"Looks like this time really is different." Shen Wei looked at Shen Xunye, all smiles. "I actually saw eagerness on your face."
Shen Xunye raised a hand to touch his face. "...Did you?"
So wanting to see Chi Li made him impatient?
Shen Wei didn't answer directly. Instead, she asked, "What if I wanted you to stay and have lunch with me before leaving?"
Shen Xunye smiled. "I don't think you'd make yourself miserable."
"Haha." Not the least bit annoyed, Shen Wei stood up instead. "Come on. I know a restaurant nearby with really good food."
"No. I can't eat while looking at your face." Shen Xunye showed no intention of moving.
Chi Li was still waiting for his ingredients so he could cook.
"I'm not asking you to eat with me." Shen Wei watched the subtle shifts in Shen Xunye's expression with interest. "I'm telling you to get takeout and eat it with Chi Li."
Shen Xunye's brows drew together slightly. "..."
"Everything tastes like pigswill to you, but he's different." Shen Wei continued persuading him. "To please someone, you can't just do what he asks. You need to give him extra surprises, too."
When Shen Xunye returned to the Raising House carrying a large bag of things, Chi Li was wearing a sun hat and playing with a puppy in the yard.
The dog was called Chestnut, a little yellow native dog.
A former Raising House member had picked him up by the roadside and brought him back during an activity in the countryside.
Later, the person had moved out of the Raising House, but the dog had stayed.
"Chi Li," Shen Xunye called out. "I'm back."
[So you still remembered to come back, you scoundrel.]
[Only your second day here and you already dare to leave "out" on your personal channel all day. Bro, you're invincible.]
[Sorry, with that face, he really can do whatever he wants.]
[My screen gets clean whenever this guy appears. Any idea why? [slurp]]
[Screen-licking is prohibited in this livestream.]
[Those bulging veins on his forearm are totally husband material... [drool] Feels like he could pick Chi Li up with one hand.]
[Hmm... perfect for a hard pounding.]
[Girl, it's daytime. Can we rein it in?]
Hearing his voice, Chi Li first looked up, then lowered his head to stroke the puppy's chin. Only after teasing him another two or three times did he stand and go over.
"You're so late..." he complained quietly. "Xie Weishui's using the kitchen. I'll have to cook later."
"No need to wait. I brought lunch back for you." Shen Xunye led Chi Li inside. "We can use the ingredients tonight or tomorrow."
"You know what's up, huh?" Chi Li jogged a couple of steps and reached for the bags in his hands. "Let me carry one."
"This little bit of stuff?" Shen Xunye looked at Chi Li with a half smile. "I could carry you along with it."
"Tch, I don't believe you."
"I could pick someone like you up with one hand. Want to try?" Shen Xunye cocked an eyebrow.
Chi Li recalled being held firmly under his control last night, and suddenly felt a faint ache at the tops of his thighs.
"...No."
[Why do they feel like an old married couple? Isn't this only their second day knowing each other?]
[Night Ashes Dawn, hehe, Night Ashes Dawn...]
[They already have a ship name? Seriously? [blank stare]]
[Of course it's real.]
[From the ashes of a night burned away, dawn is born. It symbolizes the end of a dark past, and new hope arriving because of each other.]
[Damn, where did this literary genius come from? I just bang my head down and ship it.]
Shen Xunye set several large bags on the dining table, then placed the bag containing lunch separately to one side and gestured to Chi Li:
"Open this one. I'll put everything in the fridge, then come eat with you."
Chi Li pulled out a chair and sat down, drawing the insulated food bag toward him. The Yanhua Grand Hotel logo was printed on it.
...It seemed to be a very famous five-star hotel.
Neither surprised nor inclined to think further, Chi Li opened the bag with his usual expression.
Inside were four large insulated containers and two small boxes of rice.
Chi Li arranged them on the table and picked up the slip of paper on one of the insulated containers.
"Golden broth sea urchin and qilin-cut coral grouper," he read aloud. "Step one: fillet the coral grouper and cut it into qilin slices... Is this trying to teach me?"
Uninterested, Chi Li tossed the slip aside and picked up another. "Clear Angus beef broth with dried tangerine peel, fish maw, and lily bulbs, also known as 'A decade's resonance, an amber glow.'"
"Pine winds brew the mountain moon-mountain bamboo shoots stuffed with black truffle and morels, braised."
"The east grows light, rich fragrance gathers-French duck leg confit."
"They really went all out." Only after reading both the plain and poetic names of all four dishes did Chi Li start opening the insulated containers.
[I was going to order the same takeout as wifey and eat along, but I looked it up and nearly fainted at the price.]
[You could tell from those names alone that they weren't messing around, okay?]
[Yanhua Grand Hotel, 5,800 per person, and even then you can't eat there without a reservation... Shen Xunye, which family's young master are you, descending to experience ordinary life? [smile]]
[His livestream went dark for over an hour yesterday, and the forum was already guessing he had connections... Didn't think it was actually true?]
[True, my ass. He's just spending big to build a persona. Yanhua might be expensive, but it's not like they check your assets before letting you eat there.]
[Fair point... The "rich young master" persona might cost a lot to establish, but if it takes off, it's a business guaranteed to turn a profit. That persona really is popular now.]
[Use your brains and think. If he really had money, wouldn't anywhere be better than the Raising House?]
[Stop analyzing. Everyone, follow my command! Open the budget group-order meal that just arrived and enjoy lunch with my wife.]
"This meal must've been pretty expensive, right?" Chi Li opened the cutlery box and passed Shen Xunye a pair of chopsticks.
"No idea. My sister paid." Shen Xunye ladled a small bowl of soup for Chi Li. "She said this place was good."
"It really is." Chi Li bit through the tender bamboo shoot in his mouth and said softly to the camera, "Thank you, big sis."
Shen Xunye let the fish melt in his mouth. "What about me?"
"Thanks for carrying it back, too." Chi Li picked up his phone. "How much did the shopping come to? I'll transfer it to you."
"No idea." Shen Xunye wouldn't concern himself with that. "No need to pay me."
Chi Li didn't stand on ceremony either. "Then I'll cook for you to pay off the debt."
"You can cook, too?" Gao Yuan sat down opposite them, carrying the takeout he had just collected. "Would I have the honor of trying some?"
"Mm..." Chi Li nodded as he ate. "Of course. Just don't expect too much. My cooking is only edible."
"Don't worry, I'm not picky." Gao Yuan happily unpacked his takeout.
Halfway through the meal, an uninvited guest arrived.
Zhou Yang set a plate of stir-fried pork at the other end of the dining table and craned his neck to look toward Chi Li.
"Eating takeout every day isn't good for you." He hadn't seen exactly what Chi Li was eating, but deliberately raised his voice. "Chi Li-why don't you say a few nice things to me? I'll have my senior make some extra and let you mooch a meal."