“Pei Xu, I… I’ll stay with you.”
Pei Xu seemed not to have heard Shen Zhiyi’s words, sitting quietly on the sofa.
In his view, Shen Zhiyi’s earlier statement was not a promise but a form of mockery and playfulness.
Seeing that Pei Xu didn’t believe her, she wanted to say more.
But just then, someone knocked on the door. Shen Zhiyi walked over and took the groceries from the delivery person.
The entrance to their building unit was blocked by a stone, so delivery people could enter without ringing the doorbell.
Perhaps this was common in older residential complexes, where privacy and security were relatively low.
However, precisely because of this, it was more convenient for Pei Xu to live here.
“There aren’t many ingredients at home. I ordered a few things online, so tonight I’ll just make a couple of simple dishes.”
Before transmigrating into the novel, Shen Zhiyi was a food blogger.
Cooking was her forte, and she thoroughly enjoyed the process of preparing meals.
The reason she chose to work in the self-media industry after graduating from university was that she was quite reclusive, disliked excessive social interaction, and most importantly, she didn’t have to worry about navigating complex interpersonal relationships…
“You cook? I remember you said you couldn’t cook.”
Shen Zhiyi held a plastic bag in her hand, feeling grateful that Pei Xu couldn’t see her, or else he would have noticed the panic on her face.
“I only said that before to avoid going into the kitchen. It was just a casual excuse.”
Pei Xu pursed his lips and didn’t ask further.
Shen Zhiyi sighed and took the ingredients she had just bought into the kitchen.
Pei Xu’s apartment had almost no household appliances.
She rummaged through the kitchen cabinets and only found a rusty kitchen knife…
Shen Zhiyi could tell that the apartment hadn’t been lived in for a long time, as there was still a faint musty smell lingering in the air.
She had imagined that Pei Xu was living a difficult life, but she hadn’t expected it to be this dire—the apartment was practically empty.
The sofa, television, and refrigerator in the apartment were all old items, clearly showing their age.
But then again, Pei Xu’s accident had been so sudden, and having a place to stay was already a blessing.
Shen Zhiyi continued searching in the kitchen for a while longer.
Finally, in a drawer, she found a knife that hadn’t been sharpened yet.
Even though it wasn’t sharpened, it was still more reliable than the rusty one.
Pei Xu’s apartment didn’t even have basic cooking seasonings, so Shen Zhiyi had hastily bought a few earlier.
She planned to go to the supermarket tomorrow to stock up, making a list of everything they might need at home.
Just for the kitchen, there was a lot to buy: pots, pans, bowls, utensils, and knives. The refrigerator also needed replacing—the fan was incredibly loud and annoyingly noisy…
Shen Zhiyi scrambled some eggs, made a plate of cola chicken wings, and prepared a winter melon soup.
These three dishes were relatively simple and didn’t take much time.
“Pei Xu, dinner’s ready.”
Shen Zhiyi brought the dishes to the coffee table in the living room.
The apartment was pitifully small, without even a proper dining area.
Meals had to be eaten at the coffee table in the living room.
But perhaps this was for the best—if the apartment were too large, it would take Pei Xu longer to adapt.
Shen Zhiyi filled a bowl with rice and placed it beside Pei Xu’s hand, then put chopsticks into his grasp.
“The bowl you’re touching now contains rice, and the bowl next to it has soup…”
“Shen Zhiyi.”
She was in the middle of explaining where the rice and dishes were placed when she suddenly heard him call her name, momentarily taken aback.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s getting late, you should go.”
“Where should I go?”
Shen Zhiyi looked at Pei Xu, but his gaze only vaguely fixed on the space directly in front of him.
“Anywhere you want. The keys to those two apartments are in the document bag.”
Even if Shen Zhiyi were the most oblivious person, she could tell that Pei Xu was trying to get rid of her.
But she had a stubborn streak—the more Pei Xu tried to drive her away, the more determined she was to stay.
“I’m not leaving. Tonight… no, from now on, I’m staying here.”
“There’s no room for you here.”
“If there’s no room, I’ll sleep in the living room.”
Pei Xu set down the chopsticks in his hand.
“Suit yourself.”
Seeing him rise from the couch, Shen Zhiyi grabbed his arm.
“Where are you going?”
“Back to my room.”
“I just cooked this meal, and I even burned my hand. Aren’t you going to try it?”
Shen Zhiyi raised her hand, but remembering that Pei Xu couldn’t see, she lowered it again.
Seeing Pei Xu press his lips together, Shen Zhiyi pulled him back onto the couch.
“Eat first.”
In Shen Zhiyi’s view, nothing was more important than eating.
Even if the sky were falling, you should still have a full meal first.
Seeing Pei Xu obediently sitting on the couch, Shen Zhiyi curled her lips into a smile and placed the chopsticks back in his hand.
“I know you might not be used to it yet, but take your time.”
Shen Zhiyi picked up the serving chopsticks and placed a chicken wing in his bowl.
She didn’t offer too many comforting words because she knew they wouldn’t mean much to Pei Xu.
“I put a chicken wing in your bowl.”
Shen Zhiyi kept watching Pei Xu. His movements seemed hesitant.
After feeling for his bowl, he remained seated in the same position.
Only after hearing Shen Zhiyi’s words did he raise his chopsticks and lightly poke around in the bowl.
The feeling of chopsticks touching rice was different from touching a chicken wing. Pei Xu tried to pick up the chicken wing, but without his sight, his spatial awareness was almost nonexistent.
As soon as he lifted the chopsticks, the chicken wing slipped out of the bowl.
Shen Zhiyi quietly wrapped the chicken wing that had fallen onto the coffee table in a tissue.
Then she walked over to Pei Xu, guided his hand, and helped him pick up another chicken wing from the plate.
The meal passed in silence.
Shen Zhiyi hardly spoke throughout.
Pei Xu was even less likely to initiate conversation.
Coupled with his blindness and his low spirits,
Shen Zhiyi felt that if it weren’t for his desire to send her away as soon as possible, Pei Xu probably wouldn’t have wanted to say a single word to her.
“Does it taste good?”
“Mhm.”
Pei Xu picked up the bowl and chopsticks, intending to take them to the kitchen to wash.
“If it’s good, I’ll cook for you again tomorrow.”
Hearing Pei Xu’s praise for her cooking, Shen Zhiyi’s smile widened noticeably.
In truth, he hadn’t really praised her—he had only nodded in agreement.
But for Shen Zhiyi, that was already a pleasant surprise.
As long as Pei Xu didn’t drive her away, there was still a chance for her to redeem herself.
“Let me take care of these. I’ll wash them.”
Shen Zhiyi reached out to take the bowl and chopsticks from Pei Xu’s hands.
“I’ll do it. Being able to do something at least makes me feel like I’m not completely useless.”
“Even if you didn’t do these things, I wouldn’t think you’re useless.”
Pei Xu hadn’t yet moved past the emotional impact of losing his sight.
Once he adjusted to this period, he would start living more actively.
Pei Xu was never the type to be defeated by a setback.
Shen Zhiyi watched as Pei Xu felt his way into the kitchen and placed the dishes and utensils into the sink.
She could have washed them in just a few minutes, but Pei Xu took a long time.
Afraid that the grease on the plates wouldn’t be cleaned properly, he washed them over and over again.