This girl… Xiao Su smiled, unbeknownst to himself. The man then texted, ‘I’ve finished my work, so I’ll be going back now.’ He then kept his phone and took his jacket and car keys before going out. When he came back, Xiao Su reflexively took his keys to open the door, but when he remembered there was someone inside, he pressed on the doorbell instead. After a moment, someone opened the door for him.
Jiang Xiaobai was wearing a casual shirt with a big bear on it. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, and she was wearing a cartoon headband, looking chill. She smiled when she saw Xiao Su. “Oh, you’re back. That’s fast. I’ve noticed that your text was sent 20 minutes ago, so you’re not working really far from home, huh?” Before he could say anything, she pulled him inside and slammed the door shut, acting like a strongwoman.
“I don’t know what you like, since it’s the first time I’m cooking for you, so I made a bit of everything. Have some more if you like it, but just stay away from those you don’t. They won’t go to waste, since I’m going to finish them all.”
The girl kept on nagging at him. Xiao Su noticed she was wearing a pair of cartoon slippers that made some pitter-patter sound as she walked around. She seemed to like these cute items, for all her getup was cartoon-themed, so it made her look energetic.
For some reason, Xiao Su had this feeling of being welcomed home by his wife after work, but he quashed this thought down quickly. What am I even thinking about? I have someone I love, while she’s just my fake girlfriend. When he put down his jacket and saw the whole table filled with food, the man was shocked. “You made all these?”
Jiang Xiaobai knew he was shocked the moment she saw his look, so the woman put her hands on her hips. “So, what do you think? I’m great, aren’t I? Don’t need to worship me though. This is just normal for the great me!”
“The great me?” Xiao Su arched his eyebrow and glanced at her.
Jiang Xiaobai quickly said, “Oh, just something I made up. Let’s eat. I’ll take a bowl of rice for you.”
Xiao Su grunted. “I’ll do it myself.”
When he was about to take the bowl, Jiang Xiaobai suddenly smacked his hand. Xiao Su was taken aback, then the woman scolded, “What are you doing? You should wash your hands before eating. You’ve been working the whole day. Even if you don’t really care that much in life, this should be where you draw the line.”
Oh, yeah. I’ve forgotten about it. The man fidgeted awkwardly, then he went to the kitchen to wash his hands. The moment he came into the kitchen, Xiao Su thought he came to the wrong place, so the man stood rooted to the spot for a while before recognizing this place as his kitchen.
However, there were a lot of things there, such as new furniture, bowls, and even cutleries. All of them had cartoons on them, which was Jiang Xiaobai’s signature style. These are all hers? She took all of these here in the span of a few hours? How did she manage it?
Xiao Su looked around and washed his hands before going out. “Did you buy all those things in the kitchen?” Jiang Xiaobai placed the bowl of rice in front of him and nodded. “Yeah, I bought those. So? Don’t you think that your kitchen looks a whole lot better now?” Well, you moved a lot of things into my kitchen, so of course it changed, but… Xiao Su frowned, then he took out his wallet. “How much do they cost?”
Jiang Xiaobai was taken aback to see this, then she asked, “Are you saying you want to pay for those?”
You’ve put the stuff here, so who else is going to pay but me? Xiao Su was already feeling awkward about having a girl coming over to cook for her. He only agreed to it because they made a deal. Now that she had brought all these stuff for him, it would be remiss of him not to pay her back. “Yes.”
“Eh, it’s fine.” Jiang Xiaobai waved her hand nonchalantly. “I moved all those stuff from my home, so I didn’t spend any money, aside from paying the movers for helping me. Though if you insist on paying me, I won’t mind it.”
Xiao Su was stunned. These are all taken from her home? He couldn’t believe it. After a few moments of silence, he asked, “Where are you going to cook and eat if you’ve moved everything here?”
Where am I going to cook and eat? Jiang Xiaobai said matter-of-factly, “Of course I’m going to eat with you.” Before Xiao Su could say anything, she became pumped up. “See? I’m really kind, right? Not only did I move my stuff here to cook for you every day, you’ll have someone to eat with you after this. You must be feeling happy right now.”
Um…
“Not that I’m bragging, but my cooking skills are off the charts. Someone tried to hire me, but I said no. You got yourself something great here. Come one, let’s eat.” She started urging him to eat as she said, “I’ll finish the things you can’t. Don’t waste the food. I worked hard on them.”
Xiao Su noticed she was serious about food, so it was obvious she treasured food. He wasn’t a picky eater, so the man started eating too. Jiang Xiaobai thought her food would be going to waste today, but Xiao Su didn’t have a specific diet, and he could eat everything. Both of them ate seriously and quietly, so it didn’t take long for them to finish all the food on the table. Jiang Xiaobai patted her belly and frowned. Oops, feels like I’ve overloaded myself. Gotta cook less after this.
“You can really eat,” Xiao Su suddenly said quietly.
Jiang Xiaobai almost jumped up in anger, so she retorted, “Hey, it’s bliss to have food, you know?”
Xiao Su said nothing, then he went to clear the table. Jiang Xiaobai wanted to say she would do it, but then she thought it was fine to have him do the dishes, for she had worked hard on cooking. I’ll be cooking, while you do the dishes. Fair and square. No complaints. She smiled at him with satisfaction. “Well, you’re a smart one. I thought you’d just up and leave after eating.”
Xiao Su didn’t reply to her, then he quickly took all the plates and cutleries into the kitchen. The man pursed his lips as he looked at the stuff in the kitchen and swallowed what he had to say. It wasn’t easy for a girl like her to move all her stuff here, so it would be inappropriate of him to ask her to move them back. Besides, she does cook well. Xiao Su used to think that the thing about eating was to fill his belly, nothing else, but now he had a different feeling when he had that meal. Having someone by his side as he had a meal wasn’t something he hated, especially when both of them were doing it seriously.
