Episode 26: Glimpse of Him
Early on Sunday morning, Lin Ying was awakened by the sunlight coming in - the light-blocking effect of these curtains was too poor, it was time to replace them with new ones.
Today is the day I made an appointment with Jiang Shu to have him come home for dinner.
In order to avoid awkwardness, she deliberately gave Cheng Xinran a heads-up, telling her to come and have a free meal no matter what. After hearing the news that Lin Ying had also allowed Cen Shuo to join, Cheng Xinran was shocked, but still gave a thumbs-up.
"Sure, you can go straight to meet the parents!"
Lin Ying scoffed, "What do you mean by meeting the parents? He insisted on coming. Kids are just clingy."
Just at a quarter past ten, Lin Ying took out the remaining pork belly from the freezer, weighed it, and planned to go to the supermarket to buy a lot of food - Cen Shuo arrived at the door at this time.
"Why are you here so early? You haven't even bought all the food yet."
"That's perfect. I'll go with you and I can even carry your things."
So, Lin Ying temporarily handed Ruxing over to Cheng Xinran's care and asked Cheng Xinran what she wanted to eat. Cheng Xinran tactfully said, "Whatever. I trust your cooking skills!"
Lin Ying rolled her eyes slightly, picked up the shopping bag, and went downstairs with Cen Shuo.
Today's sunshine is not glaring and is just the right warmth.
Looking at the various vegetable and fruit stalls being repeatedly besieged and looted by uncles and aunts, Cen Shuo's face was filled with shock. Lin Ying said:
"It's too late for them now."
She then asked, "What do you like to eat? Let's pick a few more."
"I'm not picky. I love whatever you make."
"Don't lie. Last time I treated you to local cuisine, your reaction wasn't anything like 'not picky'."
Being exposed, Cen Shuo laughed awkwardly: "I love sweet and sour spareribs and braised chicken..."
She jokingly said, "As expected of a child, the contrast in taste is quite big."
Cen Shuo deliberately got close to her and teased her in her ear, "Who are you calling a 'little' kid?"
The low mood made people feel itchy. Lin Ying pushed him away while complaining, "Stop it. Are you going to buy some groceries or not?"
The two of them went to the fresh produce section and bought some chicken breasts and drumsticks. Lin Ying stared at the spareribs in the corner, lost in thought. She wasn't very experienced at cooking spareribs, so no matter how she prepared them, they always had a slight mutton smell.
But Jiang Shu is here today too. I remember when she lived at his house for two weeks during the divorce, he cooked pork ribs for her a few times, and the taste was comparable to that of the aunt at home...
He's here today, so he should be able to help her, right?
Thinking of this, she was just about to ask the cutter to cut the ribs for her, but a familiar voice beat her to the punch and reported what it was about to say to the other side -
"Give me five pounds of spareribs, cut them into smaller pieces."
Speak of the devil, and he will appear. Seeing Jiang Shu suddenly appear, Lin Ying was surprised but did not forget to greet him:
"You come so early, brother?"
The other person seemed to have seen her and Cen Shuo a while ago. After a little teasing, he said, "I wanted to buy some ingredients in advance and bring them up later, but I bumped into you guys."
The look in his eyes as he looked at Cen Shuo was undoubtedly subtle.
Cen Shuo took the initiative to greet, "Nice to meet you again, brother?"
This "brother" made him very unhappy. Putting Lin Ying aside, based on seniority, he should indeed call Jiang Shu "brother", but if he followed Lin Ying in calling him brother... why should he follow Lin Ying in calling him brother?
Jiang Shu's face was calm as he smiled and suggested, "I'm a generation older than you. Calling me 'brother' makes you look older. Why don't you just call me 'Boss Jiang'?"
"But I think calling me 'brother' is more approachable. Last time, thanks to your face, my boss might not even remember me when Pierre was in trouble. Otherwise, I would not have remembered you."
He smiled angrily, not giving Jiang Shu any face at all. Before Lin Ying could signal him, Cen Shuo took the ribs handed to him by the knife worker, snatched all the vegetables from her hand, walked out of the vegetable market, and went to look at the fruits next door.
Just as Lin Ying was about to catch up, Jiang Shu took the opportunity to ask in a low voice, "Is he your boyfriend?"
She hesitated for a second or two, nodded, and took the initiative to follow Cen Shuo's steps.
The three of them went to several shops in a subtle atmosphere, and finally brought the spoils back to the small building in big and small bags. In addition to the ingredients for the dishes to be prepared for lunch today, Cen Shuo asked Lin Ying today and knew that Ruxing's favorite fruit was durian, so he specially picked a box with the most meat for her. Jiang Shu had already purchased snacks before coming, mainly chocolate and Western pastries.
As soon as she arrived in the living room, Ruxing rushed over at the smell, looking like she had no idea who to greet or how to start.
Lin Ying reminded, "Hurry up and thank your uncle and Brother Cen?"
"Thank you, uncle!"
Jiang Shu squatted down upon hearing the sound, and Ruxing took advantage of the situation to put her arms around his neck and lifted her up. The little girl turned around and saw Cen Shuo's face. She couldn't help but hesitate for a moment before saying, "Thank you, Brother Cen too."
This sentence is obviously less enthusiastic.
"Ruxing, the pudding you mentioned last time, your uncle went to many stores before finding the same one. Did you keep your promise?"
Jiang Shu's tone changed from his usual solemnity. He had secretly put in some effort to learn how to communicate with children. However, Ruxing's ability to accept was limited, and she immediately stumped him with a question - "What is 'breaking a promise'? Can it be eaten?"
"'Breaking a promise' means..."
Before he could figure out how to explain, Lin Ying interrupted, "It's perfect. Why don't you play with Ruxing in the living room? Cen Shuo and I will go prepare the food."
After saying that, she pulled Cen Shuo out of the living room, leaving Jiang Shu no room for maneuver.
Jiang Shu held Ruxing in his arms. It was not right for him to let go or just walk away. He could only follow Lin Ying's advice and take care of the baby obediently.
Normally she was the only one working in the kitchen, but today a grown-up suddenly came, a 1.83-meter-tall man, making her old-fashioned kitchen even more cramped.
She asked Cen Shuo, "Can you cook?"
Cen Shuo shook his head in embarrassment and admitted generously: "I don't know, but with your teaching, I will be able to do it after today."
"Cooking isn't difficult, but it's not that easy to learn either." Lin Ying handed him two bundles of chives. "Wash and cut the chives for me first, can you?"
"Yes, I watched some tutorials from food bloggers before coming here."
After he went through several sets of operations, although he was not very skilled, at least he looked decent.
While Lin Ying was busy processing the pork belly, Cen Shuo was helping to chop and peel garlic. This was the first time he saw Lin Ying in such a down-to-earth way. Usually, when the two of them were together, they were either serious during work hours or making love in their spare time. There was so little in between that he could hardly imagine it.
So much so that he always wanted to find new ways to see more.
"Sister, I just discovered something very interesting."
"What?"
"Before, I thought Ruxing looked like she was cast from the same mold as you, but when I saw her with Mr. Jiang, I suddenly felt..."
He seemed to pause intentionally, dragging out the last word, which actually caused Lin Ying's blade to slow down. "What do you feel?"
"I feel like Ruxing just looks like you, but she's more thoughtful than you, her mother."
He changed the subject, and inexplicably sounded aggrieved, "She probably hasn't seen President Jiang as many times as I have, right? But she's never been as warm and welcoming to me as she was just now."
Lin Ying immediately joked, "You're even jealous of this?"
"Isn't this called loving someone and loving their dog? Besides, this is the truth. I have no experience with children. Ever since I started liking you, I've been afraid of annoying Ruxing. But judging by her attitude towards me just now, I should have annoyed her a long time ago. No matter how many good things I give her, it's still not as practical as the blood relationship with President Jiang..."
Snap——
Lin Ying's wrist stiffened and she almost cut her hand. Fortunately, she reacted quickly and flattened the blade in time to avoid hurting herself.
"What do you mean by that?"
Her tone was cold and her eyes had lost their gentleness. She looked like a hedgehog that had suddenly sensed a threat.
"...Literally. Isn't Mr. Jiang Ruxing's uncle? Unlike me, I'm just an outsider with no blood relationship."
…
Lin Ying gave him a speechless expression and didn't respond any further, then urged him to work hard.
After preparing the seasonings of onions, ginger, garlic, as well as side dishes such as beans, mushrooms, and broccoli, it is finally time to marinate the meat and cook the soup.
Everything else was easy, but looking at this pile of spare ribs really scared Lin Ying. Today, not only did she want to make the sweet and sour spare ribs that Cen Shuo had just mentioned, but she also wanted to make spare rib and winter melon soup. Jiang Shu had bought these spare ribs, so it seemed like he had some sort of plan...
After hesitating for a few minutes, she still felt that professional matters should be done by professionals.
After discussing it with Cen Shuo, his face fell, but she still insisted and "threatened" him: "Do you want us to have lunch at 3 pm?"
When he walked into the living room again, Jiang Shu was playing a puzzle with Ruxing, and the child's face was full of joy.
Lin Ying could only reluctantly interrupt: "Ruxing, let Brother Cen come play with you?"
Upon hearing this, Ruxing immediately looked unhappy.
Jiang Shu asked, "What's wrong?"
"Um...can you teach me how to blanch ribs?"
Hearing this, a hint of surprise appeared on Jiang Shu's originally calm face. He happily said yes and was about to stand up.
"Uncle, don't go!"
Ruxing hugged his calf reluctantly. Lin Ying said, "Be good, Ruxing. Play with Brother Cen for a while. Dinner will be served soon."
"But I want to be with my uncle..."
Looking at the little girl's angry and aggrieved eyes, Jiang Shu had no choice but to lean over and comfort her, "Ruxing, do you remember what I said last time? Mom is too busy to cook so many dishes by herself. Uncle is here to help. Otherwise, there would be no chance to come to Ruxing's house for dinner."
"But I don't want to play with Brother Cen. He never listens to me. I don't like him..."
Coincidentally, Cen Shuo himself happened to appear at the door of the living room. The three of them looked at each other, and the atmosphere was tense and awkward.
Lin Ying tried to smooth things over for him: "Brother Cen is here to play with you today. He will listen to you carefully, right?"
She gave Cen Shuo a look, suggesting that he must do it.
Arriving in the kitchen, Jiang Shu looked at the ribs that Lin Ying had handled in a messy and awkward manner, and couldn't help but teasing:
"Why didn't you just call me over at that time? Why are you trying to be so stubborn?"
"At that time, I saw Ruxing was pestering you, and I didn't want to spoil the child's fun."
Lin Ying didn't look at him, but quietly placed the other ingredients next to the stove, preparing to stir-fry some vegetarian dishes first, deliberately keeping a distance from him, but the kitchen was too narrow, so narrow that it seemed to only be able to accommodate her, and one more person would make it crowded - and she clearly didn't feel that way just now.
Is it because Cen Shuo has a close relationship with her that there won't be such embarrassment?
Jiang Shu, however, didn't seem bothered by this. Instead, he skillfully placed the large and small pieces of pork ribs into the strainer one by one, then simmered them in the soup pot to extract the oil...
While Lin Ying was helping him, she started chatting about other things, as if she was just making small talk.
"Ruxing quite likes you. I didn't expect that you have such a strong aura on your face, but you are quite popular with kids."
"Perhaps, Ruxing just wants to have another family member to care about her?"
She couldn't refute this, and half-jokingly added, "Then I'll thank you for her, your unexpected uncle."
Jiang Shu smiled but didn't say anything. He started to cook the pork rib soup. Before taking it out of the pot, he glanced around at the seasonings on the stove and found that the cooking wine was gone. "Do you have any cooking wine left at home?"
"Yes, here..."
Lin Ying came forward, raised her arm, and tried to open the cabinet above the stove. Jiang Shu saw her tiptoeing and wanted to do it for her, but he didn't expect that their movements were surprisingly tacit, and Lin Ying bumped into his chest nakedly...
The palms of their hands met in the air at the same time. Lin Ying stepped on a vegetable leaf, which stuck to the mottled floor tiles and slid her whole body towards the person in front of her.
Jiang Shu was quick to move his other hand and put his arm around her waist, allowing them to stand steadily and avoid falling to the ground together...
The originally narrow space became so quiet because of this incident that it seemed as if all the air was drained out, and even the distance was compressed into nothingness.
Lin Ying smelled the perfume on his shirt, a pungent and broad aquatic note, no longer as sharp as the agarwood of the past. Mixed with the deliciousness of the ingredients and its own unique scent, it created a different world.
And in this world, at this moment, only she can see it.
Lin Ying raised her head slightly, and the other person's eyes had already fallen into hers...
It seems like nothing has changed from the past to now.
She opened her lips slightly, wanting to say something, but nothing came to her lips. Only a kiss could end this ambiguity - if the two of them had been in this situation six years ago, they might have kissed each other passionately.
But now, she only heard the gurgling sound of the boiling soup in the casserole...
With a loud crash.
The foam overflowed.
Her memories also overflowed, feeling particularly hot.
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