【10】 Is it the same as wearing the same clothes? Whoever has the worst taste will be embarrassed.
Liu Siyan's home was north of the school, about a ten-minute drive away. It was a traditionally prime location, nestled against the mountains and facing the sea, offering a beautiful and tranquil environment. But if one truly desired the bustling and vibrant city, the drive was only twenty minutes. It was a perfect place to live, in every sense of the word. When they arrived, it was ten minutes before five, and Liu Siyan was on the phone in the living room, speaking English. It seemed the birthday cake she'd ordered was about to arrive. "Seniors, you're here! Chinese people are so punctual. Americans are so good! They said the cake would be delivered between two and four, but it took until five—hey, you three came together?" Tan Xu said, "Didn't you know they also live at the Reserve? We just happened to run into each other in the elevator, so they took my car and came together." "Well, you did a good thing." She took the cooler bag from Tan Xu without hesitation, then noticed the pink cherry blossom pattern and couldn't help but tease, "Tsk, this looks like something from your ex-girlfriend? How could she be so reluctant to throw it away after the breakup?" Tan Xu scoffed, seemingly too lazy to answer. Liu Siyan and a girl from the same major shared this nearly 200-square-meter, two-story villa, which was incredibly luxurious. Their bedrooms were on the second floor, while the first floor was purely for entertaining and leisure, perfect for a party. After chatting in the living room for a while, the others gradually arrived, about a dozen men and women in total. Most of them were sophomores like Liu Siyan, with only one boy named Cheng Yan, a junior like them. Upon his arrival, he punched Tan Xu and asked him why he hadn't attended statistics class yesterday afternoon. "I had an internship interview, and the timing was awkward, so I had to skip class all afternoon," Tan Xu said casually, turning to ask, "Didn't you say you didn't know anyone today? I thought you weren't coming." Cheng Yan's response was blunt: "I heard the birthday girl is very beautiful and single. I came here mainly to see the beautiful women." International student gatherings generally fall into two categories: regular, routine gatherings where the same group of friends always come and go, and then social icebreakers like today's, where each student brings in a few acquaintances and expands their social circle. A dozen people placed their dishes on the table and gathered around them before reluctantly taking their seats. Cheng Yan sampled a few different dishes and suddenly commented, "Tan Xu, your salt and pepper pork ribs are quite good." Liang Zhiyao looked a little puzzled. "That dish you just ate wasn't mine," he turned to look at her. "You made it, right?" Only then did the others notice the two plates of salt and pepper pork ribs on the table...
Liu Siyan's home is about ten minutes' drive north of the school. It's a traditionally prime location, nestled against the mountains and facing the sea, offering a tranquil and picturesque setting. But if you really want to be in the bustling area, it's only a twenty-minute drive away. It's a perfect place to live, no matter how you look at it.
When they arrived, it was still ten minutes before five. Liu Siyan was on the phone in English in the living room. It seemed that the birthday cake she ordered was about to be delivered.
"Seniors, you're here! Chinese people are truly punctual. Americans are amazing! They said the cake would be delivered between two and four, but it took until five to arrive—Hey, did you three come together?"
Tan Xu said, "You didn't know they also live at the Reserve, right? We just happened to meet in the elevator, so we took my car and came here together."
"Well, you did a good thing."
She took the cooler bag from Tan Xu without hesitation. Seeing the pink cherry blossom pattern, she couldn't help but tease, "Tsk, this looks like something from your ex-girlfriend, right? How come you can't bear to throw it away even after breaking up?"
Tan Xu sneered and seemed too lazy to answer.
Liu Siyan and a female student in the same major shared this nearly 200-square-meter, two-story villa, which was incredibly luxurious. Their bedroom was on the second floor, while the first floor was purely for entertaining and leisure, making it perfect for parties.
After chatting in the living room for a while, the others gradually arrived, about a dozen men and women in total. Most of them were sophomores like Liu Siyan, with only one boy named Cheng Yan being a junior like them.
As soon as he arrived, he hit Tan Xu with his fist and asked him why he didn't attend the statistics class yesterday afternoon.
"I had an internship interview at a rather awkward time, so I had to skip classes all afternoon," Tan Xu said casually, then turned to ask him, "Didn't you say you didn't know anyone today? I thought you weren't coming."
Cheng Yan's answer was straightforward: "I heard the birthday girl is very beautiful and single. I came here mainly to see the beautiful woman."
There are generally two types of gatherings for international students. One is the daily gathering where the same group of friends always come and go, and the other is the social ice-breaking gathering like today where everyone invites a few acquaintances to expand their social circle.
A dozen people placed the dishes they brought on the table and gathered around them before they could sit down. Cheng Yan tasted a few different dishes and suddenly commented, "Tan Xu, your salt and pepper pork ribs are quite good."
Liang Zhiyao showed a somewhat puzzled expression.
"The dish you just ate wasn't brought by me," he turned to look at her, "was it you who made it?"
Only then did the others notice that there were two plates of salt and pepper spareribs on the table. They looked and were roughly the same size. Even Liang Zhiyao had to look at them a few times before he could barely tell them apart. He asked in surprise, "Why are there two plates?"
Tan Xu said, "I brought the other plate. I just found it while arranging the dishes in the kitchen. It was quite a coincidence."
Cheng Yan was amazed: "Is it the same when we have the same dishes as when we wear the same clothes? Whoever finds it unpalatable will be embarrassed?"
Liu Siyan said with a smile: "This is also good. There are more than ten of us. If there is only one plate of ribs, each of us will try a piece and then it will be gone. We won't be able to eat enough."
Liang Zhiyao tasted the salt and pepper pork ribs brought by Tan Xu and laughed inwardly, thinking that the other party and he were most likely referring to the same recipe.
The cooking skills of international students today are not the same as they were ten years ago. At that time, they had to ask their parents to cook for them before leaving, and write down the details of each step with paper and pen. When they couldn't help but ask, "How much is a pinch of salt?", they would naturally be met with the cold shoulder from the older generation.
Ten years later, video websites and cooking apps are full of detailed tutorials, down to how many spoonfuls of each seasoning to use or how much it weighs in grams. As long as you are not hand-shaky or blind, it is very normal to make dishes that taste almost the same.
This kind of scene where more than a dozen people sit together to eat is her social blind spot. In the past, there were mostly four or five acquaintances, but now, she can't remember most people's names. She has no urge to chat and just silently eats the whole time.
But there are advantages to keeping silent. Her gossip radar is not as good as Ye Xin's, but it is not weak either. While she was concentrating on eating, she heard some jokes from others and immediately noticed that Liu Siyan seemed to be a little interested in the friend called by Tan Xu.
Less than ten minutes into the meal, she had already spoken to Cheng Yan several times, and her demeanor and tone of voice were different when she spoke.
Beautiful women are most deadly when they play straight, but Cheng Yan's level is obviously not low either. He accepts all the occasional flirting and occasionally takes the initiative to flirt back. It can only be said that they are evenly matched.
After dinner, they sang the birthday song in a very retro way, first in Chinese and then in English, asked Liu Siyan to make a wish and blow out the candles, and then began to divide the cake.
After taking just one bite, the birthday boy sighed, "I shouldn't have had any illusions about American desserts."
American cakes are so sweet you'd want to sprinkle frosting all over them. Even though Liu Siyan had ordered a French bakery, she couldn't help but adapt. For the Chinese palate, where "not sweet is the highest praise," the cake was still too sweet and cloying. After just a few bites, it tasted like chewing wax and was difficult to swallow.
So, no one knows who started it, but everyone used the remaining cake as weapons and started the same clichéd retro indoor chase game, scrambling to smear the cream on other people's faces.
As the birthday girl, Liu Siyan naturally bore the most and heaviest fire. She ran around the two-story house in a little dress covered with sequins until she collapsed. Her curled hair was scattered in a mess, and she looked quite embarrassed.
Liang Zhiyao was the one with the fewest acquaintances in the group and was relatively safe. Seeing that no one was watching him, he took the time to run to the kitchen to get some water to drink.
She was a very dull person and had little interest in this kind of game that released her nature. When she thought about having to clean the cream off her face and body afterwards, she immediately felt it was troublesome and lost all her childishness.
As soon as she entered the kitchen, she saw Tan Xu standing there, his fingers smeared with cream, looking ready to go. His cheeks and nose were also smeared with white and pink, which made him look a little funny.
When Liang Zhiyao came over, he hid behind a huge refrigerator, obviously planning to attack the person at any time. When he saw it was her, he couldn't help but pause.
She raised her hands helplessly. "Will begging for mercy be of any use? I really don't like playing this game. How about we sign a truce in private and deal with the sophomores together?"
"I didn't realize you were so good at stirring up class conflicts to divert the flames of war," Tan Xu raised an eyebrow, holding the cake in the same position as before, and jokingly said, "But I have no grudges against my juniors. I was beaten so badly playing basketball with you last week that I took it very seriously, and now I'm just getting revenge."
I couldn't tell he cared at that time.
She complained in her heart, but she was still a little confused about whether it was true or not, so she asked him, "You are not so petty, are you?"
Tan Xu looked at her for another two seconds before finally putting his hand down. "Alright, since we both made salt and pepper spareribs, I won't attack you."
Liang Zhiyao breathed a sigh of relief, and without any precautions, he placed the cake in his hand on the countertop. He went to the corner to get a bottle of mineral water, and said curiously, "I was just about to ask, did you also watch the salt and pepper spareribs tutorial on x kitchen that got 10,000 likes -"
Before she could finish her words, she felt the cool touch of refrigerated cream on her cheek, along with the heat from the boy's fingers, which caught her off guard and made her stop asking the question she was about to ask.
Liang Zhiyao turned her head and found the culprit leaning leisurely on the kitchen counter, one hand stained with the cream that served as evidence of his crime. He smiled and said to her, "All is fair in war."
"...Why are you still launching a sneak attack?"
Liang Zhiyao's first reaction was to retaliate with her own cake, but the other party was prepared. He quickly picked up the paper plate she had placed on the counter with his free hand and raised it high.
She was considered tall among the girls, but Tan Xu was half a head taller than her. With his arms stretched out to hold the cake, it was useless for her to stand on tiptoe.
"You're a little too defenseless. You actually put down your 'weapon' like that. Do you really think you won't be killed if you surrender?" He blinked, as if he was going to kill people and destroy their hearts after he succeeded.
"...I just didn't expect you to be so childish."
He's a sneak attack, and he's so confident about it. He's no longer the pretentious finance guy, but the childlike man who believes "a man stays young until he dies." The sudden change in style is a bit funny.
Seeing that he didn't move, Liang Zhiyao urged: "Give me back the cake. I'm not as naive as you. I won't retaliate."
Tan Xu looked at her again and finally lowered his raised arm - not the one holding her cake.
He seemed genuinely immersed in this childish game of a dozen people playing and fighting. He said confidently, "Let's exchange cakes. Your cake has more cream left. If we run into someone else with more firepower later, this will be considered... ceding territory as compensation after a battle."
Then, before she could agree, he suddenly took a provocative bite of the half-eaten cake, with the corners of his mouth raised.
The movements are frivolous, the eyes are ambiguous, and the expression is not sure whether to call it naughty or frivolous. If it weren't for the face and figure, the style would probably be very bad.
Liang Zhiyao suddenly felt bored and a little irritated. The smile on his face froze and turned expressionless. He said to him, "Whatever you want."
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