Cooking

Duan Xinyue was an utterly ordinary, overworked office drone. Every day at work, she was either slacking off or on her way to slack off. Lately, she had been bored out of her mind; she would open her phone yet have no idea what to do to pass the time.

She had been thinking of checking some big-eye app for gossip when she happened to scroll across the livestream link for A Day to See All the Flowers.

"A travel livestream show? Eh... forget it. I'm bored anyway, so I might as well click in and take a look."

And so Duan Xinyue became one of the livestream's viewers.

She had thought she would leave before long, but unexpectedly, the first guest to appear was exactly her type.

"Holy crap, this little brother is kind of handsome..."

"Liang Meichen is actually on this show too? What kind of pull does this production team have?"

"Damn, Leming's CEO is this young? And this handsome? Tsk, tsk, those proportions are ridiculously good..."

Duan Xinyue watched with great interest, completely forgetting that she was still at work. It was not until her colleague beside her coughed that she snapped back to reality.

The moment she looked up, she met her boss's death glare.

"B-Boss!"

Duan Xinyue hurriedly put away her phone and gave her boss an awkward, guilty smile.

"If you're at work, then work properly. Have you finished everything you were assigned?"

"No... not yet..."

"Hmph..."

Her boss did not pursue the matter further. He merely snorted coldly and left with his hands behind his back. Only then did Duan Xinyue let out a breath of relief.

"Xinyue, what show were you watching just now? Recommend it to me too? I've been bored lately." asked the colleague who had just warned Duan Xinyue.

"Oh, it's a livestream variety show called... A Day to See All the Flowers, I think. Shu Menglan is in it too. I remember you've always watched the dramas she stars in."

"Thanks! I'll go check it out too."

Once Duan Xinyue finished speaking, her colleague pulled out her phone and began slacking off as well.

Seeing that her boss had not returned, Duan Xinyue continued following the livestream with a clear conscience.

When she saw the guests playing the "Paper Soldier Stand" segment, she burst out laughing. At the same time, though, she noticed Li Yu—there was no particular reason for it. Li Yu was the youngest among them, yet he was unexpectedly reliable at completing tasks. Paired with Chi Yan, the two of them were simply unstoppable.

"Holy crap, these two are kind of great together..."

The moment the thought surfaced, Duan Xinyue saw similar comments in the livestream chat.

Especially during the part where Chi Yan carried Li Yu on his back. If she had not been mindful of where she was, she would have covered her face and screamed like a groundhog.

Once she started shipping them, she instinctively began paying attention to every interaction between Li Yu and Chi Yan.

The result was that she could not stop. The more she watched, the better they seemed together, and Duan Xinyue was now completely hooked on shipping them.

However, because of work, she could not slack off all the time. Duan Xinyue could only catch the livestream now and then, waiting for the first episode to be edited before binge-watching it.

One person shipping a couple alone was bound to burst eventually, so Duan Xinyue made an online post: Who gets it?! These two guests from Flowers Under Heaven are seriously killing me!

The attached image was a screenshot she had taken of Chi Yan carrying Li Yu on his back.

After posting it, she went back to finishing her tasks, treating the post as nothing more than an ordinary little share.

But without any warning, the post gained a bit of traction. The comments were filled with people saying they shipped it too, and someone even created a Chi-Yu CP supertopic.

"After nearly two days together, I'm sure all of you have gotten to know each other a little. Now, each of you may ask the person you want one question."

Naturally, the production team could not let the guests simply eat in silence. Seeing that everyone seemed unable to find a topic, they introduced this segment.

"Ha, interesting. A truth round." Xiang Zhinan said.

"I have a question, I have a question!" Shu Menglan chuckled, then looked toward Liang Meichen. "Teacher Liang, which role you've played in the past left the deepest impression on you?"

Liang Meichen paused in the middle of picking up food and thought for a while. "The one that left the deepest impression on me? It should be Eldest Senior Sister from Phoenix Drunk on the Tides. It was the first script I ever accepted, though it was quite a long time ago. She was the kind of person who would achieve whatever goal she set for herself. In that respect, she was somewhat like me."

"Phoenix Drunk on the Tides? I used to love that one! That brings back memories. I'll rewatch it when I get back," Xiang Zhinan chimed in.

"As for my question... I want to ask Little Yu."

Caught off guard when Zhou Yanqing suddenly called his name, Li Yu was a little dazed before raising his head.

"Little Yu, what other surprises do you have that we don't know about?"

"Me?" Li Yu gave a mysterious smile. "Brother Yanqing, you'll find out in the next few episodes."

"You really can't deny it—Little Yu is the treasure boy of our team."

After Shu Menglan said that, Yu Lin nodded as well.

There really were few things Li Yu could not do; he had honed all those skills at the Transmigration Bureau. If there was one thing he completely could not do, it was probably cooking.

Not long after Li Yu's mother passed away, Li Cheng brought Li Shuhe home.

Li Yu had still been very young then, but he vaguely understood something from Li Cheng's actions. He had found it hard to accept, shutting himself in his room all day and refusing to come out, hoping to gain even a little attention from his father that way.

But Li Cheng never looked after him again, spending most of his time at the company.

Later, Li Yu learned to read the room and stopped hiding away in his own bedroom. But he would avoid Li Shuhe too, because Li Shuhe was far too mischievous and irritated him terribly.

So he often ran over to Chi Yan's house.

Chi Yan was only three years older than Li Yu, yet he was far more mature. He spent all day in the study researching books that had seemed immensely profound to the younger Li Yu.

Each time, Li Yu only brought his homework over. He would sit beside Chi Yan and work on it, and whenever he encountered something he did not understand, he could ask Chi Yan about it.

At mealtimes, Mother Chi would always keep Li Yu for dinner. He had been embarrassed at first, but later got used to it, spending more time at the Chi Family home than at his own.

Mother Chi knew some of Li Yu's circumstances and felt sorry for him. She also told Chi Yan to make sure he kept Li Yu company more often.

Mother Chi had raised Chi Yan well, or perhaps it was simply his natural talent. Even at such a young age, he had mastered many skills.

When Li Yu went to the Chi Family home for meals, Mother Chi or the housekeeper did most of the cooking. Occasionally, Mother Chi would have Chi Yan cook in order to train him.

Later, Mother Chi fell ill and returned to the Chi Family's main residence to recuperate. When Li Yu went over for meals after that, Chi Yan was always the one cooking.

"Brother Chi, your cooking is so good! I want to learn too."

Li Yu said this at the dinner table one time.

Chi Yan did not agree outright, merely replying, "Mm. I'll teach you when I have time."

Yet Chi Yan seemed to be an "extremely busy man," and Li Yu never got to see when that "when I have time" would arrive.

After that, he ate in the school cafeteria at school and had boxed meals at work. Li Yu never found another chance to learn how to cook.

It seemed that as long as he sent a single "I'm hungry" message in his WeChat chat with Chi Yan, Chi Yan could immediately make him a whole table of delicious food. Subconsciously, he came to feel that he did not need to learn how to cook.

Even after he died and began working at the Transmigration Bureau, there were staff meals. He had even less reason to learn cooking.

Still, he had always felt that the food Chi Yan cooked tasted best. Chi Yan knew his preferences perfectly.