Chapter 22 is an epiphany... So this is what liking someone is?
Ji Yu drove back to the goji berry farm. He wasn't lying; he really did have something to do at home. He was in a hurry to learn how to cook from his mother.
After listening to Chen Mian's words at the Poplar Restaurant, he suddenly had a flash of insight. His father had won over his mother with his excellent cooking skills. How could he have forgotten that?
It's a pity that my father is still studying in the capital and can't come back, but learning a few moves from my mother should be enough for now.
As for what Batur said, he decided to pretend he hadn't heard it.
He is a virtuous and upright man; how could he possibly covet his brother's sister?
Yu Xiaoyue was currently lying on a rocking chair in the courtyard, basking in the sun, feeling relaxed and content. Beside her was a radio playing a certain singer's new song on repeat: "I don't know why, but I'm always drawn to you; my heart and eyes are filled with you..."
There's not much going on at the farm lately, and she's getting quite bored being all alone. Maybe she should go visit Ayili in a couple of days.
Yu Xiaoyue was lost in thought when she saw Ji Yu return, and she was a little surprised. "Why are you back today? Don't you have to work overtime?"
Ji Yu said calmly, "For the case I solved a few days ago, the organization rewarded me with two hundred yuan and a day off."
Upon hearing this, Yu Xiaoyue laughed heartily. She had already heard from Ayili about her son catching the theft gang, but she never expected there would be a reward.
He then sat up, reached out his hand curiously, and asked, "Where's the money? Let Mom see it. It's a reward from the organization; I haven't even touched it yet."
Ji Yu said frankly, "I've already spent money to treat Chen Mian and her friends to dinner."
Yu Xiaoyue said "Oh~" and teased, "Why did you suddenly decide to invite people to dinner?"
Could it be... that he's finally figured it out?
Ji Yu was puzzled. It was just a meal; did he need a reason? He could just invite people over whenever he wanted.
After thinking for a while, I gave an official answer: "My work has been recognized, I'm happy, let's celebrate together."
Yu Xiaoyue seemed to sense a different atmosphere than usual, and watched her son's performance with great interest.
She crossed her legs and continued to tease her son with a smile, "Oh... a celebration? Why didn't you invite me to your celebration?"
The man's tall figure stiffened upon hearing this, as if a machine had suddenly rusted. He then looked at Yu Xiaoyue apologetically, "I...I forgot."
Ji Yu lowered his head, feeling somewhat lost. He didn't know what was wrong with him lately. After receiving the award today, he went to find Chen Mian immediately, completely forgetting to invite his mother along.
Ji Yu: Don't ask. The only thing I feel is guilt. I'm not a good son to my mother anymore...
Looking at her son's pathetic appearance, Yu Xiaoyue finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Her son is still oblivious to his own situation; it's unclear when he'll finally realize it.
Yu Xiaoyue got up from the recliner: "Alright, I'm not teasing you anymore. I'll go cook. You should rest for a while."
After saying that, he walked towards the backyard, intending to pick some greens and make a stir-fried vegetable dish.
Ji Yu didn't go to rest; she stayed by her side the whole time, helping her carry the vegetable basket and picking vegetables.
Yu Xiaoyue watched her son busy at work, completely bewildered. When she entered the kitchen, she found him still standing there blankly beside her. She asked helplessly, "Is there something you haven't said? You've been stammering for so long."
Ji Yu stood ramrod straight with a resolute gaze, but her words were surprisingly virtuous: "I want to learn to cook from you. Mu Mian said that nowadays girls like men who can cook."
"Once I learn to cook, I'll be able to get married."
Upon hearing this, Yu Xiaoyue looked her son up and down several times. Was this still the same straight-laced, domineering son of hers?
Yu Xiaoyue: "Okay, tell me, what dish do you want to learn first?"
Ji Yu blurted out, "The vegetables that Kapok likes to eat."
Yu Xiaoyue had given up pretending and looked at her son with a subtle expression, signaling him to continue making things up.
Ji Yu, the blockhead, tried his best to argue: "This idea was given to me by Mu Mian. What if she wants to test my learning results later? I definitely have to learn her favorite dishes first, so that I can be sure that nothing goes wrong."
“That’s right, exactly.” The blockhead said, clenching his fist as if he were very clever.
Yu Xiaoyue: Silence is the Cambridge of tonight, and speechlessness is my defining characteristic at this moment.
Ji Yu said enthusiastically, "Mom, let's get started! Our Mumian loves braised chicken with noodles the most."
Yu Xiaoyue curled her lip slightly in disdain. "So this is how we, the Kapok Tree, start? It's true what they say, 'A grown child is like a bird that can't stay at home forever.'"
He immediately turned around, took a bowl, scooped some flour from the flour bag into a basin, and gestured for Ji Yu to wash her hands and come over to learn how to knead dough.
Ji Yu arrived with a smile on her face. Yu Xiaoyue instructed, "When kneading the dough, add water in small amounts several times. First, use chopsticks to stir it into a flocculent state, then knead it into a ball by hand and let it rest."
Ji Yu obediently followed along, slowly adding water with his left hand and stirring the flour into a flocculent state with chopsticks in his right hand. He also mastered the secret of kneading dough without any instruction: "Add flour if there is too much water, add water if there is too much flour."
Before Yu Xiaoyue noticed, an extra clump of dough had spilled out of the basin.
Yu Xiaoyue quickly interrupted, "Stop, stop, stop! We can't add any more. If we add any more, you won't be able to finish it even after two days."
She snatched the chopsticks from his hand, adjusted the ratio of flour to water a few times, and when she felt it was about right, she let him start kneading the dough together by hand.
Master Yu: "If you want the noodles to be chewy, you have to knead the dough vigorously. The key is to knead it three times and let it rest three times."
After saying that, she looked at the unidentified object that had been kneaded flat in her son's hands, sighed, and said, "Never mind, the one thing you have plenty of is strength."
Once the dough was kneaded, I started teaching him how to prepare vegetables, beginning with peeling and chopping.
Ji Yu clumsily peeled the potato, and with one cut, a third of the potato was gone.
Yu Xiaoyue: It's okay, it's okay, it's just a few potatoes, we have plenty at home.
Taking a deep breath, she decided to let her son do as he pleased and gossip a bit to distract him.
Yu Xiaoyue smiled and said, "You had dinner with Mu Mian today and then let her go home by herself?"
Ji Yu looked at her with disdain, "How could that be? I definitely took her back. She ate too much at noon and fell asleep on the way."
Ji Yu: "I drove all the way to the destination, but she still hadn't woken up. Her face was flushed from sleeping, so I had to get out of the car and squat down to wait for her."
Yu Xiaoyue gossiped: "Then why didn't you carry her down this time? Didn't you try to show off?"
Ji Yumu Geda's tone held a slight hint of complaint, which vanished in an instant: "Her friends were in the car too..."
Upon hearing this, Yu Xiaoyue understood immediately and said, "That means if it's just you and Mu Mian on the bus this time, and she falls asleep, you will carry her off the bus."
Ji Yu nodded honestly.
Yu Xiaoyue finally revealed her true intentions: "So what is your relationship with her now?"
"Let me make this clear first, don't bring up your idea that female comrades are your female sisters."
Yu Xiaoyue: "I've never seen your dad dare to hug any of his comrades' girls."
Ji Yu's lines were stolen by her own mother, so she could only scratch her head and think of something on the spot, even stopping the peeling she was doing.
After hesitating for a while, he finally managed to say, "We...we are friends."
Yu Xiaoyue pressed on: "Even friends don't act like this. Think about it again."
Ji Yu's thoughts were a bit chaotic at the moment. The voices of Yu Xiaoyue and Batur kept switching back and forth in her mind, occasionally mixed with Chen Mian's bright smile. So beautiful.
Yu Xiaoyue: I've never seen your dad dare to hug any of his comrades' girls.
Batur: Friend, wake up! She's just your comrade's sister.
Looking at her son's stupid face, Yu Xiaoyue thought, "Tsk, what a blockhead."
Somewhat impatient, she simply stepped forward, grabbed his ear, and shouted, "Admit it, you like her!"
Ji Yu was jolted awake by the shout coming from beside her ear. It was the first time the primitive tribe had electricity, and she babbled out the first words of civilized society, "I...I like her?"
He thought of their first meeting, when Chen Mian cried her eyes out, and their second meeting, when her almond-shaped eyes were lowered and her voice was choked with sobs, which made him inexplicably take her home.
So... this is what liking someone is?
But she's my comrade's sister...
In the courtyard outside the window, the autumn wind swirled up a fallen leaf, which twirled a few times in the air before drifting leisurely to the ground.
An ant passing by stood still, waiting for the leaf to fall so it could drag back to its burrow to make a bed. But then it saw the leaf lifted up by another gentle breeze and drift away to another place.
Inside the kitchen, Ji Yu was still lost in thought, peeling the potato in her hand smaller and smaller. Yu Xiaoyue glanced at it a few times with a headache, and finally spoke up to remind her, "Stop peeling your lousy potato, or I'll peel you!"
Yu Xiaoyue: "Come here, I'll teach you how to cook."
Ji Yu asked in confusion, "But I haven't finished peeling the potatoes yet..."
Yu Xiaoyue said impatiently, "By the time you get ready, the daylily will be cold. Start stewing the chicken first."
Ji Yu stood in front of the stove, one hand on the countertop and the other holding a spatula, mechanically stirring the food. When it came time to add the seasonings, she mistakenly sprinkled sugar in instead of salt.
Yu Xiaoyue was speechless: Where did his brain go today?
Ji Yu suddenly spoke up: "Mom, do you think Mu Bai would beat me if he found out that I'm with Mu Mian?"
Upon hearing this, Yu Xiaoyue rolled her eyes at him, "Wake up, you two aren't even together yet."
Ji Yu then asked another question: "When will I be able to win over Mu Mian? I should be able to pursue her, right..."
Yu Xiaoyue: "Why can't you?"
Ji Yu hesitated: "After all, I just said I would treat her like a younger sister, and now I'm chasing after her again."
Ji Yu's mind was a bit of a mess. He remembered that he had been on blind dates not long ago and had been caught by Chen Mianmian on several occasions.
Oh no, will she have a really bad impression of me now, thinking I'm a womanizer who doesn't uphold traditional male virtues?
Ji Yu: No, I have to think of a way to salvage my positive image in Kapok's eyes.
"Ring ring..." It was the phone in the living room ringing.
Ji Yu shook her sullen head, taking the opportunity to escape the awkward atmosphere in the kitchen, and strode out.
When he answered the phone, the voice on the other end made his heart tighten...
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Author's Note: Mini-Theater:
Crucian carp: One second I'm a perfect gentleman; the next second, will I get beaten up if I'm with a kapok tree...?
Chen Mubai: Come out and take your beating!
Random thoughts:
The male lead finally got it! Applause!
Please, my dear readers, add this to your favorites! I really want it to be a paid subscription! I've been dreaming about it T_T
I'm busking on the streets with my kitten; life is tough...
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