Upon hearing this, Grandpa Bai seemed a bit disappointed. “Alright, alright. It’s good to stay busy while you’re young.”
Then, as if remembering something, he added, “I’ll have some food sent over for you. What would you like to eat? I’ll tell Aunt Lin to make it for you.”
Gu Xi quickly said, “No need! We have a kitchen here. If we want something, we can just make it ourselves.”
“Why be polite with Grandpa? Do you think your cooking is better than Aunt Lin’s? It’s settled. I’ll have someone send over some of your favorite dishes.”
Gu Xi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. But what she didn’t expect was that the food would arrive so quickly. The next evening, Fang Pingping came to pick her up from work and said, “Two really handsome guys checked into the hotel earlier. They’re staying not far from your room.”
She had gone to Gu Xi’s room in the afternoon to drop off her washed and dried clothes and happened to run into them. The two men had great presence, especially the one walking in front—she didn’t even dare to look up at him for too long.
Gu Xi didn’t think much of it, wondering if some big celebrity had come to town.
She headed straight back to the hotel. Fang Pingping and Xiao Chen went out for hotpot, but Gu Xi didn’t feel like moving, so she asked her to bring back some stir-fried noodles for her.
She had just changed her shoes when there was a knock at the door.
After a moment’s hesitation, Gu Xi opened the door, but to her surprise, standing there was Fang Qi.
He gave her a slight smile. “Miss Gu, the boss would like to see you. Do you have a moment?”
Gu Xi hadn’t expected that man to be here too, and her heart raced a little. She didn’t bother changing her shoes again, grabbed her phone, and said to him, “Let’s go.”
Still, she felt a bit uncertain. “Why are you guys here?”
Fang Qi didn’t hide anything. “The old man prepared some dishes for you and asked our boss to bring them over.”
That “bring them over” probably wasn’t very convenient at all.
But Gu Xi also knew that he would only listen to Grandpa Bai’s requests.
Gu Xi followed Fang Qi to the other end of the hallway. Fang Qi pulled out a spare room card and swiped it. It was another suite, laid out similarly to Gu Xi’s room, though with far fewer items inside.
The two entered one after the other, passing the walk-in closet and bathroom to reach the living room and small kitchen.
The man was sitting on the living room sofa, holding a book and reading. He seemed to really enjoy reading. Gu Xi remembered that in their previous life, during their private moments together, he was either handling official business or reading—simple and boring.
He must have heard the noise because he looked up briefly. Gu Xi pursed her lips and said, “Uncle Bai.”
The man gave a faint “mm” in acknowledgment.
He set down his book and nodded at Gu Xi, gesturing for her to sit.
Gu Xi didn’t sit. She asked directly, “I won’t disturb you further. Where are the things? Just hand them to me.”
Hearing this, the man let out a soft laugh. “Disturb or not, you’re already here.”
He glanced up at her. “I haven’t eaten either. Sit down and eat with me.”
Fang Qi, who had just come out of the kitchen, instinctively hid the packaged food behind his back upon hearing this and said apologetically, “The old man had us bring some dumplings. They’re still cooking. Please wait a moment.”
“Do the other dishes need reheating?”
Gu Xi didn’t say anything. The man on the sofa cast a casual glance at him, and Fang Qi’s heart tightened. He had no idea where he’d gone wrong, but he braced himself and returned to the kitchen.
Afraid that he might cook all the dishes, Gu Xi quickly followed him to the kitchen. “Let me take a look.”
Once in the kitchen, she saw that Fang Qi had put the dumplings directly into cold water to boil—a huge pot full of them. The water hadn’t even boiled yet, and the dumplings were already sticking to the bottom. She felt a pang of regret—that amount could last her and Fang Pingping several days.
She quickly scooped all the dumplings out. “You can’t cook them like this. If you boil them too long, the wrappers lose their chewiness.”
These dumplings were clearly made by Aunt Lin by hand, and the wrappers were probably rolled from scratch too.
She shot him a resentful look. “Don’t you know how to cook?”
“Uh… not really…”
Fang Qi touched his nose guiltily. The last time he’d cooked, the recipient commented that it tasted worse than pig slop.
Gu Xi sighed. “You go out. I’ll handle it myself.”
“That’s not really appropriate.” Fang Qi, the famously sharp and capable chief assistant at the company, felt awkward for the first time.
“Just go. I know my way around a kitchen.”
“Alright.”
Fang Qi went out. Facing his boss’s calm gaze, he felt guilty all over again. “My cooking skills are lacking. Miss Gu must have had a good laugh at my expense.”
The man said nothing. After a moment of silence, he stood up and walked toward the kitchen.
Fang Qi took the chance to slip away.
Gu Xi waited for the water to boil before putting the dumplings in one by one. Remembering that the man had said he hadn’t eaten either, she reheated a few dishes. Aunt Lin had prepared several meat dishes for her: plum sauce spare ribs, steamed pork with rice flour, braised prawns, soy-braised beef, and lamb spine. They just needed reheating and would still taste mostly fresh.
When Bai Shulin came in, he saw her busy silhouette. The warmth of the kitchen felt out of place against her elegant figure, yet it made him pause for a moment.
Gu Xi was stir-frying the soy-braised beef while keeping an eye on the dumplings in another pot when a figure suddenly appeared beside her. The familiar scent gave her a fleeting illusion of being back in her previous life.
In their previous life, the two of them hadn’t spent much time together, nor did they share many common interests. The only thing that could be considered compatible was their taste in food. Gu Xi loved good food, was picky, and didn’t eat much—but he would eat anything. Whenever Gu Xi couldn’t finish her meal, he would take her plate and finish it for her.
Not even Bai Yuzhou could do that. Bai Yuzhou refused to eat her leftovers, saying it was unhygienic. Gu Xi hadn’t thought much of it back then—she couldn’t eat other people’s leftovers either.
In the past, Gu Xi didn’t understand. But now, thinking back to those dreams—if they were real—she felt that he probably just didn’t like wasting food.
The large pot of dumplings was divided into two big plates, with a single dish of soy-braised beef placed between them.
The man glanced calmly at the plate with only a few slices of beef. Gu Xi explained, “The two of us can’t finish more than this.”
Bai Shulin was silent, privately impressed by her audacity. He had come all this way, and all he got was a plate of dumplings and a few slices of beef.
Gu Xi lowered her head and ate the dumplings in front of her. With only a few dishes, she wanted to make them last several more days.
But then she suddenly remembered something and couldn’t help asking, “Is it your birthday tomorrow?”
The man’s hand, holding his chopsticks, paused. The look in his eyes cooled slightly, but he still gave a soft “mm” in acknowledgment. “Why do you ask?”
Gu Xi shook her head and said no more.
But the image of that lonely young boy from her dreams lingered in her mind. She had promised to go home with him, yet still vanished halfway. She wondered if he would be upset.
Sometimes she wondered—was she really mentally ill? It was one thing to keep dreaming about him in her previous life, but why was she still dreaming about him after being reborn? And in those dreams, they had even formed a connection and a bond.
“Tomorrow, I’ll make you longevity noodles.” Consider it a thank-you for making the trip today.
He declined flatly. “No need to go to the trouble.”
Gu Xi asked again, “When are you leaving?”
The man looked up at her. “Tomorrow.”
Gu Xi nodded, thinking she could make the longevity noodles in the morning, since she had no scenes to shoot until the afternoon.
Gu Xi followed through on her word. After finishing the meal and returning to her room, she kneaded the dough and put it in the fridge.
Early the next morning, Gu Xi got up to pull the noodles. She stretched the short strips into long, thin strands, then joined a few shorter pieces together to form a single long noodle—a longevity noodle.
When she was little, her grandfather used to make them for her on her birthday, topping the bowl with a fried egg. In her memory, that bowl of noodles was delicious. Later, every birthday, she would make herself a bowl, but it never quite tasted the same.
Now, Gu Xi was making a bowl of longevity noodles for someone else. She couldn’t help wondering—would this bowl of noodles become a memory in someone else’s heart?
Gu Xi carried a bowl of noodles and knocked on the door. It was Fang Qi who opened it. He was startled to see her at the door. “Miss Gu.”
Gu Xi nodded at him, didn’t bother asking if Bai Shulin was there, and simply handed the noodles over. “I promised him this.”
With that, she turned and left.
Fang Qi looked down at the bowl in his hands, thought for a moment, and carried it back inside.
The boss was in the bathroom washing up. Fang Qi set the bowl next to the breakfast he had bought, then continued tidying the room. When the boss came out after washing up, Fang Qi told him that Miss Gu had brought over a bowl of noodles. “She said she promised it to you.”
Bai Shulin paused mid-motion while drying his hair, remembering what she had said last night. He frowned slightly—he hadn’t asked her to promise anything.
Still, after his hair was half-dry, he sat down at the table. Compared to the elaborate breakfast Fang Qi had bought, the bowl of noodles looked much plainer. Unevenly thick strands of noodles lay scattered in clear broth, topped with a few chopped scallions and a golden-fried egg resting on top.
It was almost laughable. At his standing in life, he had never once eaten longevity noodles from childhood to now. He had a very early memory—when his mother was still alive during his early childhood, she would boil two sweet eggs for him. After she was gone, no one remembered that tradition anymore, and he hadn’t celebrated his birthday in many years.
This ordinary bowl of noodles before him seemed to bridge time and make up for years of absence.
Bai Shulin stared at the bowl for a long time—so long that he thought he had long stopped caring about such things, yet suddenly it made his heart feel hollow again.
He gave a faint, wry smile, picked up his chopsticks, and lifted the longevity noodle from the bowl. As if afraid it might break in the middle, he ate slowly and carefully.
He couldn’t help thinking—some people really knew how to win others over.
Before leaving, Fang Qi went to say goodbye to Gu Xi. When he returned, he reported everything exactly as it happened. “As you instructed, I asked Miss Gu if there was anything she wanted. Miss Gu said…”
Fang Qi paused for a few seconds, a hint of softness appearing on his face. The man looked up at him.
Fang Qi had no choice but to continue. “Miss Gu said she hopes you can be happier in the future.”
Though he was only delivering the message, he genuinely felt that Miss Gu was beautiful and kind-hearted. Even he had initially assumed she would ask for resources or roles—he never expected her to say something like that, and with such sincerity.
The man frowned, then fell silent.
After a long while, he let out a faint, dismissive snort. “That just makes her even more insufferable.”
Fang Qi pretended not to hear, but thought to himself—he says “insufferable” with his mouth, yet he still finished the whole bowl of noodles.
And yesterday, he had gone out of his way to deliver all those dumplings and dishes to her—he’d never been that good to his adopted son, had he?
Sigh. A man’s heart is as unfathomable as the depths of the sea.