Master of Nine Stars

Songbai Town, inside the Gao Residence.

Glasses clinked around the dinner table as Coach Xia, Coach Li, and Gao Qingchen occasionally let out bursts of hearty laughter. The atmosphere was wonderful, rivaling even that of a New Year’s Eve feast.

The table, laden with dishes, was a testament to the culinary skills of Mrs. Gao, Cheng Yuan. While the men were enjoying their drinks, Rong Taotao and Si Huan Nian were having an even better time with the food.

Si Huan Nian, who had zero resistance to good food and a naturally uninhibited personality, paid no mind to the fact that this was her first visit. The small tureen of spicy boiled pork in front of her was almost entirely devoured by her alone.

Consequently, the cashew shrimp and pine nut corn on either side of the pork dish met a similar fate...

As for Rong Taotao... he was her match in every way.

”HUFF... PUFF...” Rong Taotao shoveled rice into his mouth. The fragrant grains, drenched in fish soup, tasted absolutely divine.

Yang Chunxi watched him, grinding her teeth in frustration.

She couldn’t do anything about Si Huan Nian, but she could certainly rein in Rong Taotao.

Yang Chunxi leaned over, her lips close to Rong Taotao’s ear, and hissed through clenched teeth, ”Slow! Down!”

”BURP~” Rong Taotao let out a small burp and set down his empty bowl. He turned to Yang Chunxi, only to see her pulling out a napkin and handing it to him.

As Rong Taotao wiped his mouth with the napkin, he whispered to Yang Chunxi, ”I’m reminded of a favorite quote of mine from Lu Xun’s *Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk*.”

Yang Chunxi asked, ”Hm?”

Rong Taotao lowered his voice. ”Catfish stewed with eggplant, ’til the old man bursts his gut.”

Yang Chunxi was speechless. ”...”

’He just makes this stuff up on the spot!’

’There’s no way Lu Xun said that!’

”Taotao, is your bowl empty? Here, give it to me. Aunt Cheng will get you some more,” a gentle voice said from beside him.

Rong Taotao turned to look. Perhaps it was a food-induced haze, but for a moment, he almost mistook Cheng Yuan for Gao Lingwei.

Cheng Yuan was tall and slender, and the mother and daughter had similar builds. Gao Lingwei had also perfectly inherited her mother’s brow and eyes; they were almost identical. The main difference was that Cheng Yuan was far gentler. She had none of her daughter’s sharp edge, possessing instead a unique, graceful poise.

Rong Taotao was certainly lucky to have a potential mother-in-law with such a personality.

If she had been a difficult woman, Rong Taotao would have had to endure some unpleasantness for Da Wei’s sake.

After all, children can’t choose their parents. Since Rong Taotao was committed to Gao Lingwei, he had to accept her family as well. That was simply the reality of the situation.

”Ah, thank you, Aunt Cheng, I’ll get it myself,” Rong Taotao said quickly, happily carrying his bowl toward the kitchen.

Gao Lingwei’s parents were good people to begin with, and for them to treat him so well during both of his visits... ’This is a great sign!’

’The worst-case scenario is always when the kids get along, but the parents try to interfere. That just creates a mess of problems and huge obstacles.’

’Yep, so far so good! Just gotta keep it up!’

Rong Taotao’s thoughts churned as he filled his bowl with more rice.

The new apartment the Gao family had purchased was clearly larger. This old residential building had only two units per floor; it seemed that theirs on the left, number 02, was bigger than the one on the right, number 01.

Of course, ”bigger” was relative—it was only about a hundred square meters, but that was more than enough for her parents.

Just as Rong Taotao turned around, he saw Gao Lingwei standing in the doorway.

For a moment, Rong Taotao stood frozen, rice bowl in hand, a questioning look on his face.

Gao Lingwei reached out and gently poked Rong Taotao’s round belly. ”How is it?” she whispered. ”Is the Lotus still there?”

”Don’t worry, I’ve been keeping an eye on it,” Rong Taotao nodded.

”Good.” Gao Lingwei smiled, her long fingers poking his belly one more time before she turned and left.

Rong Taotao pursed his lips. ’Hmph. What was that little poke supposed to mean?’

When Rong Taotao came out of the kitchen, his rice bowl was still empty. Seeing this, Yang Chunxi shot Gao Lingwei a thumbs-up.

Gao Lingwei simply offered a faint smile, saying nothing.

Watching Gao Lingwei and Rong Taotao emerge one after the other, the three men across the table, all a bit tipsy, grinned at the pair.

Xia Fangran grinned. ”They make a good pair, eh?”

”They are a rare pair, indeed,” Li Lie immediately agreed with a nod. He then turned to Gao Qingchen. ”You should have seen them during their training at Qianshan Pass—now *that’s* what I call a perfect match. They were even more in sync than when you saw them fighting through the Corpse Fire Camel Army in the national tournament.”

Gao Qingchen just chuckled, not saying a word, but his gaze alone was enough to make Gao Lingwei lower her head and quickly take her seat.

Rong Taotao, being thick-skinned, wasn’t bothered in the slightest. Seeing how contentedly the senior figures were drinking, he figured the wine his dad had brought was a huge success.

He sat down and said with a smile, ”I have Xu Yiyu to thank for getting this wine. I need to find a chance to thank her in person.”

Gao Qingchen was clearly aware of what had transpired after the two of them returned, but he hadn’t brought it up at the table. He said, ”Xu Yiyu is easy to find. She’s at the Third Wall. She’s been there this whole time.”

Hearing this, Rong Taotao nodded silently.

”Come on, another round,” Li Lie said, raising his small wine cup and deftly changing the subject.

...

In the wee hours of the morning, Rong Taotao opened his eyes in the living room. After a glance at his phone, he rose to his feet and tiptoed over to the guest room door, knocking softly.

KNOCK... KNOCK... KNOCK...

Inside the room, Xia Fangran, who had been snoring moments before, instantly snapped his eyes open.

By the moonlight filtering through the window, he glanced to his left, only to see Li Lie already sitting on the edge of the bed, fully dressed and ready to depart.