Do You Like Me?

"Tonight, we're having barbecue." Once he saw that Shen Rui'an was no longer coughing, Su Tingbai turned and picked up the skewered meat and vegetables on the serving plate. "We'll grill in the courtyard. Go sit down first."

As a food influencer, Su Tingbai's kitchen was open-plan, connected to the island counter and dining table. The rectangular table could seat seven or eight people, but he found it inconvenient for grilling and not very attractive on video, so he preferred using the outdoor table. The smoke dispersed faster that way.

More importantly, his villa was built halfway up the mountain. Sitting at the open-air table outside, they could see the mountain scenery. Grilling while admiring the view was immensely relaxing.

There was no need to worry about mosquitoes, either. He had planted plenty of mosquito-repelling flowers in the courtyard and installed several pest-control devices, so there usually were no bites.

By the time they reached the courtyard, the sun still had a lingering glow. The distant mountains were dyed crimson, breathtakingly beautiful from afar.

After sunset, the mountain temperature dropped sharply, and the mountain breeze made even summer feel refreshing. It was a pleasant temperature for Su Tingbai, but for someone as frail as Shen Rui'an, who wore long sleeves even in summer, would it be too cold?

Su Tingbai set down the serving plate, went to fetch a thin jacket, and turned around to find his team members fussing over Shen Rui'an.

Little Zhu raised the taro paste boba milk tea in his hand. "Young Master Shen, do you want to try this? It's delicious!"

"My mango pomelo sago is pretty good too. Want a taste?" A-Ming shook the milk tea in his hand.

"Young Master Shen, can you eat spicy food? When we have barbecue later, it tastes even better dipped in dry seasoning! I'm not just flattering the boss—his cooking is seriously amazing! Um, could I take a photo with you? It's my first time seeing someone this good-looking in my life." Meng Meng asked somewhat shyly.

In her line of work, she had seen countless handsome men and beautiful women, but Shen Rui'an's beauty still stood out above the rest.

Yes, beauty.

Meng Meng had only one word to describe Shen Rui'an: beautiful!

It was not a delicate, feminine kind of beauty, nor was he androgynous. One glance made it clear he was a man, yet the moment she saw Shen Rui'an, her mind forgot everything except the words breathtakingly beautiful.

Meng Meng felt that no one else could possibly possess Shen Rui'an's sickly, delicate aura and face. Looking at him made people want to cherish him; even she felt tenderhearted at the sight of him.

If they were talking about handsome, Su Tingbai was the truly handsome one. He was tall and broad, with powerful shoulders and a narrow waist, and his face was strikingly handsome in a distinctly masculine way.

Shen Rui'an rarely met strangers apart from the Shen Household and medical staff, but everyone reacted this way upon seeing him. He was used to it.

He took another sip of fruit tea through the straw and shook his head. "Thank you, but this is good enough."

He lifted the fruit tea and gave it a small shake. His eyes were brighter than the Big Dipper already visible in the sky.

Little Zhu and the others' hearts softened at the sight.

Su Tingbai felt a little sour as he watched. Why were these people so annoying? Why had he never seen them act so attentive toward him? Yet they were being this enthusiastic with Shen Xiaoyao?

He walked over sullenly, squeezed aside Little Zhu, who was standing closest, and draped the jacket over Shen Rui'an's shoulders. "It's cold after dark. Put this on. What do you want to eat? I prepared a lot."

As he spoke, he placed some pork belly onto the grill. There were also some skewers beside it, beef paired with pineapple, which tasted refreshing and cut through the richness.

Shen Rui'an looked at the veins slightly bulging on Su Tingbai's arm. He held a pair of tong-like clips in his hand, turning the pieces of meat, and for a moment Shen Rui'an did not know what he should be looking at.

He really liked food.

He also liked looking at muscles.

Perhaps because he had always been sickly and weak, Shen Rui'an was very thin. Only because the Shen Household had carefully nourished him did he have a little flesh on his bones, rather than looking utterly emaciated.

Yet even putting this little bit of weight on him had been extremely difficult. His illness had drastically reduced his appetite, and often he could barely eat anything. He forced himself to eat purely to meet his body's needs, so he watched food livestreams while eating to help himself consume a little more.

But that was all. He was not thin enough to look gaunt, but compared to ordinary young men, he was still exceptionally slender. Because of that, he had little strength and was short of breath; even speaking loudly felt exhausting.

That was why he envied the men with abs on Douyin. Since he did not have them himself, he admired others who did. Thanks to the algorithm, his personal account mostly showed muscular heartthrobs and food livestreams.

When he looked at people, he was instinctively drawn to their physiques as well.

Su Tingbai's arm was like the so-called qilin arm... It felt like one punch from him could kill a cow.

Perhaps Shen Rui'an had been staring too intently, his gaze too obvious. Su Tingbai turned his head and caught him looking directly at him.

Shen Rui'an hurriedly looked away.

Su Tingbai glanced at his own arm and raised a brow. Was this... liking him?

Su Tingbai had always known he was very handsome. He knew his own strengths well. Back when he was in the military, even in a barracks full of men, several men had confessed to him. He was not insensitive to feelings between men.

After retiring from the military, plenty of men and women had clung to him and pursued him. He was only able to avoid being surrounded by admirers because he had hidden away in the deep mountains to become a food blogger.

Even so, there were still plenty of people confessing to him in his comments and private messages. He could not even be bothered to read them.

He had not expected Shen Xiaoyao to like him too.

Tsk.

Su Tingbai shook his head inwardly. He had no interest in dating. Making a few more meals was far more appealing.

"Sizzle—" The pork belly on the grill browned and released a fragrant aroma. Shen Rui'an's attention was immediately drawn over. He stared unblinkingly at the meat, looking a little hungry.

Su Tingbai's movements were mechanical. He was still lost in thought.

"Boss, what are you thinking about? The meat's about to burn!" Little Zhu could not help reminding him.

Shen Rui'an was frantic. After hearing Little Zhu's reminder, he closed his mouth, which had been on the verge of speaking, then could not resist glaring at Su Tingbai. This chef was far too careless. How could he treat the ingredients in his hands like this? Wasn't he a food expert?

Su Tingbai came back to his senses and saw that the barbecue was slightly burnt. He quickly flipped it over, then turned and met Shen Rui'an's gaze. Had Shen Rui'an just shot him a reproachful look?

Did he like him?

Su Tingbai felt helpless. What was he supposed to do? He had only promised his grandfather to take care of Shen Xiaoyao for a while. He had never planned to commit the rest of his life.

Su Tingbai looked at Shen Rui'an as if he wanted to speak but held back. Shen Rui'an met his complicated expression with a blank, innocent look.

Shen Rui'an:?

"You... forget it. This meat is ready. What kind of dry seasoning do you like? Can you eat spicy food?" Facing Shen Rui'an's dark, innocent eyes, Su Tingbai could not bring himself to say anything. He took out the meat, cut it into pieces with scissors, carefully selected the best portions, and placed them before Shen Rui'an. Then he brought over several dipping sauces.

Shen Rui'an stared solemnly at the several dipping dishes in front of him, as though he were contemplating some great question of life.

Which one should he eat?

Just then, Meng Meng looked at her phone and said, "Boss, since we're free anyway, why don't we make up for this morning's livestream?"

Food livestreams were supposed to be updated in the middle of the night for the proper atmosphere!

Su Tingbai nodded indifferently, and Little Zhu and A-Ming began setting up the livestream camera angles so they would not miss the food.

Shen Rui'an tilted his head slightly as he watched the few of them busy themselves, at a bit of a loss.

Su Tingbai pulled him into a seat and personally mixed several spicy and non-spicy dipping sauces and dry seasonings for him. "Try them. I didn't make them too spicy. If you can't eat spicy food, try the other two."