Chapter 89

Zhenzhen held her flushed face and stared at Xi Junjie, feeling tingles all over from how charming he was. Such a handsome guy who flirts, cooks, and is actually my boyfriend? I must’ve saved the world in my past life!

Seeing Zhenzhen staring at him without blinking, Xi Junjie smiled and helped smooth her hair. “If you keep staring, the food’s going to get cold.”

Zhenzhen snapped out of it instantly. As important as good looks were, she could admire them any time. But once food got cold, it wouldn’t taste as good—and that’d be a shame after all of Xi Junjie’s hard work.

She quickly took out a large tray and placed six dishes on it, ready to carry it out. But Xi Junjie hurried to stop her, smiling helplessly. “Didn’t we agree that I’d handle this kind of work from now on?”

“Right, right!” Zhenzhen carefully handed the tray over to him. “It’s my first time having a boyfriend—I’m not used to it yet.” She glanced at his not-so-muscular arms, a bit worried, and reminded him, “If it’s too heavy, let me know. I’m pretty strong.”

Xi Junjie took the tray and walked forward easily. “This much I can handle. After all…” He glanced meaningfully at Zhenzhen. “There’ll be heavier things to carry in the future.”

Zhenzhen instantly caught his implication, and she was sure her face turned red all over again.

Just as the two stepped into the corridor, Mingbei and Mingxi came out. Zhenzhen pointed toward the kitchen. “The food’s ready, come help carry the rest.”

Mingbei stretched his neck to look at the six fragrant, colorful dishes on the tray, and his stomach immediately growled. Rubbing it, he decided to flatter Zhenzhen in hopes of more meals like this in the future. “Sis, your cooking looks amazing. You’re getting more and more impressive!”

Zhenzhen glanced at Xi Junjie beside her and happily told Mingbei, “Junjie made it.” Hearing her speak in such a familial tone, Xi Junjie felt like his heart had turned to honey. As he grinned foolishly at her, Zhenzhen, concerned, supported his arm and urged him to keep moving.

Mingbei watched them walk off together and had the nagging sense that something was off.

“Second Bro, this Xi Junjie is something else—he even cooks, and it looks better than Zhenzhen’s.” When Mingbei turned to look, he saw Mingxi staring ahead in shock and couldn’t make sense of it. “Come on, just because he can cook, you don’t have to look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Mingxi clutched his startled little heart, feeling like he’d stumbled on a massive secret. He recalled how he’d casually mentioned Zhenzhen and Xi Junjie jogging together that morning—and now realized why his dad had that particular look. So that fresh, pretty little cabbage in our family really is getting stolen!

Mingbei, ever the straightforward type, didn’t overthink it. Instead, he happily shared his plan. “I think we should get along well with Xi Junjie. When we’re off school for the weekend, we can invite him over. Just smelling that food makes me hungry.”

“Fourth, listen—since you’re my little brother, I’ll give you a heads-up,” Mingxi said. “When we’re eating, keep your mouth shut, okay?” He sighed, looking at Mingbei’s clueless face. “Especially don’t praise the food. Otherwise, you might not make it back to school in one piece today.”

Mingbei scratched his head, but when he saw Mingxi heading off to the kitchen, he instantly forgot the warning. “Oh man, it smells so good—I’m already drooling.”

Grandma Li led the guests to wash their hands and headed to the main hall, only to see the big round table already filled with various dishes. She immediately had a suspicion—there’s no way Zhenzhen made all this. Out of everyone in the house, Zhenzhen was the best cook. She’d even formally studied medicinal cuisine with Mr. Zhang. But compared to what was on the table now, the difference was obvious. The color, the aroma, and the fancy presentation—it just didn’t look like Zhenzhen’s style.

In truth, Zhenzhen just had a lot of eating experience from her past life and copied what she’d seen. But over in Beicha, people mostly just stewed their food—stir-frying was rare. So everyone thought Zhenzhen’s dishes were creative and delicious. Xi Junjie, however, was on a different level. Whatever he did, he strove for perfection. Back when he lived in France with his parents, his school had culinary classes taught by renowned chefs. Xi Junjie treated it like a core subject and studied intensely. After the school course ended, he even went to the chef’s restaurant to become an apprentice. Now, his French cuisine was better than that of most professional chefs.

As for Chinese cooking, Xi Junjie learned it thanks to a chance encounter his father, Xi Changbo, had in Paris with a Chinese master chef who had fled there. That chef used to cook for wealthy patrons before the founding of the country, and hosting him was considered a great honor. After the political tide turned, he was implicated, but luckily had savings and managed to move his whole family to France.

At first, life in France was hard—he didn’t speak the language, couldn’t find a suitable job or housing. One day, when Xi Changbo was visiting a friend, the chef saw him and, desperate, asked for help. Xi Changbo had heard of him back in China and offered him and his family two empty guest rooms in his home. The chef, deeply grateful, saw that young Xi Junjie was interested in cooking and personally trained him for three years. Later, when Xi Changbo returned to China, he even helped the chef open a Chinese restaurant. Due to political tensions back home, they lost contact over the years.

Though Xi Junjie had top-notch cooking skills, his obsession with cleanliness meant he rarely cooked. He only did so during New Year, his parents’ birthdays, or his grandparents’ big celebrations. That’s why the elders of the Xi and Ling families always looked forward to birthdays—it was their only chance to feast.

Now, as Xi Changbo and Ling Xiulan sat at the table, they exchanged a knowing glance. Xi Junjie had many quirks when it came to cooking. For example, when making braised prawns, he arranged them one by one, with the shrimp heads all aligned, forming a perfect circle as if drawn with a compass. Or with crispy roast pigeon—though he’d already cut it up for easy eating, he reassembled it so precisely that unless you looked closely, you wouldn’t notice it had been cut at all. Only when picking it up would you realize it was pre-sliced.

Both families sat around the table. Li Muwu brought out all the house’s liquor. He patted a large ceramic jar and provocatively looked at Xi Changbo. “This is something I brewed myself in Beicha. It’s made from our Hydrolysis Plant’s own base liquor—62% ABV—with ginseng, deer antler, lingzhi, and other herbs. You dare drink it?”

Xi Changbo uncorked the jar, and the rich aroma hit him instantly. He peeked inside and saw hefty chunks of ginseng, whole deer antlers, lingzhi the size of a bowl, and all kinds of unidentifiable herbs. He stared at Li Muwu in shock. “Don’t you get nosebleeds from drinking this?”

Li Muwu looked at him with total confidence. “I’m strong as an ox—I don’t drink this stuff.”

“Then why’d you brew it?” Xi Changbo silently corked the jar again, heart aching. “That ginseng must be over a hundred years old…”

Li Muwu looked at him with a grin. “This jar of wine is my cure for anyone who refuses to behave. Anyone who comes to my house and doesn’t show proper respect, I serve them this wine.”

Xi Changbo looked at him speechlessly. “You’re way too petty.”

Grandma Li smiled and waved her hand. “Don’t listen to his nonsense. This is just the wine I usually drink. But I don’t dare drink too much—just a tael or so a day.”

Xi Changbo quickly let go of the jar. Li Muwu took a delicate long-handled ladle, scooped a bit of wine, and poured it into a tiny wine cup in front of Grandma Li before carrying the jar back.

The Li family had plenty of wine. Li Muwen would bring some over during holidays and festivals. Normally, Li Muwu liked drinking sorghum liquor at home, and he saved the wine Muwen brought for guests.

He took out a bottle of Moutai, and the two of them poured themselves each a cup. Since Mingxi was on vacation at home, he joined them and filled himself a small cup too. Ling Xiulan didn’t drink hard liquor, and Wang Sufen was too shy to ask for any. Zhenzhen went to the cabinet and brought out a bottle of red wine.

“The grapevine in the yard—I thought it was dead, but after tending it for half a year, it actually bore a good amount of fruit. Big and sweet. I picked some and made my own wine. It probably doesn’t taste as good as the imported stuff, but at least it’s clean and fresh.” Zhenzhen smiled as she poured a glass each for Ling Xiulan and Wang Sufen. Mingbei caught a whiff of the sweet, fragrant wine and couldn’t resist asking for some.

Since it wasn’t strong, Zhenzhen poured a glass for Mingbei, Xi Junjie, and herself. Xie Yanan and Wang Xinwen were pregnant, so they drank pure grape juice.

Grandma Li took a sip of wine and called everyone to start eating. Although Zhenzhen was already full, the delicious food on the table tempted her again. She couldn’t help but pick up her chopsticks and grab a piece of mandarin duck chicken.

Li Muwu was a simple man, used to plain meals his whole life. Meat or fish stews used to be a luxury. Now, faced with dishes arranged like works of art, he didn’t know which one to pick.

Seeing that both Li Muwu and Wang Sufen hadn’t moved their chopsticks, Zhenzhen wrapped a piece of roast duck for each of them. Only after they finished did they begin trying the dishes closest to them. That’s just how straightforward the Li family was—Li Muwu didn’t notice anything odd. He’d barely eaten a few bites before forgetting about the wine entirely, going dish by dish, enjoying it as heartily as Mingbei.

Xi Changbo picked up a piece of Biluo shrimp and, the moment it touched his tongue, confirmed what he’d suspected: Xi Junjie had made the same dish during Old Master Ling’s birthday banquet in April, and the taste was exactly the same. Xi Changbo looked up at Xi Junjie, who was now completely unbothered by getting his hands dirty, diligently peeling shrimp for Li Mingzhen. Xi Changbo sighed inwardly, “When your son grows up, you really can’t keep him around.”

As if to make a good impression on the Li family, Xi Junjie had used every ingredient in the kitchen. Even the carp Zhenzhen used to dislike because of its bones was turned into a sweet-and-sour fish. The carp was delicately sliced, deep-fried until golden, and arranged in the shape of a “carp leaping over the dragon gate,” then drizzled with a rich, glossy sauce—crisp on the outside, tender on the inside, bursting with sweet and sour flavor.

Zhenzhen hadn’t dared sneak a taste earlier, not wanting to ruin the presentation. Once Grandma Li took the first bite, she quickly served a piece to Wang Sufen and then helped herself to a piece with crispy skin.

She’d had sweet-and-sour carp while traveling in her previous life, but it always had a muddy aftertaste beneath the strong flavors. Xi Junjie, however, had removed the muddy veins before cooking and used the perfect oil temperature, keeping the fish fresh and tender without leaving a greasy residue.

The dish was a hit with all the ladies at the table. Grandma Li praised it several times, and even Xie Yanan and Wang Xinwen, who usually felt nauseous from fish smells, couldn’t stop eating. They had no pregnancy-related discomfort at all and even ate more than usual.

The meal lasted over an hour. Li Muwu leaned back, rubbing his full belly in satisfaction. He wiped his hands and mouth with the warm hand towel Zhenzhen had prepared for everyone, then looked smugly at Xi Changbo. “My girl’s cooking is amazing, huh?”

Xi Changbo looked at him with a strange expression, wondering whether telling him the truth would break his brain.

Zhenzhen had drunk two glasses of wine and now had rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes. She giggled while holding her little towel and looking at Xi Junjie. When Li Muwu praised her cooking, she quickly corrected him. “Dad, everything on this table except the roast duck was made by Junjie.”

Xi Junjie smiled at her, his voice soft and warm. “Zhenzhen helped a lot too.”

“Jun… Jie…” Li Muwu, tipsy from the wine, turned to look at Xi Junjie, then glanced confusedly at Grandma Li. “Mom, am I drunk? Why does it feel like something’s off?”

Grandma Li saw the way her granddaughter looked at Xi Junjie—like flowers blooming all over her face—and felt a bit stunned herself. Weren’t they still being polite and reserved this morning? How did things get so cozy by lunchtime? All it took was making a meal?

Not wanting to say anything in front of guests, Grandma Li waited until Xi Changbo and Ling Xiulan had tea and saw them out the door.

Back in the house, Li Muwu, drunk on baijiu, went straight to bed snoring. Mingxi and the others were cleaning dishes in the main hall. When Grandma Li noticed Zhenzhen wasn’t in the room, she asked Mingbei, “Where’s our girl?”

Mingbei stacked the dishes, preparing to carry them out. “Zhenzhen said the wine got to her a bit, so she went to wash her face and lie down for a bit.”

“Oh.” Grandma Li nodded. “So which of you boys is going to sit and talk with me?”

As soon as she said it, Mingxi instantly lowered his head guiltily. Mingbei looked up, clueless. “Talk about what? Grandma, aren’t you tired? You still wanna chat?”

Grandma Li sighed deeply as she sat down. “I know I said this morning that kids should have the freedom to make their own choices, but this development is just too fast. I wasn’t mentally prepared at all. How am I supposed to sleep now? My heart’s pounding. Your dad might be tipsy now, but when he wakes up, he’s not gonna be happy.”

“What development?” Mingbei stared, first at Grandma Li, then at Mingxi, who was nearly hiding under the table, and still couldn’t make the connection.

Grandma Li gave him a look, wishing she could thump his head. “You seriously didn’t notice your sister and that Xi kid are seeing each other?”

Mingbei jumped. “Wait—since when? Yesterday when we came back, one sat in the front, the other in the back. Didn’t look like anything was going on!”

Grandma Li’s tone got even more bitter. “Since when? Since today! I’m asking you, what did they talk about while cooking? How’d things heat up so fast? Didn’t you see your sister? She smiles at that Xi Junjie like a flower blooming!”

“They didn’t say anything special.” Mingbei forgot all about the dishes. He thought hard. “This morning Junjie left right after me—I went to butcher the pigeon, he went to find Zhenzhen in the garden. Then they came back with fish and kicked all of us out, said we should rest inside.”

“And you just went?” Grandma Li stared at him in disbelief, then glared at the still-hiding Mingxi. “You! Get up! You’re over thirty, what are you doing crawling under the table?”

Mingxi awkwardly poked his head out and gave an embarrassed grin. “There were some bones underground, I came to pick them up,” he said. Worried that Grandma Li wouldn’t believe him, he even brought over a trash bucket to show her.

Grandma Li rolled her eyes at him and bluntly exposed his little trick. “Don’t waste time with that nonsense. Tell me the real story.”

Seeing he couldn’t dodge it anymore, Mingxi had no choice but to bite the bullet and speak. “Yanan smelled fish in the kitchen and felt nauseous. I panicked and hurried to take her home. Grandma, I think you should ask Mingbei about this—his wife and Zhenzhen live one floor apart at school, and he’s always going to Imperial Capital University. He definitely knows more than I do.”

Grandma Li’s gaze immediately shifted to Mingbei, who froze in place. “I really don’t know anything,” he said. “I just remember that Wenwen once mentioned Zhenzhen saying Xi junjie was good-looking. But I’ve never seen them together after that.” After a pause, Li Mingbei added, “Besides, Wenwen and Zhenzhen aren’t in the same department. Their classes are different, and sometimes they don’t even see each other once a day.”

Seeing the dumb look on her grandson’s face, Grandma Li knew she wouldn’t get anything useful from him. She sat there sighing heavily. When Mingxi saw the old lady looking so down, he stopped worrying about getting scolded. He quickly put down what he was holding and sat next to her, cautiously asking, “Grandma, do you not approve of Xi junjie?”

“I do approve…” Grandma Li’s expression was conflicted. “I just wasn’t mentally prepared. You don’t know how uneasy I feel—like your sister is getting married tomorrow. It really hurts.”

“What’s there to be upset about?” Mingbei was confused. “Their family lives next door. If they really get married, I say we tear down the wall the government added later. This house belongs to Zhenzhen anyway. If we connect the houses, it’ll feel even more spacious. Just think how big the backyard could be!”

Grandma Li stared at Mingbei in shock, suddenly stood up, scaring him into stepping back. He timidly asked, “Did I… say something wrong again?”

Grandma Li marched over and smacked him hard on the back, making him shudder. Mingbei winced, still unsure what he said wrong, when suddenly Grandma Li burst out laughing. “Oh Mingbei, you’ve finally said something smart after all these years! Why didn’t I think of that? Xi junjie is an only child, and this side is Zhenzhen’s house. If they get married and tear down the wall, wouldn’t it be one big family?”

The more she thought about it, the more pleased she looked, nearly laughing out loud. “If you think about it, this match isn’t bad at all. Even after Zhenzhen gets married, she won’t have to live far away. I can still help her through her postpartum and watch the baby.”

Mingxi looked at Grandma Li with a black line across his face. “Grandma, aren’t you thinking a little too far ahead? Zhenzhen still has three more years before she graduates. Marriage is still a long way off.”

“Long? Three or four years go by in a blink.” Grandma Li lit her pipe, took two deep puffs, and thought for a moment. “We need to start planning Zhenzhen’s dowry in advance.”

The more she thought about it, the more urgent it seemed. She pointed her pipe at Mingbei. “Go get your mom from inside. I need to talk to her properly about this.”

Mingxi looked at her, half laughing and half crying. “Grandma, aren’t you afraid of scaring my mom to death?”

“You don’t know anything,” Grandma Li rolled her eyes at him. “I need to explain it to her now so that when your dad starts crying and yelling later, she’ll know how to talk him down.”

With a bitter face, Mingbei went to find Wang Sufen, while Mingxi efficiently cleaned up the table and took the dishes to the kitchen to wash. After finishing, he figured the table still needed wiping and the floor sweeping, so he grabbed the cleaning supplies and returned to the main room.

By then, Grandma Li had already told Wang Sufen about Zhenzhen and Xi junjie dating. Wang Sufen felt a mix of joy and worry. “Zhenzhen finally has someone. Mom, you don’t know how worried I was before. I always thought, with how capable our girl is, what kind of man could catch her eye? Luckily, this one’s not bad. We didn’t even have to find him—she brought him home herself. If it were up to me, I couldn’t have picked someone this handsome.”

She smiled, but then her brows furrowed. “I’m just worried Zhenzhen’s dad won’t take it well. He doesn’t say much, but he dotes on Zhenzhen like nothing else. Every Saturday, he nags me first thing in the morning to buy all her favorite dishes, afraid she’ll go hungry. His love for her runs deep. Just look at how dark his face got when he heard she went jogging with Xi junjie this morning. If he finds out they’re dating, he’ll explode.”

“Exactly,” Grandma Li puffed on her pipe, also a bit troubled. “But Zhenzhen’s always been headstrong, and this isn’t a bad thing. We can’t stop her. Maybe we should just keep it from her dad for now. He was so drunk at lunch, he might not even remember.”

“But what if he remembers just a little?” Wang Sufen looked at Grandma Li anxiously.

Grandma Li set down her pipe and said firmly, “Then we say he dreamed it. There’s nothing going on. Anyway, that Xi Boy will be coming over a lot. He’ll get used to it eventually.”

Wang Sufen trusted Grandma Li completely and nodded right away. “Your idea is definitely the right one, Mom.”

Grandma Li glanced over at Mingbei, who was sweeping, and called him over. “You better be careful at school. Keep an eye on your sister and that Xi Boy. It’s fine if they’re dating, but don’t let him be all handsy, got it?”

“Got it.” Mingbei patted his chest. “Don’t worry, Grandma. I definitely won’t let him hold my sister’s hand.”

That afternoon, Xi junjie was already waiting at the bus stop. As soon as Mingbei, Wang Xinwen, and Zhenzhen walked out of the alley, Xi junjie spotted them and hurried over. “Zhenzhen…”

“Hey! Hey! Hey!” Mingbei stretched out his arm, blocking Zhenzhen. “No hand-holding!”

Xi junjie looked at him, then handed him a paper bag. “I made some fried ribs this afternoon. You and your wife can eat them while they’re still hot on the bus.”

Smelling the delicious scent wafting from the bag, Mingbei couldn’t help but swallow. He glanced back at Zhenzhen and asked sheepishly, “Can I take it?”

Zhenzhen looked at him with his mouth practically watering and nodded seriously. “He gave it to you, so take it.”

Mingbei immediately turned and grabbed the bag, showing it to Wang Xinwen. “Wife, smell this—think it’s edible?”

Zhenzhen sidestepped her brother and walked up to Xi junjie, eyeing the large bag he was carrying. “What else did you bring?”

Xi junjie smiled and showed her. “When I got home this afternoon, my mom had me fry the remaining five squabs. I brought three for you. We also got some fresh hairy crabs at home, so I made four crab meat lion’s head meatballs. You liked sweet and sour dishes at lunch, so I made sweet and sour ribs, plus a dish of braised chestnuts with greens—great for cutting grease, and made with fresh autumn chestnuts that are big, sweet, and starchy.” Finally, he pointed to the small insulated container on top. “And there’s a double-boiled conch soup. It’s good for your digestion, appetite, and even your complexion—perfect for you.”

Zhenzhen was practically drooling just listening. Looking at the neatly packed lunch boxes, she felt both moved and a bit guilty. “You made so much for lunch. Why didn’t you take a nap this afternoon?”

“It didn’t take much effort.” Xi junjie smiled warmly at her. “Besides, I like watching you eat my food.”

Zhenzhen looked up at him, her cheeks flushing pink. “Then let’s have dinner together tonight.”

“Beep beep…” The sound of a car horn rang out. Zhenzhen turned around and saw that the bus had arrived. As the door opened, she quickly reached out, grabbed Xi Junjie’s hand, and got on the bus with him.

Holding a paper bag full of fried ribs, Mingbei was instantly dumbfounded. “Grandma said not to let Xi Junjie hold Zhenzhen’s hand, but this time Zhenzhen grabbed his hand on her own… What am I supposed to do now?”