Since it was a thank-you, he wouldn't stand on ceremony.
The thick red sauce coated every strand of noodle, even hiding the bits of meat, with shredded seaweed sprinkled all over as a garnish. It looked good...
He just didn't know how it would taste. But Lawyer Jiang's cooking should be better than the floating restaurant's.
Wen He sat at the dining table, picked up his chopsticks, and began tasting it...
The moment it entered his mouth, his mouth watered with sourness. Even his teeth felt a little chalky.
It was very sour... a little too sour.
Lawyer Jiang really liked sour food... but this was far too sour.
There was a little too much tomato sauce. Wen He ate just two mouthfuls, then picked out and ate all the bits of meat before deciding he didn't want any more. After finishing a glass of milk, he took the remaining noodles into the kitchen to rinse them again.
He could give them to Big Yellow. As long as he washed off the tomato sauce, it wouldn't count as wasting food.
Ji Chi had taught him that...
Speaking of which, he didn't seem to have checked his messages this morning either...
But his phone was upstairs, and right now he needed to feed Big Yellow.
Wen He's movements caught Jiang Ye's attention. He wanted to tell him to leave the bowl and that he would wash it himself, but seeing that there were still plenty of noodles in it, and that Wen He didn't look like he was washing dishes, he said nothing more.
Could it taste bad? It shouldn't... I'd followed the online tutorial step by step...
Seeing that he wasn't particularly interested in chatting with him either, Xie Zhengci sat back down.
Only after Wen He left did Jiang Ye remember there was still someone else here.
He took the initiative to shoulder the important task of showing him to his room.
[Lawyer Jiang makes Xiao He a loving breakfast every morning. Xiao He, when will you turn around and notice our Old Jiang... sob sob sob, this hurts so much.]
[I can't take it. Yesterday I went back through the clips and watched the voting segment again, paying special attention to that bag. It really hurts.]
[Why is it spaghetti with tomato meat sauce today? Because that's what Xiao He ate at the restaurant yesterday... Lawyer Jiang asked if he liked it, and he said yes, so today's breakfast was spaghetti with tomato meat sauce. Sob sob sob...]
[The new guest is so handsome.]
[He really is handsome, but this hurts (ó﹏ò｡)]
Wen He didn't know that these rather sour noodles had been carefully prepared for him. He simply assumed Jiang Ye liked sour food.
He tipped the rinsed noodles from the bowl into Big Yellow's enormous stainless steel food bowl.
Big Yellow was delighted to see Wen He and kept wagging his tail, but Wen He didn't linger. He was still wearing his pajamas... he couldn't get them dirty.
These were his favorite pajamas.
Ji Chi had said Big Yellow might have fleas. It wouldn't be good if they jumped onto him...
He turned back to look at Big Yellow reluctantly, gave him a pitiful look, then turned to leave, not forgetting to make him a promise.
"I'll come see you again after I change, Big Yellow."
When he returned to the living room, there was no one there, only the gift boxes on the sofa.
Wen He dutifully washed and sterilized the dishes before returning to his little room.
He knew the people in the house didn't particularly like getting up early. Even the production team didn't arrange much in the mornings.
It worked out perfectly, since he wanted to go back to his room to catch up on sleep and work on his drawings...
By the time everyone gathered in the dining room, it was around noon. The production team had prepared lunch.
It looked as though it had been ordered from a hotel, elaborate and delicately presented.
When Wen He came downstairs, everyone was already gathered around the newcomer, talking, apart from Ji Chi and Zhou Siyu, who sat some distance away.
Wen He was the last to arrive, and everyone looked at him as soon as he came downstairs.
"Wen He, this gift is for you."
Xie Zhengci stepped forward and handed him the gift box he had prepared. Seeing that everyone had one, Wen He accepted it rather than declining.
With everyone present, Wei Xun ushered them into their seats to eat.
Wen He's gaze involuntarily drifted toward Ji Chi, who was still playing a game. Everyone was about to sit down...
He was just about to go over when Zhou Siyu grabbed him, and the two sat down in a corner.
Xie Zhengci looked at Zhou Siyu, who was hiding behind Wen He, and spoke first. "Xiao Yu, are you still going to avoid me?"
His words revealed quite a lot. Earlier, when everyone had gathered around Xie Zhengci, only Zhou Siyu and Ji Chi had sat far away without speaking.
But from what he was saying now, did the two know each other? And seemed to be quite close?
For a moment, everyone looked at Zhou Siyu. Even Wen He stared quietly at him, unable to conceal the confusion in his eyes.
[These two know each other?]
[I smell gossip.]
[Things are starting to get interesting.]
Zhou Siyu explained, "Boss... good afternoon?"
That single word, "boss," made their relationship clear to everyone. He had thought that would be the end of it, but Xie Zhengci kept coming at him.
"Aren't you going to sit with me?"
Jiang Ye sat beside Xie Zhengci, with one seat still empty, while Zhou Siyu occupied the only seat next to Wen He...
At that, Zhou Siyu couldn't very well refuse again and could only rise with a smile. Seeing him stand, Jiang Ye also got up, intending to switch places with him.
In the blink of an eye, the moment Zhou Siyu stood, Ji Chi plopped down in his seat. The person who had just been sitting on the sofa had somehow already arrived beside Wen He.
Seeing this, Jiang Ye pressed his lips together, took a few awkward steps, and sat back in his original seat.
[Ah, here it comes! The legendary dating-show seating battlefield.]
[Hehehehehe~]
[Now I know why Lawyer Jiang would lose...]
[Demon Dragon fights and grabs for what he wants, while Lawyer Jiang just stays so lukewarm. It's so frustrating to watch! How are you going to compete with Demon Dragon?]
[I can see it too. Lawyer Jiang still isn't as shameless as Demon Dragon.]
Wen He tilted his head and stared at the blue diamond stud in his ear. It was dazzling.
Ji Chi gazed at his sparkling eyes and noticed he was looking at his ear.
"Like it?"
Wen He pressed his lips together and nodded gently. "It's pretty..."
Ji Chi's blue diamond really was beautiful. It had a unique shape, a blue diamond cut to resemble a tiger's head, neither too large nor too small on his earlobe. It looked as though it had been custom-made, and was utterly one of a kind.
"If you like it, I'll give it to you."
"I don't want it..."
Wen He turned away in refusal, leaving him with only his cute profile.
Ji Chi draped an arm over the back of his chair, his fingertips tracing up his neck to touch the small earlobe hidden beneath his black hair.
It was bare, with no piercing.
The sudden touch made Wen He start, a shudder running through his whole body. The sensation shot up from his tailbone...
Wen He turned to look at him with annoyance in his eyes. Ji Chi quietly withdrew his hand, pretending he knew nothing.
But Wen He knew what he had done, and his voice was a little displeased. "You can't just touch people wherever you want. That's not right...!"
His voice was quiet, and the others couldn't hear their whispers.
Wen He hadn't lowered his voice out of concern for himself. He was afraid that, if it hadn't been intentional, saying it loudly would make the others think Ji Chi was a creep... then everyone would hate him.
Ji Chi already didn't get along well with the others in the house. He couldn't let him be isolated.
Being isolated didn't feel good at all...
He didn't want Ji Chi to be isolated.
[? What did I just see?]
[What are these two whispering about?]
[Guys, give me a few minutes. I'm going to rewind and study this scene closely.]