Chapter 33. He held the cherry pit in his mouth until the sweetness disappeared, but he still couldn't taste anything...
Just as the navigation indicated, the road was completely congested. What should have been a two-hour drive took more than three hours before we finally arrived at our destination.
It was raining and the weather was stuffy. The car was stuck in traffic and stopped halfway. He Xintu couldn't resist and rolled down the window a crack to let in some fresh air.
Fortunately, there were many people on this trip, and the people in the back seat chatted lively. Jiang Huai even sang a few songs, and everyone's enthusiasm was not dampened by the rain at all.
The rain finally stopped when we arrived in Tongzhen.
The villa that He Xintu had booked was located halfway up the mountain. After the car drove up a winding section of road, it stopped, and everyone got out.
The location here is excellent, with a wide view and layers of clouds surrounding the mountains, and dense forests weaving through the fairyland.
It's just that the colors in the mountains have faded due to the season; they would be much more attractive in the height of summer.
He Xintu parked the car and led everyone into the villa.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't expect the rain to start so suddenly." He Xintu walked to the center of the living room and said, "I originally planned to cook here, and I even had the housekeeper prepare the ingredients, but I didn't expect it to take so long."
He had originally estimated that he would arrive at the villa around 11 o'clock, but it was already almost 1 o'clock, and everyone was still hungry. If he waited for them to cook dinner now, it would probably delay their afternoon schedule.
Liang Yizhi glanced at the time and suggested, "Why don't we all cook together? We can just make a few simple dishes to fill our stomachs, it'll be quick."
He Man agreed: "That's right, Boss He, you've been driving all day, so don't bother with the cooking. We can handle this little thing."
He Xintu smiled and said, "Thank you so much."
Gu Yinyan was the last to step inside. After looking around the villa, he walked to the balcony.
There's a terrace in the yard, surrounded by many plants, a lush and damp green after the rain. Several bird-of-paradise plants stand proudly, thriving and reaching the same height as the wall. Raindrops trickle down their rain-washed leaves, one by one.
Gu Yinyan looked away and asked, "What are we doing this afternoon?"
He Xintu was checking ingredients in the kitchen: "This afternoon we'll go to the Baicaoyuan Scenic Area over there. The scenery is nice, and we can feed the animals."
Gu Yinyan did not express any objection.
After confirming that there were no problems with the ingredients, He Xintu clapped his hands and said, "Let's go upstairs first and show you around the rooms."
Everyone followed He Xintu upstairs.
There are four rooms upstairs. The girls chose one room first, while the three men stayed in the room opposite them. Gu Yinyan and Jiang Huai shared a room, and He Xintu had a room to himself.
After everyone put away their luggage and tidied up briefly, they went downstairs and began assigning cooking duties.
For five people, the plan was to make a simple four-dish meal with soup.
Jiang Huai, who can't cook, is in charge of washing vegetables and logistics, while Gu Yinyan and He Man help with chopping and preparing vegetables, and Liang Yizhi and He Xintu take charge of cooking.
Initially, He Xintu was in charge of everything, but Liang Yizhi volunteered, saying that He Xintu shouldn't have to take on everything, as her cooking skills had improved recently and she could definitely help him.
He Xintu was naturally very happy to agree.
The kitchen is open-plan, with a lot of odds and ends on the island.
Gu Yinyan stood aside, watching He Xintu and Liang Yizhi huddled together in the distance, enthusiastically discussing cooking.
"Stop looking at Young Master Gu, hurry up." He Man squeezed in and handed him a potato. "Your job is here. Wash it and cut it into pieces."
Gu Yinyan took it and casually put it into the pool beside him: "Can you do me a favor?"
Jiang Huai was bending over washing vegetables at the sink when he saw the "unidentified object." He looked up warily and asked the person who had just walked away, "Hey, Gu Yinyan! You're already trying to slack off before we've even started?"
"I'll take off my clothes." Gu Yinyan walked to the sofa, took off his coat, and hung it on. "You think everyone is like you?"
He slowly rolled up his sleeves and walked over. Jiang Huai couldn't stand his behavior, so he put the washed potatoes on the cutting board and said, "Are you making omakase or carving these potatoes into flowers? You don't look like a man who can cook at all."
Gu Yinyan came to his side and put the remaining bag of potatoes in as well: "You're down-to-earth, you do it. I don't want to get food poisoning from eating something unclean later."
Jiang Huai was unconvinced, and when Gu Yinyan turned around, she secretly flicked water on his back.
Liang Yizhi said she wanted to make a simple braised potato dish, so all she had to do was cut the potatoes into suitable chunks.
Gu Yinyan squatted down, took out knives and a cutting board from the cabinet below, washed them, and began to chop vegetables.
He stood in front of the kitchen counter.
While he was focused on his knife work, he suddenly noticed something trembling at his waist.
Gu Yinyan tucked his chin slightly and looked down. A red apron had appeared around his waist at some point, the fabric moving as someone busied themselves behind him.
"Liang Yizhi," Gu Yinyan said, placing the knife flat on the cutting board. "Untie it."
Liang Yizhi had just wrapped the apron around his waist and was tying the straps behind his back. Looking puzzled, she slightly stood on tiptoe and leaned close to his shoulder, asking, "What's wrong?"
"Untie it, it's too ugly."
Gu Yinyan was dressed in all black today, but his apron was bright red with a cute Hello Kitty pattern on it, which was quite different from his solemn demeanor.
Liang Yizhi acted as if she hadn't heard: "What's ugly about it? If you don't wear this, the edge of the platform will be wet, and it will be easy to get your clothes dirty."
“I can buy ten more if I get them dirty.” Gu Yinyan ignored the advice and put his hands behind his back to untie his apron.
Liang Yizhi quickly grabbed him: "Hey! Don't move, I just finished the injection."
She took Gu Yinyan's hand and put it back, then quickly added another knot to the one she had just tied.
Liang Yizhi held his body on both sides, peeked out from the side, and tilted her head to examine him: "Not bad, good-looking."
She straightened up with satisfaction, patted Gu Yinyan on the shoulder with both hands, and walked away gracefully.
The man had broad shoulders, and the dark color made him appear even taller and broader. His seemingly robust physique was somewhat cinched at the waist by a red apron, which couldn't help but make people chuckle.
He Man, who was opposite Liang Yizhi, also had an apron put on her by Liang Yizhi.
She looked at Gu Yinyan and teased with a smirk, "You can wear more red in the future, it suits you so well, especially this expressionless Hello Kitty, it's exactly like you."
Gu Yinyan glanced at her but didn't want to say anything.
Everyone was huddled in the kitchen, busy as bees. They had rushed here, and Liang Yizhi was worried that some people might go hungry. Since she had nothing to do at the moment, she took the cherries she had brought to wash, intending to share them with the others to tide them over.
"Does anyone want some fruit?" Liang Yizhi asked, carrying a fruit platter full of cherries and thoughtfully serving them to each person in turn.
He Man snuggled up to her and said, "Yizhi, how come you're so considerate? Who taught you all of that?"
She pretended to reach out to hug her, but Liang Yizhi just stroked her fur a couple of times to brush it off.
Liang Yizhi came to Gu Yinyan's side again. Gu Yinyan took the cherry from Liang Yizhi's hand and put it in his mouth. The moment his teeth bit into the flesh, a burst of sweet and sour flavor filled the air.
She walked around once and finally arrived at He Xintu's place. She said, "Mr. He, would you like some cherries first? We still have to wait a while before we can eat."
He Xintu had just finished rinsing the rice and put it into the rice cooker to start steaming.
Seeing the plump, red cherries in Liang Yizhi's hand, he looked surprised: "Thank you, I am indeed a little hungry."
He Xintu looked at the cherries in her hand, then lowered his head.
Liang Yizhi paused, wondering if he was going to...
He Xintu's lips unexpectedly touched her fingertips, and he took that little bit of crimson with his mouth.
The moment he approached, a barely perceptible warmth wafted between her fingers, an illusion that made it impossible to discern the purpose of her action.
He Xintu tilted his head back and picked up the cherry. As it fell into his mouth, he exclaimed, "It's so sweet, isn't it?"
When Liang Yizhi gave cherries to others, they all accepted them with their bare hands. She didn't expect He Xintu to suddenly make such an intimate gesture, and her cheeks turned bright red, but she still had to maintain her usual composure.
"...Yes, I was quite lucky this time; the cherries I bought were pretty good."
He Xintu smiled, and it was unclear whether his lips were stained with cherry juice, but they looked even redder than before.
Liang Yizhi simply couldn't look directly at those upturned lips that looked like they were about to bleed.
She turned away, avoiding the other person's eyes: "It looks like we can start cooking now, I'll go prepare!"
He Xintu smiled as he watched Liang Yizhi frantically pacing around the kitchen like a little hamster, before finally fixing his gaze on the man across from him who was chopping vegetables.
Clearly, he saw what he had just done.
He Man had her back to He Xintu, while Jiang Huai's head was almost submerged in the pool; no one knew what had just happened.
He Xintu's actions were ambiguous yet not ambiguous; he neither made any physical contact with her nor said anything that could be misunderstood.
From He Xintu's perspective, he was simply too lazy to raise his free hands and just took the cherry with his mouth.
He puffed out his cheeks, a cherry dangling from his mouth, and subtly raised an eyebrow at the other person.
He Xintu was certain that he had made eye contact with him, and that the man must have noticed his micro-expressions and received the signals from him.
But Gu Yinyan's movements only paused for a second.
He lowered his eyes and avoided eye contact, as if nothing had happened or he had seen anything, continuing to focus intently on the potatoes under his knife.
He Xintu held the cherry pit in his mouth for a long time, until the sweetness had completely disappeared.
He didn't understand what the person meant either.
Both being men, He Xintu could tell from their first meeting at the police station that Gu Yinyan treated Liang Yizhi differently from others.
But if he likes Liang Yizhi, why doesn't he make a move?
He tried to test him several times. He deliberately revealed his secret in front of everyone, using tarot cards; he deliberately did things that could be misunderstood in front of him and their friends.
He Xintu wanted to provoke him, to see him angry, jealous, and out of control, yet unable to speak up.
According to Liang Yizhi, they have known each other for many years. Gu Yinyan clearly had an absolute advantage, being in a position of power and having the upper hand, but he remained unmoved and simply stayed by her side silently.
He couldn't understand it.
For He Xintu, all his decisions were based entirely on feeling. He was a person who liked to make judgments based on his sensory perception.
He had feelings for Liang Yizhi, so he kept expressing them to her. He didn't consider anything else, didn't think ahead or behind, and didn't ponder practical problems. For him, only what was in front of him was real.
He followed his heart and believed that Liang Yizhi could feel his emotions.
Because her face was now almost as red as the cherries in her hand.
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