, beautiful courtyard.

A faint sense of loss welled up unbidden in his heart.

His steps slowed as he crossed the dining room threshold. Meanwhile, a little girl equally curious about tonight’s dinner bounced in after him.

“Eh!” The elementary schooler in her brand-new winter clothes exclaimed in surprise before hurriedly greeting him. “…Brother Little Bai!”

The much taller big brother walked ahead quietly. The warm, fluffy fur coat made his already fair skin look even paler, like the purest snow—yet his brows and eyes held an exquisite beauty.

He Xi stared, momentarily entranced, until the big brother softened his usual neutral expression and looked down at her with a smile. “What’s up? Are you scared of me?”

Snapping out of it, the little girl shook her head vigorously. “No, no!”

Yu Bai bent down to ruffle her hair, softening his expression as much as possible to avoid frightening the child. “Not scared? Then why are you staring at me like that?”

“Because…” He Xi felt the warmth on her head and said timidly, “because you don’t look very happy.”

She thought for a moment before asking, “Is it because Big Brother is sick?”

Yu Bai knew exactly who she meant by “Big Brother.”

For some reason, the little girl referred to everyone else by name plus a suffix, but never called Xie Wufang “Little Xie Brother.”

“Probably,” Yu Bai said softly.

Was his mood that obvious?

He Xi pressed on. “Is Big Brother still sleeping? Has his fever gone down at all?”

“Yeah, much better now.”

She nodded thoughtfully and murmured, “You’re worried about the sleeping Big Brother too, huh.”

…Huh?

Yu Bai was caught off guard.

Why “too”?

Before he could ask, a soft smile bloomed on the little girl’s childish face.

She took the initiative to comfort the anxious adult before her. “It’s normal to sleep a lot when you’re sick. Don’t worry too much!”

Caught off guard by the child’s reassurance, Yu Bai paused before his lips curved up. This time, he couldn’t help but chuckle. “…Is that so?”

“Yeah!” He Xi replied brightly. “I bet even Big Brother needs his rest sometimes.”

The young girl spoke with such earnestness. She knew nothing of the world’s complexities or the full story behind all this, yet Yu Bai inexplicably felt a bit more at ease.

“Got it,” he said gently. “I’m not worried.”

The clever little girl saw that he seemed truly relieved and brightened up herself. She shifted to a solemn tone with practiced ease. “I won’t tell Big Brother, I promise!”

Yu Bai raised his brows in surprise. “What?”

Why make a sudden promise like that?

It wouldn’t matter if Xie Wufang found out.

He didn’t care.

…

On second thought, better if he didn’t know.

It was a little embarrassing.

So Yu Bai swallowed his casual rebuttal, a strange look crossing his face as he pinched the little girl’s cheek and chuckled. “Thanks.”

He Xi’s eyes crinkled into crescents as she mumbled through her smile, “No problem!”

Twilight deepened in the sky, turning almost inky black as night fell.

The usually serene and quiet courtyard was ablaze with lights tonight, bustling with rare energy. Tempting aromas wafted from the dining room.

In the still-silent suite, the wall clock had reached seven.

Before heading to the banquet, Yu Bai made his usual stop by the bedroom for a quick look.

With his light brown hair tucked into his collar, the young man leaned quietly against the doorframe, dazed by the thick chill seeping from the dark room.

In the early summer chill akin to midwinter, the unlit room was piled high with cooling ice blocks—yet he himself was bundled in a thick mink fur coat.

What a strange, contradictory day.

Unforgettable, though.

When Xie Wufang woke up, he’d have to give this overly generous god a proper talking-to.

No more secretly doing things for him from now on.

Especially if it hurt Xie Wufang in the process.

Whether human or divine, he would sternly criticize such behavior.

Yu Bai spaced out for a moment, pulling himself from his wandering thoughts as he prepared to leave.

He’d come back after dinner.

But just as he turned to go, his peripheral vision caught a flicker of the most distinctive blue.

Without time to think, he halted and glanced back uncertainly.

The next second, Yu Bai truly gazed into those long-missed gray-blue waters.

The man who had slept all afternoon woke at that precise moment. Peering through the dim, quiet night toward the room’s sole light source—the figure standing in the pale glow at the door—his eyes were hazy.

So… so sudden!

In this unexpected clash of gazes, even the frigid air between them, shifting from light to shadow, seemed to freeze.

Yu Bai recovered first, still startled.

He hurried to the large bed, his voice bright with delight. “You’re finally awake! Are you okay?”

The man who had just awakened seemed not fully alert or recovered yet. He scanned the room’s changed furnishings since falling asleep, his gaze ultimately settling on the person whose eyes sparkled brilliantly.

A long moment passed before Xie Wufang spoke. “Sorry, did I sleep a long time?”

His voice carried a faint hoarseness and weakness.

Not really.

Just five hours.

A rather long nap, but not excessive.

It was just that Yu Bai had worried so much earlier—worried this was an endless loss.

Yu Bai shook his head at once and murmured, “Not that long.”

Suddenly plunging into that familiar lake, he forgot his prepared stern lecture and instead recalled his earlier talk with Yan Jing.

So he asked on impulse, “Are you hungry? Want something to eat, like a steaming hotpot? Or do you need anything right now…”

His rambling words brimmed with concern, but after a moment’s silence, the freshly awakened man gave a curt reply.

“Something sweet.”

“…Huh?”

Yu Bai didn’t catch on at first. Only after blurting out his confusion did he remember that the only food type Xie Wufang had ever shown liking for was sweets.

Not even sweet and sour pork with a hint of tang suited him—it had to be purely, intensely sweet.

A flavor Yu Bai had introduced him to.

For the non-human who once had no concept of food, the first taste to leave a deep imprint was sweetness as rich as watermelon flesh.

The light, startled question sank into the soft bedding. Before Yu Bai could say more, the man on the bed gazed at the fragrant human on the “shore.” In the cool, comfortable chill of the room, he repeated his answer.

His dark hair fell silently across his cheek. The beautiful gray-blue eyes, no longer their former clarity, swirled with unfathomable depths.

The vortex lay imprisoned at the lake’s bottom, only his slightly husky voice rising to the surface.

In a low murmur, he said, “I want something sweet.”