Chapter 42 Taking Her Home
Jiang Wan spent the next two days with Zhou Chong at the city library.
After eating Lanzhou noodles for two days in a row, even though Jiang Wan felt that no matter how chewy the handmade noodles were or how delicious the beef bone broth was, she was still tired of them.
Jiang Wan ate knife-cut noodles yesterday and ramen the day before. Standing at the library entrance with her backpack, she looked at the white and green halal storefront in the distance and felt like she was turning into a flour head.
"Zhou Chong, I don't want to eat noodles for lunch today."
Jiang Wan frowned and tugged at Zhou Chong's backpack strap, looking pitiful.
"What would you like to eat?" Zhou Chong is fine with anything.
"I want to eat..." Jiang Wan tilted her head and thought for a moment, then said decisively, "Food, I want to eat."
Zhou Chong raised an eyebrow and asked, "What would you like to eat?"
“It’s just rice,” Jiang Wan replied matter-of-factly. “I don’t want noodles, I want rice, anything is fine.”
Zhou Chong suddenly realized that the "food" Jiang Wan was referring to was not a meal, but simply rice.
He glanced at his wrist, thought for a moment, and tentatively asked, "How about fried rice?"
"Okay." Jiang Wan nodded happily.
After eating noodles for two days in a row, she now misses the taste of rice. It doesn't matter what kind of dishes she eats, and she doesn't have any particular dishes she wants to eat. Fried rice with eggs is just what she wants.
Moreover, it's quick to eat, so it doesn't waste time, and you can come back to study as soon as possible after eating.
"Which way?" Jiang Wan stood at the door and glanced at both sides of the tree-lined road.
"Come with me."
Zhou Chong turned around and led Jiang Wan toward the bicycle shed.
Watching him unlock the car and straddle it, Jiang Wan consciously ran to the back seat and sat down. "Let's ride the bike, is it far?"
"It's not far, just a few minutes away." Zhou Chong stepped onto the pedals and rode towards the end of the tree-lined road. "Hold on tight."
"Okay." Jiang Wan leaned forward and loosely wrapped her arms around his waist.
Practice makes perfect.
Since she had already accidentally hugged him last time and Zhou Chong hadn't objected, she might as well continue hugging him.
He told her to hold on steady, and he didn't say where to hold on, so it was perfectly legitimate.
Thinking this, Jiang Wan turned her head to the side and pressed her head against Zhou Chong's back.
Jiang Wan thought it was more comfortable to sit on the back of his bicycle.
For some reason, Zhou Chong insisted on taking the bus with her these past two days. Although sitting together on the bus slowly passing through several streets was a pretty good experience, it also gave her the chance to spend more time with him.
But it still doesn't feel as good as holding him around the waist like this.
Feeling the warmth on his back, Zhou Chong's back stiffened for a moment. He caught a glimpse of the delicate white hand wrapped around his waist, and his throat suddenly felt dry.
He pursed his lips, his Adam's apple bobbed, and quickened his pedaling pace.
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After Zhou Chong rode his bike into the residential area and parked it in front of a building, Jiang Wan realized that Zhou Chong was taking her home.
She had never been to this place in her previous life. Presumably, Zhou Chong had moved house later, and when she was discussing marriage with him and meeting his parents, it wasn't here.
It's not far from the city library, just across the street, a five-minute bike ride away.
No wonder Zhou Chong felt safe leaving his bicycle in the library's bike shed; it turned out it was his only way home.
Thinking about it this way, has Zhou Chong been deliberately taking a longer route to pick her up every morning these past few days?
Although her current home isn't far from here, it's still much farther than his home is from the city library.
Jiang Wan followed him blankly into the elevator, arrived at his door, and watched him turn the key to open the door. A strange feeling inexplicably rose in her heart.
It seems they've gone home.
Although this house was a mid-rise building, it was completely different from the Yunxi Bay villa they later lived in.
With a click, the door lock was opened.
Jiang Wan suddenly came to her senses, quickly grabbed Zhou Chong's sleeve, and asked him in a low voice, "Is no one home?"
She didn't know why, she was just having dinner at his house with her classmate, but he made her feel like she was doing something wrong.
What exactly are they feeling guilty about?
Even if someone is home, they are her in-laws, whom she has met before.
It's just the younger version.
What's there to be nervous about?
Thinking of this, Jiang Wan released Zhou Chong's sleeve and, feigning composure, gave a polite smile.
Seeing the changes in her expression, Zhou Chong chuckled and pushed open the front door. "No one's here. Come in."
Jiang Wan followed him into the house, changed into the slippers he handed her, and curiously looked around.
The apartment has a well-proportioned layout with four bedrooms and two living rooms. It has excellent natural light and is clean and tidy, but the furniture is simply arranged, and the space feels somewhat empty.
Zhou Chong put down his schoolbag, led Jiang Wan to the sofa, and explained to her, "My dad is a diplomat who is stationed at embassies abroad all year round. He is usually not at home. My mom is a doctor, and she is very busy with work, so she is rarely at home either."
Jiang Wan nodded; she did know that.
However, by the time she married Zhou Chong, Zhou Chong's father had already returned from abroad, and Zhou Chong's mother had retired from her position at the hospital, so she actually saw them quite often.
Unbeknownst to them, at this time, both of them were so busy with work that they didn't have time to go home.
Jiang Wan sat down on the sofa and took off her backpack. "So, do you usually stay home alone?"
"Hmm, almost." Zhou Chong nodded, turned and walked towards the kitchen. "Sit down for a bit, the fried rice will be ready soon."
Hearing him say that, Jiang Wan couldn't sit still on the sofa.
She stood up and followed Zhou Chong into the kitchen.
"Let me help you." Jiang Wan stood in front of the kitchen counter, looking around, thinking about what she could do to help.
Zhou Chong took two eggs out of the refrigerator. "No need, you can sit in the living room."
"Let me help, it'll be faster." Jiang Wan rolled her eyes and took the eggs from his hand. "I'll crack the eggs."
Zhou Chong couldn't refuse her, so he took a bowl from the cupboard and gave it to her, along with a pair of chopsticks.
Jiang Wan took the bowl and chopsticks, turned around and stood in front of the kitchen counter.
Zhou Chong was standing next to her, washing carrots. He had just finished washing them and was about to put them on the cutting board to dice them when he heard a "Oh dear" from beside him.
"What's wrong?"
"I accidentally spilled the eggs on the counter." Jiang Wan looked up, turned the bowl in her hand towards Zhou Chong, and bit her lip shyly. "There's only a little bit left in the bowl."
"It's alright." Zhou Chong helped her wipe the countertop clean. "I'll go get you an egg."
After saying that, he turned around and walked to the refrigerator, then took another egg back.
He had just handed the eggs to Jiang Wan when he heard her exclaim "Oh dear!"
Zhou Chong turned his head and asked, "What's wrong?"
"I accidentally dropped an eggshell into the bowl." Jiang Wan held the bowl, chopsticks in her right hand, struggling to scoop the eggshell out. "I can't get it out, what should I do?"
Zhou Chong took the bowl from her hand. "I'll do it."
After handing him the bowl, Jiang Wan rested her hands on the table and tilted her head to look at him.
He lowered his head, his thick, dark eyelashes drooping slightly, and with a few deft flicks of his chopsticks, he scooped out the small pieces of eggshell and cracked the egg in the process.
"Hey, why did you break the egg? Didn't you say I was going to break the egg?"
She was so focused on admiring Zhou Chong's profile that she didn't notice that the bowl was already filled with well-mixed egg liquid by the time she realized what was happening.
"Just doing it." Zhou Chong put down the bowl, chuckled, and gently patted her head. "Go out and rest, I can do it."
Jiang Wan was taken aback, lowered her head, and blushed slightly. "Okay then."
She's just causing trouble for Zhou Chong by staying here; she should just go out and wait for dinner.
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