If Zhou Yu had heard his inner thoughts, he would definitely have cried out in grievance.
He had long since grown tired of the bland taste of seafood and actually preferred stronger, more savory flavors.
This batch of top-quality seafood had been specially ordered by him and shipped from Y City just for Liu Yu.
By the time lunch was over, it was already past one in the afternoon. Liu Yu read a book lazily on the living room sofa and felt drowsy again.
Liu Yu patted his face to wake himself up, stood up from the sofa, and prepared to find something to do.
According to the housekeeper, Brother Zhou would be back around two or three in the afternoon. Liu Yu decided to cook a table of good dishes for him so he could properly nourish himself.
Variety was the last thing lacking in Zhou Yu’s villa kitchen; both meat and vegetable ingredients were fully stocked.
Zhou Yu loved spicy food, and Liu Yu spotted several kinds of chili peppers alone. Finding a few long green chilies, Liu Yu prepared to make a stir-fried pork with green chilies later.
Liu Yu hadn’t eaten pig trotters in a while. While they were delicious, cooking them genuinely took a lot of time; back when he had endless chores every single day, he simply couldn’t spare the energy to make them.
Now that he had come to J City, his energy had recovered, his time was ample, and most importantly, the kitchen facilities here were very modern and close to the conditions of his past life. He could handle even complex and difficult dishes with ease.
Aside from the stir-fried pork with green chilies and braised pig trotters, he would also make sweet and sour spare ribs and spicy chicken cubes. Four meat dishes would be about right, and he would stir-fry a few vegetable dishes to round it out to eight dishes and one soup, which was perfect.
Zhou Yu and Zhuang Zhengjun had just stepped into the courtyard when a rich aroma of food drifted over.
Zhou Yu cast a cold glance at Zhuang Zhengjun beside him and said leisurely, “You are getting off easy.”
He should have known. Liu Yu loved tinkering with food; even back in the harsh conditions of Qinghe Town, he would rack his brains and do his utmost to cook delicious meals. Now that he had come here, there was no way those hands could be kept idle for long.
Zhuang Zhengjun, however, was delighted and grinned broadly. “This trip was worth it!”
It was well worth his shameless insistence on hitching a ride in Zhou Yu’s car this afternoon to come here. This guy Zhou Yu always kept things to himself whenever he liked something since they were kids, never telling anyone else.
Normally, he could come and go as he pleased at this villa, and Zhou Yu rarely interfered, though that was most likely because he couldn’t be bothered to care.
But today, when he tried to tag along as usual, he met with unprecedented, vigorous opposition from the other man. He realized immediately that either something unseemly was hidden in the villa, or some good food that Zhou Yu didn’t want to share was being kept there.
“Brother Zhou, I knew it. Whenever there is good food, you love to sneak off and eat alone at home,” he complained with a resentful tone.
The veins on Zhou Yu’s forehead couldn’t help throbbing. He closed his eyes and forcefully suppressed the urge to hurl this idiot out of the courtyard.
Zhuang Zhengjun can’t be beaten, he has a good dad. Zhuang Zhengjun can’t be beaten, he has a good dad. Zhuang Zhengjun can’t be beaten, he has a good dad.
Zhou Yu repeated the warning to himself in his heart.
After a long while, he opened his eyes and said with pleasant patience, “My younger brother has come to J City. He is shy and doesn’t really like meeting people.”
Zhuang Zhengjun didn’t catch a single word, hearing only the two words younger brother. A look of joy immediately spread across his face. “Our little brother is here, why didn’t you say so earlier!” Then, remembering something, he looked troubled. “I haven’t even prepared a welcome gift for him yet.”
“Then perhaps you should go back today and come another day,” Zhou Yu seized the opportunity to persuade him.
Ignoring him, Zhuang Zhengjun muttered to himself, “Surely the little brother won’t mind. A welcome gift can be made up for another day, but meeting him is better sooner than later.”
As if wiping his mouth casually, he headed straight for the villa kitchen, leaving Zhou Yu standing alone in place.
Zhou Yu: “…”
He had known it all along. Everything was just a high-sounding excuse for the other guy to stay. From the moment he smelled the aroma of the food, he was destined to be unable to chase this idiot away.
“Little brother! Little brother!”
Inside the kitchen, Liu Yu was startled by the man who barged in uninvited. He was just picking up a piece of pig trotter with chopsticks to test its tenderness, and the startle made his hand shake, causing the trotter to drop back onto the counter.
Zhuang Zhengjun rushed forward immediately and picked up the trotter affectionately.
“What a pity, this piece got dirty, it probably can’t be eaten now,” Zhuang Zhengjun said with a heartbroken expression.
Liu Yu was about to explain that the counter was very clean and it was still edible when he saw the man shove the trotter directly into his mouth.
Liu Yu was dumbfounded by this move. Wait, big brother, are you speaking human words? What he said makes no sense—is it edible or not?
Zhuang Zhengjun chewed and chewed, spat out the bone after a long while, licked his fingers, and exclaimed, “So good!”
“Hello, little brother. Our first meeting is a bit abrupt,” Zhuang Zhengjun smiled awkwardly.
Wait, who on earth are you? Calling him little brother right upon meeting is quite abrupt indeed.
Liu Yu stood ill at ease, looking at the man who resembled an energetic husky, feeling like crying without tears.
How awkward, can someone save him?
Fortunately, Zhou Yu arrived in a timely manner at that moment. He walked up, threw an arm around Liu Yu’s shoulder, and said with a half-smile, “Aren’t you an only child?”
Zhuang Zhengjun immediately fired back, “Aren’t you an only child?”
Zhou Yu smiled, saying nothing.
Under that stare, Zhuang Zhengjun instantly broke out in goosebumps. Yet he stubbornly puffed out his chest.
There was no helping it; acting pathetic normally was fine since they were all close brothers with no outsiders around, but today there was a little brother present! How could he afford to lose face?
The two of them remained locked in this stalemate.
Liu Yu looked bewildered. Why were these two acting so neurotic, debating in the kitchen whether the other was an only child? Of course, he respected their conversation, but wasn’t the occasion a bit inappropriate?
“Would you two like to go discuss this issue in the living room?” Liu Yu ventured to ask cautiously.
Zhou Yu lowered his head and flashed him a gentle smile.
Then, he grabbed Zhuang Zhengjun’s arm and half-dragged him out of the kitchen.
Liu Yu was truly baffled. He plated the braised pig trotters and turned back to start stir-frying the vegetables.
Vegetables were easy to stir-fry and ready in just a few minutes. Liu Yu retrieved a food tray from the corner and carried the dishes into the dining room.
In the living room, whatever the two of them had discussed had clearly eased the atmosphere, and they appeared to have reconciled.
Liu Yu shook his head with inner helplessness. They were men in their twenties, yet so childish, arguing inexplicably and getting over it just as inexplicably.
“Little brother, let me help!” Zhuang Zhengjun stood up and eagerly ran over.
Liu Yu smiled awkwardly. Big brother, you still haven’t told me who you are! How can someone be so overly familiar?
Zhou Yu explained reluctantly, “His name is Zhuang Zhengjun, a friend of mine.”
“We’re brothers, the kind who wear the same pair of pants!” Zhuang Zhengjun hurriedly added.
Liu Yu looked at Zhou Yu with a complicated expression, never expecting that his Brother Zhou had a penchant for sharing pants with others.
Sensing his misunderstanding, Zhou Yu said in a slightly exasperated tone, “That was something we only did before we were five years old!”
“Right, Xiao Yu,” seeing that idiot enter the kitchen, he continued, “He usually dislikes people calling him brother on equal terms; you can just call him by his full name from now on.”
Interesting, Liu Yu thought. He dislikes others calling him brother, yet he’s enthusiastic about actively calling others brother? Why should I believe that?
Zhuang Zhengjun, who was currently carrying a basin of vegetables: “…”
Why is this guy like this! He only stepped out of his sight for a moment, it’s not like he went deaf, disparaging him like this while he can hear it!
“Little brother, I actually don’t like calling others brother casually, but you’re a special case. Today we hit it off immediately and clicked the moment we met. If you’re willing, call me older brother from now on, and I’ll have your back in J City!”
He hadn’t even seen the person yet before hearing his voice, and was calling him little brother without even meeting face-to-face, how on earth is that hitting it off immediately?
What kind of ridiculous special case is this? Probably just hitting it off with the aroma of the food coming from the kitchen! Liu Yu muttered inwardly.
Complaining aside, since he was Brother Zhou’s friend, a certain amount of face had to be given. Calling him older brother wouldn’t cost him anything, so he immediately called out, “Brother Zhuang.”
“Right!” Zhuang Zhengjun responded with exaggerated enthusiasm, casting a deeply irritating, triumphant glance at Zhou Yu.
Zhou Yu, sitting on the sofa, felt a wave of dissatisfaction. He simply disliked anyone other than himself being called brother by Liu Yu; hearing it made his heart sour. The damned Zhuang Zhengjun, he shouldn’t have let him into his house, giving him the chance to deceive an innocent, ignorant youth.
Liu Yu had no desire right now to figure out what was going on inside the minds of these two; he just wanted to start eating immediately.
He took the initiative to pick up a chopstickful of stir-fried pork with green chilies and put it in Zhou Yu’s bowl, then began eating himself.
Zhou Yu held his rice bowl, feigning nonchalance as he looked toward Zhuang Zhengjun, trying to prove that he was the older brother with the closest relationship to Liu Yu.
Zhuang Zhengjun, however, paid him no mind at all. His eyes seemed glued with super glue, precisely locked onto every single meat dish.
“Little brother, you should open a restaurant! Brother will definitely come patronize it every single day,” he said with a piece of sweet and sour sparerib stuffed in his mouth. The moment he swallowed it, his hand seamlessly transitioned to a pig trotter.
“Brother isn’t lying to you. I’ve tried all the famous restaurants in J City, big and small, and yours is definitely deserving of this!” As the words fell, he stuck out a thumb.
Liu Yu had a flaw that wasn’t quite a flaw, he loved hearing others praise his cooking.
As long as people were willing to shower him with praise, his whole body would wind up like a clockwork spring, wishing he could whip up a Manchu-Han imperial feast the very next second.
However, he still remembered to maintain modesty and politeness in front of outsiders, so even though he was happy inside, it didn’t show on his face.
Having spent so much time with him, Zhou Yu naturally knew what he was thinking at that moment, finding his solemn, put-on composure exceptionally adorable without calling him out.
Zhuang Zhengjun had no idea that his image in the eyes of his good friend was currently that of a gluttonous beast as he swept frantically through every single dish.
Unlike Liu Yu’s surprise, Zhou Yu had long since grown discontent. He rapidly loaded up Liu Yu’s bowl with food before finally eating in peace.
Liu Yu picked up a braised pig trotter from his bowl and took a bite. It was soft, waxy, sweet, and tender, so delicious it made him narrow his eyes in bliss. It was well worth simmering it for a full two hours that afternoon.
The leftover sauce in the plate was equally rich and savory. Liu Yu’s first thought upon seeing the remaining sauce was that it could be used to mix with rice.
He went to the kitchen to dish up a bowl of rice and drizzled several spoonfuls of sauce over it. The rice, combined with the fragrance of sugar and oil, left Zhuang Zhengjun, who was currently picking his teeth in comfort, drooling with craving.
In the end, even those leftover sauces were wiped completely clean by the two of them.
“Simply peerless!” Zhuang Zhengjun had nothing left to say. He scraped up the final mouthful of rice in his bowl and sighed with emotion.