Chapter 3 Brother, you smell so good, exactly the same scent as seven years ago. ...

Li Baidong paused in his petting of the cat, his voice clear and bright: "No, bro. How did you know I was hungry?"

Xing Lan then prepared breakfast for two, placing one portion on the solid wood dining table and carrying the other in his hands to take to his study.

"I still have work to do. Remember to wash the dishes after you finish eating," Xing Lan said in a calm tone, then turned to instruct, "You can use anything in the house, but there are two things to be careful about: first, you can't smoke in the rooms, and second, you can't bring just anyone home."

"I just looked at the contract, so you should understand all of this."

Li Baidong laughed and said, "I understand, I understand. Don't worry, brother. I'm allergic to the smell of smoke and I never smoke."

Xing Lan looked at him, as if she had suddenly thought of something, and without beating around the bush, asked directly, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

University is the peak time for finding a partner. After more than ten years of deliberate suppression that prohibits early relationships, most people will want to experience the taste of love at this time.

Li Baidong is good-looking, lively, sweet-talking, and has a good sense of style. The probability of a guy like him being single on a university campus is almost zero.

Looking up, I saw Li Baidong sitting at the table, obediently shaking his head with a sincere expression: "No, brother. Can you introduce me to someone?"

Aside from her female colleagues at the company, Xing Lan rarely interacted with men, let alone knew any young women she could introduce to Li Baidong.

He pursed his lips and casually tossed the question back to Li Baidong: "There must be a lot of girls your age at your school, right?"

Li Baidong smiled slightly, his gaze fixed on Xing Lan: "Actually, people the same age don't necessarily have common topics. I prefer people who are a bit older than me, as they are more mature in all aspects. What do you think?"

Xing Lan turned her head away without answering, not wanting to continue this boring topic.

I asked Li Baidong if he had a girlfriend just to confirm whether he would bring someone home often in the future.

As for whether he likes men or women, old or young, lively and cheerful or quiet and introverted... he has no interest whatsoever.

Who cares about the naive love views of a kid so much younger than him? Why would they care?

Xing Lan carried the breakfast plate into the study alone.

He was wearing a gray knit sweater today, and he looked very relaxed. His freshly blow-dried hair was soft and fluffy, making you really want to touch it.

Li Baidong resisted the urge to grab his food and glanced down at the breakfast on his plate.

A piece of milk toast sprinkled with white sesame seeds, the back of which was slightly burnt.

Next to the toast were some bacon and scrambled eggs, which also looked unappetizing, a dark, mushy mess.

Xing Lan has lived alone for many years. She is busy with work and usually relies on takeout to survive. She rarely cooks for herself and her cooking skills are limited.

Li Baidong frowned after taking two bites, coughed, and spat the food he had just put into a tissue.

The bacon was tough and hard, and the eggs were so salty they tasted bitter.

My tongue felt like it was being washed by seawater, and a strong, undeniable salty and fishy taste surged up.

It's hard to imagine how Xing Lan managed to survive for so long by eating these unidentified things. It's like torturing your taste buds every day.

He put down his knife and fork, got up, walked to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator door, carefully examined the contents, then picked out some items and skillfully washed and chopped them.

-

Xing Lan was typing on her computer when she suddenly smelled the aroma of food.

Li Baidong knocked twice on the study door, leaned against the door and said with a grin, "Brother, I made some food, want to eat together?"

Xing Lan came out and saw that Li Baidong had prepared a table of dishes in less than an hour, and each dish was colorful and delicious, with a balanced nutritional profile.

If it weren't for the obvious signs of use on the kitchen table, he would have thought it was takeout he had ordered from a restaurant.

Seeing Xing Lan standing there motionless, Li Baidong warmly pulled his wrist, led him to the dining table, and respectfully handed him a pair of chopsticks.

"Brother, have a taste. We only have a limited amount of ingredients today, but next time I'll buy more and cook you a proper meal."

Xing Lan took a bite and found that Li Baidong's dishes not only looked good, but also tasted very good.

He looked up: "You've studied this?"

"I haven't had any formal training, but I've learned quite a bit on my own by following online tutorials." Although Li Baidong's skin was slightly dark, his eyes were bright, like two sparkling black gems, looking at him expectantly. "How is it, bro? Not bad, right?"

Xing Lan nodded.

Li Baidong smiled again, his eyes narrowed.

This kid seemed unable to keep anything to himself, and immediately told him as if he couldn't wait: "Actually, I have a food account online. I started it last year, and now I already have hundreds of thousands of followers."

"Brother, I'm a great cook. If you don't mind, I'll cook for you every day from now on!"

Xing Lan grasped the key point in his words and looked up to ask, "Are you an internet celebrity?"

"Hmm... not really." Li Baidong thought for a moment and said, "I only film the cooking process, not my face."

In this era where appearance is paramount and online traffic is highly valued, it's clear that Li Baidong has exceptional culinary skills and is truly gifted, having amassed hundreds of thousands of followers without even showing his face.

Xing Lan suddenly had the illusion that she had found a treasure.

-

Xing Lan's apartment has a simple layout: two bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom, and a small balcony.

He taught Li Baidong, who was living in an apartment for the first time, how to use the washing machine and dryer, how to open the electric curtains, and also helped Li Baidong install the new cat tree he had bought.

This cat tree was specially ordered by Li Baidong for Fox via Flash Delivery. He had been studying it for a long time but still couldn't finish assembling it. Xing Lan couldn't stand it and came over to help after taking a shower.

The two sat side by side on the living room floor. Xing Lan was wearing a soft black silk nightgown, and a brand-new instruction manual was placed beside her legs.

The windless night had a lingering sultry heat. A thin layer of sweat gradually appeared on his fair neck. His long, slender fingers slowly and deliberately built a small two-story cat tree according to the order indicated in the drawings.

The shelf for the kitten to play on was designed in a whimsical style and brightly colored, which seemed somewhat out of place in Xing Lan's home, which was predominantly cool-toned.

Li Baidong, holding the cat, watched him intently, occasionally clapping for the seal: "Wow! Bro! You're amazing!"

"You finished installing it so quickly! Thank you for your hard work, bro!" he said, and then tried to lean over to massage his shoulders.

Xing Lan subtly avoided his eagerly reaching hand, stood up, and casually poked the fluffy white ball hanging on the cat tree with her fingertip.

The small ball swayed back and forth in mid-air, quickly attracting the kitten's attention.

It broke free from Li Baidong's arms, nimbly jumped onto the cat tree, and, imitating Xing Lan, used its paws to hook the fluffy ball.

Seeing that Xing Lan's forehead was sweaty, Li Baidong quickly pulled out two tissues from the tissue box on the coffee table and handed them to him.

Xing Lan wiped the sweat from her brow, glanced at the kitten playing with a ball nearby, and casually asked, "What's wrong with its eyes?"

This tabby cat named Fox isn't exactly cute. Although its fur is clean now, it's patchy and looks a bit bald.

There is a long scar on the left side of his face. The scar has damaged his eye, preventing him from opening it fully. He can only half-close his eyes.

He was very thin and looked malnourished.

"The fox is the offspring of a stray cat at our school. Of all the newborn kittens, it's the smallest, and everyone loves it." Li Baidong paused, then began to tell Xing Lan about the fox's background.

"But later there was a cat abuser in the school who, while everyone was asleep at night, beat all the stray cats in the school with iron bars. The fox was the most docile, so he beat it the hardest."

"If it weren't for the other students taking me to the hospital in time the next day, I would have almost lost my left eyeball."

He lowered his eyes, and his handsome features gradually became tinged with melancholy.

"I named it Fox in the hope that it would be cunning and able to struggle and bite when it was bullied, instead of... just foolishly enduring it."

Xing Lan looked at Li Baidong's sad and dejected expression, as if he was about to cry, and walked over to pat him on the shoulder.

"It's alright, it's all in the past."

Li Baidong sniffed, then suddenly leaned to Xing Lan's side, wrapped his arms around his shoulders, buried his face in his neck, and burst into tears as smoothly and naturally as if he were acting in a movie.

The slender young man beside her was sobbing softly, his shoulders trembling slightly, like a fragile and pitiful puppy, his cool tears wetting Xing Lan's thin shoulders.

Xing Lan's body stiffened for a moment, and he stood there like a log.

Having lived alone for over twenty years, he rarely received comfort from others, nor was he good at comforting others.

He recalled a time when a girl in the office was heartbroken and crying, and another female colleague held her in her arms and gently comforted her, while also scolding the scumbag boyfriend on her behalf.

But he and Li Baidong are two men, and it's their first time meeting... This is just too strange.

Finally, Xing Lan hesitated before raising her hand and stiffly patting Li Baidong's back twice, uttering a few cold words without any emotion.

"Don't cry, don't scare the cat." Such a cold tone sounds more like a threat than a word of comfort.

However, Li Baidong's tears flowed like a floodgate opening, showing no sign of stopping.

Xing Lan twitched the corners of her mouth, took a deep breath almost imperceptibly, and frowned, as if she wanted to push him away but was trying her best to endure it.

"elder brother……"

Li Baidong was sobbing as he said something, but Xing Lan couldn't hear him clearly.

He raised his wrist to wipe his tear-streaked face, his eyes deep and unfathomable, silently completing the words he had deliberately left unsaid.

elder brother……

You smell so good.

I could smell it the moment I first saw you.

It tastes exactly the same as it did seven years ago.

-

night.

Xing Lan had just added a drop of essential oil to the amethyst diffuser on the bedside table when he heard Li Baidong calling him from the bathroom.

"Brother, I forgot my shower gel, can I use yours?"

"Use it," Xing Lan said.

After an unknown amount of time, the sound of water inside gradually subsided.

Li Baidong's voice rang out again.

"Um, brother..."

"I forgot my bath towel too, could you get it for me?"

Xing Lan turned her head and glimpsed that Li Baidong had opened the bathroom door a little bit, and the man was peeking out and looking around.

The boy had a strong, muscular physique and puppy-dog-like, wet eyes.

Xing Lan took a new bath towel from the drawer and handed it to Li Baidong.

Perhaps because the light by the door was dim, Li Baidong didn't see clearly. His first outstretched hand didn't grab the towel, but instead tightly grasped Xing Lan's fair and slender fingers.

Li Baidong had just finished showering, and his hands still had a little warm, slippery foam on them, which slightly dampened Xing Lan's cold fingertips.

The watermark, like a tiny, intangible snake, crawled along the back of the man's fingers, leaving a barely noticeable footprint.

Under the warm light, the difference in their skin tones was striking, and their tightly clasped hands seemed like an unspoken, ambiguous invitation.

It's like Xing Lan might be dragged into the bathroom by Li Baidong if she's not careful, and then, in the humid and misty bathroom, she'd be pressed against the wall and do something.

Li Baidong looked down and realized he had grabbed the wrong thing, but instead of correcting himself, he tilted his head and chuckled.

Xing Lan paused, then expressionlessly pulled her hand away from Li Baidong's damp palm.

Then he turned his face away and walked away.

A note from the author:

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