Lin Shen smiled and said, "Do you remember the time you recorded Xiaoyuer snoring for me?"
Xia Wenxi nodded, then casually picked up the little fish that was squatting to the side and petted it a couple more times.
"I remember, so your way of relieving stress now is listening to Xiaoyuer snore?" Xia Wenxi scratched Xiaoyuer's chin and heard the familiar snoring sound again as she wished.
"I sometimes have trouble sleeping at night, and the snoring of the little fish does help me sleep."
Xia Wenxi's hands kept moving, making Xiaoyuer snore even louder. "Next time I'll record a clearer, pure version of your snoring, so you can use it if you have insomnia again."
After saying that, she lowered her head and stroked Xiaoyuer's little head, "Our Xiaoyuer has done a great job, I wonder if there will be a reward at noon?"
"I caught a few fish this morning, and I'll cook another one for the little fish later."
Hearing this, Xia Wenxi looked up at Lin Shen and teased, "It seems Mr. Lin had a very fruitful morning?"
"Compared to the last time at Jinghu Shangzhuang, it is indeed more abundant, but compared to you, Wenxi, it is still far inferior."
Xia Wenxi chuckled upon hearing this. She had only fished a few times in total; it was purely by sheer luck that she stumbled upon such a big, clumsy fish.
"Just lucky."
"Luck is also a part of strength."
The dish currently cooking in the pot is chicken stew with mushrooms. The chicken is a free-range chicken raised on the farm, and the mushrooms are dried wild mushrooms that grow in the mountains here. Water has been added, and it's slowly simmering.
Lin Shen also stopped what he was doing and took a bottle of water from the refrigerator.
Perhaps to recreate the village kitchen, there was only a low bench near the fire pit, and no other stools. Xia Wenxi thought about how Lin Shen hadn't sat down to rest at all, from preparing the ingredients to cooking.
Feeling embarrassed to sit while making him stand, she got up to offer the chair to Lin Shen.
As for getting another chair from outside, for some reason, neither of them thought of it at the moment.
"It should simmer for a while. Please sit down. I'll just stand up and stretch a bit."
Xia Wenxi had already stood up, and Lin Shen didn't refuse. He thanked her and sat down.
Xia Wenxi walked around the kitchen, but the kitchen was so small that you could see the whole thing at a glance from the doorway. After a while, Xia Wenxi returned to the stove.
Lin Shen moved over a bit, making room for most of the bench. "Let's sit together."
Xia Wenxi felt awkward standing around, so she simply sat down on the bench. The bench wasn't long, and there was still some space between the two of them after they sat down.
At this moment, Little Fish suddenly ran over, jumped onto the bench, and squatted down, filling the gap in the middle.
Lin Shen, who is over 1.8 meters tall, is huddled on this low bench, which looks rather cramped, but he feels a sense of enjoyment at the moment.
Neither of them spoke, each staring at a stove hole, while Xia Wenxi unconsciously stroked the fur of the little fish beside her.
The aroma from the pot gradually wafted out, and Xia Wenxi, smelling the fragrance, said to Lin Shen, "I'm sure I can eat two more bowls of rice today."
"Don't worry, there will be plenty of food."
Hearing this, Xia Wenxi turned her head to look at Lin Shen and saw him bending his knees, and couldn't help but smile.
"Lin Shen, your cooking is so good, do people often come to your house for meals?"
Lin Shen was able to answer this question quickly.
"No, I usually cook for myself. Only Wei Shaoan has ever eaten my cooking before, and he came to my house to eat it."
"Looks like I'm really lucky with food."
Xia Wenxi muttered something under her breath, but since the two were sitting close together, Lin Shen naturally heard it too.
Xia Wenxi turned her head back and used the fire tongs to push the half-burnt firewood in the stove hole further in.
"Can I ask you why? It's not because of cooking."
The reason was clear to both of them at that moment.
“Your brother asked me this question too, and I’ve actually thought about it myself.”
The sounds of stewing in the pot, the crackling of firewood burning in the stove, and the slurping of small fish between the two.
The room wasn't quiet, but Xia Wenxi seemed to hear her own heartbeat.
Then came Lin Shen's gentle voice.
"It's less about reasons and more about a series of milestones. You are beautiful, lovely, frank, intelligent, kind, sincere, and vibrant—that's how I've come to know you."
Xia Wenxi prided herself on not being a shy person, but she had rarely been praised so directly since she was a child, and for a moment she felt her face burning.
In the self-evaluation section of her internship report, she couldn't even write so many words praising herself.
So what should she do after being praised like that?
I said "thank you"...
Should I praise him back?
Just as Xia Wenxi was feeling conflicted and a little shy, Lin Shen spoke up: "No need to thank me. Wenxi, as your suitor, you gave me the opportunity to sit with you, so I'm the one who should be saying thank you."
Xia Wenxi felt even more embarrassed after hearing this, and buried her face in her knees as she spoke.
"No need to say thank you." Xia Wenxi's voice was muffled. "There must be a reason why I'm willing to sit with you."
After she finished speaking, she stood up abruptly and walked away without waiting for Lin Shen to hear her clearly, abruptly changing the subject.
"Why don't you check if the pot is about to burn dry?"
Lin Shen, of course, heard the second half of Xia Wenxi's sentence. He got up with a smile, lifted the pot lid, and flipped the pot a few times.
"It needs to burn for a little longer."
"OK."
Xia Wenxi swallowed hard and nodded blankly.
"Hungry? You can eat as soon as this dish is ready."
The other two dishes have already been cooked and placed in another pot to keep warm.
"fine."
Xia Wenxi felt she desperately needed some fresh air, so she washed her hands and took two sets of bowls and chopsticks from the cupboard.
"I'll take the bowls and chopsticks out first."
Just as he was about to leave, Lin Shen called him back.
"Wenxi, the rice is in the rice cooker."
Xia Wenxi then remembered that she hadn't served the rice yet, and that she would have to bring the empty bowl back later.
So he turned back and put the bowl down.
Seeing Xia Wenxi bustling around, looking completely embarrassed, Lin Shen touched his nose awkwardly.
"It seems we should discuss those things after we finish eating."
Hearing Lin Shen say that, Xia Wenxi looked up and said, "Then don't worry, I won't delay my meal later. The food smells so good, I can't let it go to waste."
"Besides, I was the one who asked the question first. But what you said makes sense. Right now, our most important thing is to eat. We can't let down the fish you caught this morning, and... this chicken in the pot."
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