Returning Home

The high-speed train pulled into the station. Two young men stepped out of the car one after the other, facing a station slogan: The thousand-year-old ancient city Pujiang welcomes you.

Below ran some smaller text — National Civilized City, National Sanitary City, and the like.

The young man walking in front looked thoroughly familiar with the place, confidently heading for the right-side passage without checking the signs.

The one behind, gripping his suitcase handle, paused to look around for a moment, then took a long stride, quickened two steps to catch up with the one ahead, and reached out his hand.

The young man in front, though he didn't turn around, accurately tossed his hand back and happened to grip his.

Passersby couldn't help but admire — what chemistry.

The one walking in front was none other than Zhou Mu. He'd long been saying he'd take You Qi back to his hometown to show him around, and today it finally happened. Strictly speaking, the two places weren't all that far — out of the mountains, take the high-speed rail, a mere three-hour ride.

The moment they arrived in Pujiang, both You Qi and Zhou Mu's phones buzzed at the same time, each receiving a text message.

You Qi casually unlocked his phone and looked at his:

[Pujiang Cultural Tourism] The thousand-year-old ancient city Pujiang welcomes you. Here you'll find Song Dynasty official site ruins, the world-famous Fengqi Mountain...

Zhou Mu opened his phone too. You Qi glanced down and saw that what he'd received seemed different from his own. Looking more closely, it was indeed very different. At the top was:

[Safe Pujiang] Pujiang City Public Security Bureau reminds you that you have entered electronic surveillance range. Any unlawful behavior will be recorded and shared in real-time with the Youzu Bureau, National Taoist Association, National Buddhist Association, and other platforms. Safe Pujiang, with you always.

Zhou Mu's tone was almost delighted: 'Hehe, been gone so long and I'm still a key surveillance target. Truly — kin or not, hometown folks!'

Wait, is that how this saying is used?

You Qi said: '...Mm. You truly live up to being a City Contribution Award recipient.'

Indeed — kin or not, hometown folks; strict or not, hometown rules.

The surveillance blanketing the city captured Zhou Mu's figure in an instant, identified him accurately, and issued a warning.

Then it relayed at maximum efficiency to the city's government affairs platform, prioritized processing all the way, repeatedly verified and confirmed, notified the responsible unit, and from then on maintained full attention—

Under such efficient processing, by the time the two of them reached the station exit, a woman in a professional skirt suit was already standing there. She was unremarkable in appearance — ordinary people walking past her would forget her face within three seconds.

But she carried a faint Yao aura, making her more conspicuous to any Yao than any Human Race person.

When Zhou Mu came out, she stiffly presented her work ID. Her name was Lu Ying, her unit the Pujiang Youzu Bureau High-Speed Rail Station Law Enforcement Squadron.

Lu Ying handed Zhou Mu a form, her tone equally delicate — wanting to laugh but unable to, wanting to cry but not daring to.

'A warm welcome... Zhou Mu, student, back home. Please fill out this form.'

'Sure.' Zhou Mu took the form naturally and made small talk. 'You look a bit familiar. Have I eaten you before?'

'Cough, cough!' Lu Ying said. 'You must be mistaken. When I'd just graduated and started working, you did scold me for smelling bad to eat.'

Zhou Mu: 'Then you've really changed a lot since you were young.'

Lu Ying's expression twisted for a moment, but she still echoed: '...Right, right, right.'

You Qi watched from the side and gained a new understanding of Zhou Mu's talk about living freely back home. This really was throwing his weight around — quite the happy time.

Zhou Mu hadn't been back in a long time either. The first few holidays after he started school, he'd spent with You Qi. Now he recalled: 'Our Pujiang management is really getting stricter and stricter. I hear it from old friends, and they all have high praise. They say compared to before, Yao public order is much better now. Every Yao must register, entry and exit are controlled, the jurisdiction is divided into fine-grained zones, ensuring every Yao's movements are tracked. This has greatly reduced the frequency of Yao fighting in private and improved city security.'

Pujiang's measures were innovative and leading nationally, achieving effective results — becoming a national Yao management demonstration city.

It looked like Zhou Mu, though he'd left Pujiang, had been keeping an eye on his hometown. Lu Ying listened, her mouth going bitter. These past few years our management has gotten more and more advanced, more and more detailed — at first, wasn't it all to deal with you...

Many systems they built to the point of investment — they even contacted Zhou Mu first to try them out, then modified based on his feedback.

One dared to demand, the other truly dared to cooperate.

So Zhou Mu's City Contribution Award really had something to it.

Zhou Mu finished filling out the form. Lu Ying took it and reviewed it. 'Uh, Zhou Mu, student, the luggage declaration here — did you not fill it out completely? This is a local specialty you brought back from school, right? What species is he? If it's a foreign species, or special species, if you brought it back for grazing and taming, we need to do quarantine...'

Lu Ying was speaking while looking at You Qi.

You Qi was silent for a moment. 'Local specialty?'

He'd always assumed he'd fill out his own form after Zhou Mu finished his, but hadn't expected that in Lu Ying's eyes, he was a local specialty Zhou Mu had brought back?

He'd left School without wearing his Mouth Cage, so he didn't look that dangerous — but how did it come to being treated as a local specialty?

Don't even mention it — You Qi had never enjoyed this treatment at Hualing Academy. So at this moment he fell into a strange silence, then released his Yao aura as well.

The Fierce Beast aura spread out. Lu Ying immediately bristled, her legs trembling, but she didn't run. Instead, she held her ground and said: 'Zhou Mu, student, this kind definitely needs to be declared!'

You Qi: '...'

Never expected that even after revealing Yao aura, he'd still get this treatment. Just how terrifying was Zhou Mu in the hearts of Pujiang Yao?

'You've got it wrong! This isn't food — this is my boyfriend.' Zhou Mu was displeased and said, 'What kind of eyesight do you have.'

Lu Ying was dumbfounded.

Then panicked — very panicked and flustered.

'Boyfriend? This, this—' Lu Ying's hand holding the form trembled. She couldn't believe what she'd heard. Zhou Mu had left Pujiang to study, and he'd actually gone and gotten a boyfriend outside.

After a long moment, Lu Ying finally organized her words, bowed repeatedly to You Qi, and handed over a separate entry form. 'I'm sorry, I misunderstood, sir.'

'Never mind, it's fine.' You Qi took the form and filled it out swiftly.

As he wrote, Lu Ying kept sizing him up. Seeing him write 'You Qi' in the species column, she felt a bit disappointed. She'd had a very wonderful imagination going, guessing whether this was the corpse of some ancient great god... with the gallbladder inside having cultivated into a spirit on its own.

After collecting the form, Lu Ying stood watching Zhou Mu and You Qi walk hand in hand to hail a taxi, still dazed, murmuring: 'How is it a You Qi? That doesn't make sense. You Qi runs so fast — how could he still be caught by Zhou Mu to be a boyfriend.'

...

You Qi and Zhou Mu sat in the taxi, the vehicle driving into the bustling city. The neon lights were just coming on. Through the window, You Qi saw all kinds of passersby, and felt a strange, unreal sensation.

'Let's go home first to drop off our luggage, then I'll take you to see the night view.' Zhou Mu yawned, rested his face on You Qi's shoulder, and dozed off.

Almost forty minutes later, the taxi pulled up to a residential complex. You Qi saw Zhou Mu sleeping soundly, paid the fare himself, carried him out of the car with one arm, grabbed the luggage with the other, and walked into the complex.

He'd heard the address from Zhou Mu. Although Zhou Mu's parents had gone out traveling, many of Zhou Mu's relatives seemed to live in the same complex, so he also knew that this visit would mean meeting many of Zhou Mu's family.

And many of Zhou Mu's paternal relatives seemed to be ordinary Human Race — even those with Yao blood had grown up as Human Race, and quite a few had only learned the truth about having Yao in the family in recent years.

You Qi wasn't sure how to get along with them...

He thought about it as he pressed Zhou Mu's doorbell.

There was almost an immediate response from inside, as if someone had been lying in wait. Then the door opened, confirming someone had indeed been waiting.

A flood of Human Race people poured out, each wearing a small colorful sequined party hat on their head. Someone was pushing a small cart with a huge three-layer cake on it. The top layer had a ring of cheese or biscuits, the inner circle had a drawing of a You Qi, and a rainbow-shaped insert read: Happy Birthday.

'Happy birthday~~~'

The group surrounded You Qi, saying to him with smiles.

You Qi wondered for a second if he'd gone to the wrong place, but the cake had his original form drawn on it — it couldn't be such a coincidence that another You Qi lived in this complex.

He was still trying to figure it out when an old auntie reached out and pinched his cheek: 'Oh, this young man is good-looking, tall enough, spirited.'

You Qi's pupils contracted: '...'

Even Zhou Mu hadn't dared to pinch him like this when they first met!

But You Qi couldn't get angry at all, because the next second, the old auntie shouted at Zhou Mu in his arms: 'Mu-mu, why aren't you awake yet? Grandma made you eight-treasure porridge.'

'Right, why is little Mu asleep?'

"Little Mu, it's your boyfriend's birthday and you're still making him carry you?"

"Look how tired you've made little You."

Someone broke the ice with a teasing remark.

Someone else reached over to scratch Zhou Mu's face.

Zhou Mu stirred in You Qi's arms. His mouth moved before his eyes opened, tongue flicking his lower lip: "Mm, cake." He was awake now. "There's cake? Whose birthday is it? I can smell eight-treasure porridge too..."

"Isn't it You Qi's birthday? Auntie said when she was buying your ticket she saw his ID — it's today." Zhou Mu's cousin said, still holding a plastic toy that had been sitting on the cart, now flashing lights and singing the birthday song.

Everyone was a born entertainer. They'd already been thrilled to hear Zhou Mu was dating at School, and now that he'd finally brought someone home, they'd been planning a welcome party for days. When Auntie discovered it was You Qi's birthday today, the party naturally gained a theme.

"Really?" Zhou Mu, still half-asleep, tried to recall.

You Qi was quiet for a moment, then said, "...I go by the lunar calendar for my birthday."

The crowd fell silent. Only the birthday bear kept singing on, oblivious: "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you."

The song made the atmosphere roughly two seconds more awkward.

Zhou Mu leaped out of his arms, laughing hard: "Then the whole cake is mine?" He lunged forward, mouth wide open, and was immediately intercepted — Auntie on one side, cousin on the other, both shoving his face back until he landed in You Qi's arms again.

"What the—" Zhou Mu said, annoyed.

"You can't just eat it anyway. We missed You Qi's actual birthday, so today counts as a makeup celebration plus a welcome party." Auntie was the mastermind behind this surprise birthday, so she was mortified about getting it wrong and desperate to make up for it. No way was she letting Zhou Mu devour the whole cake in one bite.

Together, they pushed You Qi and Zhou Mu inside, where balloons and gift boxes filled the room.

You Qi realized that even Zhou Mu couldn't just eat cake whenever he wanted here. Watching Zhou Mu sulk, he almost laughed. Standing in the middle of the living room, he took in the festive decorations they'd put up for him.

Zhou Mu's great-aunt — the same old lady from earlier — boldly patted You Qi on the back, once again doing something no teacher or student at Hualing Academy would dare: ambushing him from behind.

"Little You, you're a Fierce Beast too, right? You must be strong — help me crack some walnuts." Great-aunt handed him a handful. "You can eat a couple too, good for your brain, helps with the thesis."

"...Thanks." You Qi crushed the walnuts in his hand.

"I should be thanking you." Great-aunt cheerfully took the walnut meat, then teased, "And I mean it — you have no idea how much little Mu eats, he's going to eat us out of house and home."

She gestured in a direction. Not far off, Zhou Mu was lifting a rice cooker to pour eight-treasure porridge straight into his mouth.

You Qi couldn't help laughing.

You Qi's cool demeanor, combined with the birthday mix-up, had made the relatives slightly awkward. But seeing great-aunt break the ice, they loosened up and crowded in for a Human Race favorite activity: gossip.

"How tall are you exactly, little You?"

"Planning to take the civil service exam after graduation? Yao Clan can take it, right? I'm telling you, it's stable."

"Hilarious — that's not stable. How many dynasties did Zhou Mu's mom outlast as a civil servant?"

"What do you like to eat, little You? I heard your species can fly — want me to order you a bucket of wings tomorrow?"

Zhou Mu's cousin sister broke from the pack with a standout question: "Bro, when are you planning to have kids?"

Everyone froze for a beat, glaring at her: "What kind of question is that?"

Asking two boys about having kids — is she trying to cause trouble? We're in Pujiang, not Jinjiang.

The cousin sister said, perfectly self-righteous: "How would we know if they're a Yao Clan that can have kids!"

At exactly that moment, Zhou Mu hunched over and dry-heaved: "Urp."

This...

Everyone stared at them in horror.

The cousin looked at Zhou Mu, then at You Qi in shock: "Holy shit!"

You Qi: "..." Zhou Mu's family had quite the imagination.

You Qi walked over to Zhou Mu and rubbed his belly. "Don't eat so fast."

Zhou Mu burped, stuck out his tongue: "Been too long since I had home cooking."

"Mm-hmm, I knew men can't get pregnant."

"Hahahaha just kidding."

The relatives were pretty good at defusing things themselves.

The cousin accidentally made eye contact with You Qi, quickly picked up his cola with an awkward smile: "Mm, happy birthday."

As if he hadn't said anything just now.

You Qi raised his glass too: "Thanks."

Despite the little hiccups, You Qi felt that initial strangeness, that unreality of arriving in a Human Race city, was fading. This city — or rather, this family — was revealing its Human Race colors to him.

"You Qi, come blow out the candles." Zhou Mu could no longer hold back his urge to attack the cake. He'd already spotted a piece of lava cheesecake on the first layer and was dragging You Qi over to blow out the candles.

Of course, before blowing out the candles, they had to sing. Zhou Mu led, the birthday bear accompanied, everyone turned off the lights, and they sang happy birthday to You Qi together.

"Happy birthday to you."

"Happy birthday to you."

"..."

"Then close your eyes, make a wish, and blow them all out in one breath." Zhou Mu whispered in You Qi's ear, teaching him Human Race birthday customs.

You Qi closed his eyes, made a wish, and blew out the candles.

"Oh! All out, all out!"

"Happy birthday, your wish will come true."

"So dark, Zhou Mu, don't do anything naughty while it's dark~"

Amid the noise, You Qi said quietly, "What do you think I wished for?"

Of course it had to do with Zhou Mu. It could only have to do with Zhou Mu.

Though his voice was low, Zhou Mu's hearing could pick it up clearly — including the slightly ear-warming hint of teasing laughter in it.

In the dark living room, unseen by anyone, Zhou Mu seized the chance to kiss You Qi's ear: "Whatever it is, today's your birthday — your wish will definitely come true..."

At that moment, someone flipped on the ceiling light. The room blazed bright.

Zhou Mu's expression froze. He roared: "Shameless! Who stole my cheesecake while the lights were off!! Who ate the cheesecake on the first layer!!"

But no one helped Zhou Mu catch the "thief" — they just called out: "Birthday boy, cut the cake."

Though he'd only just met them, You Qi politely said to Zhou Mu's family, who were throwing him a birthday: "Thank you, everyone."

"Little You's polite, good. Come on, cut me a piece."

Zhou Mu glared at everyone, convinced each one was a cheesecake thief, and furious they were ignoring him. Were they in on it together? While he'd been whispering with You Qi in the dark, they hadn't been paying attention.

Seeing You Qi actually about to cut the cake for everyone, Zhou Mu blinked and whined: "Waaah, husband, cut it all into my mouth, ah—"

You Qi's knife missed entirely. He apologized to the family: "Sorry, everyone."

Everyone: "..."