I looked at this woman who had just finished eating the food I cooked and was now drinking the tea I brewed—in short, "eating my food and drinking my tea"—and she...she...she actually threatened me.
He glared at her resentfully.
Even when delivering things, they would specifically choose to do it during mealtimes.
Of course, as calm and rational as I am, I know that Jiang Chen would never do something as tasteless and classy as freeloading. However, it is wrong of her not to properly educate Luo Lin and subtly influence her after being attracted to her and living with her for so long, but instead she goes along with the crowd and freeloads on my meals.
Therefore, it is perfectly acceptable to lower her to the same level as Luo Lin and to despise her severely; it is not unfair to her at all.
"Don't worry, I've fed all the people until they're plump and healthy, but I'll starve one cat to a pulp."
Think about Ji An, Yu Mo, and Luo Lin, who is currently lying on the ground bidding a final farewell to her cat. Aren't they all the ones who come to my house for meals whenever they have the chance, and end up healthy and long-lived? It's irrefutable proof.
Completely unfazed by the sarcasm in my tone, Jiang Chen elegantly finished the rest of her tea and then said to Luo Lin, "Lin, that's enough. Let's go back early. We have to leave first thing tomorrow morning. Check again to make sure you haven't forgotten anything."
Such differential treatment! Her soft voice makes me wonder if she has a split personality.
"Oh, right, Nuannuan, I called An this afternoon and told her I was going out to play," Luo Lin said as if she had suddenly remembered something.
"Get to the point." Mentioning that gossip radio station's name with that expression and tone at this moment... it's a bad feeling...
“I heard from An that you and that guy named Shao Yuzhe seem to have finally made a significant leap forward. When are you getting married? An also said that Xiao Yuan is currently preparing to communicate with Yu Mo’s parents, and things might be settled soon. What do you think?”
One after another...
Why is it that things are only just starting to get going here, and a bunch of people over there are already starting to prepare for their weddings? Can't I be a little slow on the uptake? Give me some time to adjust, okay?
I stared...
Oh no, I feel two even more intense gazes from the side.
"Forget it, just keep going. I'm leaving now, Xiao Hei. Don't worry, Nuan Nuan is a great cook." Luckily, Luo Lin is straightforward and only cares about reaping the rewards.
After kissing her cat and finishing her explanation, the two of them finally left, leaving me and the cat staring at each other.
silence...
Then it let out a lazy hum and crawled into its den to sleep.
As expected, she ate her fill and then went to sleep...
During the few days I spent with Hei Yu, I realized that these days it's definitely not as good to be a cat as a human. All you do is eat and sleep all day long, the only difference is that you sleep in the sun during the day and go back to your own bed at night.
Moreover, this cat is arrogant, domineering, cunning, and fierce. If it could speak, it would definitely be sarcastic. Its personality is practically a carbon copy of Jiang Chen's. It's true that like owner, like pet. So, it and I are incompatible, but it is very attached to Shao Yuzhe.
Speaking of Shao Yuzhe...
Since he said those words to me last time, nothing has happened. He just takes me home every day on his own initiative, then he goes to buy groceries and cooks. Then he does his thing and I do mine until it's very late before he goes home.
What's scary is that I've become so used to it that I no longer doubt whether he ever said those words, but instead start to wonder if we're already married.
This continued until my foot was completely healed, to the point that the hospital director said I could safely step on other people's feet, car clutches, and small animals' tails...
Nothing has changed.
The only difference is that now we shop for groceries and cook together.
Of course, I personally think there is no essential difference.
Now, this person and the cat are lying on the floor of my living room, in the spot where the sun shines.
It was such a heartwarming scene, and I found myself lost in thought, my gaze naturally drawn to him. I thought of the day he said to me, "Dong, I've always thought of you as a brother. I have a girl I like." And I thought of the day he said to me, "Dong, people change. If I told you now that I've fallen in love with you, would you accept it?"
These two sentences were five years apart.
Five years...
In an instant, I felt that these five years had been very short, so short that it felt like I hadn't experienced them at all.
Perhaps it's because for me, time in my emotional world was frozen for those five years, until the day I saw Shao Yuzhe again, when it began to flow again.
It turns out I really, really like him...
And I only like him... I've only ever liked him...
...it seems like it's not worth it...
"What are you thinking about?" Shao Yuzhe suddenly looked up at me with a smile. The sunlight outlined a golden circle around his face, making him dazzlingly bright.
"No..." I snapped out of my daze, feeling a little guilty for my earlier thoughts, and then realized that I had been staring at his face for quite a while.
He didn't ask any more questions. He stood up, ruffled Black Feather's head, put it in its nest, and then went into the kitchen. As he passed by me, he didn't forget to ruffle my hair.
Using the same technique, I stared at the cat in a daze.
"Winter, open your mouth," Shao Yuzhe suddenly said, walking up to me.
"Huh?" I was startled and instinctively made the sound I would normally make.
However, when I make this sound, my mouth opens, and I feel a cool sensation in my mouth.
"Delicious, what is it?" I took a serious bite.
"The recipe for my little desserts is a secret." He winked and continued to pop them into my mouth.
I honestly can't tell how it's made.
"Dong cooks better than me, so I keep the recipe a secret. That way, I'll have something to brag about." He laughed like a child, and his laugh was... adorable.
He will forgive me for using the word "cute".
"Your attitude seems different from before." I tried to hide my unease and nervousness.
Indeed, it seems that the childlike aspects of his personality are becoming more and more apparent. Perhaps spending more time with me will make him revert to his original, innocent self.
I glanced at him suspiciously, but he remained smiling and silent.
Well, let him go back to his roots then. To be honest, I really like this childlike side of him...
It's truly the fate of Cancerians.
However, on the other hand, being close to nature is beneficial to physical and mental health...
I was living a very leisurely and comfortable life that was beneficial to my physical and mental health, but that was before Noriyuki Hayakawa called me.
At this point, I have to say again that even if someone were to perform a striptease in front of me, I wouldn't be as surprised as I was when I received Hayakawa's call. As far as I know, Hayakawa later went back to Japan and reported Kurosawa Yu's situation to his parents completely and thoroughly, without hiding anything. Then, he went through a long and supposedly tragic family struggle that could be written into a touching romance novel. The novel's ending is that Hayakawa's aunt, who persisted to the very end, finally succumbed to her son's... true feelings and gave them her blessing.
The above information comes from a live broadcast by my mother, who lives in Japan with my father. Just when I suddenly realized that I hadn't heard from Hayakawa and Kurosawa for a long time, my mother called me from overseas. The broadcast started with two cold laughs and ended with the line "You actually lost to a man," thus concluding Hayakawa's arduous struggle.
However, I later heard from Ji An's gossip radio station that Hayakawa returned to Japan before he had even caught up with Kurosawa.
He's really brave. I was very impressed when I heard about this, so when he called, I answered without thinking. And the direct result is that he's sitting in front of me now.
"Please teach me how to cook."
He really went straight to the point. I had barely sat down, without even exchanging pleasantries, when he threw out the question.
I was stunned, not understanding what had triggered him this time...
So many people have been traumatized lately, but why am I the one who is directly victimized?
"Please teach me how to cook." When I didn't react, he repeated himself.
"Why...why are you going to do this?"
"You said he likes you..." he said slowly, but his expression wasn't very good.
"Don't worry, I already have someone I like, I won't compete with you for her." Afraid he would get angry, I quickly distanced myself.
"...the dishes I made."
silence...
"Please, stop breathing so heavily when you talk." I was terrified by him.
Drink some water to calm your nerves.
"So, please teach me how to cook." He didn't seem to mind, still maintaining a blank expression.
"No way, my cooking skills are passed down only to family members, not outsiders, and only to women, not men." That's pure nonsense. I'm just making things up in the opposite direction of his conditions. I don't believe he can say anything. Someone like him, who always has that wooden face, is either infuriating or terrifying to talk to. Asking me to do something as artistic as "teaching him to cook" would make me age prematurely.
"I will pay the tuition."
"When does it begin."
silence…
tuition fee.
Why is it that when this kind of issue is discussed, my reaction is so fast that it bypasses my brain...?
"I'll be at your house this Sunday at 10 a.m.," he said simply and clearly.
"Why my home?" My poor little nest has really become a shared space.
“I haven’t bought a house yet, so I’m staying in a hotel for now. Do you want to come?”
"No need, I'm a low-key person and don't want to become a scandal." I waved my hand. "By the way, you're going to stay here long-term, so even if you don't buy a house, you should at least rent one."
"Yu said he really likes his house and has no plans to move."
That means once he achieves his nefarious goal, he'll move into Kurosawa Yu's house. What a leap of thought! Oh well, cultural differences exist, I won't argue with him.
"There's something I've always wanted to ask," he suddenly said before leaving.
"Hmm?" He rarely sets the stage before talking to me, so I was a little taken aback by this sudden turn of events.
What are knife-cut noodles?
"A traditional Chinese noodle dish." I really wanted to laugh when I asked the question, and seeing his serious expression made me laugh even harder.
"You called me that before?" He looked at me suspiciously.
They really hold grudges. I only said it once or twice on a whim.
"In some novels, there's a type of male protagonist with a very angular face, like it's been sculpted with a knife. I call you that because I'm complimenting your good looks." These are usually the kind of novels that are so clichéd they're considered off-limits, but I still finished speaking with a firm expression, and then calmly slipped away before my composure crumbled.
At 10 a.m. on Sunday, my friend Daoxiaomian rang my doorbell precisely on time.
"You're so punctual, not a minute late. It makes me wonder if you're actually German," I couldn't help but remark as I opened the door.
"I studied in Germany."
I was just saying it casually, but he took it really seriously.
"What is this?" He looked down at the clump wrapped around his leg.
"A cat that a friend entrusted to me for foster care."