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Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Xu Moyan was kind of dazed now, and she could not even think about saying no. All of her attention was focused on her wrists, where the heat lingered on and affected her every thought.
No matter what Wei Zilin said right now, she would just agree.
“Okay,” she said obediently, and then she picked up the dish of ribs, walking out of the kitchen behind Wei Zilin.
Wei Zilin put down the rice and went back to bring out the soup. Although the two of them did not say anything, and although Xu Moyan was still shaken, the two of them were still exceptionally in sync.
Xu Moyan sat down and was about to take some of the vegetables when she saw Wei Zilin take out his phone, taking pictures of all the dishes on the table. He just happened to include Xu Moyan’s chopsticks in the picture too, as well as one of Xu Moyan’s fingertips pressed against the chopsticks.
Perhaps it was because she was used to cooking, but Xu Moyan did not leave her fingernails long. She kept them trimmed short, revealing the flesh of her fingertips beneath the nail. It was all very clean. She did not go for manicures either, putting any pattern or pictures on her nails. All she had was a simple transparent topcoat, so her nails were a very natural pink, simple and clean.
As a straight man, Wei Zilin never understood what anyone saw in those manicured nails. Although he did not find them ugly, he could not see how all those patterns and colors looked good.
Xu Moyan’s nails were perfect just like this. Or perhaps he just felt that everything about Xu Moyan was nice, as she seemed clean and refreshing from head to toe.
“Sorry.” Xu Moyan hurriedly pulled back her chopsticks. “You can take more pictures if you want.”
“It’s alright, this is perfectly natural. It’s great,” Wei Zilin said as he kept his phone away. “I never take pictures before eating, but today’s my first time. It’s because I really look forward to this meal today, and I’m really glad. Besides, I never saw much meaning in taking pictures of merely food. Now that I have you in the picture, even if it’s just a pair of chopsticks and a hint of your fingertip, the whole photo looks so much more alive. It proves that someone’s eating this meal with me.”
“I think this is great too. Thanks for sharing this meal with me,” Xu Moyan said with a smile. “I never felt it before, but ever since Yuntong got a boyfriend, I always feel a little down when I’m eating at home alone.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d be more than happy to come here for food more often,” Wei Zilin said with a laugh, his eyes glowing under the lamplight.
Xu Moyan’s heart was so hot that she could not even say anything, and all she could do was nod hastily. She murmured a low “okay”, but she did not even know if Wei Zilin could hear her.
Every time Wei Zilin ate a dish, he would praise it almost exaggeratedly. He never held back on his compliments at all, and eventually, he finished all of the dishes, including every last scrap of the rice and soup.
Xu Moyan could not help but worry. Was it really alright for him to eat that much?
Wei Zilin seemed to feel a little guilty, on the other hand. Looking at the empty plates on the table, he said, “Sorry, it was just so tasty, and I got carried away.”
Xu Moyan shook her head. “That’s the best way of expressing how much you like my cooking. I’m glad.”
Xu Moyan stood up and was about to take away the bowls and chopsticks, but Wei Zilin beat her to it. “You prepared dinner, so give me a chance to return the favor. I’ll clean the dishes and chopsticks.”
Xu Moyan was a little worried. She was certain that Wei Zilin did not do any chores at home, so could she really leave it to him?
Even she had not noticed how she was less formal with Wei Zilin now. Her first instinct was to doubt his home economic skills, whereas in the past, she would never even consider letting him help out.
Wei Zilin noticed that too, and he was overjoyed. “Don’t doubt me. I may not do chores all that often, but that’s because I have a domestic worker at home. That doesn’t mean I can’t do anything. When I was studying, I used to do everything myself too.”
Finally, Xu Moyan gave up protesting, but she still helped him bring the bowls and chopsticks to the kitchen.
Wei Zilin’s sake we were still rolled up, so he simply turned the tap and began washing the bowls.
When Xu Moyan saw that, she hurriedly stopped him. “Hold on a sec.”
She gave him the apron she had been wearing earlier. “You’re wearing a white shirt, and you’ll get splashed. Here, put this on.”
Xu Moyan was not someone who indulged in her inner princess, so the apron’s design was not overly girly. It had a milky-yellow base with a Winnie the Pooh printed at the bottom. It was quite cute, but it looked especially hilarious when Wei Zilin wore it.
Wei Zilin held his hands up helplessly. “My hands are all wet, could you put it on for me?”
Xu Moyan held the apron, but she was a bit caught in the middle. Wei Zilin had already bent down and lowered his head, gesturing for her to put the apron on.
Blushing, Xu Moyan stood on her tiptoes and approached Wei Zilin with his back bent and head lowered. The two of them were extremely close to each other, until their faces were almost touching.
Xu Moyan could smell his scent. Because of his work, he had the faint fragrance of cologne on him. It smelled great and was not pungent in the slightest. Instead, it was like a tendril around her heart, waking up the hormones in her body. She lowered her eyelids slightly, sneaking a peek at his lips underneath his straight nose. They were relaxed, slightly thin, and extremely sexy.
Was it the temptation of his cologne? For some reason, she had the urge to kiss him.
She hurriedly averted her gaze and did not dare to look at him directly. She even held her breath, lest she smell that scent again. Turning her head away slightly, she avoided looking at him face-on. Even so, her limbs were feeling weak.
It took her forever to put the apron around his neck. Once her heels touched the floor, she hurriedly went around him. Stretching her arms forth, she reached for the apron strings around his waist. With that, her fingertips brushed his waist.
Wei Zilin looked down just in time to see her fair fingers at his waist. The warmth from her fingertips transmitted through his thin shirt, reaching his skin. It was warm and seemed to carry an electrical current, provoking him constantly.
Wei Zilin’s waist stiffened despite himself, and he felt Xu Moyan’s warmth and faint fragrance from behind his back. He felt as though he was surrounded by her scent, not a man-made perfume, but sweet and natural.
His throat moved and he gulped, almost giving in to his urge to step back and have Xu Moyan’s front press against his back intimately.
He had to keep his body completely stiff to force back those urges, but his breathing was already slightly unsteady.
Xu Moyan’s fingertips shook slightly. She could feel the lines of the muscles around his waist, and the two chunks of well-honed muscles made her reluctant to move her fingers away. She wanted nothing more than to caress them carefully.
Xu Moyan could not help but feel she was perving over Wei Zilin right now!
It made her feel extremely guilty, and she hurriedly reached for apron strings, tying them behind his back and then immediately stepping away from him.
She was behind him, so she did not see how close Wei Zilin was to losing his composure, but he knew perfectly well. For once, he did not tease Xu Moyan with his words. Instead, he just lowered his head and washed the dishes obediently.
Xu Moyan did not dare to say anything either. Her heart was pounding very quickly right now, and she would reveal her emotions as soon as she spoke.
She looked at the raw ribs left on the table, and an idea occurred to her. She decided to grab a knife and cut the flesh from the ribs, and then she retrieved a food processor from the cupboard next to her, grinding the meat into mince.
Wei Zilin collected himself, and then he turned his head slightly, looking at her.
Xu Moyan had been busying herself, so she managed to calm down slightly too. Only then did she explain softly, “I’m turning the ribs into mince. We still have some wonton skins around the house, so I can wrap some wonton for you and you can bring them home. Whenever you want to eat them, you can just take them out and cook them.”
Xu Moyan was a little nervous. “I mean, I remember you said you wanted to try them last night.”
Wei Zilin did not think she still remembered, and the surprise made his lips slowly curve into a smile. Eventually, it became a grin that was almost sunny. Light wrinkles even appeared around the corners of his mouth and eyes.
These tiny wrinkles showed how mature he was, but they only made him look even better. That smile of his was extremely contagious, until Xu Moyan’s eyes curved subconsciously as well.
His smiling eyes seemed to shine like a warm sun, bright, clear, and comforting.
“Alright, then make me some today, and make me more next time. I’ll ask you for them once I run out,” Wei Zilin said, not holding back in the slightest. This way, he had an excuse to spend more time with her, so he was not going to look this gift horse in the mouth.
Xu Moyan was slightly stunned for a while, and then she agreed happily. She thought it was a good excuse to see him again too, and she was glad for it.
In that case, she should not make too many at once. That way, she would be able to keep meeting him and giving him even more.
Wei Zilin watched her wrap the wontons as he washed the dishes. He was completely distracted.
As he watched, she mixed the filling and held the snow-white wonton skin on her fair palm. The skin on the center of her palm was somehow even whiter than the wonton skin. With a small spoon, she scooped out a small ball of the filing and placed it in the center of the wonton skin. After that, she rolled it up expertly and pulled the two ends of the skin together, pinching them tight. She made the small wonton look like a miniature shoe-shaped gold ingot.
Her movements were smooth and a pleasure to watch, her fair fingertips flying. Wei Zilin thought he could watch her like this forever without growing tired of it.
His hands were itching to go too. He wanted to give it a try with her.
Suddenly, he heard Xu Moyan say, “Rib meat is soft and juicy, so it makes for really good filling that has a really different texture. Are there any other types of noodles or snacks you like? I can make some next time and bring them to you.”
Xu Moyan relaxed and suggested that instinctively. She had a tiny ulterior motive too, since she wanted more chances to see him more often.
Wei Zilin did not hold back either, saying honestly, “The shumai you made last time we great. I like pot stickers too, and pan-fried soup buns, and soup dumplings.”
Xu Moyan laughed. “Soup dumplings aren’t easy to keep, so you should eat them fresh. The others can be frozen, and you can take them out whenever you want to eat them. You don’t even have to defrost them, you can just boil or fry them straight. I’ll make you some later.”
“In that case, you can make me the soup dumplings when I come over,” Wei Zilin said naturally.
He was thinking that Xu Moyan probably had not noticed it yet, but the two of them were talking like a pair of lovers.
That was perfect.
“Sure thing.” Xu Moyan’s eyes curved, and she nodded with a smile.
Wei Zilin had already washed all the dishes, and he had even scrubbed the pots and pans for Xu Moyan as well.
By the time he was done, Xu Moyan had also finished wrapping the wontons. Taking out a take-away container, she arranged the wontons into a neat layer at the very bottom. After that, she placed a piece of clean wrap over the wontons before starting on the second layer and putting another layer of clean wrap over that. That way, she put a total of three layers of wontons before she covered the container up. Once she was done, she found a paper bag and put the container inside, so that Wei Zilin could take it away when he left later.
When Wei Zilin mentioned it was time for him to leave, Zheng Yuntong had not returned home yet. It was already 9 pm, so it was not particularly early anymore. It would not be quite appropriate for him to stay any longer, even if Wei Zilin really wanted to stay.
He could not help but hope Xu Moyan would quickly decide on a new house, too. If she was living alone, it would be more convenient for him to visit.
Of course, that was just his secret little plan. There was no way he was going to let Xu Moyan know about that.
Xu Moyan walked him to the door, still holding the paper bag with the wontons in her hand.
Wei Zilin changed back into his shoes at the door, and his eyes fell upon the now-empty slippers.
Xu Moyan did not understand. Was something… not right?
After a moment’s pause, Wei Zilin said slowly, “Reserve these slippers from when I come by, alright?”
That way, they would be especially for him, and no one else would be able to touch them. Of course, aside from himself and Shen Zongyi, it would be best if no other man came here at all.
Xu Moyan blushed. She could only tell herself that Wei Zilin was a bit of a clean freak, and she did not let herself consider that any further.
Avoiding Wei Zilin’s gaze, she lowered her eyes and said, “Well, no other guys come here anyway. It’s just you and Shen Zongyi, and Yuntong already bought a pair for Shen Zongyi.”
Wei Zilin laughed, and it was like the moon coming out from behind the clouds. All of a sudden, his eyes lit up brightly, like the clear moon in the night sky, illuminating the whole room with life.
His smile and those bright, warm black eyes made Xu Moyan feel as though he could see right through her, and it made her exceptionally uneasy.
She was worried that if he knew what she thought about him, he would avoid her and never see her again. After all, he was cold and distant to all those women who admired him.
She had seen his gentle nature and chatted with him happily. If he treated her coldly now, Xu Moyan did not think she would be able to handle it.
If she had never been this close to him from the start, she probably would feel so hurt. Earlier, she had learned to treat him more casually, but now, her worries were making her retreat again.
Her hands tightened around the handles of the paper bag, and she hurriedly handed it to him. “Be… careful on the way back.”