SLLBTT Chapter 55
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
⋇⊶⊰Chapter 55⊱⊷⋇
The Snow Wolf King, citing illness as the reason, stayed at the Temple of the Heavenly Emperor for recuperation. He claimed to burn incense and observe fasting every day, hence deciding not to return to the royal palace. However, his absence from court did not mean that the Snow Wolf King wasn't working. After all, he was a very diligent ruler, and now he conducted his daily affairs using mobile office setups, thanks to technological advancements.
Before making this decision, the Snow Wolf King made a phone call, personally reporting to the Son of Heaven, hoping that by not attending court, he could avoid deductions from his "diligence" score.
The Son of Heaven, listening on the other end of the phone, said, "You woke me up in the middle of the night just for this?"
"So, does the Son of Heaven agree?" the Snow Wolf King politely inquired.
"Agree, agree," the Son of Heaven responded, "Since you're unwell, take good care of yourself. Not attending court is fine. As long as you handle state affairs, no points will be deducted."
The Snow Wolf King added, "I work despite being ill, hoping to earn double points."
The Son of Heaven said, "Xiao Baizi, don't be so fixated on gains and losses, always thinking about gaining achievements and earning points."
"Then I'll take that as your agreement," the Snow Wolf King said. "Double points."
"You're dreaming. Let's settle for 1.5 times." After saying this, the Son of Heaven hung up and asked a palace attendant, "What about that criminal from snow wolf tribe?"
The attendant replied, "Already tied up."
The Son of Heaven nodded, then entered the secret chamber of the sleeping palace with hands behind his back.
The Snow Wolf King, upon concluding the call, felt content with the negotiation results. Confident in becoming the virtuous king leading the quarterly points chart, he continued diligently tackling his tasks.
Generally, every divine king holding a fief cared deeply about their quarterly ratings. Therefore, the previous Snow Wolf King, Bai Qingsi, using account sharing, was exposed by the Censorate. This incident caused a tremendous uproar throughout the Holy Dynasty. Other monarchs were infuriated, exclaiming, "This is disrupting the game — no, it's undermining the foundation of our nation!"
To be honest, dealing with Bai Qingsi's absurd actions was manageable, but pacifying the enraged monarchs proved difficult. They even demanded the Son of Heaven to sentence Bai Qingsi to death to uphold principles.
Recognizing the gravity of the situation, the Son of Heaven ordered Bai Qingsi to be bound and brought to the Central Region for trial. Ultimately, the Son of Heaven decided to eradicate the account-sharing workshops and strip Bai Qingsi of his position as the Snow Wolf King. Bai Qingsi was confined to the imperial harem, with the Son of Heaven personally instructing and endeavoring to reform him daily. Such sincere efforts were touching.
The clamor for Bai Qingsi's execution ceased, and people began to praise, "The Son of Heaven, like the sun and the moon, will surely use his radiance to illuminate Bai Qingsi and dispel the darkness in his heart. The Son of Heaven's mercy truly moves us."
Liu Jiao, unaware of the intricacies of past court cases, only knew that Bai Qingsi's decadence led to his impeachment by the Censorate. Thus, seeing the Snow Wolf King still attending to state affairs late at night, Liu Jiao remarked, "It must be the tragic lesson from the former ruler that motivates Xiao Baizi to work so diligently."
The Snow Wolf King, seeing Liu Jiao get up from the bed, asked, "Why are you up? Hungry again?"
Upon hearing "hungry again," Liu Jiao felt playfully teased. He replied, "I do love to eat, but I'm not that greedy."
Despite his words, when the Snow Wolf King tapped the cat food can, Liu Jiao instinctively pounced over. The Snow Wolf King sighed in resignation. "Don't be hasty, I'll open it for you."
"No need, I can do it myself," Liu Jiao said and promptly cracked open the cat food can with the sharp teeth of a snow leopard.
The Snow Wolf King shook his head in resignation.
Cheerfully munching on the snack, Liu Jiao said, "Turns out, cat food is quite tasty — just a bit lacking in quantity. Why do cats eat so little?"
"Have you ever seen an orange cat?"
"Sure have! Even orange cats don't eat much."
The Snow Wolf King pondered. Indeed, compared to Liu Jiao, orange cats did eat relatively less.
After finishing a can, Liu Jiao licked his lips. The Snow Wolf King handed him a cup of water. Normally, Liu Jiao would dine and drink with proper etiquette outside, but living with the Snow Wolf King seemed to make him feel at home. He casually sipped the water with his tongue, lounging with his tail curled. The Snow Wolf King couldn't help but envision a large cat reclining on his sofa.
Once Liu Jiao finished drinking, he caught the expression on the Snow Wolf King's face. Embarrassed by his lack of decorum, he sat up straight. Finding it amusing, the Snow Wolf King lifted Liu Jiao onto his lap and said, "You're fine just the way you are."
Liu Jiao, however, said, "Don't you think I lack decorum?"
"Manners aren't that important. Your relaxed demeanor shows that you consider this place as your own home."
After some thought, Liu Jiao countered, "Xiao Baizi has always had good manners. Doesn't that mean he doesn't consider it his home?"
"I maintain decorum whether I'm at home or not."
"Oh, I bet your upbringing was strict." Liu Jiao nodded confidently.
"Not really. While we are royal relatives, we live in a remote region with little oversight. It was only later, when I went to the Central Region to serve as a hostage for the Heavenly Family, that I developed the habit of being cautious both at home and outside."
"What's a hostage(proton)?" Liu Jiao asked curiously. "Is it something we learn in Physics class?"
The Snow Wolf King was somewhat pleased. "Do you remember anything from Physics class?"
Liu Jiao felt a bit uneasy. "I don't really remember... You're not planning to quiz me, are you?"
The mention of "quiz" made Liu Jiao shiver. The Snow Wolf King chuckled, "No quizzes, no quizzes. Don't worry." Saying this, the Snow Wolf King embraced Liu Jiao, patting his back. Liu Jiao, however, admitted, "I feel pathetic about it. Seriously, I'm not bragging, but even if a big tiger suddenly appeared in front of me, I wouldn't be this scared. Quizzes, though, are genuinely terrifying."
The Snow Wolf King nodded. "Exactly! Exams are fiercer than tigers!"
Liu Jiao added, "So, are we going undercover tomorrow?"
"Hmm," the Snow Wolf King nodded, "Certainly more fun than studying."
Liu Jiao became excited again. The Snow Wolf King had to coax him to sleep early. Watching Liu Jiao peacefully drift into slumber, the Snow Wolf King felt somewhat surprised. He thought Liu Jiao would inquire about his past as a hostage, even carefully considering whether to disclose everything or be cautious with clever words. Unexpectedly, Liu Jiao was oblivious about what a hostage was and seemed indifferent.
The Snow Wolf King then cuddled up with Liu Jiao and slept.
In the morning, Liu Jiao woke up, cheerfully getting out of bed to disguise himself. The Snow Wolf King leisurely rose from bed, groomed himself, and put on a white T-shirt and casual jeans.
It was the first time Liu Jiao saw the Snow Wolf King dressed so casually. The Snow Wolf King usually wore layers of luxurious clothing with intricate stitching, appearing incredibly noble. However, today was different. Despite the inexpensive attire, the Snow Wolf King still exuded charm.
Unable to resist, Liu Jiao hugged the Snow Wolf King. "You look so handsome!"
Surprised by such a direct compliment, the Snow Wolf King actually blushed a bit.
The Snow Wolf King then took Liu Jiao's hand, lowered his head, and gave him a peck. "You're even more handsome."
Da Huangya and Hong Huli, observing on the side, exchanged glances and quietly exited the room.
Hand in hand, Liu Jiao and the Snow Wolf King exited the temple, climbed over the wall, and ran onto the bustling street. Everyone instantly noticed Liu Jiao and the Snow Wolf King's presence — mostly because of their distinctive appearance.
"So handsome!"
"Ah, that cute guy's big tail is adorable!"
Several passing girls whispered to each other, even taking out their phones to sneakily capture pictures.
The Snow Wolf King smiled. "Miss, please refrain from taking photos."
"Huh?" The girl blushed, stammering, "I-I didn't..."
"Come take a photo with us," the Snow Wolf King suggested, "Just buy our cotton candy, and we can have a picture together."
As it turned out, the Snow Wolf King and Liu Jiao were selling cotton candies by the roadside. Lacking proficiency, both of them produced small, flat cotton candies that struggled to attract any buyers. Liu Jiao, in a fit of annoyance, started devouring them himself, chewing away in a huff.
But as soon as the Snow Wolf King mentioned the possibility of taking photos, customers immediately flocked over.
Liu Jiao was puzzled by the sudden influx of customers. Flustered, his tail wagged in panic. The girls kindly reassured him, "It's okay if the cotton candy isn't perfect!"
Liu Jiao was even more puzzled. "It's okay? Weren't you here to buy cotton candy?"
The Snow Wolf King asked, "Do you think our cotton candy isn't worth it?"
"Ah?" Liu Jiao was equally perplexed. "Indeed, it doesn't seem worth it... Why are they buying then? And we're even selling them at a higher price than other places."
Yes, they were unlicensed street vendors, and quite unscrupulous ones at that, selling a flat cotton candy for 10 yuan.
The Snow Wolf King didn't feel like explaining to Liu Jiao.
After all, selling cotton candy while sacrificing dignity wasn't something easy to articulate.
After all, he was the Snow Wolf King, bestowed with divine authority.
While the Snow Wolf King pondered the value of dignity, his ears twitched, suddenly hearing a girl say coquettishly, "Cat Vendor, can I touch your tail?"
The Snow Wolf King turned to see a girl blinking, pointing at Liu Jiao's big tail, with the expression of a child eyeing candies. "I'll pay 100 yuan for it!"
At that moment, the Snow Leopard Vendor, currently oblivious to being a jinx squandering half a million a month, surprisingly wavered for the sake of 100 yuan!
"Does this job make money so quickly?" Liu Jiao, as if seeing the dawn of his entrepreneurial success, almost offered up his own tail. However, the Snow Wolf King intercepted, "You can look, but no touching."
The girl pouted, on the verge of tears. "But you don't have cotton candy, and you won't let me touch the tail!"
"No more cotton candy?" The Snow Wolf King turned and noticed the sugar jar was empty.
As it turned out, they hadn't done business before and brought a jar of sugar on a whim, planning to sell whatever they could. Additionally, the Snow Wolf King didn't anticipate Liu Jiao would eat most of it — after all, Liu Jiao wasn't known for having a sweet tooth!
Liu Jiao's defense was, "Yes, I don't like sweets. But when I'm bored, I just eat, regardless of whether it tastes good or not."
With no customers initially, Liu Jiao helped himself to a lot of cotton candy. The Snow Wolf King was quite helpless. Now, the girl was crying, complaining about giving money but receiving no candy. Following the principle of customer satisfaction, the Snow Wolf King lowered his head, revealing a pair of wolf ears. "How about touching these?"
The girl wasn't well-versed in animal distinctions and couldn't differentiate between wolf and dog ears. Seeing the Snow Wolf King's wolf ears, she found them irresistibly cute, gave them a pat, and left contentedly.
The next girl in line eagerly pulled out a hundred yuan. "I want to touch too!"
The Snow Wolf King frowned, feeling their small business seemed to be heading in an odd but lucrative direction.
At that moment, Liu Jiao jumped up from behind, tiptoed, and covered the Snow Wolf King's ears, declaring, "No touching allowed!"