Her uncle had said he had asked around about Sang Bei’s whereabouts. But since he had been missing for so long and there were so few clues, she shouldn’t get her hopes up. Sang Zhi understood the difficulty of the matter, but she had prepared two plans: she would search while waiting for the system to upgrade, so that when she used her “cheat mode,” she could gather information. She wanted to seize Sang Yun’s opportunity but didn’t know which day the incident would happen, so she clung to Sang Yun as much as possible these past few days.
Coincidentally, Jiang Yan had returned to the station, and the two sisters had also moved back. Sang Zhi was deceptively charming, like a sweet girl, and she deliberately got along well with the neighbors—giving moxibustion to the retired grandmother in the front yard, massaging the picky-eating one-year-old in the back yard. When Sang Yun went out for a walk with Director Cai, many neighbors who had previously only nodded at them now came to greet them, often praising Sang Zhi. Director Cai looked proud.
Sang Yun felt even more uneasy.
“Uncle, my dad knows you miss home, so he asked someone to bring some monkey head mushrooms from Sanzhai. Since it’s quiet at noon, I’ll go get them and add them to your dinner tonight.”
The elderly man, upright all his life, refused politely: “I appreciate your father’s thoughtfulness, but leave the things for your own family.”
“My dad wanted to thank you for taking care of us these past days. If you don’t accept, we won’t dare to come again.”
She had to use the pretext of picking up the mushrooms to go back and discuss the next steps with her father.
After they left, Director Cai, tired from walking, ran into Jiang Yan, who hadn’t been seen for days, on the way home. The older and younger men walked side by side, and Jiang Yan, calm as ever, asked about what the two sisters had been up to while he was gone.
“They’ve been very well-behaved. Why do you sound like you’re interrogating them rather than checking in?” Director Cai didn’t suspect anything.
The two sisters sometimes had minor conflicts, but young people naturally have small disagreements. Jiang Yan fell silent again.
Back at his regiment, he also started investigating. He confirmed that Sang Zhi’s daily life had no connection with any spies, but this didn’t completely clear her of suspicion. He couldn’t say this aloud.
“Professional habit,” he replied.
Director Cai joked: “Just like when you were young, sharp-tongued and hard to please. No wonder girls don’t like you. By the way, I think Sang Yun is a nice girl. Why not match you two?”
Jiang Yan pictured her long brows, red lips, and bright, clear eyes.
“Don’t get the wrong idea about Sang Zhi, she’s suspicious—don’t mess around,” the elderly man said, suddenly alert.
“The Sang I’m talking about is Sang Yun. She’s virtuous and takes care of her family. You’re busy, so it would be a good match. But you instinctively assumed it was Sang Zhi—do you have a crush on her?”
Jiang Yan sighed, “You’re getting more ridiculous by the minute.”
No matter how the old leader tried to probe, Jiang Yan kept silent. They had reached the doorstep, so the topic was paused.
Inside, the house was filled with steam from cooking. These past few days, Sang Yun had been cooking, but as usual, her food was awful. Today, with Sang Yun out, Sang Zhi planned to improve her own meal. Older people’s taste buds decline, so the usual soy-sauce-cooked vegetables were torturous. But today, as soon as she entered, Director Cai smelled a rich, bold aroma.
“Back already? Wash your hands and come eat.”
Sang Zhi, wearing an apron, didn’t notice the tall figure behind her. Lately, the family meals had mainly been potatoes, cabbage, and pumpkin, and she didn’t want those anymore. She pulled out a small piece of meat to make minced meat noodles. She chopped the fatty and lean meat into fine pieces, heated oil in a pan, first fried the fattier portion until slightly browned, then added minced ginger, finally the lean meat and diced shiitake mushrooms. Stir-fried over high heat, the aroma filled the kitchen. The water boiled under the lid, hissing.
“Today is minced meat noodles; you can have an extra half bowl,” she said casually, thinking it was her uncle behind her.
Hearing no response, she turned and realized it was him. After a few days, Jiang Yan looked slightly darker. Sang Zhi felt a small thrill.
Jiang Yan didn’t seem to notice her smile. He made a polite remark and was about to leave with his bowl.
“Hey, wait a moment,” she said, as she quickly fried an egg golden and bright for him, covering it with noodles so the old man wouldn’t see.
Jiang Yan, not used to being treated differently, stiffly said, “I don’t need it.”
Before she could react, his head leaned close. The girl’s unique scent filled his nostrils, and he tensed.
“My uncle hasn’t been digesting well these past two days. Too many eggs would be hard on him. You’re different. Eggs fried in lard are the best. How about it, can I make it up to you?”
Whenever she wanted to please someone, she could never make mistakes. The tall, notorious “Taskmaster” Jiang Yan was forced to step back by a girl barely reaching his chest.
The man was baffled. Previously, she hadn’t been overly forward, keeping some distance. Why was she suddenly so warm after two days? She must be up to something.
“The noodles are getting soft, go eat.” She added a big smiling face.
Jiang Yan carried the noodles out. Sang Zhi pretended to cook, but her mind was already on the system. She hoped that by being so diligent and attentive, he would feel her enthusiasm—and that her merit points would increase a lot.
When she checked the system panel, her smile disappeared. Nothing had changed. Not a bit! It shouldn’t be. She looked at him again—earlier he was cold, like someone owed him money; now he was undoing his buttons, digging into the noodles like he was competing with her uncle, a hungry wolf in action.
Today she made Dan Dan noodles, using hand-rolled noodles she had made herself. At the bottom of the bowl she placed red soy sauce, lard, sesame oil, chili oil, sprouts, sesame paste, ground Sichuan pepper, minced garlic, ginger juice, scallions, and vinegar. There were many seasonings, but the proportions were perfect—every strand of noodle was coated with sauce, and paired with the minced meat, it fully lived up to the words “numbing, spicy, fresh, and fragrant.”
When she brought the freshly cooked noodles over, both bowls at the table were already empty. Jiang Yan’s wheat-colored face flushed, and a fine sweat appeared on the tip of his nose.
“Are you still going to eat?”
“Eat,” she thought. “When someone’s offering food, don’t question me.” Jiang Yan wanted to say he’d had enough, but his words betrayed him, and he said he would eat. Her uncle, allowed an extra half bowl, was busy competing for noodles and had completely forgotten about arranging a match for them before entering the house. While digesting, he kept hinting subtly that she should follow her cousin’s example—be more diligent and cook more often. Sang Zhi pretended not to hear. Ridiculous—if someone wanted to be a housekeeper, she’d be foolish to compete for the work.
After the meal, Jiang Yan washed the dishes while Sang Zhi pondered the triggers for increasing her merit points.
…
The Cai family’s two-story house was well-designed. The first floor had the kitchen, two bedrooms, a living room, and a bathroom; the second floor had two bedrooms, a study, and a bathroom. If Jiang Yan wasn’t home, the cousins would stay on the second floor. But either because the wiring was old or the bulb was faulty, the bathroom light often flickered. It wasn’t a problem during the day, but at night it looked scary.
Sang Zhi originally wanted the guard to help change the bulb. But with Jiang Yan returning early, she wanted to show off a little in front of him—maybe even get an unexpected reward. She brought over a small stool and carefully climbed up. Honestly, most girls are afraid of heights, but to achieve her goal, Sang Zhi had to grit her teeth and go. Luckily, the intermittent voices from downstairs gave her courage. If she didn’t look down, the height was manageable.
Holding her breath, she unscrewed the old bulb and replaced it with a new one, timing everything perfectly. Just as she finished, steady footsteps approached. If he saw her being so diligent, surely he would change his impression of her—maybe even give her more merit points.
She was close, so close. But then the replaced bulb seemed to have a mind of its own, slipping from her grip and falling.
“Sang Zhi? What are you doing up there?”
The falling bulb had already distracted her, and his sudden question made her body lurch uncontrollably.
“Oh no, oh no.”
The ladder tilted, and as she began to fall, she cursed herself silently. But the expected pain never came. Instead, she landed in a hard, solid embrace.