Meng Yao walked into the bathroom and looked at her flushed cheeks in the mirror. The pounding of her heart made her feel a little nervous. "Why do I feel this way? Li Jia is just a man I've known for less than a month."
It took Meng Yao a long time to break free from Li Jia's burning gaze. She thought about how Li Jia had been staring into her eyes the whole time they were dancing, without a moment's pause, not even for a few seconds. He looked at her with those bright, loving eyes the entire time. Could it be that this man really had feelings for her?
Li Jia sat on the sofa watching Zhou Xiaoyu jumping around by herself, thinking about the dance she had just had with Meng Yao. She hadn't expected to be so engrossed in it. For a few seconds, Li Jia even had the thought that "the person in my arms is my lover." But it only lasted for a few seconds. It was precisely during those few seconds that the music ended, and Li Jia's feelings were released in the last ten or so seconds.
Li Jia was unaware that those last ten seconds had caused Meng Yao uncontrollable turmoil. She stayed in the bathroom for about fifteen minutes before finally tidying herself up and walking out of the bathroom as if nothing had happened.
The family dance party ended with this dance music. Li Jia was very satisfied with the first family dance party. He began to feel that this was life, and that even in the mundane, some passion was needed to spice things up.
After the dance, Meng Yao's feelings for Li Jia changed subtly, becoming somewhat distant. However, Li Jia didn't pay attention to this subtle change because what he was going to do next was something he had been planning for a long time—learn to cook so that he could cook a meal for them before Li Xiaotong's college entrance exam.
After several days of investigation, Li Jia finally chose a well-regarded culinary training class in City B, called "Youyishou" Culinary Training Class. The name sounded very ordinary and didn't have anything impressive about it. However, the most famous thing about this culinary training class was its instructors, each of whom had a lot of titles and various trophies and medals.
Another important feature here is that almost all the trainees are women, specifically, women who are about to get married or have just gotten married. They come here to take cooking training so that their husbands can eat better and have more energy to earn money.
Li Jia valued the training institution's instructors' abilities. Of course, he was aware that the instructors were all women, but there was no rule that said men couldn't learn cooking. So, when Li Jia completed the formalities and stepped into the classroom, he was greeted by more than a dozen pairs of smiling eyes.
He was the only man in the entire class; the remaining eleven were all women, and most of them were very young women, the ones mentioned earlier who were either preparing for marriage or had just gotten married.
After finding an empty seat, Li Jia was immediately surrounded by whispers. The topics were roughly as follows: "Why would a man come to learn cooking? He must be henpecked." "Unmarried women are in for a treat now. This man looks so polite and seems honest. Any ladies with a flirtatious streak can go and flirt with him."
After class, Li Jia left without saying a word. Being stared at by a group of women was definitely not a glamorous thing for Li Jia. Holding the class schedule in her hand, Li Jia glanced at it. Five days a week, two hours a day, from 3 pm to 5 pm or from 7 pm to 9 pm.
Back at the dry cleaner, Li Jia started browsing various recipes online, studying the characteristics of different cuisines. That evening, at Meng Yao and Zhou Xiaoyu's insistence, Li Jia finally cooked a Mapo Tofu dish that the teacher had demonstrated in class earlier that day. After eating it, Zhou Xiaoyu nodded with great satisfaction, "Brother Li, not bad, not bad, you've made great progress. Keep up the good work, I believe in you!" With that, she giggled and ran out of the restaurant.
Meng Yao watched Zhou Xiaoyu's retreating figure, suppressing a smile. Zhou Xiaoyu had been picking up more and more trendy phrases from watching TV lately, and would often use them, like "I'm rooting for you!" This phrase was quite 'appropriate' when used on Li Jia, making Li Jia laugh at the little girl's mature-sounding manner. "She learns things pretty quickly!"
After cleaning up the dishes, Li Feng took a shower early and went to bed. He especially wanted to go to sleep early today, so around nine o'clock, Li Jia was already asleep.
The next morning, Li Jia opened her eyes early, stretched comfortably, her joints cracking and popping, and then she sprang out of bed with a somersault.
Today is Tuesday. Li Jia was going to watch Li Yan's PE class at 10:30 am. After tidying up the room, Li Jia said goodbye to Meng Yao and Zhou Xiaoyu and left the dry cleaner.
Upon arriving at the entrance of No. 9 Middle School, after parking and registering, Li Jia walked briskly to the edge of the sports field. The students on the field were carrying out physical training. Li Jia spotted Li Yan at a glance, his forehead covered in sweat, doing push-ups with all his might.
Seeing Li Yan gritting his teeth and persevering, Li Jia nodded slightly. "This kid is very competitive. He always wants to be better than others in everything." As usual, Li Jia watched from afar as Li Yan finished his physical training and began his free time. Then, she turned and left the playground.
The security guard at the gate was already quite familiar with Li Jia. He handed her a cigarette, lit it, chatted for a few words, and then Li Jia drove away from No. 9 Middle School.
At noon, Li Jia returned to the dry cleaning shop and brought back two lunch boxes for Zhou Xiaoyu and Meng Yao. After inquiring about the situation at the shop, Li Jia returned to her study.
Reading a book after lunch every day has become Li Jia's routine. Whenever she is in the shop, after finishing her meal, Li Jia will always pick up a classic novel and read for a while. Recently, she has been reading "Water Margin". She has already read up to the part where the Liangshan heroes are fighting against Fang La. The description of the final battle gave Li Jia a sense of déjà vu. Shaking her head, Li Jia banished the images that appeared in her mind and casually put down the already completed "Water Margin".
Looking at the time, it was already 2:30. There were still 30 minutes before the afternoon cooking class. Li Jia changed into another set of white casual clothes, drove to class, and left.
The culinary training class is located in a four-story white building in the middle section of Huayi Road. The ground floor of the building is the Xiangshu Tianxia Restaurant, which is not big but very famous in B City. The owner of the restaurant should also be the owner of the training class.
After parking the car, Li Jia walked up to the fourth floor and arrived at the classroom door. As soon as she pushed the door open, she heard laughter coming from inside, and she clearly heard someone say, "Hehe! The national treasure is here!"
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