In the Lu family kitchen, Shen Qingyu's hand paused while cutting vegetables, the knife stopping cleanly against the chopping board. Lu Jingheng looked at him immediately. "Qingyu?"

Shen Qingyu lowered his eyes. For a moment he seemed to hear the pages of an invisible book turning again — soft, thin, cruel. The protagonist halo was moving. It had sensed the first wave of public opinion slipping from its control, and it was pulling the story back. Shen Qingyu's lips curved, not with amusement but with something colder.

Lu Jingheng stepped closer, his voice dropping. "What happened?"

The camera was still on. The twins were washing vegetables nearby. Shen Qingyu could not explain the existence of the halo in front of millions of viewers, so he only picked up a cherry tomato from the bowl and set it on the chopping board.

"Nothing," he said calmly. "But I suddenly remembered — some rotten things do look fresh before they're cut open."

He brought the knife down. The red juice spread beneath the blade, and his expression remained beautiful and indifferent.

【Wait, what does that mean?】

【Is he talking about food?】

【Why do I feel like he isn't?】

【I got chills.】

A faint pressure spread from Lu Jingheng's direction — restrained, not leaking far enough to reach the children or the staff, but Shen Qingyu felt it immediately. Cold cedar after snow, steady and protective. His shoulders relaxed almost imperceptibly.

Xiao Nian looked up from his lettuce leaf. "Dad, are rotten things bad?"

"Yes."

"If something is rotten inside but looks good outside," Xiao Heng said, his small face perfectly serious, "it is more dangerous — because people may eat it by mistake."

【Why do I feel like Xiao Heng accidentally said something important?】

【Rotten inside but looks good outside…】

【Why did the anti-comments suddenly flood in just now? The wording was all so similar.】

The halo's momentum paused. Shen Qingyu felt it — that faint pressure like something invisible choking for half a second. His smile deepened. So it could be disturbed. Good.

The lunchbox task continued. Xiao Nian washed each vegetable leaf carefully, his little brows knitted in concentration. Xiao Heng had initially been dissatisfied with the arrangement role until Shen Qingyu explained that aesthetic arrangement required logic, balance, and spatial judgement, at which point Xiao Heng accepted immediately. Five minutes later, the lunchbox contained rice balls arranged by size, shrimp placed in symmetrical positions, carrot flowers sorted by diameter, and sweet corn distributed with terrifying mathematical precision.

"Xiao Heng."

"Yes, Dad."

"Why are the corn kernels arranged like a military formation?"

"For visual order."

"Baby, lunchboxes are usually cute."

Xiao Heng studied the lunchbox, then moved one shrimp half a centimetre to the left. "Now it is lively."

Shen Qingyu: "…"

"It is better," Lu Jingheng said.

Shen Qingyu looked at his husband.

【HAHAHAHAHAHA】

【President Lu thinks half a centimetre adds liveliness.】

【No wonder Xiao Heng is like this. Genetics. This is genetics.】

【Shen Qingyu is fighting alone for emotional normalcy.】

Xiao Nian quietly placed a small heart-shaped carrot beside the rice ball, then looked up at Shen Qingyu. "Dad, is this cute?"

"Very cute," Shen Qingyu said immediately.

Xiao Nian smiled. Xiao Heng studied the heart-shaped carrot, picked up another, and placed it on the opposite side to maintain symmetry. Shen Qingyu took a slow breath.

"Acceptable," he said.

Lu Jingheng closed the lunchbox lid. The task should have ended there, but the programme team — clearly understanding variety-show momentum — sent a second card via the tablet on the counter.

Family Question Session: Parents and children must answer separately.

The first question appeared on screen: Children, what does Dad do when he is unhappy?

Xiao Nian raised his hand at once. "He says he is fine."

【Accurate. Too accurate. Baby exposed him.】

"He also drinks coffee without sugar," Xiao Heng added, "and reads scripts for a long time."

"And sleeps late," Lu Jingheng said.

Shen Qingyu turned to look at him. "This is for the children."

"It did not say adults cannot supplement," Lu Jingheng replied, his expression perfectly calm.

Shen Qingyu: "…"

The next question: What does Father do when he is unhappy?

Xiao Nian thought carefully. "Father becomes quiet."

"Father is usually quiet," Xiao Heng pointed out.

Xiao Nian corrected himself. "Then he becomes more quiet."

Lu Jingheng: "…"

Shen Qingyu smiled — and the camera caught it clearly. It was very light, not directed at the lens but at his family, soft and brief and entirely real. In old interview footage Shen Qingyu had always looked cold, sharp, impatient, and many people had used those clips as evidence of arrogance. But this smile was different, and the bullet comments slowed to watch it.

【He smiled.】

【I think I understand Lu Jingheng now.】

【If Shen Qingyu smiled at me like that, I'd wear an apron too.】

【Stop, I'm supposed to hate him.】

【You can resign. I already did.】

The third question: What does Dad like most?

"Father," Xiao Nian said, without a moment's hesitation.

The entire kitchen went still. Lu Jingheng looked at his son. Xiao Heng nodded.

"This answer is supported by evidence."

"What evidence?" Shen Qingyu asked, very carefully.

Xiao Heng counted on his fingers. "Dad says Father is annoying, but he still waits for Father to come home. Dad says Father is too controlling, but he drinks the milk Father gives him. Dad says Father has low EQ, but when Father hugs him, Dad becomes less angry. Dad says Father should sleep in the study — but Father has never successfully slept in the study."

The kitchen fell into a deathly silence. Then Lu Jingheng turned his face away, and his shoulders moved slightly.

"Are you laughing?" Shen Qingyu asked.

"No," Lu Jingheng said, his voice suspiciously steady.

【Xiao Heng, my god, you are the family historian.】

【Father has never successfully slept in the study HAHAHAHAHA.】

【Those rumours saying they live separately were obviously fake.】

【Children don't lie about this kind of thing.】

"Lu Yiheng."

Xiao Heng blinked. "Yes, Dad."

"Your observation skills are excellent." A pause. "But your survival skills are lacking."

Xiao Heng: "…"

Xiao Nian immediately pushed his small cup toward Shen Qingyu. "Dad, drink water. Don't be angry."

Shen Qingyu looked at the cup, and his heart softened. He accepted it and took a sip. Lu Jingheng reached over and wiped a drop of water from the corner of Shen Qingyu's lips with his thumb — the movement so natural, so unhesitating, that by the time everyone watching had processed what had happened, his hand was already withdrawn.

Shen Qingyu glanced at him. Lu Jingheng's expression was unchanged.

【AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH】

【He wiped his mouth! That was not acting. That was muscle memory.】

【Married couple muscle memory!】

【Shen Qingyu didn't even dodge.】

【Why would he dodge? That is his husband.】

The words his husband stayed briefly in Shen Qingyu's eyes as they passed on the production monitor. For years people had called Lu Jingheng many things — the empire's richest man, the youngest Lu family head, SSS+ Enigma, cold-blooded capitalist — but few had said Shen Qingyu's husband with such simple, unconditional certainty, as though it were natural, as though Shen Qingyu had every right to be loved by him. He lowered his eyes, and Lu Jingheng noticed — as he always did.