Lian Li tightened his grip on his bowl, wanting to put up a front of bravado.
However, before he could even come up with the right words, Yun Huizhou had already swallowed his food and spoke up. “Mm, it’s quite appetizing.”
The way he said it…
Lian Li knew perfectly well that Yun Huizhou meant it literally—that watching him helped Yun Huizhou enjoy his meal—but he couldn’t help but associate it with the modern world’s other meaning for “appetizing.”
“You’re not allowed to call me appetizing,” Lian Li finally thought of a way to bluster, taking the opportunity to engage with Yun Huizhou and gloss over the awkwardness.
“Oh?” Yun Huizhou still maintained that nonchalant air.
To be honest, it had been a long time since Lian Li had seen this lazy side of him.
In this state, Yun Huizhou was… actually quite charming.
The moment he realized what he was thinking, Lian Li wanted to slap himself twice. What was he doing thinking about “charm” at a time like this?
He set his chopsticks down, deciding to get serious. He needed to think carefully: if Yun Huizhou really thought he was a scheming gay man, how could he salvage his image so they could maintain their current relationship as fellow disciples?
“Why can’t I say you’re appetizing?” Seeing that Lian Li hadn’t responded and seemed to be pondering something very serious, Yun Huizhou asked directly.
Lian Li put on a profound expression, deliberately using an enigmatic tone. “What kind of things are usually called ‘appetizing’?”
“You,” Yun Huizhou said without hesitation.
Lian Li: “…I’m being serious!”
“I’m being serious too.” Yun Huizhou sat up a bit straighter.
Hearing this, Lian Li felt a surge of irritation. He had thought Yun Huizhou was joking, but he hadn’t expected him to claim he was being serious.
He really thought he was “appetizing”?
Just as he was preparing to sternly tell Yun Huizhou that he was angry and that he wasn’t allowed to say such things, Yun Huizhou added another sentence.
“A feast for the eyes—is that not the case?”
Lian Li’s anger was instantly choked back. His hands braced against the table, leaving him stuck in a comical half-standing, half-sitting position.
Yun Huizhou looked at Lian Li’s face and realized he truly didn’t like being spoken to that way. Just as he was about to say something to make amends, he saw Lian Li pout his lips, sit back down, and give a heavy huff.
He seemed a bit annoyed, yet not truly angry.
Yun Huizhou blinked. Had he been coaxed out of it by that last sentence?
But why was Lian Li unwilling to be called “appetizing”? Normally, one would think of being a “feast for the eyes,” wouldn’t they? Where had this person’s mind wandered to?
Yun Huizhou didn’t quite understand why Lian Li was like this, but he felt that since he had clarified his own feelings today, he should also try to understand Lian Li a bit better.
Thus, he took the initiative to ask, “Does ‘appetizing’ have some other meaning?”
Lian Li paused with his chopsticks over his bowl. “You answer my question first. What things are ‘appetizing’?”
As he spoke, he gestured with the hand holding the chopsticks as a hint for Yun Huizhou.
If this man said it was him again… there wasn’t much he could do. After all, according to Yun Huizhou’s original intent, he was probably trying to praise his looks.
This time, Yun Huizhou caught on.
He didn’t say it was Lian Li again, but gave a proper answer to the question: “Dishes.”
“Exactly, dishes.” Lian Li satisfiedly placed a piece of food into his bowl. He didn’t know where the saying that “being a dish” meant being a weakling originated from.
But that didn’t stop him from using his own words to explain it to Yun Huizhou.
“You know the saying ‘to be the meat on someone’s chopping block,’ right?” Lian Li asked him.
Yun Huizhou nodded cooperatively. “I know it.”
Lian Li continued, “It’s a similar meaning. Isn’t something that has become meat just a ‘dish’? To be at someone’s mercy. Saying someone is ‘appetizing’ is equivalent to saying they are just a dish, just meat—meaning they are very weak.”
Yun Huizhou: “…While it’s a bit of a stretch, it does seem to make some sense.”
“So, you can’t call me appetizing. If you want to praise my looks, I suggest you just praise them directly. I like hearing that,” Lian Li said.
Yun Huizhou was smiling. Before Lian Li could get annoyed by the smile, he restrained it, said “Alright,” and then added in an exaggerated tone, “Wow~ you really are far too good-looking.”
Lian Li: “…”
To be honest, his face felt a bit flushed, he felt a bit ashamed, and he was also a bit irritated.
He lowered his head to take a bite of food, feeling that this man was incredibly annoying. He decided to ignore Yun Huizhou for the time being.
Yun Huizhou didn’t want to provoke him too far either. He understood everything Qu Tingquan had said.
Especially their final exchange; Qu Tingquan’s implication was that Lian Li likely had feelings for him as well, and that his actions yesterday were a way of testing him.
Yun Huizhou felt that Qu Tingquan made a lot of sense, and in his heart, he secretly hoped it was true.
After finishing the meal and clearing the table, Lian Li prepared to go out for a walk.
Surprisingly, Yun Huizhou followed him out. Lian Li glanced at him in astonishment and said, “You’re actually coming out for a walk with me? That’s rare.”
Yun Huizhou didn’t have the habit of taking post-meal walks. Back on Drunken Dream Island, he usually didn’t eat too much in the evening. After finishing his meal, he would typically sit for a while and then stand on the roof holding his blade.
He wasn’t just standing there normally; he would close his eyes and circulate his heart law to perceive something.
This time of day was when the various Island Lords who resided year-round on Drunken Dream Island practiced their cultivation.
They were from the same sect and were all Transcendent Masters. When they practiced, an invisible, intangible, and profoundly mysterious aura would appear around them.
Furthermore, because they practiced at the same time, the range of this coverage was quite large.
Lian Li’s martial arts hadn’t reached that level yet, so he couldn’t sense it.
But Yun Huizhou could.
Therefore, ever since Lian Li had arrived on the island, Yun Huizhou had never come out for a walk with him at this time of night.
“Ever since my martial arts reached what everyone considers the First-class level, I haven’t come out for walks anymore. It just so happens that my injuries haven’t fully healed yet. If I were to try and gain insights while Master and my Junior Uncles are practicing like I used to, I would be easily disturbed and might suffer qi deviation instead. So, I might as well come out for a stroll.”
Lian Li felt a secret joy in his heart. Although Yun Huizhou wasn’t specifically accompanying him for the walk, being able to walk together was still nice.
After the joy, however, came a sense of melancholy.
He had realized that every time he got close to Yun Huizhou, he would be very happy, but every instance of closeness also left him conflicted and in pain.
In the past, when he saw others acting as if their lives depended on love—clearly suffering yet unwilling to leave—he had turned up his nose at them. He thought they were “love-brained” and didn’t value themselves.
But now that he was experiencing it himself, he realized it wasn’t something one could just walk away from simply because they wanted to.
Though he hadn’t reached the point of life-and-death desperation, and Yun Huizhou treated him very well.
It wasn’t like those melodramatic dramas where “when you love me, I ignore you and mistreat you, but when you stop loving me, I realize I loved you all along and regret it bitterly.”
