The takeout arrived quickly.
Before Ding Ding had finished the steamed bun in his hand, a knock came at the door.
Two portions of macaroni and cheese, plus some fried snacks, all neatly packaged by the restaurant. The containers were still warm, and the cheese stretched in strings when he stirred it with a fork.
Normally, Ding Ding would not even have glanced at something so sweet and rich. This time, he treated it as indulging a child.
"Eat up."
Ding Ding carefully opened the lid, unwrapped the cutlery, and pushed it toward Bai Congming, only for the boy to turn pale with shock, spring to his feet, and stare at him with wide eyes.
"...What?"
"Ge," Bai Congming said, pressing his lips into a line, "you eat bugs?"
The plump white macaroni in the container looked just like the fat grubs occasionally found at the Flower Nursery. The cheese coating them was the slime oozing from their bodies-a whole bowl piled high with bug corpses.
But the smell in the air was delicious. Bai Congming could not help swallowing, though he still held to his principles.
"Little Bai will give you steamed buns. Don't eat bugs!"
Ding Ding did not know whether to laugh or cry. Under that astonished gaze, he took a bite and chewed vigorously.
"They're not bugs. They're macaroni."
"...Pasta?"
Still a little shaken, Bai Congming edged back to the coffee table and tentatively poked it with his fork. It was firm.
"Try some? It's sweet."
At Ding Ding's words, Bai Congming licked his lips, closed his eyes, and took a bite.
"See? I didn't lie, did I?" Ding Ding raised an eyebrow at him. "Is it good?"
"It's good!" Bai Congming bobbed his head as he ate. "Sweet!"
The pleasure of feeding someone surpassed that