Blazing Sun~Chapter 19

 

Chapter 19

Does your house know you're badmouthing it like this...?

After learning that my house only had one guest room, which had already been reserved for Jiang Rui, Lin Yusen's house luckily escaped a leaky crisis...

I didn't invite many people to the housewarming party on Saturday. Besides Lin Yusen, there was only my eldest sister, Xiao Feng, and Jiang Rui. However, my eldest sister couldn't come, so there were only four of us eating.

With so few people, everyone unanimously voted to cook one or two dishes each. Lin Yusen and Jiang Rui had something to do in the afternoon and would arrive later, but Xiao Feng was free, so she came early to help me prepare.

Then, after she finished making a cucumber salad, she happily ran off.

Me: "..."

I've never seen such a sloppy person.

However, she seemed a little guilty. After wandering around the house for a bit, she returned to the kitchen doorway with snacks and stood there as punishment. "Watermelon, what are you planning to cook?"

"Sweet and sour pork ribs and stir-fried gluten puffs with vegetables, Wuxi specialties."

 "That's amazing! There's even meat!"

"What else? How about I make some boiled vegetables? I don't know who first said they wanted to cook for themselves." I teased her.

"Hehe, it turns out it's difficult in practice." Xiaofeng cleverly changed the subject. "By the way, didn't you invite Boss and Siliang?"

"Boss invited them, but she can't come. Didn't I tell you? Rongrong and Siliang weren't invited."

Xiaofeng's question reminded me of my promise to treat them to dinner. A promise is a promise, so I stopped what I was doing, thought for a moment, and said, "I'll treat everyone to lunch tomorrow. If you're free now, help me make the arrangements, but don't mention to Boss that I treated them to dinner today."

Also, I wanted to check on Rongrong's situation. Although I've hardly ever cooked before, following a recipe wasn't too difficult, just a bit slow and the kitchen a mess. By the time I finished my masterpiece, Jiang Rui finally arrived and was immediately ushered into the kitchen.

Jiang Rui was quite unhappy about this. "At least let me see my room first!"

"You'd better hurry up and get to work. We'll see the room together when Lin Yusen arrives."

"What?" He looked disappointed. "Don't I even have the right to a private tour now?"

Me: "...Stop inventing these weird rights."

I'd been working for over an hour and was just about to take a break when Jiang Rui wouldn't let me leave, pulling me in to help him.

He seemed determined to challenge himself, starting with the difficult salted egg yolk chicken wings. Because they required deep-frying, the whole process was quite nerve-wracking. I was constantly handing him things, dodging splattering oil—it was even more chaotic than cooking myself.

Just as we were finishing, Lin Yusen called. I freed one hand and pressed the speakerphone. Lin Yusen's steady voice came through the phone: "I'm downstairs, are you coming down to meet me?"

He's getting more and more arrogant, making me come down to get him. I don't have time for that. "You can use a password to get in the elevator. First, enter my apartment number, then enter the password. The password is... guess it, four digits."

I didn't hang up, and neither did Lin Yusen. Then I heard a series of key presses followed by a mechanical female voice: "Incorrect password, please re-enter."

"...You don't even remember my birthday!" I immediately accused him.

Lin Yusen looked even more aggrieved than me: "I thought there was something special about me guessing."

"So, what did you enter?"

"My birthday."

"..."

Jiang Rui, who was turning off the stove, chuckled.

I wiped my hands speechlessly, hung up the phone, and went to open the door. Jiang Ruisheng, who loved chicken wings, followed behind me, commenting enthusiastically, "This guy is quite interesting."

He trailed behind, "What should I do? I'm a little nervous meeting him for the first time. What if he doesn't pass my test?"

I snapped, "Move aside. Who gave you the right to test him?"

"No, no, why are you being so fierce?" he muttered. "But sis, using your own birthday as a password is too lazy, isn't it? Anyone who knows your birthday can come up!"

"Who here knows me?"

"True."

Xiao Feng noticed our commotion and ran enthusiastically from the living room, "What's going on? Should everyone line up to welcome him?"

So, Lin Yusen, arriving late, stepped out of the elevator to find the main door wide open, with three people waiting for him menacingly.

He slowed his pace, asking, "What, can't I enter a password for your front door? I can open it myself; this time I won't enter my own birthday."

Everyone burst into laughter, and the atmosphere instantly lightened.

I introduced them one by one: "Let me introduce you. This is Lin Yusen, my boyfriend. Xiaofeng, my college classmate, you met her at our eldest sister's wedding. And this is my silly younger brother, Jiang Rui, who's studying at F University now."

"I've heard how difficult the college entrance exam is in Jiangsu. Getting into F University is one in ten thousand, how could there be a 'stupid'?"

Lin Yusen, always quick-witted, made Jiang Rui's tail wag with just one sentence. "Haha, so-so, just lucky."

After the introductions, I noticed Lin Yusen was carrying two large plastic bags with what looked like restaurant names printed on them. My eyes lit up. "What's this? You brought takeout?"

"I passed by a famous Cantonese restaurant and got some of their specialties to go."

I knew Lin Yusen was always good at getting things done! Now it's okay if the food we cooked wasn't great, there's a safety net!

"Let me get it, let me get it." I eagerly took one of the plastic bags, and glanced inside—there were three large boxes! Those two bags meant six boxes in total! Suddenly, without any principles, I said, "Aunt Huang set the elevator password at the property management office. I think, considering all this delicious food, changing it to your birthday isn't out of the question."

Jiang Rui looked up at the sky speechlessly. "Sis, didn't you say Brother Lin was coming to tour the house? Hurry up, hurry up!"

So, after fussing around in the kitchen for ages, Jiang Rui finally saw his room.

"Okay, okay," he said, looking relieved.

I said smugly, "Not bad, right? This is the result of several discussions with the designer."

Jiang Rui looked terrified. "Looking at the outside, I'm already accepting that I'm going to become a pink, creamy-faced boy."

"It's not that pink outside, is it?" I asked Lin Yusen hesitantly. "Is it?"

Lin Yusen considered his words before answering, "I only saw that the trash can is pink, but it's very pretty."

"Grey pink, grey pink, grey pink doesn't count as pink."

"Oh."

The two grown men simultaneously accepted the lesson.

Lin Yusen was much more self-aware than Jiang Rui; after touring the house, he went straight to the kitchen.

"Can you even cook?" I followed behind, a little worried, since Xiao Feng and Jiang Rui didn't seem very quick with their hands.

"Of course! I used to perform surgery, cooking is nothing to me," Lin Yusen said confidently.

Me: "..."

Well...

Lin Yusen certainly looked much more confident and composed in the kitchen than Jiang Rui, and his chopping movements were quite fluid and pleasing to the eye. But if it was just scrambled eggs with tomatoes and shrimp with pineapple, it really didn't warrant using his surgical credentials to vouch for it...

After a chaotic afternoon of taking turns bustling around, we finally ate dinner promptly at six o'clock. The dishes everyone had made, along with the takeout Lin Yusen had brought, filled the table to the brim.

Xiao Feng gripped her chopsticks, ready to dig in, while Jiang Rui sighed, looking at the table. "Unbelievable," he said, "we've been busy for so long, and this is just a few simple dishes."

"Simple? It's anything but simple." I picked up a piece of pork ribs I'd made myself, ate it, and was quite satisfied. "Try these sweet and sour pork ribs, they're really authentic."

Everyone followed suit. Immediately, Xiao Feng and Jiang Rui wore expressions that were hard to decipher.

What did their expressions mean? Did they think theirs wasn't good enough? I picked up another piece, a little doubtful. It was fine; it was delicious.

Jiang Rui, with a pained expression, said, "Sis, did you pour in half a jar of sugar?"

"No," I answered seriously, "about four or five spoonfuls."

Jiang Rui pushed the ribs towards me: "You eat them yourself. We Nanjing people really can't handle this much sweetness. Wuxi food is terrifying."

Xiao Feng chimed in, "My hometown's food is also on the salty side. It's okay in Nanjing, but when I came to Shanghai, I thought Shanghai food was so sweet. I didn't expect Wuxi food to be even sweeter, it's inhumanly sweet."

As she spoke, she looked at Lin Yusen, who was eating his second rib, with a look of awe. "Did your boyfriend sacrifice himself for love?"

I immediately looked at Lin Yusen as well.

He calmly finished his second rib, giving me a lot of affirmation. "Of course not, I really like it."

I was instantly smug.

See, Lin Yusen really knows his food! Can you eat food without sugar? Even stir-fried vegetables need a little sugar to enhance the flavor. Although I didn't cook before, I instinctively knew to add it—it's called blood sugar transfer! Jiang Rui silently glanced at the two dishes Lin Yusen had prepared: "You didn't add four or five spoonfuls of sugar to this, did you?"

"How could I?" Lin Yusen denied immediately. "I strictly followed the recipe."

Jiang Rui's chopsticks were about to reach for the dish.

Lin Yusen finished his sentence: "But when I searched for recipes, I searched for 'what are some sweet dishes'."

Jiang Rui painfully put down his chopsticks, exaggeratedly covering his eyes with his palm, and wailed, "Now I finally know why you brought takeout, Brother Lin! You didn't bring takeout, you brought your last shred of conscience!"

Everyone burst into laughter. I raised my glass: "Okay, okay, next time I treat you guys to dinner, I'll definitely be careful to add less sugar. Shall we clink glasses? Happy housewarming!"

Jiang Rui raised his glass: "Happy housewarming to me too!"

Everyone laughed and raised their glasses, the four glasses clinking crisply above the table.

Thanks to the food Lin Yusen brought, which saved Xiaofeng and Jiang Rui's lives, everyone ate to their heart's content.

Xiaofeng's school has a curfew, so she went home early after dinner. Jiang Rui planned to stay, even declaring he'd come every weekend from now on, which I, of course, welcomed. As for Lin Yusen, he'd definitely have to leave when his time was up, but as the host, I had to see him off, and then he'd drive me back.

So, it took me over an hour to walk him back from the neighboring apartment complex, which was just across the street.

When I got home, I saw Jiang Rui sitting in the living room, looking like he was waiting for me. I immediately felt a little guilty.

Jiang Rui, as expected, asked, "Why did it take you so long?"

"Well... to avoid the security cameras."

"Oh."

Just an "oh"? He didn't even ask why I was avoiding the cameras?

"What's wrong?" I asked curiously, moving closer to him.

Jiang Rui looked at me strangely: "Sis, you guys forgot to take the trash downstairs, so I went down to throw it away."

"Oh." Was that something to criticize? "You must be tired?"

"Then downstairs, I saw Brother Zhuang."