Episode 27 Shura Field
Jiang Shu took the initiative to let her go and immediately turned off the fire on the stove to prevent the soup from being wasted.
Lin Ying also came back to her senses, grabbing a pile of kitchen paper and rags, and frantically wiped away the grease that had spilled over the stove. Their fingertips touched each other without a second thought, still feeling damp and sticky...
She completely recovered her memory - they had experienced such physical intimacy before, but now she felt depressed because of an inch of fingertips touching each other?
Lin Ying pulled her hand back, wiped it with a clean rag, raised her hand to take out the new cooking wine in reserve, and handed it to Jiang Shu.
The fleeting episode finally came to a quiet end.
The pork rib soup and sweet and sour pork ribs were not wasted, and the flavor was still there, but the process was not decent.
Lin Ying looked at the person in front of him who knew everything but was still oblivious to the truth, and she couldn't help but feel ashamed.
He suddenly recalled their last argument at the subway entrance... Had he returned home? Had he asked his family about her situation? Would Lin Jidong tell him directly that she had broken off relations with her family? Would he pry deeper?
Lin Ying understood that even after six years, when Jiang Shu stood in front of her again, she would always be concerned and curious. Even if she kept retreating and pretending to live a stable life, the relationship between the two was just as he said before he left - it could never be cleared up.
"Aying, do you like him very much?"
The two of them each did their own thing, preparing the final moments before all the dishes were ready, and the time passed silently until Jiang Shu finally asked this question.
This was also within Lin Ying's expectations.
She wanted to tell the truth, that the two of them were just sleeping together at best, but when the words came to her lips, she only uttered one sentence -
"Not really."
"Although he is young, his mind may not be pure. Since you have chosen to date him, and you have a child with you, you should be more cautious."
"I do have some ability to judge people," Lin Ying retorted calmly, still serving the minced meat and beans from the wok on a plate. "I'm not planning on getting married. It doesn't matter who's involved in relationships."
These words startled Jiang Shu, but Lin Ying remained calm and placed the side dishes on the plate one by one.
Before leaving the kitchen, Jiang Shu couldn't help but ask her——
"Why don't you plan to get married?"
“Because I don’t want to be responsible.”
Lin Ying had asked him this question before, and his answer then coincided with hers now.
After breaking off ties with the Yan family, Lin Ying finally came to her senses.
Marriage and love are two different things. Marriage is an alliance of interests and the lending of rights, and the bargaining chip is a love driven by hormones. Once the love is gone and the principal is locked up before the period, no one can redeem it.
To keep it fresh, both parties need to work together to maintain the relationship, but this is not a simple bet, and even the level of risk is uncertain.
She had long lost the strength to distinguish feelings and devote herself to managing her marriage. Now that she had finally settled down, she did not want to be disturbed by any uncertainties and step into another unsafe situation. Once she stepped into it this time, not only she would be implicated, but also her daughter.
As a mother, she couldn't be so selfish.
But she sometimes wondered if her decision to leave the Yan family was selfish.
The two of them brought the full banquet to the dining table. Lin Ying distributed chopsticks and cutlery, knocked on the next door and called Cheng Xinran, and they all sat down harmoniously.
The dining table is rectangular and can just seat five people.
Lin Ying sat at the front, with Ruxing sitting to her left and Cheng Xinran to her right. The remaining two men naturally had to sit further away from Lin Ying. Seeing this, Cen Shuo was just about to sit next to Ruxing, thinking he could take the opportunity to get closer to Lin Ying, but Ruxing spoke first -
"Uncle, can you sit with Ruxing?"
At the dining table, children are the biggest.
Jiang Shu naturally obtained this privilege, and Cen Shuo had no choice but to pull out the chair next to Cheng Xinran reluctantly. However, Cheng Xinran was a respectable person, and she could see that the atmosphere was not good, so she stood up and gave him an exit:
"Why don't you sit here with me? Closer to Lin Ying?"
Cen Shuo said "No, no, it's okay" but his body moved over honestly.
At this moment, Ruxing saw her favorite braised prawns and begged Jiang Shu, "Uncle, can we change seats? I want to be closer to the shrimps."
Jiang Shu subconsciously looked around and saw that no one raised any objections, so he naturally went along with it.
Lin Ying looked at the four people's intentional and unintentional little movements. She felt strange, but couldn't help being curious and wanted to see what they were up to.
Cen Shuo is young after all, and rather than being impatient, he is more direct in his approach. Not long after he started eating, he took the lead in serving Lin Ying the largest piece of pork ribs - which immediately took up two-thirds of the space in her bowl.
Lin Ying smiled awkwardly. Actually, she didn't really like eating spare ribs, especially the big bones that required both hands and mouth to work.
"Don't you like ribs? Pick some for yourself."
"I love the ribs you make."
Before Lin Ying could clarify, the person involved admitted calmly, "I'm sorry, I made all the spare ribs today. Ah Ying isn't very good at cooking spare ribs, so I helped her with it before."
This made Cen Shuo look unhappy. He didn't know whether to put the big piece of pork ribs in his chopsticks or not.
Cheng Xinran suddenly followed up, "No wonder Lin Ying never made spare ribs before? I really made a profit by coming here today!"
Lin Ying: "Just say what you want to say. Are you blaming me for being perfunctory in cooking?"
"No way! I'm just here to eat, how dare I be picky? I don't know who blessed you today, but you specially called in outside help."
Jiang Shu tactfully picked up some small, rotten ribs for Lin Ying, and in the process, took the large bone that Cen Shuo had picked up and put it in his own bowl...
Cen Shuo was unwilling to give in, so he also dropped the ribs into the bowl, picked them up and started to eat them, and then agreed:
"You know what, my brother's cooking skills are really good. The ribs are stewed just as well as the ones you treated me to last time at the private restaurant."
Lin Ying deliberately ignored Cen Shuo's determined gaze and subconsciously glanced to his left at Jiang Shuchu, who was calm and composed, as if he hadn't even heard the word "rotten".
"Are you talking about the shop that Pierre and I ran into last time on Wukang Road?"
"yes."
"The chef and owner of that restaurant is my childhood friend. We went together from elementary school to junior high school. His parents were busy with work, so he cooked for himself all his life. Now he's running his own business and has opened four restaurants in Shanghai. I've learned a lot of cooking tips from him."
Jiang Shu leisurely dragged out this list of favors, then asked, "So it was reasonable for me to pay for you last time. If you want to go again in the future, remember to tell me and I'll give him a heads up in advance."
Cen Shuo's reaction was faster than his brain. "That's not a problem. I'm not used to local cuisine."
"Really? Seeing you eating these ribs with such gusto, I thought you really enjoyed the chef's cooking."
…
Cheng Xinran suddenly choked on her soup, trying to avoid further awkwardness. She quickly put down her bowl and chopsticks, covered her mouth and nose, and began to cough violently...
Seeing this, Lin Ying teleported behind her, handed her some tissue, and gently patted her back to help her calm down.
After more than a minute, Cheng Xinran's flushed face finally calmed down.
Lin Ying reminded with concern: "I added some white pepper to this soup, so be careful when drinking it."
Jiang Shu asked, "Aren't you not used to eating pepper?"
"Xiao Cen likes spicy food, so I added some. I'm sorry Xinran forgot to remind you."
Cheng Xinran waved her hand, "I just choked a little, it's okay."
After being disturbed by the pepper, Cen Shuo and Jiang Shu could no longer choke each other and had to stop arguing. Cen Shuo looked a little embarrassed and asked Lin Ying, "So you can't handle spicy food?"
"Mom and Ruxing can't eat spicy food."
Ruxing, who had been sitting at the side, interrupted at the right moment. After she finished speaking, she didn't look at her mother or Cen Shuo, but gave Jiang Shu an innocent look - "Uncle knows, right?"
“…Yeah, of course.”
After a hearty meal, cleaning became the next battleground. Cheng Xinran, who was a freeloader, naturally volunteered, "I'll clean up. Don't compete with me."
Cen Shuo: "How can you do it alone? I'll wash the dishes and you just wipe the table."
Lin Ying: "That's perfect, I'll pass you the plate."
Seeing this scene, Jiang Shu was both amused and angry - amused that these three people were quite tacit in isolating him, and angry that in this dispute, he didn't even have a chance to squeeze in.
Just when he was at a loss as to what to do, Ruxing tugged at his pants and asked quietly:
"Uncle, do you want to come and see Ruxing's paintings?"
She pointed to her and Lin Ying's bedroom. Jiang Shu saw that the door was ajar, and a faint halo of light could be seen through it - it was the midday sun shining on her desk, and the warmth was intense.
He followed Ruxing inside and saw a different world in the small bedroom, barely 13 square meters. The bathroom and sink were so narrow that they could barely fit two adults. And the double bed before them, in Jiang Shu's eyes, wasn't even a double bed at all. It was only a little over half a meter wider than a single bed, barely enough for a slender adult to lie down...
I really don’t know how Cen Shuo could endure such an environment when he was with her, but then I thought again - compared to Cen Shuo, why did Lin Ying choose such a situation? Isn’t he the one who should feel more sorry for him?
"Uncle, please sit down and I'll show you!"
Ruxing pulled him to the desk with the best lighting in the room. Jiang Shu obediently followed the girl's instructions and sat on the chair - which was also the chair that Lin Ying often sat on.
The style of the ornaments on the desk seemed to be the same as when she lived in the villa, but with some of her daughter's preferences mixed in, it has a lot of childishness and playfulness. There are Disney IP stickers on the pen holder, all kinds of fancy blind box figurines from POP MART, and handmade DIY globes and carousels...
Jiang Shu glanced at the books on the bookshelf - "The Lady", "Mrs. Dalloway", "My Brilliant Friend", "To the Lighthouse"...
Her tastes have changed and she seems no longer obsessed with marriage and love.
Despite this, there is still some dust on the top of the book. It seems that the owner does not visit here every day. After all, there are some small things placed casually in front of the spine of the book, which invisibly wastes energy to take out a book.
Lin Ying has been a mother for many years. Apart from work, she spends all her time with her children, even her sleeping time.
In the dead of night, when her daughter is fast asleep, what will she do? Will she think of the past? Will she think of him...
"Uncle, look, this is the Disney castle I drew last time! My teacher and mom both praised it for being so pretty. Maybe it'll win a prize!"
Ruxing held the watercolor painting in front of Jiang Shu, and the large block of pink and blue instantly filled Jiang Shu's visual response.
He didn't understand colors, art, or brushstroke techniques, but he could see that it was rare for a five-year-old girl to be able to outline the shape of the castle in such a delicate and detailed manner.
He praised frankly: "It's really beautiful. Ruxing is so young, but her skills are so great."
Ruxing's eyes narrowed into a line with a smile, and she put her small hand to her mouth and whispered stealthily:
"Let me tell you a secret. I've never been to Disneyland, and I've never seen a real castle."
"So what is this painting of yours?"
Ruxing stuck out her tongue and admitted, "Mom was going to take Ruxing to Disneyland, but she had to work overtime that weekend and made me stay with Aunt Xinran at night. Since then, Mom has been very busy and never took me to Disneyland...
Uncle, Ruxing doesn’t like Brother Cen. It’s because of Brother Cen that Mommy doesn’t even take Ruxing to Disneyland.”
Seeing the little girl looking aggrieved and about to complain to him, Jiang Shu hadn't figured out how to respond when the bedroom door suddenly opened...
Lin Ying looked at this peaceful scene and was stunned for a moment before reminding her daughter:
"Ruxing, are you ready? We're going to the studio soon."
Sunday afternoons were her daughter's regular painting class time. When she heard about the class, Ruxing turned her eyes to Jiang Shu and asked, "Will uncle still go with Ruxing?"
"Stop making trouble, Ruxing. Uncle has something else to do. Mom and Brother Cen will accompany you today."
"I don't want it!"
Ruxing's face suddenly fell, and she even threw the painting in her hand to the ground.
"Ruxing, you can't be willful!"
Lin Ying could see her daughter's emotions, but as a mother, she really couldn't express herself in front of Jiang Shu.
Seeing this, Jiang Shu picked up the painting and put it back on the table, then suggested to Lin Ying, who also had a grim expression:
"How about I take Ruxing with me today? I don't have anything to do this afternoon."
"No, that's too much trouble for you..."
"It's no trouble, A-Kage."
Jiang Shu deliberately walked closer to her side and glanced towards the living room. Cen Shuo was ready and waiting for the mother and daughter to leave...
"Wouldn't it be convenient for you to date if I took her with me?"
While Lin Ying was still worried, Jiang Shu took the lead in announcing to Ruxing:
"Uncle will take you to class later, okay?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
