It's sweet enough.

"It's sweet enough."

twenty four.

The kitchen became a forbidden zone for others because of the young couple's presence.

While Lan Jian was stewing the white fungus, she sat earnestly on a high stool and began carving Smurf-shaped egg rolls. Chongming was chopping onions when he heard Lan Jian muttering, "If only my knife skills were half as good as my sketching skills!"

"Sketching?" Chongming looked away from the stench and glanced at Lanjian's side, where she was almost lying on the table. "Sleeves."

Lan Jian, whose sleeves were almost stained with butterfly pea flower juice, quickly raised her arm. "That's right. I was a TV addict when I was little. To prevent me from becoming nearsighted at a young age, my parents often took me to different places to sketch on weekends."

Do you like sketching?

“If it’s for a specific purpose, it’s not as enjoyable.” Lan Jian thought for a moment. “But once my parents took me to search for Christmas markets. In a very remote town in Austria, we saw a rather special Christmas tree. It was very, very tall, and the side facing the street was covered with decorations. But when we got closer, we found that the tree was only half covered with red ornaments. The other side of the tree had nothing but branches and leaves.”

“My mom thought the person who decorated the tree cut corners, but my dad thought the person who did it was very interesting. The two of them actually argued about it! So I drew their story with this Christmas tree on a busy street.” Lan Jian said this with a happy smile on her face. “This is the first time I have truly felt that the charm of sketching lies more in the process of drawing.”

After hearing her words, Chongming raised his elbow and wiped his eyes. "Next Christmas, I'll take you to the Christmas market too!"

"Oh, right," Lan Jian then noticed Chongming wiping away tears, and she exclaimed in surprise, "Why are you crying because you're so moved?!"

Chongming replied irritably, "I'm chopping onions!"

By the time all the dishes from Chongming were ready, the white fungus soup from Lanjian was almost done stewing.

Lan Jian scooped up some white porcelain spoonfuls of the white fungus soup, blew on it gently to cool it down, and took a bite. "It's not sweet enough."

Chongming didn't believe it. "With so much rock sugar in it, how could it not be sweet enough?"

"Maybe the sugar didn't dissolve properly?" Lan Jian spun the spoon around, stirred it a few times, then took a bite and savored it. "It really feels like there wasn't enough sugar!"

Seeing her so confident, Chongming didn't believe what a sweet-toothed person said. "I'll try it."

The large ladle for scooping soup was in Lan Jian's hand. Chongming reached for it, but Lan Jian handed it to him at the same time. Their hands overlapped. Chongming's hands were warm, but Lan Jian's palms were sweaty.

The moment their eyes met, Lan Jian suddenly recalled the couple video that Xiu Yun had sent her. In the video, the girl licked a lollipop a few times, then licked the boy's lips, asking him to guess the flavor. The boy, however, kept kissing the girl, and after a long time, he finally guessed the flavor.

In a moment of impulse, Lan Jian suddenly raised her left hand, which was resting on the kitchen counter, and placed it on Chongming's shoulder. Their hands remained pressed together, neither of them letting go. Lan Jian stood on tiptoe and kissed Chongming's chin.

Chongming was really too tall. Even on tiptoe, Lanjian could only barely reach his lower lip. She raised her head, but before she could actually kiss Chongming, she felt his eyes darken. His shoulders pressed down with his lips, and he pressed his lips against Lanjian's soft lips. After a few seconds, he opened his lips and took her in, sucking on her.

Perhaps because of his lack of professional skills, Chongming spoke rashly, moving the kiss upwards. His first kiss wasn't enough; he even sucked on Lan Jian's philtrum.

The incident happened so suddenly that neither of them closed their eyes. Chongming clearly saw the surprise in Lanjian's eyes. Overwhelmed with tension, Chongming gripped Lanjian's hand, which was holding the spoon, very tightly. Lanjian winced in pain and released the spoon, the soft sound of the spoon slipping back into the pot startling the two who were speechless with embarrassment.

Encouraged, Chongming extended his tongue and licked Lanjian's soft lips. After just one back and forth, he wanted to stick his tongue inside. But fearing that Lanjian would notice his ears burning red, he mumbled in a low voice, "Close your eyes, Meng Lanjian."

As he spoke, his tongue deftly slipped into Lan Jian's mouth. The tip of his tongue touched hers immediately, and she obediently pulled back to give him space, only to be pulled out again and held in his mouth.

Their clasped hands gradually intertwined, and Chongming's other large hand had unknowingly covered Lanjian's waist, on the bow he had tied for her. He pressed her waist, pulling her into his embrace, letting her lean her full weight against him.

She leaned toward him so that he could deepen and prolong the kiss.

"Hmm, Chongming..."

The first kiss was so passionate that Lan Jian was almost overwhelmed. Saliva was about to overflow from the corners of her mouth. She felt like she had turned into a puddle of water, or a bowl of white fungus soup, about to be swallowed by him.

As if sensing something, Chongming withdrew his lips, a shimmering thread connecting their lips, pulling them together reluctantly. Unable to bear this lukewarm atmosphere, Chongming gripped Lanjian's chin with one hand, pulling her clasped hands behind her waist. His wrist pressed against hers, her wrist against his back, forcing her to lean into his embrace once more.

This kiss was even more intense than the last one.

Tongues intertwined, each trying to outdo the other.

Hearing Lan Jian's sobbing voice in his ear, Chongming felt a surge of heat coursing through his body. Lan Jian's fingers, which had been resting on his shoulder, dug into his muscles. She was protesting; she couldn't take it anymore.

After an unknown amount of time, Lan Jian felt her brain was almost oxygen-deprived, and she began to see golden lights before Chongming slowly released her. She didn't even have the strength to blame him; she rested her chin on his shoulder, panting heavily.

"It's sweet enough."

Chongming stroked Lanjian's soft, long hair and whispered in her ear.

Lan Jian turned her head, her rosy lips glistening with a bright sheen. Chongming couldn't resist; from this angle, he could reach her lips with a simple lowering of his head. He kissed her lower lip once more, penetrating her lips.

...

The dinner on Christmas Eve began at 8 p.m.

Lu Jie looked at the unidentified blue object placed in front of him and asked Ming Zijuan timidly, "Is this your new dish this year?"

"Yes, Smurf egg rolls!" Ming Zijuan proudly introduced her group... no, her collaborators, "Lan Jian helped me carve them. What do you think? Aren't they creative?"

"Of course!" Lu Jie glanced at his son, who was standing not far away, silent as if he had been poisoned. This silly boy was even staring at his wife while eating. Don't expect him to save the day. "I can't keep all the fruits of your labor to myself. Let our son and daughter-in-law have a taste too."

"It's alright, this is my kind gesture, please eat!" Ming Zijuan had a lot of mischief up her sleeve, and she used it all on her husband.

Lu Jie, forcing himself to speak, called out to his son, "Do you want this as a gift from your mother?"

Chongming responded with an "Mmm".

This drew stares from the other three people at the table.

Chongming was completely unaware of what he had agreed to. Only when Lanjian finally looked up at him did he notice the oil stain on the corner of her mouth. It was just a small spot, which was inevitable when eating and didn't affect her appearance, but he inexplicably found it a bit annoying and handed her a tissue.

He didn't say what he wanted the tissue for, but he still stared at the corner of her mouth as if no one else was around.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Lu Jie snatched his son's plate, picked up half a "Smurf" pastry, and the entire plate was stained a terrifying blue. As he put it back, he cleared his throat and said, "Chongming, time to eat."

Chongming looked down and saw the extra food on his plate. He finally snapped out of his daze, squinted at his father with a look of utter despair, and said, "You really are my dad!"

Chongming's family has a tradition of serving dessert and fruit after everyone has finished their main meal. Lanjian stewed a large pot of white fungus soup, and Chongming drank several bowls, almost finishing the whole pot. Ming Zijuan asked him, "Is the white fungus soup really that good?"

Chongming glanced at Lanjian. She was drinking sweet soup, her lips seemingly covered with a shiny film.

Her lips were more delicate than the softest, most tender stewed white fungus.

Chongming said, "Yes, it's soft and sweet."

Ming Zijuan saw that her daughter-in-law, who had been eating silently with her head down all night, suddenly turned as red as an apple.

@Chongming: The term "business acumen" sounds so mercenary.

@Author: Let's ask Sweet Teeth to give us their opinion.

@Lanjian: You need to add sugar twice to make the white fungus soup sweet enough.

@Mingzijuan: On the last weekend of next year, I'm going to make apple and white fungus soup!

@Lu Jie: This is a lifesaver! ...Seeking a chef who can sculpt Teletubbies.