IRDFPFCIW Chapter 56

According to legend, a long time ago, there was a small restaurant next to a dock in Chengdu. The owner was a woman with pockmarks on her face, so people called her Chen Mapo[mfn]Chen is the surname; “Ma” stands for mázi, 麻子, which means pockmarks and “Po” is the first syllable of pópo, 婆婆, which means old woman[/mfn].

On this day, Chen Mapo was serving a steady stream of dock workers and porters, and the restaurant was running low on supplies. Just before closing time, a group of customers came in and requested the boss for some cheap dishes that would go well with rice. Chen Mapo saw that there were only a few plates of tofu and a bit of minced beef left, and it was too late to buy more ingredients.

In a moment of inspiration, Chen Mapo finely chopped the bean curd and stir-fried it with black bean curd in hot oil. She added some broth and dropped in tofu cubes cut into two centimeters square, then mixed in the seasonings along with the minced beef, thickening the sauce before serving. Finally, she sprinkled ground Sichuan pepper and chili powder over the tofu.

The resulting dish was a pot of fresh and delicious tofu with numbness, spicy, tender and fresh taste, bringing it to the table.

Unexpectedly, this simple dish made everyone in the group sweat and they devoured several bowls of rice. They were still shouting in delight.

Because the tofu was both numbing and spicy, and given that the female owner was called Chen Mapo, the dish became known as Mapo Tofu.

In later generations, this simple and cheap yet delicious Mapo Tofu was recognized as one of the top ten classic dishes of Sichuan cuisine. It also traveled across oceans and settled in the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Vietnam, Singapore, and other countries. It jumped from a home-cooked side dish to an internationally renowned dish.

Today, Jiang Tang prepared Mapo Tofu using the oldest and most classic method. He also added plenty of fragrant minced beef, making it very satisfying to eat.

Jiang Tang ate silently with his head lowered. But perhaps he ate too fast, he choked on a pepper and began to cough.

A cup of water was handed to Jiang Tang. It was held by a hand with distinct knuckles. Jiang Tang took the cup while coughing. Their fingertips brushed against each other, causing Jiang Tang to pause and cough even harder.

Wen Renyuan frowned at the sight. Disregarding the gentlemanly etiquette to keep a distance, he gently patted Jiang Tang’s back. His eyes were filled with concern.

After taking small sips of water, Jiang Tang managed to suppress his coughing. For some reason, he felt a little strange and guilty.

Strange, really strange.

He had heard words like “our Tang Tang” before.

In previous live streams, fans had called him [our Tang Tang] and [our streamer] happily, and there were even many who used “husband” or “wife”. Jiang Tang, who had many fans in his previous life, had long since grown immune to it.

But why did just hearing Wen Renyuan say “our Tang Tang” make him feel so abnormal?

Jiang Tang thought about it and concluded that it was because those excessive fans were just flirting through online. They were separated by screens and wires. No one had ever said such ambiguous words to him face-to-face.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt this reasoning made sense. He cleared his throat and accepted this thought calmly.

It wasn’t until Wen Renyuan lightly tapped the table that Jiang Tang realized he had been lost in thought about mechanical studies for an entire afternoon. He exited the simulation system and smiled at Wen Renyuan. “Finished so soon?”

Wen Renyuan nodded and picked up the lunch box first. “Yeah, I’ll take you home.”

Jiang Tang walked beside him. “What do you want to eat tonight?”

“Up to you.” Wen Renyuan deliberately slowed his pace to match Jiang Tang’s steps.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Tang suggested, “How about hot pot!”

“Sure.”

This time, without needing a reminder from Wen Renyuan, Jiang Tang obediently fastened his seatbelt.

“Let’s rest for a bit. I’ll wake you when we get home.” Wen Renyuan pulled out a blanket and gently covered Jiang Tang’s legs.

Jiang Tang nodded, feeling drowsy. He closed his eyes and took a nap.

He didn’t know how long he had been asleep when suddenly the car jolted, as if it had hit something. He heard Wen Renyuan calling his name and groggily woke up.

Wen Renyuan’s face enlarged in front of him.

Jiang Tang: ???

…Again?

“Well… what’s wrong?”

Rubbing his eyes, Jiang Tang noticed Wen Renyuan’s expression was a bit serious, so he lowered his voice.

“Our car has been tampered with. I’m sorry, this time it’s targeted at me, and I’ve implicated you.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Tang’s sleepiness faded halfway, and he leaned forward slightly. “Huh?”

At this moment, their car showed no signs of slowing down, with three black hover cars tailing them. The three cars were chasing closely like three black bolts of lightning, and they seemed to be accelerating.

The autopilot system was malfunctioning, flashing red lights and sounding alarms.

Wen Renyuan pursed his lip and calmly switched the hover car’s system from autopilot to manual mode. “There are cars chasing us.”

He turned to look at Jiang Tang. “Do you trust me? We’ll be fine.”

Jiang Tang looked into Wen Renyuan’s eyes. His eyes remained calm, but this time Jiang Tang saw a glimmer of hope deep within.

It was as if he had been waiting for Jiang Tang’s positive answer.

“I trust you.”

Jiang Tang lightly placed his hand over Wen Renyuan’s, his tone firm.

Hearing those words, Wen Renyuan revealed a smile. “Good, we’ll be fine, but it might take a little longer to eat hot pot.”

Seeing that Wen Renyuan still able to joke around eased Jiang Tang’s heart a bit.

“It’s okay. I ate too much at lunch. I’m not hungry yet.”

At this moment, the car was flying over the most densely populated residential area in the Imperial Capital Star. The buildings were stacked closely together, soaring into the clouds. Crashing into any of them would cause severe casualties.

Unfortunately, both the car’s emergency landing system and the autopilot system had been sabotaged, and their planned route was disrupted. The three cars were hot on their trail, which reminded Jiang Tang of the road movie “The Last Run” he had seen in his previous life. There was a strangely romantic feeling.

Whether it was the speed of the car causing an adrenaline rush or something else, Jiang Tang’s heart raced

A passerby looked up and saw their car, and lowered his head to curse the evils of the wealthy. He wondered which rich second-generation was driving a luxury car worth a house just for thrills, even putting their life at risk.

Wen Renyuan’s driving skills were impressive. Even though he was driving an ordinary hover car, he maneuvered it with the skill of a mech pilot. He always swerved away from the residential buildings just before Jiang Tang thought they would collide.

Soon, after finally escaping the residential area, Jiang Tang realized that his palms were slightly damp with sweat.

They had shaken off the pursuing cars. Wen Renyuan steered the car over a vast lake, circling in the air, looking for a chance to make an emergency landing.

Wen Renyuan recalled the storm Jiang Tang had faced on the barren planet. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he didn’t want Jiang Tang to fall into water again. But now, to avoid the car being destroyed and getting themselves killed, this was the only option left.

Veins stood out on Wen Renyuan’s hands, and his eyes harbored deep and turbulent waves.

This time after this was over, he would make sure that those behind this incident would regret coming to this world.

Jiang Tang seemed to have sensed something. He instinctively grabbed the hem of Wen Renyuan’s shirt, his voice trembling slightly. “Are we going to jump here?”

Wen Renyuan held his hand and enveloped it in his own. “Yes. Are you scared?”

“A little.”

Wen Renyuan reduced the car’s speed to the minimum and prepared for the jump.

Then with a gentle pull, he drew Jiang Tang into his arms.

Jiang Tang: !!!

Jiang Tang was caught off guard and leaned against Wen Renyuan’s chest. Listening to the steady and powerful beat of Wen Renyuan’s heart, he calmed down.

But why did his heartbeat seem a bit fast? Was he nervous too?

“Do you trust me?”

Wen Renyuan finally held his beloved in his arms, but at this moment he had no other romantic thoughts. He asked the previous question again.

Feeling Jiang Tang’s little head nodding against his chest, Wen Renyuan sighed inwardly. It was really killing him. How could he be so obedient?

“I won’t let anything happen to you, dear. Just close your eyes if you’re scared.”

Wen Renyuan protected the back of Jiang Tang’s head with his hand and held him tightly, as if wrapping him securely with his body.

At the moment their car was closest to the water’s surface, Wen Renyuan jumped out of the out-of-control hover car, taking Jiang Tang with him as they plunged into the lake.

With a splash, memories of the storm before their trip to the deserted island flooded Jiang Tang’s mind, and his body stiffened.

His eyes had been tightly closed when he heard Wen Renyuan’s words, “Close your eyes if you’re scared”. For some reason, he placed all his trust in this man.

Perhaps it was the warmth of his embrace. Jiang Tang vaguely remembered that before he lost consciousness on the barren planet, he had dreamt of a similar embrace. It was steady and warm. Leaning against his chest felt like all the storms would drift away and he could sleep peacefully.

Why was he holding on so tightly?

Was it guilt?

Jiang Tang thought of Wen Renyuan’s earlier words, and this time he was implicated by him…

It turned out that someone around Wen Renyuan had been scheming to kill him, but he didn’t know who had set this trap. Thoughts swirled in Jiang Tang’s mind.

Jiang Tang didn’t realize that in this situation, he hadn’t thought about his own predicament but instead worried about the potential dangers surrounding Wen Renyuan, feeling a surge of worry in his heart.

As he gradually lost consciousness, he heard a whisper near his ear—

“Tang Tang… like…”

“I like you…”

In an instant, it felt as if a lightning bolt had cleaved through the dark night, and Jiang Tang was struck by the word “like”. His mind gained a rare clarity.

No wonder!

So that’s it!

At this moment, all the weirdness he had felt recently suddenly made sense—like!

It turns out… it turns out that I actually like him?