A Meal

At that moment, Song Yihe was eating in the staff cafeteria, lost in thought.

Was he really that scary?

He Yajun watched Song Yihe smile one moment and frown the next, then teased him. "What's this? Chatting with your girlfriend?"

Song Yihe nodded and murmured, "Yeah."

He Yajun smacked his lips. "Young girls these days are so clingy. They seize every minute and second to stick to their boyfriends."

Song Yihe thought about it. An Zhiwu didn't seem all that clingy. "She's not too bad."

He Yajun had met An Zhiwu, but the others hadn't. At the thought, he lowered his voice. "When are you bringing your little girlfriend to meet everyone? They've all been guessing in private which fairy managed to capture Dr. Song's heart."

"Some time from now."

Once An Zhiwu had confirmed that Song Yihe was coming, she sent him her home's location.

Then she walked over to her mother, who was eating grapes in the living room. "Dr. Song said he can come over for lunch tomorrow."

Her mother was delighted. He'd accepted the invitation so readily; he must have a soft spot for her daughter. "Good! Then Mom will buy a few more dishes tomorrow."

She then glanced at An Zhiheng on the other side of the sofa. "When Dr. Song comes tomorrow, put away that devil-may-care attitude of yours, understand?"

An Zhiheng was used to being on the receiving end of her jabs and didn't feel like defending himself. "I have a competition in half a month, so I'm going to intensive training starting next week. I won't be home for the next two weeks."

"Really?" His mother put down the fruit. "That's wonderful! Your room will be free, so I can put my bike in there. I recently bought a spin bike and was just wondering where to put it."

An Zhiheng: "..."

Fine, as long as you're happy.

After learning that Song Yihe was coming, An Zhiwu's mother lost interest in her grapes and began directing her son and daughter to clean the house.

Her fine-sounding reason: they couldn't lose face.

Compared with the villa at Yihe Garden, their three-bedroom apartment didn't look like much, but at least it was cozy.

After cleaning the house, An Zhiwu sent Song Yihe a message: [To welcome you, our Ms. Zhou mobilized us to clean the house from top to bottom.]

She waited a few minutes, but no reply came.

An Zhiwu guessed he might be in surgery.

Her bedroom had already been tidied up along with everything else during the afternoon's big cleaning.

Now An Zhiwu was in her room, digging into a big watermelon with the air conditioner on. Life couldn't have been more comfortable.

It wasn't until bedtime that evening that An Zhiwu received a message from Song Yihe.

Song Yihe: [I'm honored.]

An Zhiwu checked the time. It was already past nine at night.

An Zhiwu: [Did you just finish work?]

Song Yihe: [Yeah. I originally had two days of surgery scheduled, but since I'm coming to your house for lunch tomorrow, I also did the few simple operations scheduled for tomorrow.]

An Zhiwu was touched when she saw the message, and her heart ached for him a little.

Since they'd gotten together, she hadn't seen Song Yihe take a break.

An Zhiwu: [Then what are you going to eat after work?]

Song Yihe: [I'll just grab something when I get home. I think there are still some frozen dumplings in the fridge.]

An Zhiwu decided to make more dumplings and wontons at home from now on, so Song Yihe wouldn't go hungry.

Early the next morning, An Zhiwu accompanied her mother to buy groceries.

At the market.

Her mother wanted to buy every food she thought was tasty. As she shopped, she asked An Zhiwu, who was beside her, "An'an, do you think Dr. Song would like this?"

An Zhiwu looked at the two big bags in her hands. "Actually, he's not very picky. There's no need to buy so much."

After all, whenever she cooked, Song Yihe always ate with relish.

Her mother turned to ask her, "How do you know he's not picky?"

"Well... when An Zhiheng had his operation last time, I went to get food at the hospital cafeteria and saw him eating there. Even the cafeteria food tasted good to him, so he'll definitely love your cooking."

Her mother looked rather pleased with herself. "Of course. People always praise your mom's cooking."

She wasn't bragging about that. Every relative who had eaten at their house had praised her cooking.

An Zhiwu thought she must have inherited her cooking skills from her mother.

By the time the two of them finished shopping, it was nearly nine.

When they got home, they started washing and trimming the vegetables.

A little after ten that morning, An Zhiwu received a WeChat message from Song Yihe: [I'm at your residential complex.]

An Zhiwu hadn't expected him to arrive so early. She told her mother and went downstairs.

When she reached the entrance to the complex, she saw Song Yihe standing there in a white shirt and suit trousers.

He was also carrying a gift box.

"Why did you bring a gift?" An Zhiwu walked up to Song Yihe and noticed he was wearing the cufflinks she'd bought him last time. She was a little pleased.

Song Yihe took her hand with one hand and held the gift box in the other. "I was in a rush, so I went out and bought some bird's nest this morning. Come on."

An Zhiwu pulled her hand free. Seeing his puzzled look, she explained, "Well, my mom doesn't know we're dating, right? I'm afraid she might suddenly come downstairs and see us."

"Then why not tell her the truth?"

An Zhiwu gave an awkward little smile. "Let's wait a bit longer, until our relationship is more stable. I don't want her hopes to come to nothing in the end."

She figured they should at least wait until they'd been dating for a month.

Song Yihe narrowed his eyes. "Her hopes come to nothing? So you're prepared to break up with me at any time?"

"Ah, no, no, no. That's not it. I'm not." An Zhiwu immediately fired off three denials.

It was a sweltering day, so Song Yihe didn't press the matter. He reached out and patted the top of her head. "Come on, lead the way."

An Zhiwu's mother was exceptionally happy to see Song Yihe. "Xiaohe, when did you come back to China? Have you been busy at work lately? Come in and sit down."

Song Yihe glanced at An Zhiwu, who looked a little guilty.

"Work's been all right lately, not particularly busy."

"Go on, sit down and have some fruit. I'll go cook for you."

"Thank you, Auntie." Song Yihe handed her the bird's nest. "I came in a bit of a rush today and didn't bring much. I bought some bird's nest; I hope you like it."

Her smile grew even wider. "I do, I do! Bird's nest is wonderful." Then she glanced at An Zhiheng on the sofa. "Don't just sit there. Go wash some fruit."

Once Song Yihe had settled on the living room sofa,

An Zhiwu followed her mother into the kitchen to help cook.

An Zhiheng looked at Song Yihe at the other end of the sofa and asked, "Dr. Song, I heard you're dating An Zhiwu?"

Song Yihe glanced at his future brother-in-law. "Did An'an tell you?"

Didn't she say she hadn't told her family?