Chapter 60: Is He a Task Taker After All? …
Jian Tang stared at that familiar paper star, completely motionless.
The Dream Dust originally adhering to the paper star had already mostly dissipated. As Jian Tang watched, the final few wisps of starlight continued to scatter, gradually vanishing into nothingness.
The paper star, once gilded with dreamlike starlight, had returned to its original, plain and rudimentary form. It was just like a person who had experienced a beautiful dream, waking from the ultimate fantasy and bliss only to face the cold reality once more.
Jian Tang didn’t know how long he had been staring. It felt as if he had suddenly stumbled into someone else’s nightmare. His mind was in a fog, and his heart pounded wildly. He didn’t know whether he should turn and run in self-delusion, or recklessly dig deeper.
What finally pulled him out of his nightmare-like paralysis was the sharp ding— of the kitchen microwave.
The midnight snack was done heating.
The enticing aroma of food drifted over, accompanied by the crisp sound of dishes hitting the table. The warmth of daily life finally brought back a shred of familiar security. Jian Tang took a deep breath, like a drowning man finally crawling onto the shore, as his stiff, cold limbs slowly regained sensation.
“Little Tang,” the man in the kitchen called out, “the malatang is hot. Come and eat.”
Jian Tang hurriedly called back, “I’ll be right there after I wash my face!”
He quickly scooped up the paper star and stuffed it back into the man’s jacket pocket like lightning. It was as if, as long as he was fast enough, he could outrun time and return to the moment before anything had happened.
He rushed into the bathroom and splashed cold water onto his face repeatedly. Only when he had calmed down completely did he wipe his face clean and walk into the kitchen, acting as if nothing was wrong.
The malatang was something they had packed from the night market before watching the movie. Jian Tang had chosen the extra-spicy flavor. Fearing his stomach wouldn’t handle it, Feng Xun had specially prepared a cup of warm, sweet milk for him.
But Jian Tang didn’t want to drink milk right now.
Humans always said that alcohol could drown one’s sorrows. Jian Tang felt he desperately needed a drink right now to douse the terrible, chaotic thoughts popping up in his head…
However, abruptly asking for alcohol might arouse suspicion. Jian Tang hesitated for a moment, then suddenly thought of an alternative.
“Didn’t we buy a few bottles of fruit beer when we went to the supermarket last time? I want to try one.”
Feng Xun naturally had no objections. Just as he was about to get up to grab it, the youth stood up first. “I know where they are. I’ll get it.”
Jian Tang went to the kitchen and rummaged through the refrigerator, only to be drawn to an unfamiliar small box inside.
It was a small, golden round box. Opening the lid, he found a small slice of cake inside.
However, the frosting was unevenly spread, the chocolate curls on top were dumped on in massive amounts, and the fruit in the layers was overflowing. It didn’t look like a finished product from a bakery, but rather like a less-than-successful experiment.
“Feng Xun!” Jian Tang carried the small cake back to the dining room. “Did you make this yourself?”
Feng Xun, who was setting out the glasses for the fruit beer, stiffened when he saw the cake in Jian Tang’s hand. Shoot, I forgot that thing was still in the fridge.
“You really made it?” Jian Tang was highly surprised. “Why didn’t you bring it out? It looks completely finished to me.”
“It’s too ugly,” Feng Xun said gloomily. “And the taste is pretty ordinary.”
In truth, he had hesitated over whether to bring the cake out during their midnight snack. But thinking of the exquisite desserts Jian Tang had eaten at the restaurant tonight, and then looking at this hideous monster in the fridge, it took him only a second to decide to bury it forever.
Unfortunately, the hiding spot wasn’t secure enough, and the boy had discovered it so quickly.
Jian Tang knew the man was always modest about these things. It was the same in the past—always saying it didn’t taste good, but in reality, it was always delicious.
He used his fork to spear a piece of the cake and popped it into his mouth.
“Mmh! It’s delicious!” Jian Tang praised sincerely, taking several more bites in succession. “The cream is fragrant, the fruit is sweet, and it’s packed with ingredients. There’s so much of it, and it’s so tasty. It’s way more honest than what they sell in bakeries!”
If it were anyone else, such words would likely be a white lie to comfort him. But seeing the youth eat with such relish, without the slightest hint of reluctance, the last of Feng Xun’s reservations finally dissolved.
“It seems no matter what I make, you’ll always say it’s delicious,” he smiled.
“Because it really is delicious!” Jian Tang absolutely loved human sweets; once he started eating, he didn’t want to stop. “But I really didn’t expect you to know how to make cake. Is this a Qixi gift too?”
The man’s expression turned a bit peculiar. “You don’t remember?”
“Huh?”
“When we went to the bakery last week, I asked you which flavor you liked best. You said you liked the flavor made by your wife best.”
“…”
“But right now, I’m still just a boyfriend, so I can’t make a pure ‘wife flavor.’ Do you mind?”
If you mind, hurry up and let me promote to husband.
Jian Tang felt a sweatdrop form. “I don’t mind, I don’t mind at all! The boyfriend version is just as amazing!”
In reality, he had long forgotten about it. He had just said it casually at the time; who would have thought the man would take it seriously, take it to heart, and secretly practice for an entire week?
His careless words were treated with such importance by the other party, which touched Jian Tang but also made him feel incredibly guilty.
“I-I’ll make a cake for you to eat next time too.”
He couldn’t just keep freeloading off the man. What if they settled the score in the future… Ugh, he didn’t dare think about it further.
The light in front of him suddenly dimmed. Before Jian Tang could react, the man had leaned down and planted a kiss on the corner of his mouth. The agile tip of his tongue deftly swiped away a trace of cream from the youth’s lips.
“No need to make one.” Feng Xun straightened up, licking his lips as his gaze lingered on the youth’s flushed lips.
“I’ve already tasted it,” he laughed softly, his voice low. “Very sweet.”
Jian Tang blanked for a moment, his cheeks instantly exploding into a fiery red. “Y-you… why did you suddenly launch a sneak attack?”
“If I don’t do a sneak attack, can I kiss you openly?” Feng Xun asked.
Since entering the “lovers phase,” their daily kisses and hugs weren’t few, but they were all surface-level intimacy without any deeper movements.
The root cause was that Little Tang had found some relationship timeline from god knows where, which claimed that intimate interactions progressing too quickly would reduce the sense of novelty between lovers, hindering the healthy, long-term development of the romance.
Feng Xun had swallowed his grievances silently, slicing those internet relationship experts a hundred and eighty times in his heart, and could only continue to wait.
He waited day after day, and endured day after day.
Now that over a month had passed, and it happened to be the romantic Qixi Festival with the sense of ritual and atmosphere dialed to the maximum, this time… it should be okay, right?
Jian Tang caught the man’s implication. His face grew even redder, and he remained silent for a long time.
If it were before they entered the house, if Feng Xun had snuck a kiss on him, Jian Tang might have immediately turned the tables and happily kissed him back.
After all, he had learned a lot of human dating knowledge and was highly curious about what a first kiss—which everyone praised so beautifully—actually felt like.
But now… with that paper star swirling with the starlight of the Dream Dust flashing in his mind, Jian Tang instantly lost all desire.
He lowered his eyes and said in a small voice, “I-I want to eat my midnight snack.”
Seeing the youth deliberately dodge the topic, Feng Xun felt a bit disappointed, but he didn’t force it, nodding with good temper.
“Okay.”
These things required mutual willingness and a natural progression. Since Little Tang wasn’t in the mood today, he would just endure a bit longer.
Feng Xun pushed the malatang in front of the youth, handed him utensils and tissues, uncapped the fruit beer, and poured it into a glass. To improve the taste, he even added a few ice cubes.
Jian Tang saw that the man didn’t get angry even after being rejected, still busying himself for his sake, thoughtful and considerate. No matter how he looked at it, the man was just an ordinary, virtuous house-husband.
He looked absolutely nothing like those profit-driven, insidious, and cunning task takers who possessed eight hundred hidden agendas.
His anxious heart gradually gave rise to a sliver of hope.
Could it be… that I’m overthinking things?
Could it be… that it’s actually just a misunderstanding?
Perhaps he could just ask out loud.
Ask him if he had been at school the whole day today, ask him if he had gone out to meet anyone, and ask him who gave him that paper star.
CEO Feng was CEO Feng, and Feng Xun was Feng Xun. The two might just be very close friends. Even if it was known that CEO Feng was a task taker, one couldn’t firmly deduce from that fact that Feng Xun had to be one too.
Who said task takers couldn’t be friends with ordinary humans?
He was an anomalous monster, and he currently had a bunch of very close human friends at the company, didn’t he?
Jian Tang took a sip of the fruit beer. The sweet, icy liquid carried a tiny hint of alcohol, gradually giving him courage—alcohol lends courage to the cowardly; ask him bravely!
Once he asked, his mind would be at peace!
“Feng Xun,” he took a deep breath. “There’s something I want to ask you.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Do you…” Jian Tang swallowed nervously.
“Do you have any very close friends locally? The kind where you can talk about anything, meet up frequently, exchange gifts, and where they can even easily arrange a job for the other person’s family?”
Feng Xun answered very crisply, “No.”
“…”
Game over. He had directly eliminated a safe answer, leaving only dangerous ones!
Ahhh, if I had known, I wouldn’t have asked!
“What’s wrong?” Feng Xun looked at him. “Do you have a friend who needs a job arranged?”
Jian Tang shook his head frantically. “No, no.” He quickly buried his face in his food.
He didn’t dare ask anything else now, nor did he dare to know anything.
Curiosity killed the cat, and it would also kill a little monster. In fact, if he thought about it carefully, was what the truth was really that important?
What he wanted had never been the truth anyway. It was just a peaceful, happy family life and a human wife to keep him company—that was all he wanted, purely that.
To realize this dream, he had already given his all and gambled everything. He couldn’t withstand any accidents that would tear this peaceful happiness apart. Therefore… he would rather pretend there were no accidents, let the sun rise as usual, and let life continue.
Jian Tang decided to play the ostrich properly, convincing himself not to get to the bottom of things. But that night, he still suffered from insomnia.
Tossing and turning with zero sleepiness, the troubled little monster could only pick up his phone to mindlessly scroll through it to pass the time.
As he scrolled, his fingers uncontrollably tapped open the Monster Forum, uncontrollably clicked into the “Human Transformation” section, and uncontrollably typed: What should I do if my human partner is suspected to be a task taker?
> [Nothing was found. Please change your search terms and try again ^_^]
Damn it. This situation was too rare; had no monster ever asked about it before?!
Jian Tang didn’t believe there were no cases of task takers and anomalous monsters dating on the forum. There was one right beside him: Xiaoyu and Yuan Cheng were an example.
Uh, but that couple ended up in a bad ending—one dead, one injured, completely tragic.
The Realm Lord Hiramis probably counted too. As an anomalous boss trapped inside a public instance unable to leave, her past romantic partners had all been task takers entering the instance.
The ending was $N$ dead and one living. Hiramis lived perfectly fine, while those task taker lovers had all reunited inside her stomach. The whole family was lying down in a neat, round, orderly fashion =.=
…Please no. Why did it feel like whenever an anomalous monster and a task taker dated, someone absolutely had to die?
Was this why everyone avoided discussing this topic on the forum? Because they were all busy attending their exes’ funerals??
Jian Tang retreated into his blanket to wallow in despair for a while, then silently crawled back out, gritting his teeth to continue searching.
He couldn’t scare himself. It wasn’t certain yet whether Feng Xun was a task taker or not! Why was he being so pessimistic!
After changing his search terms, new content quickly refreshed.
Ranked at the very top was a trending thread, bolded and highlighted—
[Packed with Practical Knowledge! A Little Monster’s Survival Guide: “Teaching You How to Identify Task Takers in Human Society”!]
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