Chapter 23: The little deer in my heart wants to dance a song today...

The morning light is dim and the sky is just beginning to brighten.

Bai Ying opened her eyes, looking energetic. Without waiting for the alarm clock to ring, she jumped out of bed excitedly and rushed to wash up.

She opened the wardrobe and quickly picked out a few sets of clothes. When she tossed and turned and couldn't sleep last night, she thought of several outfits for today in her mind.

Hold up a sweater, white? I wore this color yesterday.

Then she picked up another red sweater with dark patterns next to her. Christmas must be bright and prosperous.

Braid or ponytail?

Qin Yonglian seemed to rarely see himself with long hair draped over his shoulders. Bai Ying looked at herself in the mirror with bright eyes and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but rise.

Last night, the two of them talked it out and seemed to have gotten a step closer to each other.

No, no! Bai Ying shook her head. She had already obtained the one and only key to the place.

The girl in the mirror felt an inexhaustible power in her chest and couldn't help but spin in circles. Is this what it feels like to be in love?

The overflowing feeling of happiness erupted like a volcano, with hot lava flowing through every part of my body.

Bai Ying let out a long sigh, soothing the deer in her heart that wanted to go dancing again, and calmed herself down.

The girl quietly opened the door, trying not to make any noise so as not to disturb Qin Yonglian's rest.

He must be under a lot of pressure recently. It's a rare chance for him to go home for the holiday, so he needs to get a good sleep.

Tiptoeing down the stairs, I saw the most beautiful scene in the morning:

A man and a cat were leaning comfortably on the white polar bear sofa in the living room. Qin Yonglian was holding Coffee and feeding it dried fish.

Perhaps because Qin Yonglian saved Coffee's life, the kitten loves to act cute with him. She's a decent eater, but as soon as she sees the man come home, she becomes like a child, demanding to be fed by her father, as if that's the only way to enjoy her food.

Qin Yonglian and Coffee get along well, so he usually pampers it.

Bai Ying's eyes lit up when she noticed that Qin Yonglian was also wearing a dark red sweater, which looked fiery and warm. The two of them seemed to have a tacit understanding in their clothing choices today.

"Good morning, Yingying." Qin Yonglian met Bai Ying's gaze, with the tenderness on his face not concealed at all.

Bai Ying felt that she was surrounded by someone's gaze and had nowhere to hide.

"Eh? What are you hiding for?" the girl mentally encouraged herself.

To be honest, she just wanted to look into Qin Yonglian's eyes and lose herself in them. But at the moment, she couldn't calmly accept his gaze.

"Yingying, why don't you speak?" Qin Yonglian looked at her leisurely.

"Good morning." Bai Ying cleared his throat, walked over and leaned over to touch Coffee's head, watching it eat the dried fish with relish.

The kitten was so focused on the delicious dried fish that he had no time to pay attention to his human friend when he saw him coming.

"It smells so good!" Bai Ying wrinkled her nose slightly and sniffed the scent of the sea in the air.

"I toasted some of the dried fish Aunt Liao had dried. It seems like you like me as much as Coffee does."

The girl looked up, her eyes flashing. Was Qin Yonglian suddenly so straightforward?

"Everyone likes the food I...cook." The man deliberately spoke slowly and drawled out his tone, tilting his head after speaking.

When he got up, he combed his bangs down, his hair became a little longer, and the bangs on his forehead fell slightly to one side with the movement.

What a beauty attack this is early in the morning! Bai Ying heard the deer in her heart take steps and started screaming.

In order to hide her little thoughts, the girl turned around and looked at the time. She couldn't help but be amazed. It was only six o'clock in the morning. Did they both get up so early to care about their health?

Coffee finished eating the dried fish happily and began to lick his paws contentedly.

The two-legged beast, my savior, came downstairs before dawn, paced back and forth in the living room, grinning foolishly to himself, and did this for a long time.

Cat Can Biped is also feeling strange today. Why is his heartbeat so fast when he wakes up so early?

Coffee meowed, but its little cat head couldn't figure out what was going on.

*** ***

"Yingying, do you want to hug Coffee? It's very warm." Qin Yonglian pretended to move a few centimeters to the side, which was clearly an invitation for Bai Ying to sit together.

Coffee: ??? Hey, dried fish daddy, I'm your little cutie, not a heater!

"Oh, okay." Bai Ying appeared casual on the surface, but her heart had already been twisted into a sweet knot.

The waiting time is always infinitely long. Qin Yonglian went downstairs at four in the morning. He felt that every movement of the second hand was like a circle around the earth. It was not until Bai Ying walked into his sight that the gears of time started moving again.

Everything began to come alive.

Bai Ying sat next to Qin Yonglian, their elbows touching each other vaguely, which inexplicably added a bit of intimacy.

Two warm hearts, close together.

The little deer in my heart wants to do a breakdance today.

When their eyes met, they both smiled a little, and then the smile gradually grew wider and couldn't be stopped.

What's going on? I can't seem to laugh enough.

The kitten lay obediently in the man's arms, purring softly. Its long tail swept slowly, and Bai Ying found it amusing and reached out to grab Coffee's tail.

The cat seemed to know that Bai Ying was playing with it. Like Jiang Taigong fishing, it used its tail as bait and swung it left and right, deliberately trying to keep Bai Ying out of reach.

The man and the cat started a battle with each other.

Qin Yonglian looked at the other party with a smile on his face and watched the fight quietly.

The cat's tail floated loosely above the man's arm. Bai Ying clasped her hands together, trying to control the tail between her hands like catching a dragonfly.

How could a kitten that had made its way through the martial arts world be caught so easily? With a tactical fake, like a dragon wagging its tail, Bai Ying slapped Qin Yonglian's arm, then, with a triumphant meow, she leaped back to the ground and vanished without a trace.

Such a soft sweater, a girl’s first touch.

Such hard muscles, a girl’s second touch.

Qin Yonglian was nervous, the girl's third touch.

The man's body was visibly tense for a moment, which only highlighted the contours of his arm muscles.

Bai Ying suddenly remembered that when she returned to Shanghai, her grandmother joked that she touched her grandfather's abdominal muscles on the first day she confessed her love to him.

And now she has also touched Qin Yonglian's biceps, isn't it? Can't she be said to be better than her teacher?

"Oh, oh." Qin Yonglian called her softly.

"Meow, meow." Coffee also squatted at the foot of the sofa and called softly.

Bai Ying burst out laughing.

"Hmm?" Qin Yonglian looked at her.

"This is the first time I think my name is so nice." Bai Ying felt very happy. On Christmas morning, there was a muscular man who was chirping and acting cute, and a cat who was meowing and acting coquettishly. It was really the most pleasing Christmas gift.

Qin Yonglian raised his hand to rub her head and asked, "Are you hungry? What do you want for breakfast?"

Seeing the man in red, Bai Ying blurted out, "I want to eat something red, warm, and fragrant."

Qin Yonglian thought about it carefully and said confidently, "No problem, we can eat it in 20 minutes."

Having witnessed men's cooking skills several times, Bai Ying was naturally looking forward to it this time.

*** ***

Qin Yonglian stood up, rolled up the cuffs of his sweater two inches, and walked straight to the kitchen.

Coffee and Bai Ying's movements were surprisingly consistent, and they followed closely behind.

The purpose of one person and one cat is the same, which is to wait for feeding.

Qin Yonglian pulled vegetables and noodles from the refrigerator, folded his arms, and watched silently for a few seconds, as if rehearsing the process in his mind. Bai Ying thought he looked a lot like the ramen craftsmen in Hokkaido, who, before cooking, would tie a white turban around their heads, a ritual that would be followed reverently before they began.

The man moved skillfully, soaking a dozen dried mushrooms in hot water, while washing the tomatoes and cutting them into even slices.

After the mushrooms are soaked and softened, set aside one and cut the rest into dices.

Pour olive oil into the pan, heat the pan and start stir-frying the diced mushrooms. Add oyster sauce and half a bowl of water until the soup becomes rich.

Qin Yonglian covered the pot, turned down the heat, added tomato slices, and let the soup continue to boil.

At the same time, in another pot, boil water, add the noodles and the reserved mushroom and cook for about two minutes. After cooking, remove from the water and rinse with cold water.

Bai Ying was not standing there idle either. She had already prepared two soup bowls and handed them to Chef Qin at the right time.

Receiving Chef Qin's satisfied gaze, the girl raised the corners of her lips.

Two soup bowls with lucky cat patterns were placed close together, and Qin Yonglian rolled the noodles into a ball and placed them in the bowls.

Turn off the heat and pour the mushroom and tomato soup evenly over the noodles.

A nutritious, healthy and energetic mushroom and tomato soup ramen is ready.

"Red, warm, and fragrant." Qin Yonglian looked at Bai Ying with a smile, "Please enjoy it."

Bai Ying took a bite. The noodles were chewy, and the broth was thick yet refreshing. She couldn't help but applaud. "Leon, how do you make so many delicious dishes? Who did you learn from?"

"I've seen it in books and on TV, but I've never made it. I remember a documentary that taught how to cook Sapporo ramen this way, so I just tried to apply the techniques I saw."

The studious student asked another question: "Generally, dried shiitake mushrooms need to be soaked in 30-degree water for at least half an hour. You just soaked it for ten minutes."

She has her own unique insights on food, but tends to be academic when it comes to cooking, and will study recipes step by step.

"This is shiitake mushroom. I grew it, improved it, and then dried, sieved, and roasted it myself, saving some."

The girl held her chin with both hands and looked up at him, her eyes gathered into a question mark.

"I became fascinated with taking microscopic photos of fungi and opened a mini fungus greenhouse on South Cowes Island."

Bai Ying thought about the photos she had seen on the second floor of the island before, and believed that they were all taken by Qin Yonglian.

The man in front of me must have a little elf living in his heart!

If he hadn't become a company CEO, he might have been an accomplished biologist, a successful photographer, or a knowledgeable agricultural scholar like her grandfather.

For someone like Qin Yonglian, life has countless possibilities.

The girl responded, "I saw the photo of the star-shaped cocci you took when we were last on South Cowes Island."

"Oh? You know this is called Coccus asteroidea?" It was Qin Yonglian's turn to be a little surprised.

"Of course, I also know it belongs to the order Avicenniales. My grandfather is a professor of agronomy. He's been studying fungi for thirty years."

Upon hearing this, Qin Yonglian stared at Bai Ying seriously, and his heart became even more certain. There was no doubt that Bai Ying and he were the same person.

The two people's life paths seem to have no intersection. They belong to different worlds, with completely different family backgrounds, growth experiences and personalities, but they are deeply attracted to each other.

He looks introverted but is actually extroverted, while she is the opposite, looking extroverted but is actually introverted.

He is a beast trapped in a cage, and she is a knight who travels freely around the world.

When facing her, he didn't need to wear a mask or show his claws. He just needed to follow his inner thoughts and be 100% Leon.

She was as imaginative as a typhoon, landing on Qin Yonglian's heart. She was someone he could only encounter once in his lifetime. Just calling her name could bring him great happiness and joy.

He wanted to do more for her and couldn't wait to bring her into his world.

Qin Yonglian's mind moved, and his eyes looked sincere, "Yingying, let's go back to South Cowes Island to celebrate the New Year, okay?"

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The author has something to say: The little deer dancing in my heart: Ariel Batty! Follow me and raise your hands, jump! Jump! Swing and shake!