The old range hood made a lot of noise and worked hard, but it still couldn't completely stop the fumes from spreading out.
Chu Yigui stood at the kitchen doorway, looking at Wan Qiu's back. Wan Qiu was so slender that even her fair neck looked as if it could be crushed with a single pinch.
Wan Qiu is not tall, and when he stands in front of the stove, he looks like a child learning to cook. But in reality, Wan Qiu's cooking movements already look very skilled.
On a sweltering summer afternoon, Wan Qiu unconsciously wiped away his sweat.
"Is there anything I can help with?" Chu Yigui glanced around but couldn't find anything she could do to help, so she asked directly.
"No," Wan Qiu said, not as a refusal, but because she genuinely didn't have any.
Wan Qiu wasn't good at assigning tasks, and since he didn't have the opportunity to do so, he learned how to manage everything himself.
If Chu Yigui were to actually do something, it would throw Wanqiu, who was originally organized and orderly, into chaos.
Wan Qiu washed his hands, and five dishes were already prepared on the table.
He saw his friend Chu Yigui sitting at the dining table. Although Chu Yigui was sitting there, he seemed inexplicably out of place in his home. Wan Qiu couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"I don't remember buying these dishes?" Chu Yigui asked, pointing to the unfamiliar dishes on the table that didn't look very appealing.
“These are leftovers from yesterday’s meals,” Wan Qiu said, sitting down at the table.
"Leftovers?" Chu Yigui looked at the dishes on the table. Only one dish, stir-fried pork with chili peppers, and one dish, stir-fried eggs with chives, were made by Wan Qiu. They were simple home-style dishes.
It was clear that although Wan Qiu was skilled at cooking, he was not good at it. Chu Yigui remembered observing Wan Qiu stir-frying dishes in the kitchen, and the seasonings he used were very simple.
Chu Yigui was seated at the dining table from the start, pointing in front of her: "Why are you putting all the leftovers in front of me?"
“These dishes are quite delicious,” Wan Qiu replied very sincerely.
Wanqiu consciously wanted to treat her friends well, believing that she should share delicious food with them.
Serving leftovers to friends is definitely not a polite thing to do, but Wan Qiu clearly didn't understand that.
"I see." Chu Yigui looked at the mushy leftovers in front of her, which, after being reheated, still emitted the aroma of seasonings but were almost unappetizing, and said with a hint of helplessness, "Thank you."
Chu Yigui's feelings were complicated.
I never imagined he would be treated so kindly by his 'friends'.
They had only met for the first time, and it was only he who suggested becoming friends.
"Why did he eat the leftovers left by those two damned guys? Has my child been eating other people's unwanted food all this time?" Yang Xiaoyu's voice was suppressed as she heard the commotion from Chu Yigui's side. The more she learned, the angrier and more powerless she felt.
"Yi Gui, can we send some food over?" Chu Jianshu asked. Even though it was difficult to meet now, he could at least improve Wan Qiu's life within his means.
Chu Yigui thought for a moment and asked, "Thank you for cooking so many dishes for me. Can I order some takeout as a return gift and eat with you?"
"Okay." Wan Qiu blinked and readily agreed.
Chu Yigui was initially worried that Wan Qiu might feel offended, as ordering takeout for a table full of prepared dishes would be disrespectful to the host.
But Wanqiu clearly didn't think that way.
She simply didn't reject Chu Yigui.
Chu Yigui also understood Wan Qiu's possible thoughts, and thus made a test.
Upon hearing the agreement, Chu Jianshu quickly used his mobile phone to call the familiar owner of a five-star hotel, requesting that some food be delivered urgently.
"Okay, I'll have five dishes... Okay... It must be made by the head chef himself... Thank you so much... Please pack it up and deliver it as soon as possible... Thank you."
The boss across the street was clearly very enthusiastic. They would do their best to meet Chu Jianshu's request. This was a big shot that they would normally try to curry favor with. Although they didn't understand why he was being sent to such a strange place, a smart businessman wouldn't ask too many questions.
Yang Xiaoyu asked through gritted teeth, "Yi Gui, can we throw away all those leftovers?"
Chu Jianshu said helplessly, "Xiaoyu, don't make things difficult for Yigui."
However, Chu Yigui suddenly said, "Wanqiu, can we throw away these leftovers?"
Suddenly, Chu Jianshu and Yang Xiaoyu fell silent.
Wan Qiu blinked, looking at the leftovers that had just been reheated. They were glistening with oil and looked very appetizing. Why throw them away? Didn't she like them? But they were clearly delicious, and it was a pity to throw them away.
Wanqiu was somewhat troubled.
It's not always possible to have such delicious leftovers; this is what he ate for breakfast this morning.
I still remember it; it tasted great.
"Okay." Although Wan Qiu was a little reluctant, if it was her friend who said to throw it away, then she would throw it away.
"Thank you," Chu Yigui said.
Wan Qiu went to find the garbage bags he had collected, threw away the leftover food, and stared longingly at them, wondering if he could… if Chu Yigui left.
"May I take these two dishes with me?" Chu Yigui gestured to Wan Qiu, indicating the two dishes he had prepared.
Wan Qiu blinked, clearly not understanding what Chu Yigui was doing: "Where to take it?"
"Didn't you ask me to cook this meal? Then it should be mine. I can do whatever I want with it, right?" Chu Yigui asked.
Wanqiu fell into thought.
These two dishes were indeed made for his friends.
My parents usually don't give him the food they cook for their friends, but he can have the leftovers.
If there are no leftovers, then he won't get any food.
So if his friend didn't finish the food he cooked for him, then his parents wouldn't get to eat it.
But this wasn't just a dish I made for my friends; it was also a dish I was waiting for my parents to come home to eat.
what to do?
Wanqiu was caught in a logical dead end.
"Is it not allowed?" Chu Yigui asked. "Isn't this food made for me?"
Wan Qiu blinked.
I suddenly realized I was wrong.
He cooked this for his friends, not for his parents.
So he had to redo it specifically for his parents.
These two dishes are for my friends!
"Okay." Wan Qiu agreed, but then suddenly stood up, hurriedly ran to his room, pulled out ten yuan from under his mattress, and anxiously walked out.
"Wanqiu?" Chu Yigui suddenly exclaimed, looking quite puzzled.
Wan Qiu turned around: "I'll be back soon."
He needed to go to the market again as soon as possible to buy some ingredients. The refrigerator was empty; his mother still hadn't returned with any groceries.
I need to cook for my parents again before they come back.
Chu Yigui stood at the door and heard Wan Qiu's heavy footsteps until he left the stairwell.
“He…” Chu Yigui stood at the door, alone in the rented room. “He just left me here like this?”
Entrusting your home to a complete stranger you've just met means you have absolute confidence in him.
Is Wan Qiu a person who trusts others a lot, or does he lack any sense of wariness towards people?
Such a single-threaded way of thinking means that once you decide on one thing, you can't think about another.
If it weren't for his tattered clothes, impoverished home, and lack of bad people, Chu Yigui felt he might have been fortunate enough to witness Wan Qiu Gang counting the money after selling him.
Chu Yigui leaned against the doorframe, looking at the empty building: "Mom and Dad, perhaps you'd like to try my brother's cooking?"
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