After spreading dog food all over the floor, Xiao Yuanmu took Song Xuanhe to visit several other floors. Only after everyone in the company knew that their boss had a lover and their relationship was very stable did the two of them leisurely walk out of the office building.
They went to the supermarket to buy groceries together. After Xiao Huang greeted them and they changed their shoes, Xiao Yuanmu rolled up his sleeves and said as he carried the things he bought from the supermarket: "It will take about 30 minutes to cook. If you are hungry, you can eat some fruit first."
Song Xuanhe agreed and looked up to see Xiao Yuanmu's back as he walked towards the kitchen. He seemed to be thinner than before.
Without thinking, he called out, "Xiao Yuanmu."
Xiao Yuanmu paused, turned to look at him, and motioned for him to speak if he had anything to say.
Song Xuanhe walked over to him, took one of the food bags from his hand, and said, "I'll go with you."
"good."
The two of them entered the kitchen one after the other. Xiao Yuanmu took out the food from the shopping bag one by one with familiarity. He first placed the dishes that he would eat today on the cooking table, and then sorted the other dishes into different categories and put them into the refrigerator.
“I should do something.”
Song Xuanhe stood aside, handed two tomatoes to Xiao Yuanmu, and asked.
"These two tomatoes will be used later." Xiao Yuanmu took the tomatoes from Song Xuanhe's hand and put them back on the countertop.
Song Xuanhe cleared his throat, glanced across the countertop, saw two boxes of eggs on it, and said, "You haven't put the eggs in the refrigerator yet. I'll help you put them away."
"No need to put the eggs in..." Xiao Yuanmu met his expectant eyes, paused in the middle of his words, and said, "Thank you for your help."
Finally finding a job to do, Song Xuanhe carefully put the eggs into the egg storage box one by one. Not only did he arrange them neatly, but he also followed the principle of from big to small. After putting the eggs away, he looked at Xiao Yuanmu again and asked, "Are there any other vegetables to collect?"
"No..." Xiao Yuanmu glanced at the food on the counter and calmly changed his tone, "The only things you don't need to put away are the beef and celery. Put the rest in the refrigerator."
Song Xuanhe hurriedly tidied up. Seeing how excited he was, Xiao Yuanmu turned around to cook the rice and started to process the beef.
"Xiao Yuanmu." Song Xuanhe finished tidying up the refrigerator and said, "Is there anything else you need my help with?"
Xiao Yuanmu paused while cutting vegetables and said, "Could you please help me get two eggs out of the refrigerator?"
Song Xuanhe immediately helped him get two and asked, "Do you want me to crack them and put them in the bowl for you?"
"Just grab two bowls and separate the egg whites from the egg yolks."
Song Xuanhe took out two small transparent bowls from the cupboard, placed them in place and picked up an egg. Thinking of his mother's actions in his memory, he knocked on the edge of the bowl and tapped it gently. A crack appeared in the middle of the egg. He curled his lips, pinched it with his fingers and broke it open, and the entire egg liquid slid into the bowl.
"How do you think I cracked my eggs?"
Xiao Yuanmu turned his head to look, and saw the bright yellow yolk and the egg white. He paused and said, "Not bad."
Song Xuanhe was encouraged by the praise and took out another egg to crack it. When he cracked the eggshell again, something suddenly flashed through his mind. He paused, frowned and asked, "Did you ask me to separate the egg white and yolk just now?"
"No." Xiao Yuanmu looked calm and indifferent: "I asked you to beat two eggs and mix them together. I will scramble tomato and eggs later."
Looking at the two bowls placed side by side on the cooking table, Song Xuanhe felt something was wrong. After thinking for a while, he couldn't remember what was wrong. He could only turn around and ask Xiao Yuanmu: "Then why did I take two bowls?"
Xiao Yuanmu took the other bowl beside him and said, "I want to put beef in it."
Looking at the beef that had been cut into pieces and was being marinated by Xiao Yuanmu, Song Xuanhe suddenly had an idea and the memory that he had just inexplicably forgotten came back instantly.
He glanced at Xiao Yuanmu, who said, "Can you please help me get the asparagus and shrimp from the refrigerator?"
"Okay." Song Xuanhe swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth and turned around to help Xiao Yuanmu get things.
Xiao Yuanmu took it and thanked him, then asked, "Can you cut vegetables?"
"Of course." Song Xuanhe thought of her mother cutting vegetables when she was a child and said, "This is easy."
Xiao Yuanmu raised his eyebrows, handed the asparagus to Song Xuanhe, and said, "Wash the asparagus and cut it into pieces of equal length."
Song Xuanhe washed the asparagus with water, took another chopping board, and began to cut it carefully.
Xiao Yuanmu took the time to glance at him, and saw him clumsily pressing the vegetables and cutting them little by little according to the length, and the corners of his mouth curled up.
After Song Xuanhe finished cutting the vegetables, Xiao Yuanmu asked again: "Can you please help me get the potatoes and onions from the refrigerator?"
Song Xuanhe had just washed his hands, and turned to get it after hearing this. However, he paused as soon as he opened the refrigerator, and turned to ask Xiao Yuanmu: "I found that the things you asked me to take were the things you just asked me to put in."
"Yes." Xiao Yuanmu said, "Even if it's only for a dozen minutes, the refrigerator can keep them fresh. Isn't it tiring to keep asking you to take things out?"
Song Xuanhe pursed his lips, took out the potatoes and onions that Xiao Yuanmu wanted, placed them next to him, and whispered, "Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"You can help prepare Xiao Huang's lunch."
"Okay." Song Xuanhe nodded, took out dog food from the cupboard, turned and left the kitchen.
When Xiao Huang, who was playing with a ball, saw him, he excitedly ran over with the ball in his mouth, wanting to play with him. Song Xuanhe rubbed his head and said, "It's time to eat. Eat first and then play."
After preparing lunch for Xiao Huang, Song Xuanhe sat next to him and watched him eat with grunts.
Xiao Yuanmu's voice came from the kitchen, asking him: "Can you help me taste it?"
Song Xuanhe paused, then stood up and went back to the kitchen. Xiao Yuanmu picked up a piece of beef, blew on it, and passed it to his mouth. As soon as Song Xuanhe took a bite, Xiao Yuanmu kissed him on the lips and said with a smile, "Thank you."
"What are you thanking me for?" Song Xuanhe asked after swallowing the meat in his mouth.
“It helped me a lot.”
"I was just making things worse before." Song Xuanhe said, "You only needed to do it for 30 minutes, but now it's been 30 minutes and you haven't finished it yet because I wasted time."
"You're not the one who wasted my time." Xiao Yuanmu turned off the fire, turned to look at Song Xuanhe, stared at him seriously and said, "It's because you're here that I feel cooking is a happy thing for the first time. It's me who slowed down the progress."
Song Xuan's pupils trembled, and the tips of his ears turned red. He looked away and asked, "Then why did you let me leave just now?"
Xiao Yuanmu: "I'm worried that you'll be bored."
"I..." Song Xuanhe pursed his lips: "I'm not bored."
"Then will you continue to help me when I cook next time?"
"Hmm." Song Xuanhe's eyes wandered as he said, "The beef tastes good. You can serve it out now."
Xiao Yuanmu curled his lips, scooped out the beef from the pot, handed it to Song Xuanhe and asked him to take it out.
Although the two of them did not cooperate well, they managed to prepare lunch within 40 minutes and sat in the restaurant.
Xiao Huang had finished his meal and was looking at the food on the table with greed, whining and acting coquettishly, but neither of the two people at the table noticed him.
“Why are you so good at cooking?”
Halfway through the meal, Song Xuanhe asked the question he had always wanted to ask.
"I often helped in the kitchen when I was a kid." Xiao Yuanmu said, "At that time, there was an old man in our courtyard who was good at cooking. He liked me to help him wash and pick vegetables. I stayed in the kitchen more often, so I had a better sense of cooking than others."
"When I was a child?" Song Xuanhe frowned: "How young?"
"About four or five years old." Xiao Yuanmu said, "After my last adoptive parents sent me back to the orphanage."
Thinking of Xiao Yuanmu's rough childhood in the book, Song Xuanhe tightened his grip on the chopsticks and pretended to be casual: "Were you adopted by many people when you were a child?"
"Yes, three couples." Xiao Yuanmu said calmly, "Among them, there is a same-sex couple. I heard from the dean that they were very good to me, but they died in a car accident when I was two years old."
Song Xuanhe asked: "Where are the others?"
"They all had their own children later." Xiao Yuanmu said in a light and calm tone.
Song Xuanhe hummed and changed the subject: "How long did you spend cooking with that old man in the kitchen? It seems that you have had good patience since you were a child. It is difficult for ordinary children to stay in the kitchen for a long time."
"Seven years." Xiao Yuanmu said, "Until the old gentleman passed away."
Song Xuanhe was stunned: "Is he dead?"
"I passed away when I was twelve." A trace of nostalgia flashed across Xiao Yuanmu's eyes.
Seeing Xiao Yuanmu's expression, Song Xuanhe asked, "He should be very good to you, right?"
"Other children thought they could steal food by helping in the kitchen, so they all scrambled to come to the kitchen. He accepted everyone, but he was strict. Anyone who failed to meet his requirements would be punished." Xiao Yuanmu smiled: "The punishment was to memorize the recipe. Those children had to leave because of the recipe book. Only I stayed because of my good memory."
Xiao Yuanmu only briefly mentioned a small matter, but Song Xuanhe could hear his nostalgia for the old man and the old man's preference and care for him. Seeing a hint of melancholy in his eyes, Song Xuanhe asked: "Do you miss him?"
"No." Xiao Yuanmu's eyes returned to calmness. He said, "There is no regret between him and me. There is no need to miss him."
Song Xuanhe's eyes fell on Xiao Yuanmu's expression, which was so calm that no emotion could be seen. After a while, he turned away and asked casually, "What does it mean that you have no regrets?"
"I don't regret meeting you, and I can part with you peacefully, that means I have no regrets."
Song Xuanhe blinked and said, "All separations can be considered peaceful separations. After all, no matter how turbulent it is at the time, it will always calm down as time passes."
Xiao Yuanmu raised his eyes, stared at him, and said in a clear voice like the gurgling water: "There is also some separation, no matter how long it takes, it can't be calm."
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