On Saturday morning, I slept until noon before leisurely getting out of bed. I ate a quick brunch, threw on a T-shirt, and strolled off to the market. It took me over an hour to get home, laden with bags of meat, vegetables, and a live chicken. Following the instructions—picking, washing, and soaking—I happily tidied up the food, making the small kitchen feel both crowded and vibrant. From a young age, my favorite thing has always been eating. Therefore, I spent most of my childhood searching for anything edible in the kitchen. When I couldn't find anything to eat, I'd improvise and make something edible myself. At first, my mother was worried I'd cut my hand or set the house on fire, but after a while, she gave up and let me use the limited resources in the kitchen to create all sorts of quirky dishes. As a result, before I was even thirteen, I had taken over the responsibility of cooking the family's New Year's Eve dinner. So even now, no matter how busy I am with work, I always make sure to fly home for Chinese New Year every year, because I know that thousands of kilometers away, my family's New Year's Eve dinner is waiting for me to prepare.
The dried vegetable and pig lung soup on the stove had been simmering for an hour and a half. Looking at my watch, I knew they would be arriving soon, so I put on my apron and prepared to kill the chicken. First, I poured boiling water into a large basin. Then, I picked up the sharpened cleaver and went to the sink outside. I grabbed the large, fat capon, plucked all the feathers from its neck, and placed an empty bowl nearby to catch its blood. With a swift and skillful stroke, I finished it off, muttering to myself, "It's fate that we met today, so don't be upset. Besides, living in that filthy, smelly coop, barely surviving, risking contracting bird flu and being euthanized without explanation, is worse than me helping you find peace. Letting you become a delicious poached chicken and end up in their bellies is a good deed. That's all. Remember who ate you; in your next life, you can get back at them, and deal with them one by one..."
"Li Hao!" someone shouted at me. I was holding a chicken in my left hand and a knife in my right, concentrating on collecting the chicken blood, when the shout startled me. My hand trembled, and the half-dead chicken struggled in my hand, splattering chicken blood all over my face. I didn't bother to catch the chicken anymore and turned around with a sullen look on my face, only to find three people standing five steps behind me: the one who shouted was A-Ce, and the two next to him were, actually, Yin Tianyu and Willson! The funniest thing was the three different expressions on their faces: A-Ce looked extremely frightened, Willson frowned as if I hadn't paid back the money he borrowed, and Yin Tianyu looked at the half-dead chicken in my left hand, the large cleaver in my right hand, and my bloodied face with a wicked grin.
"Don't they sell slaughtered chickens in the Guangzhou market?" A-Ce asked me, still shaken, standing half a meter away from the dead chicken on the ground.
"The chicken should be killed half an hour before eating to ensure the freshest flavor," I replied casually.
"Yeah, do you really suspect that she went through all that trouble herself just to save money on killing the chicken?" Yin Tianyu said mercilessly from the side.
I glared at him fiercely:
"Don't stand too close to me. I got carried away killing chickens today, and I just wanted to chop down anything I didn't like. I chopped wherever I wanted, so don't come back to complain that I chopped the wrong places after I've finished."
Yin Tianyu cooperated by covering his mouth with one hand and his stomach with the other, and took two big steps back.
But I hadn't finished venting my anger, so I turned to A-Ce:
"Didn't we agree on a dinner for the expansion department staff? Why did you bring these unrelated people here without even telling us?"
"No, I accidentally let it slip while playing tennis with Willson and Tianyu this morning. Tianyu insisted on coming and dragged Willson along too. Besides, one more person means one more pair of chopsticks, and we can even let them split the bill, right? Hehehe."
That's what I said, but the thought of showing Willson my bloodshot face in the blood-red sunset just now made me feel a surge of rage. Being hopeless in love is one thing, but I didn't want him to see me in such a wretched state while I was waiting for him. Looking again at Willson standing on the balcony making a phone call, a wave of anger and despair washed over me, making me hate the culprit of all this. While chopping vegetables, I glanced at Yin Tianyu standing to the side. Suddenly, distracted, I cried out "Ouch!" and cut my index finger. The freshly sharpened blade left a long, white gash where the skin had separated from the flesh, and in an instant, bright red blood gushed out like a burst dam, staining the cutting board red.
It might have seemed like just a blink of an eye to others, but in my memory it was a long, detailed sequence: I saw Willson, who was standing on the balcony making a phone call, turn around when he heard the noise, pause for a moment, drop the phone, rush over in a few steps, grab my right hand, place it under the water dispenser, press the switch, and let the warm room temperature water wash away the blood near the wound. Then he pinched the vein closest to the wound, held my hand up, examined it carefully, and then breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "Thank goodness, you didn't cut any major blood vessels."
Yin Tianyu ran over with a first-aid kit. Willson skillfully opened the kit and found gauze and iodine. Seeing that blood was gushing out from the wound on my hand again, he naturally took my hand and put it in his mouth, gently licking it. I felt as if I had been suddenly struck by lightning. My entire left side went numb, and the people and things in front of me seemed to fly away and disappear. Only the moment when he put my finger in his mouth kept replaying in my mind.
"Alright, it's all right now." Willson's voice pulled me back to reality. I composed myself and noticed that my left index finger was not only clean and bandaged, but the small piece of bandage was also tied into a delicate bow at the end. I couldn't help but sigh inwardly; this man, who pursued perfection in everything, even bandaged a wound in such an unusual way.
"Alright, alright, it's nothing now." Yin Tianyu patted A Ce on the shoulder, comforting the still pale-faced man. Anyone who didn't know better would definitely think that he was the one who got cut by the kitchen knife, not me.
Fortunately, everything that needed washing was done, and Willson's technique for bandaging the wound was very professional; although it was bandaged, it didn't affect the movement of his other fingers at all. So I ignored A-Ce's advice and continued working in the kitchen. Willson hesitated to speak, but Yin Tianyu said very rationally, "Let her be. Anyway, even if she pours that whole bottle of iodine into the soup, it won't kill us."
The people from the expansion department arrived one after another. I chased away several who claimed they wanted to help, lest they steal my unique family recipe. Half an hour later, all the dishes were ready. Everyone was stunned when I put them on the table one after another. They never expected me to actually make a table full of authentic home-cooked food. When they saw the first person reach for a small piece of Mapo Tofu and immediately reach for the second dish, the group finally couldn't wait any longer. They swarmed in, grabbing food with their chopsticks and eating with gusto. Yin Tianyu counted the dishes one by one with his chopsticks, then suddenly laughed. Looking at A Ce, whose mouth was greasy but whose face was full of bad luck, he said, "A bet's a bet. Your 'Little Boy' is mine to ruin for the next two months starting tomorrow."
"What's wrong?" I asked A-Ce when I saw his face getting worse and worse.
"It's all your fault. You're my own brother, and you can cook but you don't let anyone know. You made me bet with Tianyu today that at least half of the meal tonight would be ready-made braised goose wings and other cooked food bought from outside. Sigh, and I lost to my beautiful wife."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I should have waved my spatula and sincerely confessed to you as soon as we met: my twice-cooked pork is hot and oily; my kimchi is better than imported Korean kimchi; my mung bean and kelp sweet soup is refreshing and thirst-quenching... I wish I could drag you into the kitchen right now and feed you right there."
"Stop nagging, car keys, car keys," Yin Tianyu persisted.
"Why are you bullying an honest person?" I couldn't stand it anymore.
"I bullied him? An honest guy? Do you know what would happen if I lost? I'd have to cover his and his girlfriend's entire month-long trip to Europe. His girlfriend is a notorious 'shower,' do you think he'd be polite to me? He just lost because he didn't do his homework beforehand, while I won because I had faith in you. Of course, you deserve credit too, so starting tomorrow, I'll be responsible for picking you up and dropping you off in his car every day."
"No way!" I blurted out reflexively when I saw Willson frown slightly. Everyone looked at me, wondering why I was reacting so strongly.
"I don't want to get ripped off by A-Ce as soon as I get off the bus and enter the company." I thought this excuse was pretty good.
"He wouldn't dare. If he dares to lay a finger on you, I'll make sure he dies a horrible death." Yin Tianyu said as he made a move to strangle A Ce. Poor A Ce was on guard, but he was immediately grabbed by Yin Tianyu, who was much taller than him, and couldn't move at all. His chopsticks were still desperately reaching for the plate of steamed pork ribs with olives.
"Beep beep beep..." A very distinctive ringtone; you could immediately tell it was Willson's phone ringing. He glanced at the caller ID, immediately stood up, and walked outside, answering in gentle Korean, "Hello, it's me, May..."
May, a beautiful name. My woman's intuition told me the person on the other end of the phone was a woman. Suddenly, I felt a complete loss of appetite. I wondered if it was because I hadn't cooked in a while and my culinary skills had deteriorated.
"Hey, is Mr. Lin speaking Japanese?" a young man asked curiously. Ah Ce finally felt like the boss, and slapped him with his chopsticks:
"You don't even know your boss is half Korean? Do you not want to work here anymore?!"
Everyone laughed, and I laughed too, but I felt very tired from laughing.
"Excuse me, I have to go now. A-Ce's show tonight is on my tab." Willson hurriedly walked in, gave his instructions, and was about to leave. I noticed a slightly unusual look on his face. Yin Tianyu stood up and said, "I'll see you out," and walked out with him.
After a while, Yin Tianyu came back alone. Although I knew this was how it was, I was still very angry. Why did he come? And why did he leave so early? It was as if he came here specifically to torment me.
Yin Tianyu, completely oblivious to my sudden change in mood, walked over and sat down next to me.
"You're really a good boy. I've counted, and you've basically taken all your medicine on time."
"Why are you rummaging through my things?" I was furious.
"Your house is so small and messy, why would I need to rummage through it? Besides, how could I have stopped the bleeding if I hadn't found your first-aid kit?"
"You can tell me how messy it is, this is still an unmarried girl's room. In the old days, this would be called a boudoir, you know? But never mind, someone like you who only knows how to enjoy the present will definitely fail history."
"Why do you always underestimate me? I've always been the top student in history in the whole school. When I was serving in the military, I even explained the poem 'Man Jiang Hong' to the soldiers in my platoon. But speaking of which, you are really strange. I've seen plenty of girls who aren't clean, but I've never seen one who keeps the kitchen as tidy as a boudoir while having a bedroom that's as messy as a doghouse."
"I'm happy to do it. I even love sleeping with the pressure cooker in my arms. Mind your own business." I said, picking up a piece of steamed fish head and putting it in my mouth. Arguing with Yin Tianyu really whetted my appetite.
That night, a dozen of us went to the "Ming Gong" nightclub and booked a large room for karaoke and drinking. I only sang two songs, and even with a compass, they couldn't help me find the right key. So they unanimously decided to ban me from touching the microphone again, which made me so angry that I regretted not putting some croton powder in the food so they could all die from diarrhea.
When A-Ce called me over to play dice, I said I didn't know how. Yin Tianyu said from the side, "It's okay. I am the famous Dice Demon. A good teacher produces a good student. I will teach you. At most, if you lose, I will drink for you."
I rolled my eyes at him: "We're not related, why should I ask you to drink for me!"
"That's right, Li Hao, ignore him. Let him stay on the side and watch us play." A Ce had probably already been given a lot of alcohol by Yin Tianyu, and the thought of his beloved sports car being ruined by Yin Tianyu added to his pent-up resentment. He couldn't find any other way to vent his anger except by venting his frustrations.
The room was noisy, so Yin Tianyu had to lean close to my ear to explain how to play before I could hear him. Perhaps it was the atmosphere, but I noticed he had crossed the "sexual safety line" without backing away. I knew my emotions were a bit strange tonight; subconsciously, I wanted to do something outrageous. But I quickly realized what that outrageous thing I wanted to do was.
The dice game was simple to play, and I quickly figured it out. At first, A-Ce won most of the time, and after a few drinks, Yin Tianyu tried to help me out, but I wouldn't let him. After a few rounds, I understood the secret and quickly started to turn the tide. Yin Tianyu shook his head at A-Ce, saying, "Don't go out and tell people you usually hang out with me, or even I won't need to leave the nightclub anymore."
After playing a few more rounds, I, who don't usually drink much, started to feel the effects after downing several glasses of tequila in one go: the alcohol was working wildly in my veins, and it felt like gasoline was flowing through my veins instead of blood. The strange alcohol burned my skin like fire, every joint aching, while my body craved even more. My mind became uncontrollably excited, and I started deliberately losing to A-Ce to trick him into drinking more. By the time Yin Tianyu returned after singing a song and noticed I was acting strangely, I had already drunk a whole bottle of tequila, mumbling incoherently to the waiter for more drinks. Actually, my mind was still quite clear, but my actions and words were largely out of control, and I felt an unprecedented sense of freedom. It seemed being drunk wasn't so bad after all. Dizzy and confused, Yin Tianyu practically dragged me out of the private room, and I don't even know how I ended up in his car.
"What are you doing? I still want to drink!" After he shoved me into the car, I tried to open the door and get out, but he strapped me to the seat without saying a word.