In the kitchen that morning, Tang Zhi Chu was making millet porridge.
When it was nearly ready, he turned off the heat and ladled out a bowl before starting to fry eggs.
Everyone had gotten more familiar with each other, and they used the kitchen less and less.
Tang Zhi Chu decided to cook something today.
Yang Jia Xing showed up in the kitchen first. When he saw Tang Zhi Chu, he greeted him. Tang Zhi Chu offered him some porridge, but he said he'd pass, grabbed a piece of bread, and headed straight out.
Chen Si Yang was the second to appear. Seeing Tang Zhi Chu busy in the kitchen, she came over.
"Wow, there's porridge!"
Tang Zhi Chu handed her the bowl he'd set aside. "Have this. It should've cooled down."
Chen Si Yang nodded and shot Tang Zhi Chu a glance, a smile tugging at her lips.
She carried the porridge to the dining table. Tang Zhi Chu plated two fried eggs and brought them over to her.
Chen Si Yang gave him a pitiful look. "I can't eat all this!"
"Leave what you can't finish. I'll eat it later."
"Great. Thanks for all your effort, Old Tang."
"It's no trouble, Miss Chen."
Only then did Chen Si Yang start drinking her porridge.
Once all the eggs were fried, Tang Zhi Chu served himself a bowl and sat beside Chen Si Yang.
She pushed over the plate, which still had one fried egg on it. "This one's for you. I really can't eat any more."
"Okay. What do you want for dinner?"
Chen Si Yang's eyes lit up. "I can request a dish?"
"Of course. I'm practically a little chef, after all."
"Don't be modest, Master Chef! Can you make rabbit heads? The ones you made last time. You can do whatever else you want, just keep it simple. Don't tire yourself out."
"Sure."
Chen Si Yang finished the last mouthful of porridge and stood up. "Remember, rabbit heads! I've got to go. I'm running out of time."
When she reached for her bowl, Tang Zhi Chu said, "Just leave it. I'll wash it for you."
Chen Si Yang thought it over and nodded. "Then I'll wash the dishes tonight."
With that, she hurried out, only to come running back a moment later. She reached out and slapped something down in front of Tang Zhi Chu.
He took a closer look. It was the QQ candy he'd made last time.
"Here, this is for you. I've still got some. Bet you didn't expect that! Okay, I'm off!"
Chen Si Yang dashed out again, nearly running into Huang Ze Jun in the living room.
Tang Zhi Chu had spotted Huang Ze Jun too. "Brother Jun, come have some porridge!"
Huang Ze Jun glanced at Tang Zhi Chu. He seemed pretty warm toward him, so Huang Ze Jun went into the kitchen.
"Millet porridge. Whole grains, healthier for you." Tang Zhi Chu added as Huang Ze Jun came over.
Huang Ze Jun nodded and went to serve himself some porridge.
"There are fried eggs on the side too."
"Thanks."
Sitting across from Tang Zhi Chu felt strange to Huang Ze Jun. The other man seemed genuinely eager to have him share his porridge. Was he just that carefree?
In any case, Huang Ze Jun felt the atmosphere in the villa had gotten rather subtle.
"Brother Jun."
Huang Ze Jun looked up. "Hmm?"
"Could you teach me to take photos sometime?"
Huang Ze Jun frowned. What was he getting at?
He'd already won. There was no need to mess with him, was there?
"I ordered a portable instant photo printer last night. We can take it with us when we go out, snap some pictures, and print them right away. I think it's really cool, but it seems a bit complicated."
Maybe it was because Tang Zhi Chu sounded sincere, or maybe it was the porridge and fried eggs in front of him.
Huang Ze Jun replied, "I have one of those machines. It's not that complicated. If you want to try it, I can teach you."
Tang Zhi Chu looked up and smiled. "That'd be great. How about tomorrow? Are you free?"
Huang Ze Jun thought for a moment and nodded. "Sure. Tomorrow."
Zhou Yun suddenly came in. Seeing Tang Zhi Chu chatting with Huang Ze Jun, she looked curious. "What are you two talking about?"
Tang Zhi Chu didn't answer. He pointed toward the kitchen. "There's porridge and fried eggs. Want some?"
Zhou Yun smiled. "What do you think? There's food ready, so why wouldn't I eat? Right, Brother Jun?"
Huang Ze Jun said, "Huh? Yeah!"
"Brother Jun, there are so many fried eggs. Do you want any more?"
Huang Ze Jun looked up again. "Huh? Oh, no thanks."
Tang Zhi Chu widened his eyes. "I made them. Don't you think you should ask me?"
Zhou Yun simply picked up the whole plate of fried eggs and brought it over. "They're all yours, all yours."
Zhou Yun tasted the porridge and nodded. "Not bad. The consistency's just right. You're pretty good at this."
"Thanks, I guess."
Zhou Yun glanced at Tang Zhi Chu and asked, "Did you go for a run this morning?"
"I'll run tonight."
Zhou Yun rolled her eyes. "Can you tell a sickness to wait until nighttime before it strikes? Can you pick the day you drop dead?"
Tang Zhi Chu: "..."
Zhou Yun looked at Huang Ze Jun too. "Brother Jun, you need to exercise as well. Look at your stomach."
Huang Ze Jun rubbed his stomach, then silently put down his chopsticks.
Huang Ze Jun found it a little strange. Usually, no one seemed to pay him any attention. First Tang Zhi Chu asked him to teach him photography, and now Zhou Yun was dragging him into the conversation too.
It felt a little off, but he didn't mind it!
"You two: one of you is too skinny and needs to build muscle and put on weight, while the other is a little overweight and needs to slim down. Either way, you both need to work out. Start jogging in the morning and at night."
Tang Zhi Chu stood up. "Brother Jun, don't listen to her. You're not fat."
Huang Ze Jun looked at Tang Zhi Chu. "I think I might actually have put on a little weight."
"Then you're in trouble. Come running with me tonight."
Huang Ze Jun really did nod. Had he gotten fat? Was that why Jiang Lan didn't like his type? Maybe he should lose a little weight.
Huang Ze Jun stood up too, with half his bowl of porridge still left. "I'm full."
"Just leave it. If you've got things to do, go ahead. I'll clean up." Tang Zhi Chu had seen Huang Ze Jun reaching for his bowl and said this.
Huang Ze Jun thought it over but didn't insist. After all, he was supposed to teach him photography tomorrow.
The unexpected feeling of being needed lifted Huang Ze Jun's spirits considerably.
"Then I'll get going. See you tonight."
"See you tonight."
After Huang Ze Jun went out, Zhou Yun looked at Tang Zhi Chu with suspicion.
Tang Zhi Chu felt uncomfortable under her gaze. "What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"
Zhou Yun gave a soft snort. Could this guy be trying to sabotage me behind the scenes, so I wouldn't go after Brother Jun's company?
Tang Zhi Chu stopped looking at Zhou Yun. What was she snorting at? How weird.
After tidying up the kitchen, Tang Zhi Chu went out too.
He'd arranged to meet Jiang Lan in the afternoon. She was a workaholic and had to go to the office in the morning.
At his own door, Tang Zhi Chu pulled out his keys. The moment he opened it, he froze.
A whole group of people was sitting on the living-room sofa. Tang Zhi Chu felt like his CPU was about to burn out before he could match their faces to the people he remembered.
"Well, Uncle's here, and Auntie too. Oh, Aunt's here as well. Auntie, why didn't you call me?" Tang Zhi Chu immediately put on a smile.
Tang Xiuju stood up first. "We're family. Your dad was just getting out of the hospital these past couple of days, and your uncle and aunt happened to be coming over, so I arranged for us to meet today."
The middle-aged man sitting in the living room stood up too. He walked a few steps toward Tang Zhi Chu, then patted his shoulder solemnly and said in a low voice, "You really are a man of the Old Tang family. You've been through a lot."
Tang Zhi Chu was bewildered, but he still put on a sad expression and sighed. "It's only right, it's only right. Uncle, please, sit down."
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