Wen Jiu: ...Fuck!
[Hahahaha, a hen~]
[Lmao, wifey's getting triggered]
[Enough cock talk, civilized people don't say cock, okay? [doge]]
[Wen Jiu: okay, okay, okay, so that's how we're playing this]
Bored after finishing his cleaning, Wen Jiu caught the hen. "Who would've thought? You've got a bit of beauty to you."
The little yellow dog rubbed against his trouser leg, wanting him to put the hen down.
Wen Jiu poked the hen's fluffy belly. "I really don't understand the point of raising this thing, what it's good for, or which part tastes best."
[I knew nothing decent would come out of this little shit's mouth]
[I don't understand either. What's the point of watching wifey, what does it do for us, and where's wifey's most sensitive spot?]
[Damn, you've really mastered the art of words]
[You'll have to ask President Feng. He definitely knows]
The leisurely afternoon passed just like that, cheerful and uneventful. Wen Jiu learned how the other two teams were doing from the cameraman. The Double Jade Husbands were still in first place, while Shen Huaian, held back by the novice Lin Shuheng and constantly on the verge of arguing with him, barely managed second.
Wen Jiu: "??? We're last?"
They hadn't even had any work to do!
Holding back laughter, the cameraman pointed pityingly at the courtyard behind him. "The second team finished their work while you were sweeping."
Wen Jiu: fine.
It had been a long time since anyone had played chess with him for so long, and Old Wang still hadn't quite had his fill when they stopped. Slowly putting away the pieces, he asked Feng Chi, "You were going easy on me the whole time, weren't you?"
Feng Chi lowered his head modestly. "No."
Old Wang didn't argue with him. "Stay for dinner before you leave?"
Feng Chi looked at Wen Jiu, who had just run back from the cameraman. Wen Jiu excitedly raised his hand. "I'll chop the vegetables!"
Feng Chi smiled too, nodding to Grandpa Wang. "Sorry for the trouble, then."
Old Wang was delighted.
Feng Chi took charge of cooking that evening. Old Wang sat by the stove tending the fire, looking rather surprised as he watched the man handle the fish with ease. "You really know how?"
He had thought the young man was only saying it.
After all, he didn't look like someone who would ever get cooking fumes on him.
Feng Chi glanced at Wen Jiu, his voice level. "Yes."
Old Wang picked up on something. "Learned for your sweetheart?"
Wen Jiu's knife paused in the middle of pounding garlic, and he pricked up his ears.
He had been shocked too when the big shot said he would cook, okay? Given everything the big shot had, when would he ever need to cook with his own hands?
He'd most likely learned to impress a girl!
Like giving her a lovingly prepared lunch back in school...
Wen Jiu wasn't so full of himself that he would assume Feng Chi had learned for him. After all, judging by how practiced Feng Chi was, he was clearly an old hand in the kitchen.
When the big shot had been learning, he'd probably still been flying everywhere for work.
Wen Jiu pursed his lips. After hearing the man's smiling "Yes," he went chop, chop, chop, turning the minced garlic straight into paste.
Old Wang called out, "Oh my! What's wrong, Xiao Wen? Don't chop this old man's cutting board to pieces. I'll have to go into town to buy another if you break it."
The chopping stopped. Wen Jiu had nothing to do but didn't want to go outside, so he could only keep slowly grinding away with the knife.
Feng Chi tipped the greens into the hot oil and stir-fried them, the smile on his face growing more pronounced.
Old Wang's gaze traveled between the two young men. He beckoned to the awkward kid by the cutting board. "Come on, warm yourself by the fire."
The corner of Wen Jiu's mouth twitched.
Warm himself by the fire in long sleeves? Wasn't it hot enough already?
Still, he carried over a little folding stool and dawdled his way into sitting beside the old man.
The old man leaned over. "Who upset you? Why the sour face?"
Wen Jiu froze. Did he look that sour right now?
Wen Jiu had always been excellent at managing his expressions, good enough to earn everyone's praise onstage.
Even when something disgusting happened, he could smile and make finger hearts while unleashing a barrage, which had once earned him the joking nickname online of "the handsome face that never cracks."
This was the first time anyone had come right up to him and said he looked sour.
Unconvinced, Wen Jiu huffed. "I do not."
Feng Chi chuckled.
Wen Jiu bristled, and Old Wang hurriedly held him down. "Hey, hey, what's all this, what's all this? Young man, don't get worked up at every little thing."
Wen Jiu couldn't sit still, as though there were needles on his stool. "What are you laughing at?"
Feng Chi calmly worked the wok, soothing the brat with a single sentence. "My sweetheart likes fish head with sizzling chilies."
Wen Jiu: ???
"Likes stir-fried pork with chilies, cold tripe salad, abalone with glass noodles..." The man reeled off over a dozen dishes in one breath, then added, "And hot pot. The extra-spicy kind."
Wen Jiu listened quietly to the end, still not quite satisfied.
Hmph, that was all?
Old Wang smacked his lips. "Your sweetheart... has rather strong tastes."
"Yes, a little. He likes dessert after spicy food, too. He likes pretty much any kind of cake, but they're high in calories, so his manager usually won't let him have any."
Feng Chi finished with a smile, then added, "That's why I wanted to learn, so I could secretly make them for him later."
Old Wang glanced at the brat beside him. He had stopped fussing and was curled up on his little stool, the firelight casting a reddish glow over his delicate face.
If the cameraman had been in the kitchen, the livestream comments would probably have gone wild again.
Old Wang sucked in a breath, thoroughly overwhelmed by the sweetness. "Oh my, romance really is for the young."
Feng Chi only smiled.
Old Wang added, "You're tall and handsome, and you take such good care of people. Your sweetheart must be completely smitten."
"I don't know. My sweetheart doesn't seem to like me yet." Feng Chi dished up the greens, his tone seemingly bitter. "He doesn't like men."
For no reason, a trace of bitterness rose in Wen Jiu's heart as he listened.
"Ah, life is only a hundred short years. You have no freedom before you're grown, and no ability once you're old. In the end, you only have a few decades of life you can control yourself. You're living it either way, so why not live happily?"
Those words made Wen Jiu look over.
"You don't need to be so rigid about gender, either. If you like someone, pursue them. If you want something, work to reach it. If you get it, you've got what it takes. If you don't, it wasn't meant to be. There's nothing to worry about."
"My wife passed away early, ten years ago. She fell seriously ill, and they couldn't cure her. Left me all alone."
Old Wang tossed a handful of firewood into the stove, hugging his knees and rocking slowly. "It hurt me too. When I couldn't bear it, I wanted to go with her. Old Liu brought a puppy over from the village, with such watery eyes. My heart softened, and I kept her."
Wen Jiu asked in a muffled voice, "Then this one..."
"Hers. He's three."
Wen Jiu fell silent.
Feng Chi scooped a spoonful of lard into the wok to heat as Old Wang said, "Maybe it was heaven's will. She happened to have a male puppy. He should be able to keep me company through the last stretch."
Wen Jiu said stiffly, "You'll definitely live to a hundred."
Old Wang smiled and waved his hand. "No need to live to a hundred. Just being safe and happy every year is enough."
That was true. Wen Jiu scratched his head. "Then do you have any children?"
Old Wang shook his head cheerfully, utterly at ease. "My wife's health wasn't suited to having children, so we didn't have any when we were young."
After saying that, he tried persuading Wen Jiu again. "Look, aren't I doing just fine now? That's why I say, there's no need to be so rigid about gender."
Wen Jiu was still struggling. "But girls are really cute..."
"I never said girls weren't cute." Old Wang didn't understand. "Wait, are you that sweetheart who doesn't like boys... mmph!"
In his panic, Wen Jiu overstepped and clapped a hand over Old Wang's mouth, then apologized repeatedly once he realized what he'd done.
"N-no, I'm not!"
Understanding dawned on Old Wang. "Oh, so you like men too."
"No, no!" Wen Jiu was so flustered his face turned red. "I don't!"
Old Wang nodded, certain. "So you're the sweetheart President Feng was talking about!"
Wen Jiu: ...Fuck, was there no getting out of this loop?
Yet, put that way, Wen Jiu's sour, stifled mood inexplicably lifted.
He turned his head to watch the fire in the stove, his lips unconsciously curving into a smile he didn't notice.
The old man glanced at the other man, his smile sly and wicked.