Didn't you go to Teyvat to earn money to support me?

"Who told you to say I don't like you first..."

Ayaka Kamisato chuckled, then suppressed it, putting on a stern face, "Get off me."

Shen Liang realized that he had pinned her to the ground, so he pulled her up as well. Then he saw the referee next to him and was startled.

—Damn, the atmosphere got so intense that I forgot there were people in the audience. Luckily, Ayato and Hanayo Kamisato weren't there.

"Please, Aunt Furuta, don't tell Mother and Brother what happened between Ayaka and Mr. Ryoko. Well, Mother might be okay with that, but please don't tell Brother." Ayaka Kamisato bowed slightly to the referee and said softly, "My brother may not be aware of the bond between Ayaka and Mr. Ryoko, and he might act impulsively."

The referee thought to herself, "Little princess, you're worried about your brother being impulsive? Even if he's impulsive, can he be as impulsive as you were just now?" But she didn't say anything, just smiled helplessly and looked Shen Liang up and down a few times, "Is this the person Miss chose?"

Ayaka Kamisato's face flushed, and she hesitated slightly, "No, not at all..."

Shen Liang immediately turned her head, her little face full of dissatisfaction, "Huh? Not me? Then who is it? Who else do you want to choose?"

"Ryoko!" she stomped her foot angrily.

--------

During dinner, Ayato Kamisato had to return to the castle tower first, and Shen Liang, seeing his expression, gave him two boxes of nitroglycerin pills. Even so, there were still quite a few people at the Kamisato family's dinner table. In addition to Hanayo and Ayaka, several servants and maids of higher status were also allowed to sit at the table.

During the meal, Ayaka Kamisato sat opposite Shen Liang, across the table, with her head down and not daring to say a word to him.

However, Kayo Kamisato and Thomas seemed to have seen through something, and they started chatting with smiles. They talked casually, but eventually focused on Shen Liang, asking him all sorts of questions.

At first, it might have been normal topics like family matters or the scenery of another world, but suddenly, a casual remark by Kayo Kamisato changed the tone of the entire dinner conversation.

"Ryoko, I heard you're quite popular at the Coral Palace. The shogunate's intelligence says you're also the boyfriend of a modern-day shrine maiden? Aren't we Inazuma's shrine maidens supposed to remain chaste?"

Everyone except Ayaka Kamisato looked at him.

“Hmm.” Shen Liang was quite frank. “The Great God of the Sea is a dead deity, so this doesn’t apply to him. Besides, I’ve talked to him, and he said he doesn’t want to involve the lives of future generations, so the Coral Palace may not have this rule anymore.”

The people at the table looked at each other strangely for a moment.

You've spoken with...the Snake God?

Then, Kazuyo Kamisato asked with a gentle smile, "So, Ryoko-san, have you and that Miss Kokoro Sango... eaten red bean rice yet?"

This was a very subtle way of putting it, but Shen Liang had spent a long time in Japan, and Inazuma and Japan even shared some similar proverbs and cultural elements. In Inazuma, girls eat red bean rice on the day they become women, and he immediately understood what Kamisato Hanayo meant.

However, he glanced at Ayaka, and Kayo also glanced at her daughter, seemingly trying to see some expression on her face.

Ayaka Kamisato kept her head down and sipped her soup slowly, still not daring to look at anyone.

Shen Liang hesitated for a moment, but he didn't really want to lie. The Shen family mother and daughter had been very good to him, and even understood him quite well, so there was no need for him to pretend to be a well-behaved child now.

“Yes,” Shen Liang nodded, “I’m not a child anymore.”

After he finished speaking, he noticed that the women at the table had even stranger expressions. Kayo Kamisato pinched the end of her hair, her expression stiffened slightly, and then she nodded: "So precocious."

Precocious my ass!

At this moment, some of the aunties who were eating together whispered, "They're actually carnivores."

"She looks so well-behaved and cute."

"After all, he's a man."

"Won't you be unable to reach it?"

Where is it that you can't reach? Explain yourself! If you don't explain, I'll kill you! I'll draw my sword and kill you right now!

Shen Liang roared inwardly, but his face remained calm and serene.

"My Ayaka is quite good too. She's eighteen this year and has even been a shrine maiden. The daughter of the shrine magistrate occasionally performs Kagura dances at the grand shrine, and she looks beautiful in her shrine maiden outfit." The silver-haired wife said with a smile, her mouth still open even with rice porridge. "Ayaka inherited Hanayo's looks and figure. Although she's not particularly outstanding now, she'll definitely make you very happy in the future. I've had the pleasure of meeting Hanayo, that little shrine maiden from the Coral Palace. She's cute, but also quite ordinary. My Ayaka is different."

Shen Liang was at a loss.

He suspected that Kayo Kamisato had secretly seen him and Ayaka kissing, and now she was practically blatantly trying to play matchmaker.

But it seems to be a necessary tactic for every mother trying to snatch a son-in-law. You're talking about matchmaking, fine, but why belittle the Little Mermaid? Xin Hai isn't good enough? Hmph, your daughter is promising, but isn't Xin Hai's too? Aunt Liu Ge's figure is so amazing, even a random shirt looks like a low-cut top!

Chapter 239 We weren't exactly acquainted, but we'd slept together.

Shen Liang could only put down his chopsticks. "Aunt Hua Dai, Xin Hai and I have had a lot of things happen. She is my fiancée."

This means you shouldn't even think about breaking up the couple. I understand your eagerness to marry off your daughter, but you want me to marry into your family? Humph!

Then Kayo Kamisato looked puzzled and said, "Huh? So what?"

Another auntie chimed in, surprisingly the referee from before. She said, "Xiao Shen might have misunderstood. We're not saying you should abandon her. A man who abandons his wife and children isn't a man at all. Maybe your world doesn't allow polygamy, but we in Inazuma don't have that concept. It's perfectly normal for a capable man to have a large number of female confidantes. Kujo Takayuki has more wives than sons."

Ayaka Kamisato seemed not to hear anything, keeping her head down as she ate.

"Xiao Shen is currently very popular, and it's foreseeable that a lot of girls will like him in the future. However, even if he has three wives and four concubines, there should be a hierarchy."

"Since they're not married, there shouldn't be any problem with our Linghua becoming the eldest daughter, right?"

"That priestess from the Coral Palace seems to hold a fairly high position?"

"Then let's set up one house each on Umijima Island and Narukami Island. Ayaka can be the head of the household on Narukami Island, and the shrine maiden can be the head of the household on Umijima Island." The aunties discussed endlessly.

Shen Liang could only look at Kagami Kayo, hoping that this married woman could extricate him from this awkward conversation.

Kazuyo Kamisato said in a gloomy tone, "Over there at the Coral Palace, the dowries of the current shrine maidens are countless. Perhaps even the most beautiful shrine maidens on the island could be used as dowries. It's going to be very difficult for the Kamisato family to surpass the Coral Palace, isn't it, Ryoko?"

"Miss Hua Dai!" Shen Liang couldn't help but exclaim, "You should stay out of this!"

"Kanayo doesn't want to get involved either, but Ayaka is my own flesh and blood. I watched helplessly as Ryoko took you away from me little by little, so of course I have to find a way to secure a place for her after marriage." Kayo Kamisato said with a rather righteous tone, "If a mother doesn't fight for her daughter, how will Ayaka, with her personality, ever learn to compete for favor in the future?"

"Snapped!"

Everyone looked over, and Ayaka Kamisato slammed her chopsticks heavily on the table, then left without saying a word.

She was unusually rude, not even saying "I'm done eating," and left in a huff.

It seems she was too thin-skinned to bear the teasing from her mother and the group of aunts.

"You drove your own flesh and blood away." Shen Liang shrugged.

"It's alright, Ayaka is like this, Ryoko, keep eating." Kanazawa Kayo chuckled and placed a piece of salmon on his plate. "Open your mouth, ah—"

Shen Liang took a bite of the fish, then shook his head. "I can't stand you guys anymore. I'm going to find Linghua."

I chased after it, but I didn't expect the little egret to have run quite far.

Shenli-ryu·Shanbu is indeed fast as a light footwork technique. Shen Liang went down the mountain path and saw a girl leaning against a red torii gate at the foot of Shabō-gō-yama, gazing at the sunset.

“What’s there to be shy about?” Shen Liang started with this. “You don’t need to care what they say. Just focus on eating your food and leave when you’re done. As for the elders, let them chat and joke around. It doesn’t matter.”

"Isn't that what Ayaka did?" Ayaka Kamisato retorted.

Shen Liang was momentarily stunned. It seemed that Ayaka Kamisato had indeed ignored everything.

The way Earthlings handle dinner parties with their elders is pretty much the same in Teyvat.

"Who wants to be your concubine..." the little egret kicked at a stone.

“I agree with that. I think the distinction between large and small women is a remnant of feudal society. As an Earthling, I absolutely oppose this trend that differentiates and unequals women.” Shen Liang raised both hands in agreement. “We Earthlings advocate freedom of marriage and freedom of love.”

"So everyone on Earth practices monogamy?" Ayaka Kamisato immediately retorted.

Shen Liang hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Most countries practice monogamy, which is the legal system. But in reality, wealthy and high-class people often have multiple partners in practice, and it's quite common, although there are some moral flaws."

“It doesn’t sound much different from Teyvat.” Ayaka Kamisato turned around, her beautiful eyes fixed on Shen Liang. “So what do you have to brag about, Ryoko? Your civilization isn’t much more advanced than Teyvat’s.”

"But in terms of human desires... everyone is indeed the same."

"So Ryoko has desires for me?" Ayaka Kamisato pressed on relentlessly.

Shen Liang looked at her and nodded frankly, "It was bound to happen sooner or later."

"Is Ryoko so sure she can make Ayaka yours?" Ayaka Kamisato slightly curled the corners of her lips, but quickly suppressed it, her small face still very serious. "Why? Why should Ayaka have to marry you? There are so many talented young men in Inazuma, and there are quite a few who are no less capable than Ryoko."

"Not worse than me?" Shen Liang's expression was strange; he was very unconvinced.

Although this sounds a bit arrogant, his reputation in Inazuma is enough to overshadow all the younger generation... No, even if you remove the restrictions on the younger generation, it's still enough. The only person in Inazuma who can suppress him is General Raiden.

“…Just a little bit more.” Ayaka Kamisato cleverly changed her tune, still pressing the issue, “You still haven’t answered me. What are you going to do with me? What gives you the right?”

Shen Liang noticed that the girl, with her cheeks puffed out and glaring at him fiercely, was throwing a tantrum.

Little Egret rarely throws tantrums; she's calm and gentle by nature. Even when Shen Liang didn't like her much before, she rarely acted up. But now…

Shen Liang chuckled to himself.

—Sure enough, once a girl enters a close relationship, she'll unconsciously act cute, act spoiled, and throw tantrums around you. Ayaka Kamisato herself didn't realize that the distance between her and him had been shrinking, to the point that she'd naturally started acting childish.

But Shen Liang just thought she was really cute.

—Just as I thought, boys are the same. As long as they feel a close relationship with the other person, even if she throws a tantrum like this, they still can't bring themselves to dislike her.

So, trying to reason with a sulking girl and explain your feelings is like talking to a brick wall. Ayaka Kamisato certainly doesn't want to hear how he's planning to woo her; she just wants to be angry, but is constrained by her image as a reasonable and demure lady, so she can only act this way.

After thinking it over, Shen Liang decided to sacrifice his image to coax her.

He stood in front of Ayaka Kamisato, opened his arms, tilted his small face up, and stared at her.

"What... huh?" Ayaka Kamisato sensed something was wrong. "Ryoko, you wouldn't be thinking of..."

"Sister Linghua is wearing high heels, they're too high," Shen Liang said in a sweet, businesslike voice. "I want to kiss Sister Linghua, but we're not close enough."

Ayaka Kamisato gasped instinctively, feeling as if her heart was being pierced by the sweetness and allure of those words.

Looking at the handsome boy whose face practically screamed "Won't you kiss me?", Princess Egret couldn't resist the temptation. After much internal struggle, she finally lowered her head. Shen Liang naturally wrapped his arms around her neck and leaned in to meet her kiss.