With the Qingming Festival behind them and no pressing matters left at the Bureau of All Affairs, Song Huaiyan and Shen Yu returned to Liangbuyi. Having eaten rather casually at the Bureau these past few days, Song Huaiyan made a special trip to the vegetable market upon their return, intending to cook a proper, hearty dinner.
He tied an apron around his waist and stepped into the kitchen, only to find Shen Yu following right behind him.
“Junior Brother… want to learn how to cook?”
Without committing to an answer, Shen Yu simply began helping by pulling the potatoes, onions, and other items out of the shopping bag one by one.
Recalling the shattered bowls from earlier, Song Huaiyan decided it was best not to risk it. “You can go wait outside and tidy up the dining table.”
“I know how to use these now,” Shen Yu said, gesturing vaguely toward the faucet and kitchen appliances. With downcast eyes, he added indifferently, “I won’t be freeloading.”
Song Huaiyan quickly reassured him, “You’re the lucky charm the cash cow of Liangbuyi right now. You’ve already earned back your keep.”
“You aren’t doing it for the money,” Shen Yu countered. “Every cup of your milk tea sells for eight yuan and eighty fen, which is two to three times cheaper than what they charge outside, and you sell your medicinal herbs with zero profit margin.”
Not expecting Shen Yu to have paid attention to such details, Song Huaiyan pulled out a cut of pork belly to wash. He replied in a leisurely tone, “Money still has to be made; I’ve got a whole family to support, not to mention that money pit Xiao Ai. But most of the people who come here to buy medicine are elderly folks from the town; I couldn’t possibly let my conscience sink low enough to make a profit off them.”
“Just what is Song Aiguo to you?” Shen Yu changed the subject abruptly. “He’s not an ordinary person, is he?”
Song Huaiyan thought to himself: Ah, so he was waiting right here? This topic is never going away, is it?
“Xiao Ai’s parents had some ties with me. After they both passed away, I took him in,” Song Huaiyan explained. “Now he’s just an ordinary college student, though he started school early and hasn’t turned eighteen yet this year.”
“Are you planning to take him on as a disciple?” Shen Yu asked.
“Not really a disciple. The lineage of ferrymen doesn’t really do the whole master-disciple apprenticeship thing.” Dumping a basin of shrimp into the sink, Song Huaiyan began peeling the shells and cleaning out the shrimp veins. “The prawns look pretty good today.”
Having no intention of pursuing that topic further, Shen Yu dropped it as well.
“What should I do?” It seemed he still hadn’t given up on helping out with the cooking.
“Well, help me peel an onion then. Take off the outer skin first, and as for how to cut it, do whatever you like.”
Song Huaiyan casually assigned him a simple chore, figuring meat was tricky to handle and peeling potatoes was a hassle. Shen Yu acknowledged the task and set to work peeling the onion, but when Song Huaiyan glanced over a moment later, he discovered that Shen Yu had practically peeled away the entire onion until almost nothing was left.
“The layers inside are the edible part! You don’t need to peel those off!” Disregarding the shrimp in his hands, Song Huaiyan rushed over to protect the remaining onion. “You only need to take off the very outermost thin layer of skin…”
With a quiet “Mn,” Shen Yu expressionlessly began peeling the second onion. Stealing a few covert glances, Song Huaiyan saw that this time there were no issues; Shen Yu quickly finished peeling, washed it, and started slicing.
“Cooking isn’t really that difficult; practice makes perfect, and it suits someone of ordinary talent like me.” Smiling, Song Huaiyan rinsed the peeled shrimp in the sink. “Actually, you don’t need to learn these things—your talent shouldn’t be wasted here.”
“My talent… is it practicing the sword?”
“Of course! You possess natural spiritual meridians and are a martial arts prodigy!”
“Yet… I don’t like practicing the sword. I” Shen Yu’s voice seemed to hitch for a second before trailing off into silence.
Song Huaiyan turned his head, only to find that Shen Yu had closed his eyes, and a single tear was rolling down his cheek.
Song Huaiyan: “?”
You’ve got to be kidding me? He’s crying already? Does the little junior brother hate practicing the sword that much?!
“Junior Brother…” Flustered, Song Huaiyan spun around. “I, I didn’t mean to bring that up on purpose. I didn’t know you…”
“It’s too pungent.” Keeping his eyes shut and still holding the kitchen knife, Shen Yu replied, “My eyes.”
Glancing at the shredded onions on the cutting board, Song Huaiyan burst out laughing. Still, looking at that speed and knife-work, he truly lived up to his reputation!
“My bad, my bad, I forgot to warn you that onions can irritate the eyes. If you cut them in half and soak them in cold water before slicing, it won’t be nearly this pungent.”
Hurriedly grabbing a few sheets of tissue paper to help him wipe away his tears, Song Huaiyan couldn’t help but keep chuckling softly—it was his first time ever seeing Shen Yu in such a state. Halfway through wiping, Shen Yu opened his reddened eyes and stared at him expressionlessly, freezing both Song Huaiyan’s smile and his hands mid-air.
“Um, your hands have onion juice on them too, you shouldn’t wipe your eyes directly. Let me…”
The kitchen wasn’t large, and at this moment the two of them were standing face-to-face with merely a few inches between their noses, instantly creating an awkward atmosphere.
“Alright,” Shen Yu murmured indifferently, looking as though he didn’t mind at all.
Carefully finishing the wipe, Song Huaiyan crumpled the tissue and said, “Go wash your hands. I’ll take care of the rest.”
“How do this?” Shen Yu clearly hadn’t given up yet.
“Scrambled eggs with onions. Why don’t you beat the eggs then?” Song Huaiyan brought out the eggs. “Crack four eggs into a bowl and just whisk them until blended.”
While starting to parboil the pork belly, he called out toward the living room, “Xiao Ai!”
“I’m here.”
“Play ‘Onion’.”
“Alright, playing Aska Yang’s ‘Onion’ for you now.”
A familiar female voice sounded out, immediately followed by the gentle strains of music.
“Does she also happen to be called Xiao Ai?” Shen Yu frowned as he looked toward the small white smart speaker.
“Just a coincidence. I bought it as a toy to amuse Xiao Ai,” Song Huaiyan explained. “It has quite a lot of functions. You can ask it to turn the lights on and off, play music, tell stories—just call its name and give it a command. It’s more convenient than a phone since you don’t even need to type. By the way, do you need a phone?”
“No.” Shen Yu answered without hesitation.
“Oh.” Song Huaiyan thought it over and figured there was plenty of time, so there was no need to rush.
“…Stealing glances at you, secretly concealing myself. If you are willing to peel my heart layer by layer, layer by layer, you will find, you will be surprised—you are my most repressed, deepest secret.”
As the male vocalist sang passionately through the speakers, Song Huaiyan seasoned the braised pork while humming along: “If you are willing to peel my heart layer by layer, layer by layer, your nose will sting, your eyes will tear, as long as you can hear me and see my wholehearted devotion…”
He clapped the pot lid on and turned around, only to catch Shen Yu staring right at him.
Accustomed to living alone and getting a bit too carried away just now, he had inadvertently started singing in front of his junior brother…
This was practically a social-death scene!
“Haha… I’m not a very good singer, completely tone-deaf…” Handing over the bowl to Shen Yu awkwardly, he added, “This is a classic old song; youngsters probably haven’t heard it nowadays, but it’s quite nice.”
“Mn,” Shen Yu acknowledged softly, though it was impossible to tell which remark he was answering.
Song Huaiyan fired up another stove to make the scrambled eggs with onions. “Watch me make it once today; with your comprehension, you’ll definitely know how next time.”
Feeling a bit too self-conscious to keep looking at Shen Yu, he kept his eyes glued to the pan for the rest of the cooking, completely unaware that Shen Yu’s gaze never left his profile the entire time.
“I am like an onion, forever playing a supporting role. How I hope to share with you a single second of an exclusive plot. If you are willing to peel my heart layer by layer, layer by layer, you will find, you will be surprised—you are my most repressed, deepest secret…”
The chorus played on in an endless loop.
Dinner took nearly two hours to prepare, resulting in four dishes: scrambled eggs with onions, corn with shrimp, braised pork belly, and shredded potatoes. The portion was somewhat generous for just two people, so Song Huaiyan scooped up a portion of the braised pork belly and shrimp to deliver next door to Auntie Liu.
“Auntie Liu’s husband has passed away, and her children are all working in other cities, so whenever I cook a meal I often bring some over for her. She sends food over to my place quite often too; the neighbors around here are all very kind to me.”
Setting down the bowls and chopsticks, Song Huaiyan tossed that explanation to Shen Yu.
“You used to live here all by yourself?” Shen Yu received the bowl of rice he served and waited for him to sit down together.
“Not quite. Auntie Xiu used to be here too. She was the previous owner of Liangbuyi and also a distant relative of mine. I came here to apprentice under her, and since she had no other family, she left the shop to me after she passed away.”
Shen Yu asked no further questions, simply lowering his head to eat.
“The braised pork belly is sweet-flavored too; you should like it.” Song Huaiyan felt reasonably confident in his cooking skills.
“Mn.” Shen Yu picked up a piece of pork belly. He seemed unpicky about food, chewing and swallowing everything slowly and deliberately.
During the meal, the two exchanged casual remarks, and Song Huaiyan felt that spending time with Shen Yu today was surprisingly relaxed and pleasant.
It felt almost like going back to those three years when they still trusted one another.
He didn’t know why Shen Yu had suddenly tried to kill him back then; their relationship shouldn’t have deteriorated to a life-or-death struggle. Admittedly… he knew he had let Shen Yu down in certain ways, but he had never truly believed Shen Yu could hate him to such an extreme.
Yet under the current circumstances, he had no idea how to bring it up.
He didn’t know what Shen Yu had gone through all these years, nor what his mindset was now.
Perhaps Shen Yu wanted to know everything as well.
However, as if mutually tacit agreement to preserve the fragile peace of the present moment, both of them stopped short on many topics, avoiding any further probing.
“The wound on your back is mostly healed now, so you won’t need a medicinal bath today. I’ll teach you how to use the shower instead.”
After cleaning up the kitchen, Song Huaiyan led Shen Yu over to show him how to shower.
“Your medical skills nowadays are quite good.” Shen Yu remarked out of the blue.
“I just picked up some superficial pharmacology from Auntie Xiu.” Walking ahead, Song Huaiyan always felt Shen Yu was building up to something else. Hesitating for a moment, he decided to bring it up himself. “Mainly thanks to the soul-bewitching flowers you brought. Sorry, I used them without permission in a moment of panic. Those flowers… must have been very important to you.”
“Mn.” Shen Yu paused in his steps and said in a low voice, “I don’t need them anymore, though.”
Flustered earlier, Song Huaiyan had been walking rather fast and only caught the words “don’t need them.” Seeing Shen Yu’s expression didn’t look angry at all, he let out a mental sigh of relief.
“Um, if you don’t mind, you can keep sleeping in my bedroom. I’ll tidy up the study tomorrow and buy a bed; that room is even more spacious than the master bedroom.”
The thought of sleeping arrangements gave him another headache. Since Shen Yu was no longer an amnesiac child, he worried whether the other man would disdain his bed. Besides, Xiao Ai’s room couldn’t be occupied indefinitely, or else the kid would throw a tantrum upon returning.
Clearly, having only two bedrooms in the house was far from enough.
“Ah, ‘Oh, could I get a mansion with ten thousand rooms… a mansion costs ten million per room…’” Song Huaiyan let out a long sigh, sounding thoroughly broke.
“I won’t freeload,” Shen Yu stated.
Song Huaiyan: …That really wasn’t what he meant.
“Then how about Junior Brother takes charge of breakfast tomorrow?” To preserve the aloof immortal persona and protect his junior brother’s self-esteem, Song Huaiyan wracked his brains.
“Mn.” Shen Yu’s voice remained as tranquil as autumn water, without a ripple of disturbance.
In the end, things played out just like before: Shen Yu slept in the master bedroom, while Song Huaiyan took Xiao Ai’s room. Having learned his lesson from previous events, Song Huaiyan made sure to inspect the calming incense and cast a protective spell over the door before going to bed.
Yet tonight, tossing and turning, he found himself unable to fall asleep. Perhaps it was because he had slept too much over the past few days, or perhaps because with that layer of window paper poked through, his mind was now completely consumed by how he should interact with Shen Yu going forward.
It wasn’t until close to dawn that he finally drifted off to sleep, causing him to wake up half an hour later than usual.
The bedroom door stood wide open, and Shen Yu was nowhere to be seen in the room. Walking downstairs, he found Shen Yu in the kitchen. Today, the latter was dressed in a white round-collared robe, with his sleeves bound up using ribbons to make working easier.
To his surprise, Shen Yu was genuinely taking the initiative to make breakfast.
His current attire wasn’t particularly suited for the kitchen; such an ethereal, worldly-detached immortal looked utterly out of place standing there, fumbling clumsily amidst pots and pans.
Song Huaiyan leaned against the small doorway and watched quietly for a moment, a smile naturally curving the corners of his lips.
Shen Yu poured the food from the pot into a bowl and reached out to pick it up. Naturally, the soup was still piping hot, and the moment he touched it, he instinctively recoiled, freezing in place while pinching his fingertips and staring blankly at the steaming bowl of noodles.
“When your hand gets burned, you can quickly pinch your earlobes. It sounds a bit absurd, but it actually works—the temperature of the earlobe is relatively lower.”
Stepping closer, Song Huaiyan looked at Shen Yu with a beaming smile, placing his right-hand fingers against his earlobe to demonstrate.
Pondering this for a brief moment with a thoughtful look, Shen Yu reached out and pinched Song Huaiyan’s left earlobe instead.