Xu Lai waited for a long time before there was any movement. Zhao Qingyun came out for a smoke as usual, but before he could light one, he saw Xu Lai and put the cigarette away.

Xu Lai put down her tablet, picked up a watering can, and pretended to water the flowers, even though she had already finished watering them earlier.

Zhao Qingyun looked at her calmly, and he could tell that Xu Lai seemed to have something to say.

Finally, after hesitating for a while, she finally spoke: "I remember you said before that you would prepare seafood porridge for me after I recovered from my cold. Do you still mean that?"

Zhao Qingyun nodded slightly: "Okay."

Xu Lai's eyes crinkled into a smile: "I remember you don't have to work tomorrow, so could you come with me to buy groceries?"

Zhao Qingyun braced himself against the balcony railing, leaning slightly forward, his body extremely close to Xu Lai's. As their breaths mingled, Xu Lai heard him speak: "You're pushing your luck. I don't think I agreed to go grocery shopping with you."

Xu Lai stepped back. "If you don't want to, then forget it. I'll borrow a car myself."

As she was about to go into her room, Zhao Qingyun said leisurely, "I'll be waiting for you downstairs at six o'clock tomorrow morning."

The next morning, Xu Lai got up at 5:40. After washing up, she opened the courtyard gate. Her grandparents were having breakfast. Seeing that she was up earlier than usual, her grandmother asked, "Where are you going?"

Xu Lai secured the gate to the courtyard and then said, "Let's go to the county to buy some seafood."

Zhao Qingyun was already waiting. She opened the car door, got in, and asked, "Have you eaten?"

He drove off and said, "I'll wait for you."

Xu Lai found his words baffling, but still said, "Then let's go to Grandma Yunxiu's shop to eat."

Zhao Qingyun had been there once before and remembered the way, so he drove to the store without Xu Lai's reminder.

Xu Lai ordered a bowl of soup noodles as usual, then looked at him. Zhao Qingyun said, "Grandma, just like her."

Grandma Yunxiu specially scooped out extra minced meat for them and even added an egg for the two of them.

Xu Lai hurriedly said no, but her grandmother didn't care and just said, "It's not like I give it to you often. Take it and eat it. Don't pay for the eggs, or don't come to my place to eat next time."

The noodles were a little hot, and Xu Lai's temples were slightly damp from eating. Zhao Qingyun ate very quickly; he had already finished his noodles when she had only eaten half of them.

Xu Lai was a little anxious. That's just how she is; she doesn't like making others wait for her. So when she was in high school, she often ate alone. As for Xia Ning, she had long been inseparable from her boyfriend.

Zhao Qingyun noticed her movements and said, "Eat slowly, no rush, I'll wait for you."

Seeing his reaction, Xu Lai stopped rushing and decided to wait for the noodles to cool down a bit before eating.

Zhao Qingyun got up, poured two glasses of water, and paid for the noodles and eggs. He didn't tell Grandma Yunxiu, otherwise she would be angry.

Xu Lai finished eating, drank the water in her glass in one gulp, wiped her mouth, and said, "Finally finished eating, let's go."

Just as she was about to pay, Zhao Qingyun stopped her, saying, "I've already paid."

Xu Lai was about to say something when he guessed her thoughts and whispered, "The cost of the eggs has been paid as well."

When the two arrived in the county, it was a little after 7:10. Xu Lai directed him to drive to the seafood market.

She hasn't been here many times, but every morning there's fresh seafood.

She bought some oysters and picked out four crabs. Just as she was about to pay, Zhao Qingyun scanned the QR code. Xu Lai was a little surprised, "Why did you pay?"

Zhao Qingyun looked at her, somewhat puzzled: "I promised you seafood porridge, do you think I'm shameless enough to ask you to pay?"

The shopkeeper was amused and said, "Oh my, you two are really funny. It doesn't matter who pays. But young lady, you should let him pay and keep your own money. We women should always have some money on us."

Xu Lai said, "I understand, boss." She didn't want to explain her relationship with Zhao Qingyun anymore; it wasn't the first time she'd been misunderstood.

She also bought a pound of mantis shrimp, a pound of abalone, half a pound each of razor clams and flower clams, and a tube of squid.

The market was right next door, and Xu Lai felt she needed to buy some more meat, so she hurried over to avoid arriving too late and having all the good cuts sold out.

She asked the owner to weigh out half a pound of beef: "I want to eat it in hot pot, give me the tenderest piece."

There was a vendor selling handmade beef balls nearby. The young man was pounding them vigorously, and she thought they looked quite fresh, so she bought some more.

The vegetables at home were almost ready, so Xu Lai didn't buy any. After buying them and making sure nothing was left out, she said to the person standing next to her, who was just standing in the background, "I'm done shopping, we can go home now."

Zhao Qingyun knew her speed very well; in less than half an hour, all the dishes had been selected.

He had just overheard her talking to the beef vendor about buying beef for hot pot, and he was a little confused: "Didn't you say you were making seafood porridge? How did it turn into hot pot?"

Xu Lai said somewhat embarrassedly, "I saw a congee hot pot recipe on the internet last night and I was really craving it." She then explained, "After cooking this, you can also drink the congee."

Zhao Qingyun nodded. He only needed to pay and help, as long as the food was delicious.

Since the atmosphere wasn't quite right at lunchtime, Xu Lai suggested having hot pot in the afternoon, and that everyone just eat whatever they wanted for lunch.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Xu Lai started soaking rice, and then took a small basket to the vegetable garden.

The sun was still quite strong, so she wore a straw hat to shield herself from the sun.

The water spinach was almost ready, so she picked a handful. When she went to pick chili peppers, she discovered purslane growing in the chili patch. She didn't really like purslane, finding it sour.

Knowing that her grandfather liked to eat it, Xu Lai simply picked some and took it back, and also picked a few bunches of cilantro.

She hadn't expected to be able to pick any loofahs, but when she parted the leaves, she found that one was ready to be picked.

She cleaned and washed the vegetables by the stream, and planned to rinse them again when she got home.

To make congee hot pot, half of the rice and the soaking water are blended into a paste. Xu Lai takes out a juicer, blends it, and then mixes it with the other half, simmering it slowly in a clay pot.

Then we went to prepare the seafood: we cut the crabs in half, shucked the oysters, kept one half for garlic sauce, and put the other half in the hot pot.

She also bought some prawns, planning to save some to grill and eat.

Zhao Qingyun came in when she was about to light the stove, so Xu Lai handed the task over to him. Then she took out the induction cooker, poured the cooked porridge into the pot, and put it on the induction cooker.

She first put the crabs and shrimp in to cook, as these two are key to enhancing the flavor.

With everything ready, she placed the chosen dipping sauce on the table and invited everyone to sit down and start eating.

Grandpa and Grandma had never seen this way of eating before and were skeptical: "Can hot pot really taste good when cooked in porridge?"

Xu Lai added some beef and said, "Don't worry, it'll be delicious."

The meat was cooked, and she scooped a spoonful for her grandparents and Grandma Jiang so they could taste it. Then she took a bite herself and exclaimed, "Delicious! Absolutely amazing!"

Grandma Jiang praised, "Xiao Lai's cooking skills are getting better and better, it's really delicious."

Xu Lai was a little embarrassed by the praise, "Grandma Jiang, please stop praising me, or I'll get carried away."