Zhu Heqing hadn’t used learning how to make braised prawns from Zhang Ya as an excuse.
He genuinely wanted to learn.
After they returned from the market with the ingredients, Zhu Heqing politely declined Zhang Ya’s offer to help him prepare the prawns.
“Auntie, I cook quite often at home, so I’m not a beginner. Removing the shrimp veins won’t take me long. You worked hard driving us around, so go rest first. Once I’ve finished preparing the prawns, I’ll still need to trouble you to teach me how to cook them.”
His explanation was perfectly reasonable, so Zhang Ya didn’t insist.
She took the washed fruit into the living room.
On the way home, they had also stopped to pick up a few packages. Yu Hezhang was squatting by the entryway, opening one of the boxes.
Zhang Ya put down the fruit, walked over to him, and picked up another package.
“This Xiao Zhu is such a hardworking person.”
She lowered her voice.
“I watched the way he removed the shrimp veins. He’s very skilled. You can tell he spends quite a bit of time in the kitchen.”
“Someone who’s used to riding around in luxury cars didn’t complain at all about sitting on that little electric scooter today. At the market, Fufu didn’t even want to walk on the ground, and Xiao Zhu was perfectly willing to carry her around in his dress shoes. His manners are impeccable too.”
Yu Hezhang was more than pleased.
As far as he was concerned, even if Fufu were paired with a celestial immortal, she would still be worthy of him.
“Fufu is picky about food. If he wants to take good care of her, he’ll have to put in some effort. No matter how skilled an outside chef is, nobody understands her tastes as well as her own family. It’s a good thing that Xiao Zhu is willing to learn.”
“Besides, if Xiao Zhu is dating Fufu, why wouldn’t he treat her well?”
Zhang Ya thought about it and agreed.
Although she and Yu Hezhang weren’t particularly accomplished people, they had treasured their daughter ever since she was little.
Whatever Yu Huan wanted, they would do everything they could to buy it for her.
They had raised their precious daughter like a pearl in the palm of their hands precisely so that she could enjoy life.
Long before Yu Huan entered university, Zhang Ya and Yu Hezhang had already saved enough money for their retirement.
The current job market wasn’t particularly good, and their daughter had never been the type to endure hardship.
They didn’t particularly want Yu Huan to suffer through the hardships of working, either.
After all, they hadn’t brought Yu Huan into this world so she could follow the same path they had and spend her entire life working without enjoying herself.
Zhang Ya wanted Yu Huan to simply be herself and do whatever she wanted.
Even if she chose to work, Zhang Ya hoped Yu Huan would do it because she wanted the experience—not because she needed a job just to survive.
The couple had prepared for this long ago.
From the moment Yu Huan was born, they had opened a bank account for her and deposited money into it every month.
The purpose was to give Yu Huan a financial safety net for whatever decisions she made in the future.
Now that Yu Huan had started dating Xiao Zhu, even though he was the president of the Zhu Group, Zhang Ya still wouldn’t let him into the Yu family’s home if he treated her daughter badly.
“Then I’ll teach Xiao Zhu a few more dishes later. That way, whenever Fufu wants something, he can make it for her.”
The two of them chatted by the doorway for quite a while.
Yu Huan picked through the fruit and selected a plum. Holding it in her hand, she wandered into the kitchen.
The Yu family’s kitchen wasn’t very large, but fortunately, it had large windows and excellent natural lighting.
Zhang Ya and Yu Hezhang were both hardworking people. Even though the kitchen was used every day, the windows and range hood were kept spotless.
Zhu Heqing was wearing a Doraemon apron.
His hands moved swiftly as he gripped a shrimp by the tail, twisted, and pulled.
The entire vein came out in one clean motion.
He tossed it into the wall-mounted trash bin and asked gently,
“Are you bored? I’ll still be a while. Will you stay with me for a bit, baby?”
Yu Huan stuffed the plum into her mouth and chewed a few times.
It was a little sour, and her entire face immediately scrunched up.
But she’d chosen the plum herself.
No matter how bad it tasted, she had to finish it.
Yu Huan chewed reluctantly and swallowed it with difficulty.
“Hmm…”
She pretended to think about it for a few seconds before finally agreeing.
“Fine. Who told me to be such a kind person?”
Then Yu Huan immediately added,
“Having such a thoughtful and understanding girlfriend like me is definitely a blessing you earned in your previous life.”
The expression on her face clearly said:
You’re so lucky to have me.
Then she remembered Chen Jiahao and the seemingly unstoppable progression of the plot.
She didn’t forget to add a warning.
“If you ever get angry at me because of another woman, then don’t even think about having me as your girlfriend anymore.”
Zhu Heqing had always known that his girlfriend’s imagination was rather wild, but even he couldn’t help feeling helpless at this moment.
Over the years, aside from his younger sister Xu Yunshu, almost all the young women he had known had attended the same private international school with him since childhood.
Most of them were already married and had established careers.
The remaining few were scattered across different countries, enjoying their lives, and barely kept in touch with him anymore.
Zhu Heqing thought about it.
Perhaps there was something he hadn’t done well enough in his daily life, leaving Yu Huan without enough of a sense of security.
Otherwise, why would she worry that he might get angry at her because of another woman?
He quickly went through everything he’d done recently in his mind.
Sure enough, Zhu Heqing found a small oversight.
As the textbook example of a man who had fallen in love late in life, Zhu Heqing had wanted to marry Yu Huan from the very first moment he saw her.
At the time, Qing University was celebrating its eightieth anniversary.
Qing University was one of the more prestigious major universities in Beijing, and the anniversary celebration was a grand affair. Numerous successful and influential figures had been invited, and Zhu Heqing was among them.
After delivering his speech, Zhu Heqing had something else to attend to and left early.
As fate would have it, he encountered Yu Huan at the university gate as she was returning from a meal.
At the time, Yu Huan had her back to him.
He hadn’t even seen her face clearly.
He had only caught a glimpse of her back.
Yet that single glance was enough to make the normally composed Zhu Heqing’s heartbeat stumble.
In that instant, his entire attention was captured by that figure.
After making inquiries through several channels, he learned that she was a freshman who had just enrolled that semester in the School of Arts.
Her surname was Yu.
And she had just turned eighteen.
Zhu Heqing:
“……”
He remained silent for a long time.
His good upbringing wouldn’t allow him to pursue a young girl like that.
And yet, he couldn’t stop himself from trying to arrange accidental encounters with her.
In the end, Zhu Heqing simply gave up resisting.
Under the self-imposed label of “You’re seriously a pervert,” he shamelessly began pursuing her.
His methods were rather old-fashioned.
Fortunately, he never did anything like creating a public spectacle or using strangers to pressure the girl into accepting him.
Instead, he would quietly order things for her and have them delivered to the entrance of her dormitory.
The deliveries contained expensive and luxurious items without any sender information.
They scared Yu Huan so badly that she didn’t dare order takeout for several days, convinced that some kind of pervert was stalking her.
Yu Huan even submitted a post to the university’s anonymous confession wall, telling that damn pervert to stop harassing her.
She absolutely would not give in.
Yu Huan hadn’t posted anonymously.
Combined with her exceptionally striking appearance, the incident caused quite a stir.
Even He Zhiheng heard about it.
He Zhiheng found out because his cousin had shown him screenshots while complaining about the situation.
He then passed the gossip along to his group of friends.
Coincidentally, Zhu Heqing was in that group.
When he saw the screenshots of Yu Huan’s accusations, Zhu Heqing—who was already exhausted from feeling like a pervert—fell into an even deeper silence.
“……”
He had simply noticed that Yu Huan was too thin and wanted her to eat more nutritious food.
He had never intended to force her into anything.