Could he actually be gay?

Yun Yang and Old Li strolled leisurely down the street, watching the pedestrians whose faces radiated a sense of secure happiness.

"Kid Yun, how is it? Do you feel that your life-risking battles on the front lines were truly worth it?"

Hearing Old Li's words, Yun Yang rubbed his nose.

"It's pretty good, but calling it life-risking is a bit of an exaggeration."

"Mhm? You're someone who died once for your country, don't sell yourself short."

Old Li stopped in his tracks, his voice turning stern.

Seeing Old Li's serious expression, Yun Yang couldn't help but be startled, and said softly.

"It's not as grand as you make it sound. That time, I just got a bit too arrogant and pushed my luck."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yun Yang was met with a sharp smack from Old Li. Although it didn't hurt, he still put on a wronged expression and looked at the assailant.

"You risked your life! You were ambushed precisely because you were protecting your comrades, understand?"

Old Li glared at Yun Yang with a look of utter disappointment in his potential.

"I..."

"Mhm?!"

Looking at Old Li's bristling beard and glaring eyes, Yun Yang seemed to realize something, and a helpless smile escaped him.

"Uncle, I'm a super soldier, a god. Power and things like that are useless to me. Besides, Ge Xiaolun has been recognized by the gods of the universe as the supreme god of the Milky Way, and that cannot be changed. So, I might as well happily be a slacker. In any case, honorary titles are definitely not going to be lacking for me, so..."

Yun Yang didn't finish the rest of the sentence, but Old Li would certainly understand.

Sure enough, Old Li fell silent for a moment, then chuckled, a sound tinged with a sense of release.

"True, you guys are different from us. There's really no need to fuss over power. I'll stay out of these matters then, let's talk about something else."

Yun Yang wore a relaxed smile, because he had genuinely been afraid that Old Li would pressure him to climb the ranks at all costs—something he simply couldn't handle.

Now that this worry was gone, Yun Yang asked in a relaxed tone.

"Something else? What else?"

Old Li's stern face suddenly broke into a kindly smile as he began.

"That grandson of mi—"

Before Old Li could finish, Yun Yang reacted the moment he started speaking; this topic was off-limits.

He directly broke into a brisk jog toward a convenience store, leaving Old Li so angry that he raised a finger, completely speechless.

Before long, Yun Yang returned with two bottles of mineral water and eagerly unscrewed one for Old Li.

Old Li reached out to take it, and the words resumed right where they left off.

"That gran—"

Realizing this wouldn't do, Yun Yang thrust the water bottle right under Old Li's nose and interrupted him.

"Uncle, after saying so much, you must be thirsty."

Old Li's face darkened slightly. He took a heavy gulp of water and tried again.

"My—"

However, with lightning-fast reflexes, Yun Yang tore open a pack of cigarettes and shoved one right under Old Li's nose.

"Uncle, you haven't smoked in a long time, have a cigarette."

Having his words cut off and trapped in his mouth twice felt rather uncomfortable, so Old Li accepted the cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag, and prepared to speak once more.

Only to hear Yun Yang shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Boss! Bring twenty skewers of kidneys first, five catties of mutton, ten skewers of everything else, and two pitchers of beer to start with!"

Seeing Yun Yang sitting there, flashing a cheeky, grinning face at him, Old Li could only glare fiercely and walk over to take a seat.

Amidst Yun Yang's rambling small talk, the ordered items began to arrive at the table.

A young girl with a doll-like face walked over carrying a large tray. As she placed the skewers down, she cast a peculiar look at Yun Yang.

"Beauty, staring at me like that—don't tell me you've fallen for me? I already have a girlfriend."

Yun Yang felt a bit embarrassed by the gaze and decided to fight fire with fire by flirting back.

Who would have thought that the girl's look would become even weirder? After setting down the tray piled high with animal kidneys, she remarked.

"You look so drained, I'd never fall for you."

With that, she turned around and walked away without looking back, leaving Yun Yang somewhat baffled.

Meanwhile, Old Li's laughter came from beside him as he picked up a kidney and shook it at Yun Yang.

By now, Yun Yang finally caught on—the young lady had assumed he was here to build up his physical stamina.

Could he endure this? Well, since she had already left, he had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill in silence.

He promptly pulled the plate of kidneys toward himself.

"These were ordered specifically for the great-grandson you're yearning for so badly, so none of these are for you."

Old Li gave Yun Yang a surprised look, then picked up the one he had taken a bite of and held it out in front of Yun Yang.

"Have this one too. Eat up, give yourself a little boost."

Yun Yang looked at the bite mark and wore an expression of utter disgust.

"It has your saliva on it, I don't want it."

Old Li's face darkened, and he took a vicious bite out of it, snapping.

"You brat."

By the time Yun Yang forced down the third one, he couldn't take it anymore. His mouth tasted foul, and his complexion had turned slightly greenish-blue.

He pushed the tray back to the center of the table and said with an embarrassed smile.

"Uncle, let's eat together."

Old Li popped an edamame bean into his mouth and shot Yun Yang a sideways glance.

"These are all for the sake of my future grandson, they're all yours."

"Come on, Uncle, it tastes awful. Let's share, let's share."

Yun Yang pushed the plate forward a bit more, looking rather distressed.

"Wasting food is shameful, hurry up and eat."

Old Li looked at Yun Yang with a beaming smile and even devoured a skewer of mutton.

Just as Yun Yang reached out to grab a mutton skewer to wash away the taste, Old Li smacked his hand away with a skewer stick, startling him into pulling his hand back instantly.

"Finish these before you eat anything else. Hurry up, stop dawdling."

Yun Yang opened his mouth, feeling somewhat like crying without tears. He had no choice but to pick up yet another foul-tasting kidney and take a fierce bite.

He chewed it rapidly twice, swallowed it down, and promptly grabbed his beer to take a huge gulp.

Seeing this scene, Old Li smiled with satisfaction and continued eating his mutton skewers.

Half an hour later, Yun Yang stared at the mound of white and red remnants lying before him, glistening with a faint sheen of grease.

Feeling the churning in his stomach, he simply couldn't bring himself to touch another one.

By this time, the customers at the surrounding tables were also watching Yun Yang, because the towering pyramid of kidney skewers was truly an eye-catcher.

One table had been observing him in secret all along, but when they saw him polish off ten of them, they looked at him as if he were a divine being—after all, not everyone could stomach that particular taste.

Having reached a consensus among themselves, the crowd began to watch openly, eager to see whether Yun Yang could actually finish the whole lot.

Seeing that only one was left and yet Yun Yang showed no intention of moving after staring at it for ages, they immediately started hooting and cheering.

"Brother, eat it! It's the last one!"

"That's right, don't chicken out! Take a swig of beer to steady your nerves and down it in one go!"

Even a table of young women joined in the clamor.

"Yeah, handsome, it's the final one!"

"Eat it, and I'll lend you my best friend for the night!"

With that remark, the atmosphere grew even more heated, and everyone chimed in from all directions, urging him to take the plunge.

Yun Yang swept his gaze across the crowd and managed a rather strained smile.

"It's easy for you guys to talk while standing on the sidelines, I... *burp*~"

As he spoke, Yun Yang let out a loud burp, the heavy aftertaste making his head spin, almost causing him to erupt like a fountain.

Fortunately, Yun Yang managed to hold it in, otherwise the hecklers around him would have been caught in the crossfire.

At that moment, a scantily clad beauty stood up and walked over—it was the young woman who had offered up her best friend.

She smiled brightly, picked up the very last skewer, and brought it right to Yun Yang's lips.

"Eat it, and you can pick any of us four."

As soon as these words were spoken, an uproar erupted, and the male compatriots around immediately chimed in.

"Beauty, I can do it too! What's twenty kidneys? Piece of cake."

"Right, right, right! I think I can do it too!"

"Beauty, let me do it! I can handle twenty-five big kidneys!"

And that young woman was formidable; she stood up straight and announced loudly.

"As for me, I'm a visual creature. Anyone not as handsome as this little brother would have to eat thirty!"

The entire venue fell dead silent, and in the next second, the restaurant owner made an absolute fortune.

Old Li gave a dry cough to draw Yun Yang's attention.

"I know nothing about this. Today, you got drunk and slept over at my place."

Yun Yang's face darkened. Was he that kind of person? Old Li was truly a shameless old man.

Yun Yang pushed the kidney away with his hand; the smell was simply too overpowering.

"Young lady, I don't have that kind of blessing. I really can't eat another bite, so let's just forget it."

The young lady sized Yun Yang up for a moment, devoured the remaining skewer in a few bites, and tossed the stick onto the table.

"Oh my, you're quite something. Let's go."

With that, she reached out to grab Yun Yang's arm, her eyes full of teasing amusement.

Yun Yang sidestepped to dodge her and cast a pleading look at Old Li.

Instead of helping, Old Li acted as if he hadn't seen a thing, casually popping an edamame bean into his mouth and saying.

"If you've got business, go on ahead. I'll settle the bill in a minute."

Yun Yang, who had naively expected Old Li to rescue him, froze in place, a look of profound disbelief crossing his face as if he were meeting Old Li for the very first time.

The expression plastered across his face clearly read: *I never knew you were this kind of Old Li.*

And Old Li acted completely oblivious, even adding a parting remark.

"Stay safe, don't go making any trouble."

Then, seeming to remember his precious grandson, he appended a supplementary note.

"Well, if trouble happens, it's fine. Old Li will raise the kid for you when the time comes."

Upon hearing this, Yun Yang's face turned pitch black. He took a moment to compose himself before turning back to look at the young woman.

"One should exercise a bit of restraint."

"Huh? Think about how many people died in the war—that really made me see things clearly. Why put so many constraints on yourself? Just live however feels comfortable."

The young woman struck a pose of reasoned argument, uttering words that utterly subverted Yun Yang's worldview.

Meanwhile, the surrounding male compatriots, hoping for a slice of potential happiness today, all chimed in with words of agreement.

The young woman gave him a look that said, *See? Aren't I right?*

Yun Yang decided to take the initiative and break the deadlock head-on.

"Me? I'm not fond of overly open-minded girls. That kind of intimacy is something I only want to share with someone I intend to marry."

The surrounding male compatriots instantly cast looks of utter disdain. *Once isn't enough? You brat actually want to do it all the time?*

"Marriage is out of the question... Anyway, this is my WeChat. If you ever change your mind in the future, feel free to look me up, oh."

Hearing Yun Yang's response, the young woman wore a look of regret. After rattling off a string of digits, she turned around and went back to keep her friends company.

Shortly after, Yun Yang overheard the whispered chatter among the four young women.

"What's going on? With your charm, you couldn't reel him in?"

"Could he be a gay?"

"He said he doesn't like open girls and insisted that doing that deed means getting married."

"Really? Is he actually that pure?"

"He's totally my type. He looks quite handsome, yet he's so pure—he'd probably make a great life partner."

Hearing this, Yun Yang broke out in a cold sweat. He immediately paid the bill, grabbed Old Li, and bolted.