Striving for Science C100 pt1

"How did it go?" Everyone gathered around Uncle Zhang expectantly, waiting for him to hang up the phone. As soon as he did, they all crowded around him, chattering away.

"What do you mean?" Uncle Zhang smoothed out his cool, silky Daoist robe. "With me here, of course there's no problem."

"That's good, that's good." Everyone felt relieved.

"They might come over this afternoon. It might be inconvenient for so many of us to stay at your place." Daoist Yun Feng was more thoughtful. "This is the first time Shen Chang'an has brought his significant other to meet his family. It wouldn't be good if all of us strangers staying here made his girlfriend uncomfortable."

"We'll go help you prepare the food later. After we're done, we'll go to a hotel and stay overnight."

So, that morning, countless residents of Wuming City discovered that a group of people wearing Daoist robes or Buddhist kasayas were in the supermarket. Some well-meaning individuals even posted photos of them queuing up to pay on the internet.

Forum Poster: I found another piece of evidence that the celestial phenomena last night were extraordinary! I live in a small, remote city, an 18th-tier town. Last night, because I was playing in the snow with my friends until late, I saw the sky filled with colorful lights, five colors and ten lights, dazzling and magnificent. Although experts say it was a rare natural spectacle, I still feel there's something fishy about it. This morning, my mom scolded me to go buy soy sauce, and that's when I saw these monks and Daoists [picture].

Forum Poster: Someone even asked me what monks and Daoists represent? They represent a lot! Think about it, if you encounter a problem that science can't solve, who do you turn to? It has to be these figures from the esoteric world! Our 18th-tier town is so poor and remote that even scammers wouldn't bother with us. How could it attract so many outsiders?

User 88: The poster is just talking nonsense. Seeing a few monks and Daoists, you can connect it to the extraordinary celestial phenomena last night? Did you even finish elementary school? Your place hasn't seen snow in nearly 20 years. It's not impossible for a sudden snowfall to occur, creating an unusual natural phenomenon. The netizens in this thread are also funny, talking about supernatural legends, each with a source like "my friend," "my relative," "my relative's friend." I can make up 20 of these rumors every day. What year is it? Still talking about ghosts and demons? It's ridiculous.

User 154: User 88, since you believe in science so much, why are you in the supernatural forum? The science documentary forum next door welcomes you.

User 201: Wait, no one noticed that the Daoist in the photo is holding a box of red envelopes?

User 255: Hahaha, a Daoist giving out red envelopes? That's something else.

User 301: Maybe the red envelopes have "a hundred years of happiness together" printed on them? 

User 302: Stop it, you guys! I'm already imagining the Daoist playing matchmaker. Aaaah, so scary!

User 303: Maybe last night, in a place we don't know, a world-altering event happened, and these Daoists and monks were the masters who stopped it. After a night of hard work, a couple found their love in the face of life and death. The Daoists and monks were moved by their love and decided to hold a wedding for them...

User 308: Brother in post 303, you're so talented, you must be a web novelist, right?

***

The internet was buzzing with activity. After promising Uncle Zhang that he would take Dao Nian out to eat, Shen Chang'an settled into the sofa, lazily contemplating life. Dao Nian would occasionally bring him some fruit and melon seeds, so attentive that Shen Chang'an suspected Dao Nian had changed.

Dao Nian used to be so lazy. He would even wait for Shen Chang'an to crack open his pistachio nuts. Now he's even cracking them for him?

"How can you compare the past to the present?" Dao Nian picked up a piece of fruit and fed it to Shen Chang'an's mouth. "Before, I treated you like a human cub. I couldn't spoil you too much. Spoiling is harmful. Now... I'm trying my best to be good to you. Even if I spoil you, I'll take care of the consequences."

Shen Chang'an looked at him suspiciously: "Really?"

He was just being lazy, but he still had the nerve to come up with such a plausible excuse?

Until now, he didn't want to figure out why Dao Nian had been sitting in a wheelchair all day. Was it because his legs were inconvenient, or...

He shouldn't be that lazy, right?

If Dao Nian's legs were normal, when he said he hoped Dao Nian's legs would recover and he could live freely and happily, there wouldn't have been lightning flashes and strong winds.

Maybe, perhaps, possibly... Dao Nian really was disabled back then?

Thinking about this, Shen Chang'an didn't bother with him anymore. He took out his phone and scrolled through it. He found that the top headlines on all major online platforms today were things like "Sky Filled with Light, Divine Miracles in the World" and "Maybe Miracles Are Right Before Our Eyes."

He clicked on it and saw photos of strange, colorful mists appearing in the night sky. He didn't know if they were photoshopped or natural phenomena captured after hours of waiting. These online media outlets, in order to generate buzz and traffic, would make up any story.

You lose if you take it seriously.

After playing on his phone for a while, he noticed that many platforms were hyping up this weather phenomenon. Bored, Shen Chang'an tossed his phone aside and walked over to the birdcage to play with the birds.

The parrots had been living with them for a while, and they had both gained weight and learned to speak more.

"Eat more, the little bird next to you is your little brother. When he gets bigger, remember to teach him to speak." He fed the two birds while muttering to himself. Shen Chang'an was always worried that the two birds wouldn't eat enough, so he would give them extra food from time to time.

Shen Chang'an was largely responsible for the two birds becoming as plump as they were today.

"Chang'an, I have something to take care of outside." Dao Nian walked over to Shen Chang'an, bent down and kissed his cheek. "I'll be back soon."

Seeing their intimate actions, Fei Ying felt very embarrassed and buried her head in the feathers on her chest. She was still a simple little parrot, and she couldn't bear to see such affectionate scenes.

"It's almost noon." Shen Chang'an grabbed Dao Nian's arm, making him bend down so he could kiss him back. "Should you go after lunch?"

"It's okay, I can finish it in half an hour."

"Oh." Shen Chang'an let go of Dao Nian and smiled. "It's not easy being a national treasure and being so busy."

Dao Nian: "..."

Fei Ying buried her head so low that she fell into the bird's nest.

Heh, lying men will pay the price.

As soon as Dao Nian left, someone came in to tell Shen Chang'an that a man named Kong Ying wanted to see him.

"Kong Ying?" Shen Chang'an thought carefully. "I don't know him."

"Don't see him, don't see him." Fei Ying fluttered her wings anxiously. "Don't see him, don't see him."

He was a bird-tribe idiot who didn't think before he spoke or acted. If he came to see Shen Chang'an, he was bound to cause trouble.

"Someone even our parrot dislikes?" Shen Chang'an stroked Fei Ying's fluffy head. "Then I'll go see what kind of person he is."

Fei Ying: "..."

This bird chooses death.

"Mr. Shen, Kong Ying is here." Yu Lei came in and saw Shen Chang'an playing with the birds. He walked over to him and whispered, "Kong Ying has a bit of a temper. Do you want me to stand by when you see him?"

"Okay." Shen Chang'an could punch thugs and kick bandits, but these were ordinary people, and he couldn't do anything against yaos.

Two minutes later, Kong Ying walked in. As soon as he saw his face, Shen Chang'an knew why Yu Lei had said Kong Ying had a bad temper. This was the guy who had come to Dao Nian and caused a scene, and his family had to apologize to Dao Nian.

At the time, seeing Kong Ying's elders being so humble in front of Dao Nian, he thought they owed Dao Nian a lot of money. Now he realized that they didn't owe Dao Nian money, but were afraid of him.

Tsk.

Dao Nian really has a thick skin, he dares to admit to any lie. He's lived for so many years, he doesn't know if anything else has grown, but his face definitely has.

***

Walking into the courtyard, Kong Ying saw two snowmen standing on the bare grass. The snow elsewhere had gradually melted, but these two snowmen still maintained their freshly built appearance.

Which of the gods and monsters here would dare to do something so childish under the very eyes of Heavenly Dao?

He didn't want to come here. The elders of the bird clan had repeatedly warned him not to do anything impulsive. Because Shen Chang'an had saved the phoenix, the entire bird clan was incredibly grateful to him, as if all the hardships and injustices they had faced before simply didn't exist anymore.

He couldn't be as uncomplaining as the elders, so he came anyway.

"Hello, Mr. Shen." Kong Ying stepped into the room and saw Shen Chang'an sitting on the sofa. Somehow, he suddenly felt a little intimidated. It was just an ordinary person sitting there.

"Hello, Mr. Kong." Shen Chang'an nodded to Kong Ying. "Please have a seat."

Kong Ying thanked him and sat down slowly.

"What brings you here, Mr. Kong?" Shen Chang'an held a plate of fruit and ate slowly. He had reason to suspect that Kong Ying had deliberately chosen a time when Dao Nian was absent to come see him.

He wanted to see him but was afraid to do so when Dao Nian was around. That was interesting.

Kong Ying looked at Dao Nian, wanting to say something, but then, just when Shen Chang'an thought he would roar like last time, Kong Ying suddenly knelt before him.

"Kong Ying, what are you doing?" Shen Tu walked into the room, seeing Kong Ying kneeling before Shen Chang'an, he sensed something was amiss and wanted to stop Kong Ying from saying what he was about to say, "Wait until Mr. Shen returns to talk about this. Don't stir up trouble."

"I came today specifically to find a time when you weren't here."

Shen Tu: "..."