LR – Chapter 43

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Chapter 43 – Making Dinner

After joining the new company, corresponding work followed one after another.

Jiang Liusui spent the entire day at Shengyun, shooting multiple sets of official photos, each with a different vibe. By the time he returned home, it was already evening.

Wang Cen had arranged a dedicated driver for him. The driver, seemingly briefed beforehand, never pried when Jiang Liusui rode with He Yujing. Wang Cen himself carried a natural warmth—he was careful and professional, yet not distant. Every meeting came with a smile, and he genuinely looked out for Jiang Liusui.

When Jiang Liusui arrived home, he found He Yujing sitting on the living room carpet, leisurely stacking building blocks, as if the world outside didn’t exist.

He Yujing was dressed in a loose graffiti-print long-sleeve shirt and jet-black shorts—a very casual outfit. Hearing the noise, he turned to look.

Recently, He Yujing had been extremely busy. Last night, he had almost slept at Shengyun, only returning around five or six in the morning. Jiang Liusui had been half-asleep at the time. Feeling someone climb into bed and pull him close, he had instinctively leaned into the warmth without thinking.

When he woke up, the space beside him was empty—He Yujing had already gone out to rush to another engagement. Thinking back on it now, Jiang Liusui found himself quietly studying the man approaching him.

There was no sign at all that He Yujing had been up all night—his skin was flawless, without even the faintest shadow of dark circles. Jiang Liusui noticed he had removed his makeup, guessing he must have come home earlier in the afternoon to make up for lost sleep.

Even so, being able to stay energetic with such a chaotic schedule—this man was truly frightening. He was born for this line of work.

“Auntie isn’t coming today, so we can only order takeout,” He Yujing spoke, pulling Jiang Liusui’s wandering thoughts back. “Can you cook?”

Jiang Liusui fell silent for a second, then answered very tactfully, “I can… learn to.”

“……”He Yujing had only asked casually, but seeing this, he could only nod. “Quite dedicated.”

“What do you like to eat?”

He Yujing hadn’t expected to be able to request dishes. He vaguely remembered Jiang Liusui saying he wasn’t very good at cooking, so he couldn’t choose anything too difficult—but at the same time, he couldn’t not choose anything at all.

After thinking for a long time, he said, “Scrambled eggs with tomatoes.”

“Just that?” Jiang Liusui relaxed upon hearing this. One dish felt a little too bare, so he volunteered, “Then I’ll make cola chicken wings as well.”

He’s that skilled?

He Yujing had originally just wanted to give him an easy way out, but seeing him voluntarily suggest adding another dish, his interest was gradually piqued, and he followed Jiang Liusui into the kitchen.

The open island kitchen was bright and airy, with a dark glass sideboard on the far right. For simplicity, all appliances were built-in. Besides the fully equipped kitchen utensils in the cabinets, the housekeeper had neatly arranged some tools on the central island as well.

Jiang Liusui was very aware of his cooking skills. Without looking around much, he directly opened the refrigerator.

He had lived in dorms throughout high school, and after university it was even simpler—either eating in the cafeteria or ordering takeout. He’d barely cooked for himself more than a few times. After locating the ingredients in the fridge, Jiang Liusui took out his phone and looked up the recipes. The general steps for both dishes were more or less the same as what he remembered. The more he read, the more confident he became.

He blanched the chicken wings first, then cranked the heat up and let the oil warm in the pan. Testing the waters, he dropped a single wing in.

Sizzle—!!

Hot oil exploded upward, splattering everywhere, the sharp crackle sounding exactly like firecrackers going off. Jiang Liusui reflexively jumped backward, his mind full of question marks.

Why is it different from last time?! When Zhou Xun fried chicken wings before, it wasn’t this intense??

In his panic, he stepped on He Yujing, who had been standing by the island counter watching the commotion.

“……”

It hadn’t even been a few days, and he’d already injured He Yujing again.

Remembering how confidently he’d just offered to make chicken wings, Jiang Liusui felt a surge of guilt. He twisted around and warned the man behind him, “Stand a little farther back. The oil’s splashing a lot.”

He Yujing had just been stepped on hard and could only feel a trace of helpless amusement. But when he saw Jiang Liusui steel himself[mfn]硬着头皮 (yìng zhe tóu pí) – lit. with stiff scalp[/mfn] and move back toward the stove, stubbornly trying to lower the chicken wings into the pan despite the oil splattering everywhere, he reached out.

Jiang Liusui was taken aback. “What are you doing?”

He Yujing took the chopsticks from his hand. “Can’t you tell? I’m helping you.”

Jiang Liusui froze for a moment. He had originally thought that making dinner was equivalent to He Yujing making a demand of him. In the stories and films he’d seen, it was common enough for a kept lover to cook for their benefactor.

And besides…

Watching He Yujing clumsily flip the chicken wings with the chopsticks, Jiang Liusui recalled that this man was a genuine young master[mfn]十指不沾阳春水 (shí zhǐ bù zhān yáng chūn shuǐ) – lit. ten fingers never touch spring water[/mfn] who had likely never lifted a finger to do housework since childhood. He couldn’t help but ask doubtfully, Are you sure you can handle this?”

“What’s not to handle—ah—”

To make things easier, He Yujing had rolled his sleeves up, but a splash of hot oil caught his skin, drawing a slight crease between his brows.

He hadn’t even had time to feel the sting before Jiang Liusui reacted first. Unable to stand it, he rushed forward and tugged the sleeve back down, pulling it all the way past He Yujing’s wrist in a reflexively protective gesture, his fingers clutching the fabric and refusing to release it.

He Yujing noticed Jiang Liusui’s instinctive protectiveness and felt inexplicably pleased. His mouth, as usual, ran ahead of his brain. “If you cling to me like this, I can’t get anything done.”

The moment he said it, he laughed at himself. Jiang Liusui followed suit, unable to hold back his own smile.

Jiang Liusui gave his hand a light pat. “These are basically done now. I’ll finish it—can you grab the tomatoes and eggs?”

He Yujing saw that the chicken wings were indeed nearly cooked, and he wasn’t sure about the next steps anyway, so he turned and headed toward the refrigerator.

The housekeeper had organized everything neatly by type. The eggs were easy enough to locate, but it took a moment of searching through the vegetables before he found the tomatoes. Jiang Liusui glanced at him but didn’t think much of it. “Wash the tomatoes and cut them.”

Cut them? How exactly was one supposed to cut these things?

He Yujing hesitated for a moment but went ahead and washed the tomatoes, then took out the cutting board.

Meanwhile, Jiang Liusui poured cola and the other seasonings into the pot, letting the chicken wings simmer, feeling the satisfaction of the meal being nearly complete. But when he turned to glance at He Yujing’s awkward, unfamiliar chopping, his eyelids twitched involuntarily.

Of course—he’d completely forgotten. Even without looking, he could’ve guessed with his toes that He Yujing had no clue how to handle a knife.

Jiang Liusui, afraid that the next moment He Yujing would splash blood on the cutting board, immediately stopped him: “Wait! Stop cutting! I’ll do it, I got this!”

He Yujing had already been struggling with the task. If not for Jiang Liusui’s request, and he would never have attempted it. Hearing this, he promptly set the knife down.

By the time the kitchen chaos had settled and both dishes were nearly finished, He Yujing noticed Jiang Liusui was still adding sugar—quite a lot of it—and seemed poised to add more. He couldn’t help but ask, “Maybe don’t put in so much sugar?”

“It’s fine, right? That’s not too much sugar.” Jiang Liusui didn’t feel there was any problem at all.

“……” Even with his limited knowledge in this area, He Yujing felt the amount of sugar was excessive. Still, seeing Jiang Liusui so confident, he let him have his way.

He grabbed two bowls and pairs of chopsticks. “Let’s sit by the coffee table. We can watch TV while eating.”

The coffee table was only slightly higher than the sofa cushions, so the two of them sat directly on the soft, thick carpet. Jiang Liusui went to the fridge and returned with two cans of soda. He picked up his chopsticks with a small spark of excitement.

It had been ages since he last cooked, and honestly, the chicken wings looked pretty good.

Jiang Liusui tentatively took a bite.

“……”

So freaking sweet.

He had added way too much sugar!

Jiang Liusui forced the bite down and then picked up some scrambled eggs with tomatoes. To his surprise, even the scrambled eggs tasted sweet. He glanced sideways and noticed He Yujing taking a bite of the chicken wing, his expression shifting slightly.

Remembering how He Yujing had specifically asked him earlier if he had added too much sugar, Jiang Liusui asked guiltily, “Is it okay for you to eat? Not too sweet?”

He Yujing, copying Jiang Liusui’s confident tone from earlier, replied, “It’s fine, right? Not too much sugar.”

Jiang Liusui’s face flushed with embarrassment. Pretending not to catch the teasing in He Yujing’s expression, he said, “Want to order takeout? I heard there’s a dry-pot place near the park that’s really good. Maybe we shouldn’t eat this—”

But He Yujing replied, “Go ahead and order if you want. I don’t need it.”

Then he calmly picked up another bite of the sweetened scrambled eggs with tomatoes and swallowed. Jiang Liusui watched him swallow without changing expression. He guessed that He Yujing had probably never eaten food this clumsy in flavor before, making him feel even more guilty about that extra spoonful of sugar.

Trying to shift the focus, Jiang Liusui suggested, “Want to watch some TV for a bit?”

The massive laser TV in the living room almost covered the entire wall. By sheer coincidence, when it was turned on, it was playing the third episode of ⟪Fantasy Holiday⟫ episode 3—specifically the hotel dinner scene!

Jiang Liusui felt his scalp tingle, wondering how it could be such a coincidence that this exact scene was being replayed. He cautiously asked the person beside him, “Should we change the channel?”

He Yujing set down his chopsticks and hooked a finger around the pull-tab of the soda can.

With a crisp pop, he answered nonchalantly, “Just watch. What’s wrong with watching?”

Jiang Liusui couldn’t read his expression at all. When Xu Miao mentioned He Yujing’s concert on TV, he felt like he was sitting on pins and needles[mfn]如坐针毡 (rú zuò zhēn zhān) – idiom meaning “extremely anxious or nervous.”[/mfn].

He knew how harsh his words had been in the Turin Desert. Ever since that concert, he had carried a quiet admiration for He Yujing—the first time he had genuinely felt awe for someone in a world he barely understood. How He Yujing viewed him now didn’t matter. What mattered was not letting He Yujing see this scene and dredge up unpleasant memories.

It was like looking at a dazzling star, brighter and more unique than anyone else. Everyone would simply wish for it to remain unharmed, never fading away.

As if sensing his unease, He Yujing suddenly reached out and wrapped an arm around his slender shoulders.

He Yujing’s body temperature had always been slightly higher than Jiang Liusui’s. Even in the air-conditioned room, he felt warm—just like the impression he gave.

A weight pressed down on his shoulders. Half-embraced by He Yujing, Jiang Liusui’s restless heart gradually calmed.

On TV, Jiang Liusui was eating pudding. When nudged by the host, he awkwardly brought up his first concert. He Yujing’s eyes drifted away, his voice casual, “The food back then wasn’t bad at all.”

Jiang Liusui responded, “Mm… better than the cola chicken wings.”

Finally, He Yujing said, “This thing is really sweet.”

Hearing this, Jiang Liusui couldn’t help but smile.

And then, the next second, their figures abruptly vanished from the camera frame.

Jiang Liusui realized they had stopped exactly where he had led He Yujing away earlier, and his smile froze. Maybe it was his own nerves, but he could feel He Yujing’s arms tighten slightly, his breath carrying a subtle danger—like dark currents roiling beneath a calm sea.

A moment later, the tension softened. He Yujing’s hand slid up to the nape of Jiang Liusui’s slender neck, tracing slow, deliberate lines.

He performed this gesture with practiced ease—it felt both like soothing Jiang Liusui’s nerves and asserting ownership over the person beneath his touch.

Without realizing it, Jiang Liusui’s shoulders loosened, his body gradually surrendering to the quiet warmth.

It seemed He Yujing truly didn’t care about that matter anymore.

Jiang Liusui finally relaxed, about to suggest that since neither of them could stomach the chicken wings and tomato-and-egg, maybe they should just order takeout—

But He Yujing abruptly stopped.

His fingers curled lightly around the back of Jiang Liusui’s neck, loose and without much pressure. Yet when he spoke, his voice was low, dark, and commanding.

“You’ll behave and let me kiss you properly now.”

It wasn’t a question—it was a declaration.

Before Jiang Liusui could even answer, He Yujing leaned in. Instinctively, Jiang Liusui turned his face away for a split second—but then he swung back, leaning into him like a guilty little apology, planting a quick peck on He Yujing’s lips. He parted his mouth just slightly, an unspoken invitation for He Yujing to take over.

He Yujing cursed under his breath and didn’t hesitate. He kissed him, full and direct.

Seemingly stimulated by Jiang Liusui’s enticing behavior, the hand that had been holding the back of his neck moved to the front, firmly gripping his sharp chin without hesitation.

They hadn’t eaten much, so the taste lingering between their lips was mostly the tangy sweetness of soda.

Jiang Liusui made no move to resist. His heart raced, his cheeks tingled, and trapped in He Yujing’s relentless hold, he couldn’t manage a single word.

After what felt like an eternity, Jiang Liusui saw him slowly pull back and thought he had had enough of kissing.

He Yujing’s eyes burned bright, gleaming with excitement, staring straight at him. The intimacy had turned Jiang Liusui’s pale cheeks a delicate peach-pink, and his already shimmering eyes glistened even more.

He Yujing locked eyes with him for a moment, then suddenly reached out and covered his eyes.

His vision instantly went dark. Jiang Liusui couldn’t help but ask in a whisper, “Why are you doing this…”

Long lashes fluttered like trapped butterflies against his palm.

He Yujing suppressed the darker, more destructive urges. Keeping him blindfolded, he pressed him down onto the sofa and kissed him again.

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