Yan Heqing was still carrying the paper bag. The maid tried to take it from him, but Yan Heqing smiled and shook his head. The maid returned the smile and didn't move.
The sound of the entryway door closing echoed, and a moment later, Lu Lin entered.
He'd taken off his coat and scarf, leaving only a light brown pinstripe shirt. As he walked, he unbuttoned his cuffs. Lu Ruchan held up a small potted plant. " A-Lin, look at the gift Xiao Heqing gave me! It's so beautiful!"
Lu Lin looked at the potted bluebird.
They are indeed very beautiful.
He took off his watch, glanced at the time—it was past eight—placed it on the storage tray on the side table, and walked towards the dining room. "Let's eat."
Lu Ruchan was still reluctant to put it down, turning it over and over to look at it for a long time before finally putting it down.
Suddenly, she winked mysteriously at Yan Heqing, "I also prepared a small gift for you; it's on the dining table."
When they arrived at the dining table, Yan Heqing realized that the gift was a dish—pineapple shrimp fritters.
The maid smiled and said, "This dish was made by the madam herself. The last time she cooked was ten years ago."
Lu Ruchan smiled and shook her head, "I didn't do it all. I couldn't stand up, so I prepared the ingredients and mixed them at the end. The rest was done by the chef."
She looked at Yan Heqing, " A-Lin said you don't eat anything too sweet, so this dish isn't sweet; it's sweet and sour."
Yan Heqing knew this dish; it was on Xie Yunjie's wedding banquet menu. It was simple to make, but the preparation process was troublesome, requiring the shrimp paste to be stuffed into each segment of fried dough stick. It was especially popular with children.
Surprisingly, the other dishes were all home-style cooking, not an exaggeration.
Asparagus in broth, braised pork belly with abalone, steamed beef short ribs, cucumber blossom salad with tea tree mushrooms, braised shrimp with abalone, coconut pork rib soup, baked chicken with wine, scrambled eggs, pan-fried thinly marinated yellow croaker, braised pork ribs with chestnuts, and stir-fried rice cake with blue crab.
There's also a pot of mint and mung bean soup.
The maid poured a glass, Lu Ruchan served it to Yan Heqing first. She looked Yan Heqing up and down, "Eat more meat, you're too thin."
Using serving chopsticks, he first picked up a large piece of beef rib and placed it on Yan Heqing's plate.
Yan Heqing looked at the mint and mung bean soup. Apart from his hometown, he had almost never seen mint added to mung bean soup in other places.
He picked up his cup and drank half of it in one gulp. Lu Ruchan spoke first, "Do you like it? This is a recipe from my hometown. It's especially good for cutting through greasiness, perfect for summer and Chinese New Year."
Yan Heqing asked, "Isn't your hometown in the capital?"
"No, my ancestral home is in the south. It's just that I've always been in poor health; I get sick if I travel by car for more than half an hour, so I can't travel far." Lu Ruchan sighed softly. "I've never been able to go back, but A-Lin has been twice."
Lu Lin's maternal grandparents passed away one after another, their last wish being to return to their roots and be buried together in their hometown. Lu Lin personally handled both of these arrangements.
Yan Heqing gripped his chopsticks and picked up a beef rib. Just then, another pair of serving chopsticks landed on his plate.
It's a fried dough stick stuffed with shrimp paste.
Then came another piece of pineapple.
Yan Heqing looked up, and Lu Lin calmly put away the serving chopsticks. "I tried it, it's not too sweet."
Last time in Lu Lin's office, he mentioned that the shredded pork with sweet bean sauce was too sweet.
Yan Heqing silently gnawed on the beef ribs, then picked up a fried dough stick, coated it with the prepared salad dressing with condensed milk. The sweetness was just right, the fried dough stick was crisp, the shrimp paste was fresh and sweet, and with the addition of sweet and sour pineapple, it was indeed appetizing and delicious.
He then pinched it several more times.
After dinner, as usual, Lu Ruchan prepared to rest.
She was unusually happy today, so she extended the time by two hours.
She especially enjoyed listening to Yan Heqing speak; the young man's voice was clear and resonant, with a calm and unhurried quality that was very pleasant to listen to.
Yan Heqing knew that Lu Ruchan had been recuperating in the mountains for decades and rarely had contact with the outside world, so he told Lu Ruchan some of his experiences from when he was working, embellishing them slightly.
Lu Lin went to the kitchen and came out shortly afterward with a fruit platter.
Lu Ruchan couldn't eat fruit after dinner, so her plate was full of blueberries.
Lu Ruchan listened intently, and when she came to her senses, it was almost midnight. Lu Ruchan murmured, "Another year has passed."
Her voice was very low, Yan Heqing didn't hear it clearly. He moved closer and asked, "What did you say?"
A smile appeared in Lu Ruchan's eyes. She gently took Yan Heqing's hand, clasped it with both of hers, and said with a loving expression, "I said there will be New Year's fireworks at 12 o'clock, for a full ten minutes."
"There's an unobstructed spot in the garden that's the best place to watch the fireworks. Every year, people want to pay to come up here to watch. I'll have A-Lin take you there later."
She patted Yan Heqing's hand, withdrew it, and smiled slightly, "I'm sleepy, I'm going back to my room to rest."
Lu Lin offered to take her back to her room, Lu Ruchan maneuvered the wheelchair herself, saying, "It's only a short distance, I can manage. You should stay with Xiao Heqing."
Lu Ruchan went back to her room, and the living room became quiet.
There was already faint movement outside the floor-to-ceiling window; it was almost 12 o'clock.
Lu Lin strode out, "Let's go."
Yan Heqing got up, picked up the paper bag, and followed Lu Lin out.
Chapter 47
The snow outside has stopped.
Directly in front of the villa garden is a large lawn, with a waist-high fence and withered rose vines twining around the wooden latticework, overlooking the distant twinkling lights.
It's a small town some distance from the foot of the mountain, with a small permanent population, but it hosts a New Year's fireworks show every year, attracting many citizens from the city center to watch the fireworks on New Year's Eve.
The crunching sound of footsteps on snow came from behind him, and Lu Lin turned his head.
Only one lamp was lit in front of the villa; the garden was dimly lit. Yan Heqing was wearing a coat and a scarf wrapped tightly around his neck. He kept his eyes downcast and walked slowly.
His shoes were slippery.
Yan Heqing quickly approached, and Lu Lin withdrew his gaze. A thin layer of snow had accumulated on the railing. He raised his hand and calmly pushed the snow in front of him away, silently removing it all.
His fingers were icy cold; he withdrew them behind him.
At this moment, Yan Heqing arrived, but instead of setting up a fence, he stood next to Lu Lin, sighed softly, tilted his head, and smiled, saying, " Mr. Lu, do you come here to watch the fireworks every year?"
"No." Lu Lin also looked back at Yan Heqing. He was eight centimeters taller than Yan Heqing and lowered his head slightly. "I'm not interested in these things. What about you? Do you like them?"
With a slight flutter of her eyelashes, Yan Heqing's eyes curved into a smile. "It's not a matter of liking or disliking, but beautiful things are always pleasing to the eye."