Chapter 13: Mature Men Have a Unique Charm
Jiang Muzhou felt that Su Cheng was acting strangely today, ignoring him.
Recalling the conversation in the car just now, for some reason, Lin Yang's face suddenly appeared in his mind.
That's quite humorous.
He gripped the shopping cart handle tightly, his knuckles clenching so hard that the veins on the back of his hand bulged. Instead of putting the fresh beef he had previously chosen back in the freezer, he stuffed two more boxes of frozen steaks with a longer shelf life into the cart.
Remembering Lin Yang's invitation to hot pot earlier, he tentatively asked, "Have you been eating at home all week?"
"Well, nothing's planned." Su Cheng replied, only then realizing that he had used the word "home" in his question.
She took a few deep breaths, wondering why she was so sensitive to his choice of words today. She took half a step towards the freezer, trying to cool down her racing head with the cold air.
"Then I'll prepare more vegetables." Jiang Muzhou curled the corners of his mouth and pushed the shopping cart toward the seafood section.
Su Cheng thought that the idea of ​​partnering up was just a whim of his, but she didn't expect that his plan was based on "weeks". She couldn't help but marvel at the efficiency of J people.
In the past, when Yuanbao was undergoing desensitization therapy, he would come to her house every day, but the two of them were basically busy with their own things.
But now they not only travel together in the same car to buy groceries, but they also have lunch and dinner together every day. This daily routine has caught her off guard.
Jiang Muzhou looked down at the silver carp hanging in the glass cabinet. His ordinary white shirt was stretched out by his tall figure, and the hem was tucked into beige casual pants, which made his broad shoulders and narrow waist even more prominent.
"Would you like fish soup or pork rib soup today?" He stepped aside to let the customer pick out the fish, then turned to Su Cheng and said in a gentle tone, "Fish needs to be killed fresh to be fresh. If you don't want it today, I can come back tomorrow to choose."
"Fish soup, please." She felt that her reaction was a beat slower than usual today. She had heard that fish soup was good for the brain, so perhaps drinking it would help her clear her head.
Jiang Muzhou carefully selected fresh leafy greens and various side dishes and put them into the shopping cart. Every time he picked up an ingredient, he would ask Su Cheng for her opinion.
Su Cheng simply followed lazily behind him, like an emotionless nodding machine, answering "okay" to whatever he asked.
She wasn't deliberately being perfunctory; she simply knew absolutely nothing about cooking. Most recent college graduates like her relied on the school cafeteria during their studies and on takeout after graduation. Her family's gas stove had never been used since they bought it, let alone used for cooking.
With this thought in mind, she couldn't suppress the question in her heart, "Do you even have to cook in the dorms at Tsinghua and Peking Universities?"
He picked up two pieces of ginger and put them in a plastic bag. He understood what she meant and then laughed, "I was renting a place outside. I had a lot of editing jobs at the time, and I was also carrying Yuanbao with me. I was afraid of disturbing my roommate's rest, so I simply moved out."
She tilted her head, like a curious kitten, her eyes sparkling, "So what did you major in at university?"
"Finance and Mathematics".
Jiang Muzhou slowed down, and the two people who were originally walking one in front of the other now walked side by side in unison.
She recalled the Maybach parked outside her high school and the cabinet full of luxury brand collaboration cat bowls in his home; the image of a business elite certainly suited his temperament better.
But the young master chose a path completely different from the plan. Could it be that he had reached a bet with his family that if he didn't earn a small amount of money, he would have to go home and inherit the family fortune?
She quickly accepted this perfectly reasonable premise, and her gaze towards him became more admiring.
The two left the fresh food section filled with vegetables, fish, and meat. Turning left led to the snack section, and turning right led to the fruit section.
Su Cheng was drawn to the dazzling array of candies on the shelves. In the huge supermarket, it was rare to find a familiar area, so she couldn't help but take a closer look. There were rainbow fruit candies in glass jars, chocolate gift boxes tied with ribbons, gummy bears in cartoon paper bags, and several rows of candies with foreign language packaging that she had never seen before.
She habitually combined breakfast and lunch, and after learning the fancy term "brunch," she felt even more justified in skipping breakfast. Until one morning at 8 a.m., she suffered a hypoglycemic attack, her vision went black, and she fainted in the back of the classroom. From then on, she learned her lesson; even if she didn't have time for breakfast, she would keep some candies, hard candies, and chocolates in her bag, just in case.
Su Cheng picked out several kinds of candies she had never tried before and held them in her arms like a little squirrel storing food for winter.
She turned around, intending to ask Jiang Muzhou what flavor he wanted, but saw him with his hands on the shopping cart, his deep eyes fixed on her, making her heart tremble.
The words she had prepared suddenly caught in her throat, and she threw all the spoils she had bought into the shopping cart.
The supermarket's air conditioning seemed to be malfunctioning, and she could feel her body temperature rising steadily.
She swept the strands of hair that were stuck to the back of her neck to her chest, exposing more of her neck skin to the air conditioning in an attempt to relieve the sudden heat.
"Is there anything else you want to buy?" Jiang Muzhou gazed at her, her sideburns tucked behind her ears, revealing a glimpse of her delicate pink ear tips.
"No need." She turned her face away, avoiding direct eye contact.
Strangely enough, he clearly had a pair of amorous, peach-blossom eyes, which should have given him a carefree and unrestrained appearance. But when those eyes looked over, they were like a bottomless pool, devoid of frivolity, yet calm and resolute, as if trying to see right through you.
She had always believed that Jiang Muzhou was the undisputed protagonist in the grand drama of youth.
In retrospect, he seems more like an observer under the spotlight.
He calmly observes other people's lives, which may affect them, but he never actively participates or lets others influence him. He always maintains his own pace and keeps a clear boundary with everything around him.
Jiang Muzhou placed the items from the shopping cart onto the checkout counter one by one. As he paid, he unintentionally took a step closer to her, and the familiar scent of mint wafted over, causing Su Cheng to unconsciously hold her breath.
They are now only an arm's length apart, so has she already crossed that invisible barrier?
She gently shook her head, banishing the ridiculous thought from her mind.
When Jiang Muzhou returned from the supermarket, both his hands were busy. He carried two large bags of groceries in his left hand and heavy photography equipment in his right.
Su Cheng walked beside him, symbolically carrying a bag of fruit in her hand.
Pressing the button for the 18th floor, Su Cheng glanced at the slightly bent arm of the man beside her out of the corner of her eye. The cuffs of his shirt were stretched taut by his muscles, outlining a handsome line.
She swallowed hard; mature men certainly have a unique charm.
After Jiang Muzhou put the ingredients back at his house, he carried the camera and went with Su Cheng to see the Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Su Cheng squatted down to check the water bowl; the water that had just been filled that morning was already half gone.
Jiang Muzhou tactfully stepped back three meters and quietly recorded the scene of the man and the cat with his camera.
In the scene, Su Cheng is bending down to add water to the bowl, while Tyrant Tiger peeks halfway out of the cat bed, his nostrils flaring slightly.
This was the first time he had seen the Decepticon in its entirety. Its short, brown and black fur clung to its lean body, with a clear clipped ear mark on the tip of its left ear and a patch of hair missing from its right back, revealing a pink scar.
The Decepticon suddenly raised its tail, its yellow-green eyes sharply locking onto a spot on the floor.
Jiang Muzhou immediately adjusted the focus, letting the lens slowly move along its line of sight. On the smooth wooden floor, a small black beetle was slowly crawling.
He set up the camera, his gaze fixed on Su Cheng, ready to "save the damsel in distress" at any moment, but little did he know that the real hero had already beaten him to it.
As the beetle approached Su Cheng, the Tyrannosaurus Rex pounced, its furry little paws slapping the beetle and instantly flipping it over.
The little bug struggled desperately with its six legs in the air, but the Decepticon jumped up and performed a crushing blow, pinning the bug firmly under its claws.
The commotion behind her startled Su Cheng. To her surprise, she discovered that Tyrant had left the cat's nest and was moving around behind her.
Seeing Su Cheng turn around, the Tyrant pushed its prize towards her feet like a treasure, its long, thin tail swaying back and forth behind it.
The kitten offering its prey to humans is a gesture of goodwill. Su Cheng was overjoyed and carefully reached out her hand. To her surprise, the Tyrant tilted its head up and rubbed against her palm.
She suppressed her excitement, slowly turned her palm over, and gently stroked its head.
Decepticon lay down at her feet, making soft purring sounds.
Su Cheng used her fingers to probe it little by little, starting from the top of its head, down its neck, down its back, and then to its tail. The Tyrannosaurus Rex lay there obediently the whole time, without any resistance or opposition.
On the path of animal rescue, the most touching thing is witnessing those wounded souls rebuild trust and a sense of security. When it finally lets down its guard, Su Cheng feels that all the effort has been worthwhile.
Su Cheng turned around and met the flashing red dot behind her.
She suddenly felt very fortunate to have Jiang Muzhou as a recorder, who preserved the Decepticons' transformation in the form of images.
After tidying up the Decepticon's room, Su Cheng raised an eyebrow and asked, "Did you get any footage, Jiang the photographer?"
Jiang Muzhou took the camera off the tripod, pressed a few buttons, and the image appeared on the LCD screen: "Sang Biao turns into Mimi, a very interesting point to watch."
He glanced at the time. "Why don't you rest at home for a while? Dinner will probably take more than an hour to prepare."
Hearing him mention it, Su Cheng felt a sudden emptiness in her stomach. In the morning, in order to rush to put on makeup and go out, she had only eaten a couple of bites of bread, and by the afternoon, her energy had been completely depleted.
Although she was a little tired, she remembered that she had promised to help take care of Yuanbao, so she cheered herself up and smiled, "I'll go with you."
Compared to cooking, cleaning up poop and changing food was a piece of cake for Su Cheng. In less than half an hour, she had Yuanbao's living area in perfect order.
Su Cheng walked around the living room but couldn't find Yuanbao. However, she was drawn in by the aroma of food wafting from the kitchen.
Although Jiang Muzhou's house had the same layout as hers, the wall between the kitchen and the dining room was removed, creating a bright and open kitchen. Without the obstruction of the wall, the enticing aromas wafted freely throughout the house.
When she arrived at the restaurant, Yuanbao was standing on the table, like a dutiful security guard, intently sniffing the bag of fruit she had just brought back.
Jiang Muzhou was still wearing that white shirt, but now he had a navy blue apron around his waist, tied in a bow at the back, which made his waist look even slimmer and his legs longer.
Seeing him busy at the stove, Su Cheng didn't sit idle either. She casually patted Yuanbao's little head, then opened the plastic bag and prepared to help wash the fruit.
Inside the bag was a box containing a box of lychees and a box of bright red strawberries; Jiang Muzhou must have taken them while she was choosing candy.
Su Cheng stared at the condensation on the plastic box, somewhat puzzled, "Can you still buy strawberries this season?"
I can't live without you.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
