Chapter 9 I crave your body

"Holy crap..."

Su Cheng's heart skipped a beat.

How could someone send photos to the actual person while gushing over a crush?!

She bit her nails, conflicted.

How should I explain the photos to him?

I can't just honestly admit that "I'm lusting after you."

etc.

The person in the center of the photo is clearly Yuanbao.

Su Cheng immediately retorted confidently, "What's wrong with the photo of her saving gold ingots?"

Su Cheng: [My hand slipped.]

Su Cheng: [I have a friend who wants to see what the cat next door looks like.]

Su Cheng: [Long live the Cat Teacher.gif]

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Two rows of triangular light panels on the wall shimmered with a gradient of blue and purple, a mechanical keyboard with side engravings lay horizontally on an extra-long mouse pad, and RGB light tubes swirled with a faint blue halo inside the transparent, ocean-view-themed computer case.

Two monitors, one horizontal and one vertical, were suspended in front of the man.

The Photoshop software's image editing interface is displayed in landscape mode, with several small dots on the curves of a rectangular coordinate system grid.

The vertically oriented secondary screen remains in the WeChat chat window.

A fluffy white cat raised its paw and cheered, "Hooray!"

Jiang Muzhou stared at the constantly popping-up messages, a smile unconsciously creeping onto his lips.

No wonder she changed her address for him from "Mr. Jiang" to "Jiang Muzhou"; it turns out this photo worked.

I should have catered to him sooner.

The doorbell interrupted his thoughts.

He grabbed a short-sleeved shirt and put it over his tank top, buttoning it up as he called out to the door, "Wait a moment."

Two more muffled thuds sounded from outside the door, and a gruff male voice came through the door: "Hello, the takeout is at the door!"

Before the words were finished, the footsteps had already quickly disappeared into the corridor.

takeout?

But he didn't order takeout.

When I opened the door, the elevator was already descending.

Jiang Muzhou bent down and picked up the takeout bag from the ground. The address printed on the receipt was completely unrelated to his home address.

He squinted, about to go back inside to get his phone and dial the deliveryman's number on the receipt, when the door next door suddenly opened.

Su Cheng poked her head out from the crack in the door, her body hidden behind it. Her lilac-purple slip dress hung loosely on her shoulders, the ice silk material accentuating her graceful curves.

As a woman living alone, she is used to leaving takeout at her door and opening the door to pick it up after the delivery person leaves.

However, this time she neither heard the doorbell nor received a call from the delivery person. She only found out that the food had arrived after opening the food delivery app and seeing "delivered".

Today she specifically chose a newly popular Western restaurant that features exquisite plating and innovative fusion cuisine, which has received widespread praise in her WeChat Moments.

It was worth the more than an hour she waited; after a busy day, Master Su was finally able to eat.

Humming a little tune, Su Cheng eagerly awaited her takeout delivery, only to find the floor empty, with no trace of the food.

She hesitated and leaned forward, half her shoulder sticking out of the door, wanting to see if the takeout bag was hanging on the doorknob.

It was a surprise that Su Cheng was startled when she saw what was going on.

A figure stood silently in the dimly lit corridor, carrying a paper bag with the logo of the restaurant she longed for prominently displayed.

When her gaze finally focused, she stared wide-eyed in disbelief as Jiang Muzhou brazenly carried her takeout and walked towards his home.

The young master who always seemed so respectable actually stole her takeout!

"Jiang Muzhou! You..." She was starving and her anger was about to surge, but she suddenly realized that she was only wearing a slip dress.

She left the door ajar, rushed into the bedroom, grabbed an oversized T-shirt haphazardly and pulled it over her head, before turning back and pushing the door open completely. "You took my takeout!"

Jiang Muzhou weighed the takeout bag in his hand, his gaze lingering thoughtfully on Su Cheng's face. A faint smile played on his lips as he posed a question that left Su Cheng speechless: "How can you prove this takeout is yours?"

Six hundred and sixty-six, not even salt anymore.

Su Cheng was so angry she laughed. If it weren't for the fact that the face in front of her was so pleasing to the eye, and if someone who was ugly and deformed dared to ask such a question, she probably would have rushed up and beaten them up long ago.

"How could I not know when I ordered this myself?" Su Cheng was starving, her tone becoming impatient. She grabbed the bag irritably, slamming her finger on the delivery receipt. "My home address is written on this, Yangguang District..."

The sound gradually faded away.

Wait a minute, how could this be Sunshine Community? This is clearly Linhai Garden.

She suspiciously examined the receipt again, her finger sliding down the information line by line.

The address, name, and phone number are all wrong!

This isn't her takeout at all!

The stuffy air in the corridor suddenly seemed to become exceptionally thick. She felt her cheeks burning uncontrollably under Jiang Muzhou's gaze, and even the tips of her ears were getting hot.

"Wait for me, wait a minute."

She ran back to her room, found the delivery driver's phone number, and immediately dialed: "Hello, this is 1802, No. 7, Linhai Garden. Did you mix up the food delivery you just received? The address and order information on the receipt are not mine."

I pressed the speakerphone button, and the howling wind and the constant honking of car horns echoed in the corridor from the other end of the line.

The deliveryman shouted, his voice tinged with helplessness, "Is this the Western restaurant with the English name? They're overwhelmed with orders, the place is in chaos. I was worried you'd be waiting too long, so I grabbed a large-looking portion and brought it over first. See if this will be enough for you?"

Su Cheng gestured to Jiang Muzhou with her lips, indicating that he should open the packaging bag and take a look.

The bag was full of several lunch boxes, which was indeed much more plentiful than what she had ordered herself.

"Is this okay?" Su Cheng hesitated, as this was the first time she had encountered such a situation.

"Oh, it's okay. They're just slow at preparing the food, and a lot of customers are asking for refunds. Hey, number 24! Miss, if you don't like it, just contact the restaurant for a refund. I'm in a rush to deliver the next order."

After the rider hurriedly hung up the phone, only she and Jiang Muzhou were left in the corridor, staring at each other.

After figuring out what had happened, Jiang Muzhou handed the takeout bag back to Su Cheng, saying, "Sorry, he knocked on my door, and coincidentally, the address on this receipt is wrong."

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly and gave a faint smile. "I thought someone had ordered it especially for me."

When he smiled, his peach blossom eyes curved into crescent moons, his eye bags slightly raised, adding to his captivating charm.

Seeing his smile so close to hers, Su Cheng felt her breathing become a little rapid.

What's this for? Is it for paying by facial recognition?

Judging from the anticipation in his words and the fact that he brought her takeout into the house without saying a word, it was clear that he had been eyeing this restaurant for a long time.

Okay, I'll let it go since he helped me edit the photos for free.

Su Cheng took the heavy takeout bag and generously said, "Since you're already here, would you like to eat something together?"

His smile was even brighter than before. "I shall obey your command."

Following Su Cheng into the house, Jiang Muzhou reached for plastic shoe covers from the shoe cabinet as usual, only to find nothing there.

"Wear these." Su Cheng opened the shoe cabinet, bent down and took out a pair of brand-new men's slippers from the shelf. She had just bought them from the convenience store today.

Thinking that Jiang Muzhou would be coming to her house to film a documentary about her and Batianhu, she knew that if he kept walking around in plastic shoe covers, it would inevitably make a "squeaking" sound. Although she wasn't sure if this would affect the sound recording, she specially prepared a pair of soft-soled, silent slippers for him just to be on the safe side.

"I bought them by guesswork. I didn't know what size you wear, so I asked the shopkeeper to give me a pair of men's sizes." Su Cheng took out a pair of scissors and cut the plastic rope connecting the two slippers.

Jiang Muzhou looked down at the slippers on his feet. He had thought that the delivery had arrived before he opened the door, and he had followed Su Cheng into her house without even changing his shoes.

He shuffled along in his slippers, standing side by side with Su Cheng's newly bought pair.

The slippers specially prepared for him were noticeably too big, like an adult's and a child's shoes placed together, which looked particularly comical.

"Try them on, see if they fit?" Su Cheng stuck out her tongue sheepishly and spread her hands. "The shopkeeper said slippers need to be bought a size larger for comfort, and that feet expand and contract with temperature changes, so slippers for summer need to be a bit bigger..."

Listening to her fabricated reasons for buying the shoes, Jiang Muzhou skeptically slipped his feet into the oversized slippers.

He gently wiggled his toes, feeling the spaciousness inside the shoe, and suddenly smiled, "It fits perfectly, my feet feel very free."

"Heh...heh, as long as it's suitable." Su Cheng chuckled dryly and began clearing the table.

Because she lives alone, she eats rather casually. Sometimes she eats nestled on the sofa facing the coffee table, and sometimes she eats while watching TV shows on her computer. Over time, the dining table has been left unused and has become a temporary storage place for miscellaneous items.

She deftly put everything back in its place on the dining table, stuffed the crystal-clear Sunshine Rose into the refrigerator's crisper drawer, and put all the cat treats into the storage cabinet.

With a soft "snap," the dining table pendant light illuminated with a gentle, warm yellow glow, creating a cozy atmosphere.

She took two clean plates from the cupboard and placed them at opposite ends of the table. She clapped her hands in satisfaction and then turned to Jiang Muzhou, making an inviting gesture.

The two sat down facing each other, looking at the exquisitely plated dishes on the table. Su Cheng sighed, "No wonder it's a popular restaurant."

The aroma of truffle cream mushroom soup is irresistible, the roast chicken is sizzling with oil and crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, the smoked salmon and avocado sandwich has distinct layers, the Tuscan seafood stew made of mussels, prawns and squid rings exudes the aroma of Mediterranean spices, and the porcini mushroom and beef pasta is topped with snowflakes of Parmesan cheese.

While Su Cheng was still hesitating about which dish to eat first from the table full of delicious food, Jiang Muzhou picked up a fork with his slender fingers and pierced the tenderest part of the roast chicken breast.

Her gaze involuntarily followed his movements, and her eyes, which were originally fixed on the roast chicken, naturally slid to his face.

This was, in fact, the first time she had ever eaten alone with a man.

My gaze followed his chewing motion, slowly sliding down until it finally settled on his slightly bobbing Adam's apple.

Too sexy.

She swallowed hard, quickly looked away, and pretended to be focused on fiddling with the salmon on her plate.

The plastic forks and plates made a soft, rustling sound that could be faintly heard in the quiet restaurant.

Jiang Muzhou looked up and saw Su Cheng propping her chin up in a daze, her right hand holding a fork, mechanically poking small holes in the salmon.

Unlike when they first met, when she deliberately kept her distance and would subconsciously avoid eye contact, he could sense that the tension in her body was slowly dissipating over the past two days, and she would even occasionally reveal a relaxed and unguarded expression.

Her T-shirt was too big, and the sleeves swung back and forth as she poked at the food, revealing her overly thin arms.

He stared at it for two seconds, then said softly, "Do you usually eat takeout?"

Su Cheng gently picked up the pink salmon with her fork and slowly swirled it in the green avocado sauce.

She tilted her head slightly. What did that question mean? Was she really after her takeout business?

The man raised an eyebrow and said in a gentle tone, "If you don't mind, let's eat together."

A note from the author: