CH 110

After returning to the clubhouse suite, Jiang Chen went straight to the kitchen to tidy up the things he had just bought.

At the kitchen counter, he methodically sorted and placed the ingredients needed for each dish. Shi Fengyue had already taken off his coat and changed into home clothes and walked over. Jiang Chen raised his eyes, glanced at him, and opened the freshly bought chicken thighs, moving his attention back to the work at hand.

Shi Fengyue leaned against the refrigerator next to him, and handed the mobile phone in his hand to Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye, and said casually, “What?”

Shi Fengyue leaned against the refrigerator, maintaining the gesture of handing the phone to him, and lazily said: “Test your memory.”

“I already saved your number.”

Jiang Chen didn’t take the phone, but took out a knife and began to process the chicken legs on the chopping board. Carefully and neatly, he removed the bones of the chicken legs in two or three strokes, and then cut the chicken meat.

Shi Fengyue stared at his bony and slender fingers, and the hand that wasn’t holding the phone unconsciously curled inwards, then gently rubbing the index finger and ring finger with the thumb. It was these two fingers that accidentally touched Jiang Chen’s spine in the supermarket just now. The smooth and delicate feeling seemed to still remain on his fingertips. Shi Fengyue put his hand in his pockets, stood up straight, and raised the phone in front of Jiang Chen’s eyes, as if challenging him: Did you forget?

Jiang Chen raised his eyes, and guessed that he was deliberately provoking him, but he already knew Shi Fengyue’s character very well. If he did not get what he wantrd at this time, the meal would remain interrupted by his perseverance, and who knew when it would be cooked.

“Changjiang.” He said in a clear voice, “Open the address book.”

The screen of the phone that Shi Fengyue was holding lit up, and the interface of the address book quickly showed up.

Jiang Chen said, “Save the contacts.”

The mobile phone screen followed the instructions again, and Jiang Chen repeated the long series of numbers recited by Shi Fengyue before, and accurately made notes on the kind of mobile phones and home phones corresponding to each number.

After all the numbers were stored, Jiang Chen also finished with the chicken legs. He put the chicken leg meat into the prepared bowl beside him, and the seasonings for marinating the chicken leg meat were also put in according to the proportion required. He grabbed the chicken leg meat casually to spread the seasonings, and after doing all this, he raised his eyebrows and looked at Shi Fengyue: “Happy?”

Shi Fengyue put the phone into his pocket, and leaned forward with upward curving lips. He looked down at the shrimp Jiang Chen was handling, and asked, “What are you going to make?”

“Large prawns in tomato sauce and teriyaki chicken.” Jiang Chen said, “Two home-cooked dishes that I’m good at.”

“This shrimp is so fresh.” Shi Fengyue said.

Jiang Chen heard the underlying meaning, and glanced at him: “Because you picked it?”

“That’s not exactly the case.” Shi Fengyue smiled: “You also helped with the weighing.”

Jiang Chen raised the shrimp in his hand and shook it at him. The struggling shrimp, which was still alive and kicking, broke free with his movement, flew in a parabola, and jumped onto the bridge of Shi Fengyue’s nose with a snap, twisting and slapping from the bridge of his nose. Then sliding down, it jumped back into the kitchen sink.

For some reason, Jiang Chen suddenly recalled a sentence that fans who chased stars in later years often said when they were blowing rainbow farts: I want to slide on the bridge of my honey’s nose.

Now, this shrimp managed to do it.

Jiang Chen saw Shi Fengyue’s reflexively closed eyes slowly open, wiping away the shrimp-smelling water droplets that flowed to his lips with a look of disgust, and then showing a very unfriendly look at him. Jiang Chen held back his laughter again and again, his gaze lingering on the bridge of his nose that still had a wet trail on it, and he finally couldn’t hold back. His body bent over slightly, and holding the cooking table with his hands, he burst out laughing.

The fishy smell was even on the edge of his mouth, and it seemed that some of the water droplets had flowed into his mouth. Shi Fengyue wiped his mouth again, and narrowed his eyes in annoyance: “That funny?”

“What do you think?” Jiang Chen supported himself on the kitchen counter, his shoulders shaking in mirth as he looked up at him. Seeing him wiping his mouth again and again, his smile became even more uncontrollable. At the same time, he did not forget to tease: “How does it taste?”

“Do you want to try?” Shi Fengyue put down his hand, approached half a step, and looked down at Jiang Chen from his taller height, his lacquer-like black eyes which were originally quite sharp, but now when filled with annoyance, made them even more captivating.

Jiang Chen was not afraid at all, and he didn’t show weakness when he saw him looming over him. He regulated his breathing which almost failed from laughing so hard, and stood up straight. His eyes met the other’s, and still with a smile on his face, he teased: “There are also many people now who love to eat raw prawns, and drunken prawns is one of the dishes. I am just asking if it suits young master Shi’s taste.”

“My taste is basically the same as yours.” Shi Fengyue moved closer to him, almost touching nose to nose. Half of the light behind him was blocked by him, and his eyes seemed to appear dark in this angle: “If you like it, then I like it.”

“Why didn’t I know that we have the same taste?” Jiang Chen was calm and steady, and even if their breathing mingled together, he didn’t retreat at all.

Shi Fengyue’s eyes narrowed slightly, and his eyes swept across his pink lips. Before, he had thought, how could a boy’s lips be so pretty, and the dimple on his side cheek simply made one want to…..Dark and light seemed to flicker in his eyes, and he moved closer again.

The tip of their noses touched each other, but neither seemed to notice. They just stared into each other’s eyes, as if they would lose something if they backed down. Eventually, Jiang Chen looked away after an unknown amount of time.

Shi Fengyue’s breathing was light and cool, like his person, but for some reason, this kind of coolness not only didn’t make people feel cold, but made Jiang Chen feel a little strange in his heart, just like how he felt in the supermarket. Or when he got an answer from Shi Fengyue, and then owed him one meal after another.

His gaze moved down and landed on Shi Fengyue’s perfect lips, his eyes dimming and his throat feeling a little dry for no reason.

The tips of their noses had already touched, and the distance between the lips could only be measured in millimeters. Jiang Chen and Shi Fengyue raised their eyes at the same time.

The temperature of the heating in the room was just right, but the temperature seemed to be still rising. The shrimps in the kitchen sink were alive and kicking, and the occasional splash was the only sound in this space other than their breathing.

His lips met with something cold, and Jiang Chen’s eyes moved down in astonishment. White jade-like fingertips were pressed against his lips, and the slightly calloused fingertips rubbed against his lips twice. Shi Fengyue moved back a little, retracting his hand, and all the emotions in his eyes had been suppressed, but his voice was a little more hoarse than before, “Like this taste?”

Jiang Chen came back to his senses, took half a step back and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. He smelled a faint fishy scent, and then remembered that the fingers that Shi Fengyue had used to rub his lips just now were the ones he used to wipe his own lips before.

His heartbeat seemed to come faster, and the suppressed dryness in his throat surged up again. Jiang Chen lowered his eyes and grabbed a fresh shrimp that had jumped out of the kitchen sink. Only then did he calm down, his tone casual: “I am the one handling shrimp, and the smell is much stronger than this.”

Shi Fengyue’s gaze fell on the slender neck that was exposed when the other lowered his head. His eyes darkened instantly, but he concealed it in an instant. He snorted softly, looked away, and responded without even knowing what he was talking about: “I hope it won’t smell fishy when it’s cooked later.”

“Don’t worry.” Jiang Chen also answered with mixed emotions, but his voice sounded a little absentminded: “Guaranteed to be delicious.”

“En.” Shi Fengyue nodded, leaning back on the refrigerator again: “I believe in you.”

The kitchen became quiet. Jiang Chen finished processing a plate of shrimps, Shi Fengyue’s gaze still on him, and he wiped his hands. He said casually, “You are just going to watch me cook?”

Shi Fengyue stood up straight, as if he had been waiting for his words: “Then is there anything I can help?”

“Chop up the green and red peppers.” Jiang Chen stepped back a little, allowing him to see the location of other ingredients: “And also peel the garlic.”

Shi Fengyue followed his instructions readily, and after washing his hands, he took the knife in Jiang Chen’s hand, and quickly cut according to his request. Jiang Chen glanced at him and was surprised by his neat knife skills. After recalling that Shi Fengyue worked with a scalpel, which was much more difficult than cutting vegetables, it was actually not surprising that he could cut  vegetables well.

With the help of Shi Fengyue, the preparatory work was done much faster than Jiang Chen expected. He turned on the fire and cooked the first dish in a short time. In less than half an hour, three dishes and one soup were served at the dining table.

Shi Fengyue watched Jiang Chen cook the whole time, and predicted that the taste of the meal should not be bad when looking at the process, but when he actually tasted it, only then did he realize that Jiang Chen’s cooking was so good.

He sincerely praised: “It’s delicious.”

Jiang Chen raised his eyebrows and smiled, accepting his compliment.

“Especially the shrimp.” Shi Fengyue took a sip of his wine, and said with a half-smile: “I really can’t smell anything fishy at all.”

“Try this.” Jiang Chen picked up a shrimp and put it into Shi Fengyue’s bowl. “I marked it specially by cutting its tail. After you taste it, you might be able to recall the taste from just now.”

Shi Fengyue picked up the shrimp in the bowl, looked at it in front of his eyes, and laughed suddenly. Maybe because he just took a sip of wine, his voice seemed to sound slightly intoxicated: “No need to recall, I wouldn’t be able to forget it at all.”

Jiang Chen lowered his eyes, and slightly raised the corners of his mouth, as if he didn’t understand what he was saying, “Try this dried celery, I’ve always thought it’s my best vegetable dish.”

Shi Fengyue glanced at the green celery piled on the rice, and raised his eyes to Jiang Chen. Jiang Chen looked back with his lips curled up, and said with a smile, “Quickly try it.”

He picked up the smallest piece of celery, raised his eyebrows when he put it in his mouth, chewed it quickly and swallowed it, and immediately took a sip of red wine.

Jiang Chen smiled and asked, “How does it taste? You won’t forget it even if you don’t try to recall the taste, right?”

Shi Fengyue put down his wine glass, the mellow aroma of the wine mixed with the lingering celery taste jumping on his taste buds. He snorted a laugh without changing his face, “Yes, as long as you made it, I will never forget it.”

The eyes of the two collided, seemingly exchanging calm looks and at the same time confronting each other. A few seconds later, they chuckled at the same time, the ambiguity and testing of each other dissipating, and the floating emotions were hidden in a tacit understanding.

Jiang Chen also took a sip of wine, and recalling his previous curiosity, he said, “You have a house here, so why do you still live in the clubhouse?”

“I’m used to it.” Shi Fengyue’s hand paused, and he said casually.

Jiang Chen remembered asking Li Nanfeng the last time, Shi Fengyue clearly had to go to work in the hospital every day, but why didn’t he live in an apartment near the hospital, but instead seemed to stay at a different place every time. Li Nanfeng’s answer at that time was: He’s used to it.

So, what was Shi Fengyue used to?

Jiang Chen wanted to ask, but his eyes caught the other’s sudden apathetic look, and he swallowed the words that came to his lips. He was not one to be very curious about other people’s private life and character, and many times he would deliberately avoid touching on private issues or picking at other people’s past. But for some reason, every time he encountered Shi Fengyue, he always wanted to know more.

Jiang Chen looked at the distinct grains of rice in his bowl, and gradually became lost in his thoughts. Did he really not know why he was so interested in Shi Fengyue’s matters?

He actually did.

Jiang Chen was not a person who avoided his own feelings, on the contrary, he was a person who was very cautious in the face of any intimate relationship. In his opinion, one should not be reckless in establishing any intimate relationship. The closer the relationship, the more cautious one had to be. On the way back from the supermarket, including when he was just cooking, he had rationally analyzed his feelings for Shi Fengyue.

There was definitely a good impression, and maybe a little liking, but the deep love that must be there for two to be together did not exist. He had thought of several possible factors for having feelings for Shi Fengyue beyond the scope of friends. One was that Shi Fengyue himself was attractive enough, regardless of his physical conditions or his material conditions. The second was that they had spent a relatively long time together and shared common topics. The third was the unintentional physical contact that surpassed friends, such as the accidental kiss when eating together that day and the ambiguous touch in the supermarket today.

As long as he was a man, he would inevitably be swayed by the sensory and physical contact. This was the inferiority of male creatures. Jiang Chen thought that it could not be avoided. In his opinion, Shi Fengyue’s ambiguity towards him may also be derived from this.

They both knew it well and were rational enough, so they could always step on the brakes before breaking the veneer. Even when being ambiguous and testing each other, they never crossed the bottom line, which just proved that they both had a tacit understanding that the other party was not suitable for each other.

AN: Shi Fengyue: It seems that our tacit understanding is not enough.