Xia Libing rented a two-bedroom apartment in a residential complex near the hospital in Citong City. The apartment was fully furnished.
Actually, her third uncle and aunt originally wanted her to live in their house, but Xia Libing refused, saying it was more convenient for her to live alone.
Xia Libing was clearly not someone who usually cooked for herself; the kitchen here had hardly been used. However, she had cleaned it after learning that Xiang Kun was coming to Citong City.
Xiang Kun arranged the kitchen utensils he had bought and then began processing the various ingredients: scraping off the hair, splitting open, and cleaning the pig's trotters, then putting them in a pressure cooker with spices to stew; cutting the chicken into cubes and marinating...
Under his direction, Xia Libing also began to do simple tasks such as washing vegetables, rinsing rice, and cleaning the newly bought tableware.
Although she doesn't usually have many opportunities to do housework, as a medical student, she is quite capable. With Xiang Kun giving her some guidance, she does a decent job, at least not making things worse or blocking the kitchen.
Halfway through his work, his mother called. With his hands busy, Xiang Kun glanced at his phone on the table, then at Lao Xia.
Yes, this time she understood correctly. Xia Libing wiped her hands, picked up her phone, answered it, and held it to Xiang Kun's ear.
Holding his phone between his cheek and shoulder, Xiang Kun talked to his mother while doing his work.
"Shouldn't we go eat now? I heard there's a restaurant that opened near Wanda Plaza, lots of young people go there, it's great for dates. You guys could go there, it's called..."
My mother spoke very softly, clearly assuming he was still with Ms. Yang.
"Mom, Ms. Yang and I have broken up. I'm at a friend's house now. I'll be home later. Don't bother cooking for me."
"Huh? You broke up so quickly? Why didn't you invite her to dinner or something?" Mom was clearly not satisfied. "Did you see she was pretty, get too nervous and couldn't say anything, and behaved so badly that she couldn't stand it and left?"
"Please, Mom, is your son the kind of person who gets nervous when he sees a pretty girl? We had a good chat, but our interests and future plans might be different, so I guess it's probably hopeless. Mom, don't worry, fate will bring it on..."
"I don't believe you! Hobbies, interests, future plans—how can you come up with that if you don't talk about it slowly? What can you possibly discuss in an afternoon...?"
"Mom, what did you say? I can't hear you... Oh dear, the signal seems a bit weak. Mom, I'll hang up now, we'll talk more when I get home tonight..."
Xiang Kun spoke, he glanced at Lao Xia again, who understood and took the phone, ending the call.
Continuing to cook, Xiang Kun said, seemingly jokingly, "When I was on the phone just now, why were you staring at me the whole time? I noticed you seemed to really enjoy observing me. Do you think I'm sick? Is there something about me that makes you think I have psychological or mental problems?"
Under normal circumstances, if a man is stared at by a woman, he will subconsciously wonder if she likes him or is interested in him. When he was practicing his various sensory abilities, he had seen couples in love in coffee shops, subway cars, and on the streets. He knew what their physical expressions, micro-expressions, smells, heartbeats, and breathing were like when they liked someone.
Therefore, Xiang Kun knew very well that Xia Libing's gaze contained no romantic feelings whatsoever, but rather an attitude of observation, just like the way he would stare at "Gold Glitter," at Coin, or at tissues.
Xia Libing said, "In a sense, we are all patients. I am interested in all patients, so I observe everyone, and you are no exception, since you are the only one here right now."
Oh dear, Lao Xia has gone astray too, learning this ambiguous and irrelevant speaking technique? Xiang Kun glanced at Xia Libing, who was peeling garlic, washing vegetables, and preparing seasonings under his direction, but he knew in his heart that Lao Xia was definitely observing him much more than he observed others.
This was certainly not Xiang Kun was narcissistic, but because while Xia Libing was observing him, he was also observing Xia Libing.
Although Xia Libing's emotions and true thoughts are the most difficult to judge and predict among the people Xiang Kun has met so far, it is not entirely impossible to see them. She still has many small habits and various subtle physiological changes that she herself may not have noticed. Xiang Kun can use these to make certain predictions when playing cards.
Therefore, Xiang Kun was also able to discern that some of the things Xia Libing said were concealed or untrue.
She must have noticed that I had a mental problem. -- This was Xiang Kun's guess.
Since there were only two people, Xiang Kun only prepared three dishes and a soup.
One dish was Xia Libing's favorite crispy pork knuckle, which he had made several times and refined the flavor for each dish; another was stir-fried chicken with soy sauce, which Xia Libing had also made before and tasted; another was minced pork and eggplant, which he had just made at noon and which his father had praised highly; and the last dish was a very simple tomato and egg soup.
Of course, although it looks like a meal for two, Xiang Kun, as the chef, only needs to consider Xia Libing's taste.
Because they had only eaten together twice, Tang Baona wasn't as adept at understanding Xia Libing's tastes and preferences. However, since two of the three dishes he prepared were ones he had made for her before, he was better able to make subtle adjustments to the flavors, and he was confident that he could satisfy or even surprise Xia Libing.
Sure enough, after taking a bite of the crispy pork knuckle, Xia Libing's eyes narrowed, and she slowed down her chewing. She even ate a mouthful of rice with it, and then quickly finished one piece before starting on the second.
Xiang Kun picked up the water on the table with a slight sense of satisfaction and took a sip. He knew this was Xia Libing's expression of "surprise".
Without a doubt, after his fine-tuning of the heat, seasonings, and cooking procedures, this crispy pork knuckle is now even more to Xia Libing's liking than before.
While continuing to gather Xia Libing's feedback on the food, Xiang Kun also took a few symbolic bites.
By constantly comparing and revising his judgment of diners' tastes, and then reflecting the results in his cooking, Xiang Kun gains their approval. Seeing them enjoy the food more and more, Xiang Kun also gets a great sense of satisfaction, and feels as if the diners are experiencing the food for him.
He believes that if he can specifically target someone's tastes and preferences for food to more than 90% of their liking, that person will likely never forget the dishes he makes for the rest of their life.
If he can achieve a success rate of over 95%, he believes he can gradually adjust other people's tastes through the food he makes, such as getting people who never eat cilantro to accept or even like it, and getting people who don't like spicy food to enjoy it.
Of course, the so-called "strategy level" is just a rough number generated by his brain based on the diners' eating habits, taste preferences, and various information feedback while eating. It is not absolutely accurate, and there is no such thing as a 100% strategy.
"Did you have a medical check-up before?" Xia Libing suddenly asked after they had almost finished eating.
Thanks to book friends A Pile of Bubbles, Fairy Abi Dou, liuhaixu, Book Friends 20190825060034419, and Yecheng Youyu for the reward.