"You go to sleep first," Wen Mubai said.
"Cold." Xu Chacha shivered at the right moment, looking at her pitifully.
"I'll be right back." Wen Mubai brushed her hair away from her forehead. "Are the painkillers working? Are you still in a lot of pain?"
"It hurts..." She couldn't lie about it. At most, she could try to distract herself a little, but the pain was still there.
"Wait me a moment."
Xu Chacha watched Wen Mubai go into the bathroom, and then come out a while later. He lifted the blanket, and a warm thing was stuffed into her stomach.
Give me your foot.
Xu Chacha obediently handed over her feet.
"It's so cold." Wen Mubai frowned as he placed his hand on the soles of her feet. He then pulled out some thick socks from somewhere, put them on Xu Chacha, and tucked her back into the blankets.
Her feet and stomach felt much better, but Xu Chacha was still not satisfied. Her eyes were fixed on the person. "It's still cold."
Wen Mubai understood what she meant, of course. He unbuttoned his coat, revealing that she was only wearing a soft sweater underneath. He lay down next to Xu Chacha with his slender body turned to the side, in a position that seemed to encircle her.
Xu Chacha, like an octopus lying on a chopping board, struggled to turn over, buried her head in her arms, and found the most comfortable and softest spot to lean against her, a movement she had practiced countless times.
Wen Mubai indulged her all day, putting his arm around her and patting her back gently. "Tell me if the water bag gets cold, and I'll go change it."
Xu Chacha nodded, remaining mostly silent.
Time passed slowly, and I thought she would eventually fall asleep, but she was like an eel, never able to stay in one position, constantly struggling and thrashing about.
Wen Mubai noticed her body trembling as she endured the pain. "Does it still hurt?"
"It comes in waves." She thought that it would be better if she fell asleep, but the quieter it was, the more obvious the pain became. She thought it would be better to find something to distract herself.
"Are your legs sore?"
"It's sore." Xu Chacha nodded, her voice slightly nasal, as if she was enduring the pain. "My thighs have been aching all the time."
"Your blood isn't circulating properly." Wen Mubai reached out and lightly punched the outside of her thigh with his fist. "Tell me if it's too hard."
"It's not heavy." Although she didn't know what the purpose of massaging her legs was, she seemed to feel less uncomfortable after a while.
These gentle pats, one after another, felt like the pats her mother used to comfort her when she was little, making her feel increasingly sleepy.
About twenty minutes later, Wen Mubai noticed that the person in his arms was no longer moving, so he prepared to change the hot water bottle on her stomach.
Her hand reached out but was pulled back. Xu Chacha's eyes were closed, but she could sense every subtle movement. She said in a sleepy voice, "That's fine."
It's cold.
"Then use this." Xu Chacha removed the hot water bottle and then pulled Wen Mubai's hand to her lower abdomen. "This is quite warm too."
Wen Mubai's fingers touched that soft skin, and he subconsciously wanted to pull away, but Xu Chacha held him down. She didn't have much strength, but she couldn't break free.
Perhaps because she had just applied a hot water bottle, the temperature under her palms was much higher than normal body temperature, burning hot, the heat traveling from her palms all the way to her heart, and even the breath coming out of her mouth and nose was hot.
"I'll go change it for you, sweetie."
"No." Xu Chacha raised her voice a little. "Go out. The blankets will get drafty again in a bit. It's so hard to keep them warm."
Winter in the South is so harsh; no matter how high you set the air conditioner in a large room, it's no use.
Upon hearing this, Wen Mubai finally stopped moving.
So from the very beginning, they saw it as a trap with no way out, and that's why they pulled her in?
"Okay, you can continue sleeping. I won't leave." Wen Mubai was even more patient with the patient than usual.
Xu Chacha didn't speak, just nodded, and soon her breathing returned to a long, even rhythm.
Wen Mubai wasn't sleepy at all, but listening to her breathing, he gradually closed his eyes.
When I opened my eyes again, it was already dark outside.
Her first reaction was to look down at Xu Chacha and find that her complexion was better than before, and her lips were not as pale, which put her at ease.
Then she quietly got out of bed, quickly tucked the blanket around Xu Chacha, wrapping her up like a silkworm cocoon, leaving no gaps.
She had to make something to eat before the little darling woke up.
Xu Chacha's stomach suffered a lot today. She definitely couldn't eat anything too greasy, but she hadn't eaten all day and needed to replenish her energy since she was on her period.
Holding the cookbook she had bought earlier, she spent nearly ten minutes before finally deciding on egg rolls and vegetable and lean meat porridge.
Porridge takes a long time to cook, so it definitely needs to be prepared in advance. Thus, Wen, the decisive and straightforward designer in the workplace, was busy chopping vegetables while keeping an eye on the recipe. Fortunately, she hadn't started cooking yet, so she didn't blow up the kitchen in the first step.
With all the ingredients prepared, she put the washed rice into the pot as instructed in the recipe, then poured in the required amount of water and brought it to a boil over high heat.
Then I took another wok, heated it up, added oil, and stir-fried the shredded meat.
But perhaps she hadn't drained the water properly when washing the meat, because as soon as the shredded meat was put in, it made a terrible sizzling sound. She barely managed to keep her expression steady and didn't scream. She silently took half a step back and waited for the sound to subside before approaching again.
But when you try to flip it with a spatula, you find that the meat has stuck together, and some pieces are even burnt and stuck to the bottom of the pot, making it impossible to lift with a spatula.
Wen Mubai turned off the stove, threw away the waste ingredients, and then picked up the cookbook to start looking at it. He had followed the recipe step by step, so why was he still making mistakes?
She checked word by word and found that it only mentioned that the porridge needed to be stirred frequently to prevent it from sticking to the pot, but it did not mention any precautions for stir-frying meat.
"That shouldn't be the case."
So she tried again, but the result was the same.
The continuous noise finally woke Xu Chacha up. Although Wen Mubai kept burning the meat, it still smelled quite good.
Xu Chacha sat up, looking on with curiosity, wanting to see when Wen Mubai had learned to cook dishes other than egg sandwiches. But when she peeked in, she saw a huge pile of dark, greasy meat in the trash can.
"..." Do you know how expensive pork is right now?
Xu Chacha's silence made the atmosphere a little awkward. Wen Mubai calmly stirred the porridge, "It was just a small mistake, it'll be ready soon. Go and sit down."
"I'll do it," Xu Chacha said, rolling up her sleeves.
“You’re on your period, you can’t touch anything cold.” Wen Mubai reached out and pulled down her sleeve again.
"Were you just supposed to stand there and watch me blow up my kitchen?"
"It's not that exaggerated."
“You have a criminal record, Ms. Wen Mubai.”
Wen Mubai fell silent. "I'm just not good at handling meat. You can help with this step, and I'll take care of the rest."
"Okay, okay." Xu Chacha nodded and didn't argue anymore. She had to save Wen Mubai's last bit of face.
So even as Wen Mubai used a knife and cutting board to dismember the last piece of pork in her refrigerator, Xu Chacha simply watched silently from the side.
"Is this okay?"
"You have to cut the meat apart, otherwise it will all stick together."
This was the first time Xu Chacha had ever seen someone cut meat in such a way that it was "like a lotus root with intertwined threads." She seriously doubted whether Wen Mubai's culinary skills had been used to exchange for his intelligence; how could he be so...
Wen Mubai nodded, his slender fingers gripping the knife hilt, his eyelids lowered, his eyes fixed intently on the piece of meat. Although his knife skills were messy, at least his posture was impressive.
Ignoring the mess in the kitchen, her serious expression made her look somewhat like a doctor on the operating table.
After finally cutting the meat, Xu Chacha turned on the heat to dry the pan, then poured in a little oil. After a few seconds of the oil heating up, she had Wen Mubai pour the meat in.
Wen Mubai stretched out his arm and performed this step beside her. After the meat was in, he skillfully took a step back.
Xu Chacha didn't notice her at all. She switched to medium-low heat, deftly stirred the pan a few times with the spatula, then added the vegetables and stir-fried them until they were just cooked through. She then turned off the heat and poured the vegetables into the boiling porridge.
"I'll take care of the rest."
Xu Chacha clapped her hands, stood aside, and looked at the woman wearing an apron. "It seems like this business is a bit of a loss."
"Um?"
"Our family's cooking is really bad."
Wen Mubai nodded, but when he looked up at her, he had a smile on his face. "But I'm very good at serving you."
"……"Depend on.
Xu Chacha was speechless by her words, waved her hand and walked away in frustration, sitting on the sofa next to her to watch TV.
When Wen Mubai brought out the porridge and egg rolls, he also brought a glass of milk and some white sugar.
"Add as much sweetness as you like."
Xu Chacha always craves sweets more during her period than usual; she's gotten used to it.
"No, I need to cut out sugar."
"You won't gain weight during your period."
"My mom's age doesn't believe in this stuff anymore." The words slipped out without thinking. Realizing what she'd said, Xu Chacha quickly covered her mouth, "I didn't mean you're old..."
Oh no, this last sentence seems to make things worse.
“Yes, we older folks like to use those kinds of words to fool kids.” Wen Mubai added a spoonful of white sugar in front of her, stirred it, and handed it to her. “Drink it, kid.”
These two words made Xu Chacha clench her fists. She hated Wen Mubai treating her like a child, so even though she knew that Wen Mubai's words were mostly an act of revenge, she was still angry.
"I won't drink it." She remained defiant.
"You haven't eaten properly these past few days, have you? Are you really going to ruin your stomach before you're satisfied?" Wen Mubai lifted his eyelids to look at her, and even though he tried to be gentle, the sense of pressure was still unavoidable.
"This is not... body management."
"Simply dieting is bad for your health; combining exercise and a healthy diet is the right way to manage your body."
Xu Chacha lowered her head. She had almost forgotten what this person used to do. Her little schemes were simply showing off in front of her.
"Time is tight, I want to lose weight faster."
Actually, her weight is already on the thinner side, but there's a saying that you look 10 pounds heavier on camera. That's why many celebrities look okay on screen, but in real life they're ridiculously thin, like skeletons.
If Xu Chacha wants her close-up shots to look good, she has to cut them even more. Although her motives for making a comeback may not be entirely pure, if she's going to do it, she has to do it to the best of her ability.
This is her first shot, and there can be no room for error.
"Now that the commercial for AS is finished, you need to take your time to recover your health."
"profound……"
Xu Chacha pursed her lips, held the milk cup in both hands, and took a sip. The sweet taste was like a long-awaited nectar to her. After taking one sip, she couldn't help but tilt her head back and gulp down more than half of the cup.
"It's delicious." Xu Chacha's eyes lit up as she stuck out her tongue to lick the milk stains off her lips.