Cooking

Inside Jusheng Restaurant, in a private room on the second floor by the window, Yan Yue looked quietly at Yan Huan and Yan Yicheng across from her. Under normal circumstances, she would have been very willing to have a meal with them and chat for a while.

But this time, it was obvious they had come to plead their case.

“Sis, Grandpa is much calmer now. Mom and Dad bring you up from time to time too; they still think of you,” Yan Yicheng said.

Since taking over Yan Group, Yan Yicheng’s growth had been obvious to all. Sitting across from her now, he looked more mature, and his bearing was much steadier.

As a sister, she had always been a failure.

“Sis, it’s been so long since our family had a meal together,” Yan Huan said softly. She couldn’t even remember when they had last sat down together for a peaceful meal.

The server brought out the dishes one by one, then left.

“Sis, I’ve already talked to Mom, Dad, and Grandpa. They absolutely won’t force you to do anything ever again. You can do whatever you want, like whatever you like. As long as… you don’t treat the family like outsiders anymore,” Yan Yicheng said.

Yan Yue said nothing. She took the two peeled shrimp in her hand and placed them, one by one, into their bowls, then took off her gloves.

“The shrimp here are pretty good. Try them.”

“Sis…”

“You should know that if I don’t want to do something, no amount of pleading will work. So let’s eat first.” Yan Yue smiled.

Yan Huan and Yan Yicheng exchanged a helpless glance. In the end, neither of them said anything more and quietly ate. Yan Yue glanced up at them, then slowly withdrew her gaze.

As she helped them with their dishes, she said softly, “I have something to do tomorrow. The day after tomorrow, then.”

The two people across from her immediately perked up, their eyes bright with disbelief as they looked at Yan Yue.

“Sis, eat, eat. Love you best, Sis,” Yan Huan said excitedly.

When she got home, Yan Yue first changed into a pale pink set of loungewear, then sat on the sofa, turned on the TV, pulled over a thin blanket, lay down, and covered herself with it.

The living room was quiet and cold. The laughter and chatter from the television didn’t make her feel lively at all; instead, it only made her feel that she and those people belonged to two different worlds, and no matter how funny it was, it would never reach her side.

She let out a long breath, and fatigue gradually surged up. Before long, she was asleep.

The sleep was far from peaceful. In the dream, many people and things appeared; she chased after them desperately, but could never catch up. She could only watch them recede, disappearing into an endless darkness.

The abyss closed in on her, about to swallow her whole, when the ringtone of her phone gradually became clear from the haze. She slowly opened her eyes; glaring light filled her vision.

Reaching for the phone at hand, she glanced at the caller and relaxed her brow. “Qin Qingyan?”

Realizing her voice was hoarse, Yan Yue coughed lightly and cleared her throat.

“What’s wrong with your voice? Is your throat uncomfortable?” the person on the other end asked immediately.

Yan Yue sat up. The words on her lips were swallowed back; instead, she said, “Mm. Too many things to deal with. I’m a little tired.”

She wanted to hear how Qin Qingyan would answer.

“Then… did I disturb your rest just now?” Qin Qingyan asked, half guessing, half certain.

Yan Yue gave a soft laugh. Her pleasant voice took on a faintly seductive quality over the phone.

“It’s fine. It wasn’t a good dream anyway. I’m awake now.” Yan Yue paused. “What did you call me for?”

“Nothing. If you’re tired, rest first. I won’t disturb you anymore.”

After Yan Yue hung up, she found it was already past four in the afternoon; she had actually slept that long. But right now, she didn’t feel like moving at all. She’d lie here and gather herself for a bit first.

A text message came in.

She picked it up and saw it was from Qin Qingyan, asking whether she had eaten. After thinking for a moment, she replied truthfully that she hadn’t, then stared at the phone for a long while.

The other side seemed to be hesitating. Three or four minutes later, another message came through: I’ll come up and find you?

Come up?

“You’re downstairs?” Yan Yue asked.

“Mm. Passing by.”

Passing by?

At the very least, it took half an hour by car from here to the place where she and Su Yan lived; even walking wouldn’t get someone this far.

It was such an obvious lie. Qin Qingyan knew Yan Yue would know she was lying, yet she still said it. The sky had already darkened; several lights had been switched on early. She waited outside the residential complex, carefully making out the men and women moving about inside.

Very soon, she spotted a familiar figure. Yan Yue said something to the security guard, and the red rope blocking the entrance was lifted away.

The air carried a touch of coolness; not cold, just comfortable.

Yan Yue hadn’t changed clothes on purpose; she was still in that pale pink set of loungewear. Her hair was loosely tied into a low ponytail, with a lot of stray strands falling around her forehead.

Qin Qingyan felt unexpectedly moved by the sight of her. She was used to Yan Yue’s impeccable attire, so the pink made her look quite a bit younger; the low ponytail was also something she had never seen before, giving off a very unusual feeling.

Noticing the slippers on her feet and the white ankles visible with each step, Qin Qingyan asked, “You’re not wearing socks?”

“Lazy. Just going downstairs; it only takes a few minutes,” Yan Yue said.

Once they were in the elevator, with the distance between them suddenly close, Yan Yue seemed to notice something and studied Qin Qingyan from head to toe.

“You seem to have grown a lot taller?” she asked.

“Huh? Oh, I guess so. Su Su said that too.”

“How tall are you now?”

“171.”

Yan Yue fell silent for a moment. After thinking it over, she didn’t say anything else.

“You…” Qin Qingyan had just begun when Yan Yue shot her a glare, so she laughed and shut her mouth.

Actually, she knew.

During the filming of White Whale, she had gone through Yan Yue’s Baidu profile over and over; she couldn’t even count how many times.

After entering, they changed into slippers and sat down on the sofa.

“Want something to drink?” Yan Yue asked, looking at the limited selection in the fridge.

“Do you have milk?”

Yan Yue breathed a sigh of relief. Grateful that there happened to be a bottle of Wangzai, she took it out and handed it to her, while she herself poured a cup of tea. As she poured, she said, “You like milk? No wonder you grew so fast.”

“Milk is good. You can drink some every day too,” Qin Qingyan said.

“No need. At my age, even if I get puffy from drinking water, I still might not grow another centimeter.” Yan Yue smiled.

Qin Qingyan’s expression dimmed a little at that, and she said softly, “You’re not that old.”

Tomorrow she would be nineteen. Yan Yue was six years older than her, but even so, she was only twenty-five.

Twenty-five…

In just a few short years, could she catch up to her? Lowering her eyes, the milk in her mouth instantly turned tasteless. Yan Yue noticed, but she didn’t quite understand why.

“You’re free tomorrow? I’ll celebrate your birthday for you,” Yan Yue said tentatively.

Qin Qingyan immediately looked up at her, disbelief flickering in her eyes. How did she know her birthday? But very quickly, the sudden joy overwhelmed everything else by a huge margin, and she froze for a good while.

“Me? My birthday?” she asked again to confirm.

Yan Yue nodded. “Mm. Your last birthday in your teens. Next time, you’ll be someone in their twenties. How about I take you out to have some fun? An amusement park would be just right.” In her view, a child in their teens should still have a playful streak, especially since Qin Qingyan might never have been to one before.

An amusement park…

Qin Qingyan put down her milk and looked straight into Yan Yue’s eyes. Very seriously, she said, “I’m not a child. Compared with people my age, I’m already pretty mature.”

“Then are you free tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

Yan Yue smiled and got to her feet, heading toward the kitchen. “What do you want to eat?”

“I’ll do it.”

When she was in Qingyi Village, she had always cooked for herself; no matter what, she had more skill than Yan Yue, and besides, Yan Yue looked tired and needed rest.

There wasn’t much in the fridge. At a glance, more than half of it was empty.

Seeing her freeze at the sight, Yan Yue quickly became awkward beside her. “I don’t really cook, so there isn’t much stuff here. Otherwise, we can order takeout?”

Qin Qingyan turned to look at her and asked with a slight frown, “There are only three bottles of mineral water left here, and the milk just now was the last bottle. You asked me what I wanted to drink?”

So kids nowadays really do drink a lot of milk; how could her brain turn that fast?

Yan Yue leaned against the fridge and said casually, “I usually drink tea. I don’t keep many drinks around. The Wangzai was something Huanhuan forgot to take back. Be my guest; if you want Sprite or something, I can make you a cup of green tea.”

Green tea and Sprite were still very different things, weren’t they?

Qin Qingyan sighed lightly, took out two potatoes, and decided they would make shredded potatoes tonight. In fact, they could only make shredded potatoes.

“You go rest on the sofa. I’ll cook.”

Yan Yue had no objection. After all, she couldn’t help much anyway. Sitting on the sofa, she first looked at her phone and replied to a few messages, then unconsciously glanced toward the kitchen, where she could barely see Qin Qingyan’s back from here.

She was skillfully slicing the potatoes, the sound coming out with a steady rhythm, followed by the sizzle of them going into the pan to be stir-fried.

Was this the difference between a house and a home?

Yan Yue withdrew her gaze. She knew very well what she felt. Qin Qingyan really was somewhat special to her; in fact, she was on the verge of breaking through that line of defense. But Qin Qingyan was only turning nineteen tomorrow; still in her teens, with a far richer future waiting for her.

Wait a little longer. Once she was sure she really had fallen in love, she thought she would tell Qin Qingyan how she felt. If she was rejected, then that would be something she couldn’t control.

During the meal, Qin Qingyan seemed to be watching her all the time. When the dishes were nearly gone, before Yan Yue could even move her chopsticks, Qin Qingyan had already put food into her bowl first.

“Is it good?” Qin Qingyan asked expectantly.

Yan Yue smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. “Master chef.”

After dinner, Yan Yue had originally wanted to drive her back, but Qin Qingyan refused, so she watched her get into a taxi and merge into the traffic. Once she could no longer see her at all, a wave of disappointment and sadness rose in her heart; fine and prickly, not painful, but tormenting.

Bai Ruo and Li Xian also knew that tomorrow was Qin Qingyan’s birthday. They had originally planned to invite a few close friends to have dinner together and celebrate her birthday, but in the evening Su Yan sent a message saying Qin Qingyan already had plans for tomorrow. When they learned it was with Yan Yue, Bai Ruo immediately sent a cheeky, unmistakably suggestive meme.

After spending so long together, they could more or less see Qin Qingyan’s special regard for Yan Yue, but they still gave her enough private space; their birthday wishes certainly couldn’t be left out. So the group discussed it for a long while before each saying good night.

The amusement park opened at eight-thirty. After parking her car, Yan Yue went to the agreed-upon spot to wait for Qin Qingyan. From far away, she saw a girl wearing a black coat and a brown hat sitting on a bench, head down, looking at her phone. Among the crowd moving about around her, she stood out.

Yan Yue smiled as she walked over; by instinct, she knew that was her.