I had to take the knife.

Otherwise, I might be burning incense at my sister-in-law's grave this time next year.

As expected, upon hearing Ruan Lan recount her embarrassing past, Ruan Tang's pretty face went taut, and she instinctively slapped her sister on the head.

If she'd had a knife in her hand, the scene would have been much bloodier.

Ruan Lan wasn't flustered in the slightest. Instead, she stuck her tongue out teasingly.

Yiyi blinked her big eyes, trying to save face for her mother. "Mommy's cooking is actually not bad."

"Not bad!?" Ruan Lan exclaimed dramatically. "She can fry an egg until it's charcoal! Is that what you call cooking? To put it nicely, it's 'Dark Cuisine.' To put it bluntly, it's murder."

Ruan Tang's face darkened.

As if she hadn't noticed, Ruan Lan continued, "Yiyi, you have no idea. When your mom was little, she loved learning to cook from Grandma. Back then, our kitchen suffered a minor explosion every three days and a major one every five. The neighbors even called the police."

"The police were called because the cooking was bad?" Beibei asked, astonished.

"No," Ruan Lan said seriously. "The neighbors suspected my sister of making chemical bombs at home. That day, three police cars and eight SWAT officers showed up. I remember it vividly to this day."

Xu Lai looked bemused.

Ruan Tang's face bloomed into a beautiful, yet dangerous, smile. "Ruan Lan, let's you and I go upstairs for a little chat."

"No way. I'm waiting for the filling to be ready so I can make dumplings."

Ruan Lan shook her head vigorously, afraid she'd be "silenced" by her sister if she went up.

"Weren't you going to study?"

"I'm not studying anymore."

Ruan Lan gave an awkward smile. "Sis, please don't look at me with such a gentle expression. We're in the middle of a holiday, it's creepy."

"Hmm. Then after dinner, I'll come to your room, and we sisters can have a heart-to-heart talk."

"..."

Ruan Lan said resentfully, "You don't want to chat with me! You just want to lecture me. You're such a hypocrite, woman!"

"Aren't you a woman too?" Xu Lai quipped.

Yiyi stared at Ruan Lan's chest for a long time before saying seriously, "Daddy, Auntie isn't one."

Ruan Lan was speechless.

She collapsed in exasperation. "Xu Lai! Ruan Tang! Will you please get a handle on your daughter? The things she says are infuriating!"

Ruan Tang chided, "Yiyi, you shouldn't speak about your aunt like that."

"But my teacher said we should be honest," Yiyi stated earnestly.

"That isn't being honest. Your aunt is indeed a woman, but as for her figure..."

Ruan Tang trailed off, but even without her finishing the sentence, everyone in the room understood her meaning.

Ruan Lan burst into tears.

She finally understood where her niece got her talent for such "sweet talk"—it was hereditary.

She clenched her small fists and slammed them into the dough, fuming, "One day, I'll show you all what it means to have a bosom that can hold the world!"

No one responded.

Next, they kneaded the dough, prepared the filling, and started wrapping the dumplings.

The dumplings made by Ruan Tang, Ruan Lan, and Yiyi were all twisted and misshapen; they obviously weren't made properly.

Beibei's dumplings, on the other hand, were neat and tidy, as if they had been stamped out by a factory mold.

But... they were too small.

They were the size of fingernails. Who could possibly eat these? An adult could probably polish off a hundred in a single bite.

"These tiny dumplings are so cute," Ruan Tang praised.

"Mhm mhm."

Beibei said happily, "I'll make more so we can all eat together."

Ruan Tang was speechless.

Wouldn't that require making thousands of them?

Seeing her sister's expression, Ruan Lan glared. "Sis, what's wrong with small dumplings? Are they too small to satisfy you? Can't you just eat more at once?"

"???"

What in the world? He felt his sister-in-law was making insinuations... No, scratch that, she was making baseless accusations!

Xu Lai looked at Ruan Tang. "Aren't you going to say something on my behalf?"

This time, it was Ruan Tang's turn to look bewildered. "What am I supposed to say for you?"

"Then I'll speak to my sister-in-law myself."

"...Shut up and go boil the dumplings!" Ruan Tang kicked Xu Lai gently.

Soon, the steaming hot dumplings were served.

As the family ate and chatted, Yiyi whispered, "Why isn't anyone setting off fireworks today?"

"To prevent pollution."

"Oh."

The little girl looked a bit disappointed. "Qian Xiao said there would be fireworks today."

An idea sparked in Xu Lai's mind, and he smiled. "There will be."

"Where?"

Yiyi's eyes lit up.

"In the sky."

The moment Xu Lai spoke, countless fireworks suddenly bloomed on the distant horizon, visible to everyone in East Sea City.

The relevant authorities were baffled. Where were they coming from? There was a city-wide ban on fireworks! They launched a frantic investigation but couldn't find the source. They were utterly dumbfounded.

No one knew that the city-wide fireworks display, formed from Spiritual Energy, existed for the sole reason that a certain little girl wanted to see it.

"Wow."

Xu Yiyi propped up her small face, her eyes reflecting the cascades of colorful fireworks. "They're so beautiful, Daddy," she exclaimed in awe.

"Not as beautiful as you."

"Hehehe."

The little girl laughed happily.

...

...

「At night.」

Xu Lai was soaking in the backyard hot spring. He'd wanted to pull Ruan Tang in with him, but she was in the study handling some company business.

After all, even though the company was on a three-day holiday, there were still matters that required her attention.

Xu Lai suddenly opened his eyes.

A voice promptly sounded in his ear, "Supreme Emperor, we have results."

Xu Lai looked over. It was Heavenly Dao.

The little fellow was dressed in his usual red bellyband. He looked plump and festive, but he wasn't eating a candied hawthorn.

"Have you gained weight recently?" Xu Lai raised an eyebrow.

"...I've eaten a bit too much these last two days."

Xu Lai was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.

This Heavenly Dao is really becoming more and more human, even trying out things like 'gaining weight.'

"Speak," Xu Lai's smile slowly faded.

"Yes."

Heavenly Dao hurriedly began, "Ever since that mysterious palm appeared, I've been investigating the connection between the Moon Viewing Clan and Jing Ke. I've discovered several Teleportation Arrays leading from the Moon to Earth."

"Oh?"

"However, these Teleportation Arrays are all damaged or have been destroyed, so the Moon Clan cannot reach Earth."

Heavenly Dao looked down, pretending to have forgotten that he himself had been the one to destroy these formations many years ago.

Xu Lai offered a faint, knowing smile. "Continue."

"All of these passages were built by Jing Ke," Heavenly Dao said, laying out some of the evidence he had gathered before concluding, "However, I can't shake the feeling that he's not just after the Quasi-Emperor's Tomb on Earth..."

The Moon Clan wanted to conquer Earth. Xu Lai knew this, and Heavenly Dao knew it even better. But what could Jing Ke possibly gain from helping them? If there was no profit in it for him, he never would have done it.

"It might also be related to the Faceless Demon in the Soul Candle," Xu Lai said calmly. "It's just that she doesn't know anything herself. She's not as simple as she appears."

Heavenly Dao's scalp went numb with fear. It wasn't that he hadn't considered the possibility that the female monster he'd been tormenting for so long had some kind of backing. But for Xu Lai to be the one to say it... that elevated the problem to a whole new level.

For the Supreme Emperor himself to suggest someone has powerful backing... just how powerful could that backing be?

THUD.

Heavenly Dao collapsed to the ground, his face a mask of utter despair. "Supreme Emperor, save me!"

Xu Lai was speechless.

Other Heavenly Daos were unconscious entities, diligent machines operating according to the Heavenly Dao Laws without a shred of emotion. When dealing with violations, they felt no fear and cared nothing for any crisis. And then there was Earth's Heavenly Dao, cowardly as could be before anything had even happened. What a disgrace to his kind.

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