For dinner, the two of them had tomato and egg noodles, along with the cold dishes Ning Xi had brought back.
He Kezhou cooked the noodles, and the tomato and egg sauce was taught to him by Ning Xi through verbal instructions.
The man, standing over 1.88 meters tall, took up most of the kitchen space. The kitchen, which usually looked spacious, now seemed oddly cramped.
Ning Xi leaned against the kitchen doorframe.
She noticed that He Kezhou had absolutely no idea how to cook.
He was clumsy, awkward, and slow—but exceptionally earnest.
Ning Xi didn’t dampen He Kezhou’s enthusiasm for cooking. She would occasionally praise him for adding just the right amount of water and seasoning perfectly.
Every time she spoke, He Kezhou would look up at her.
That earnestness made Ning Xi’s heart flutter.
He was unfairly handsome!
Ning Xi pressed the back of her hand to her cheek—it was really hot.
She said to He Kezhou, “The electric fan I ordered online has arrived. I’ll go unbox it and set it up for you.”
She should have thought of it sooner.
Before assembling the fan, Ning Xi first put the roses that had been soaking in the bathroom into a vase.
By the time she finished arranging the flowers and assembling the fan, He Kezhou had already brought the tomato and egg noodles to the table.
She plugged in the fan, aimed it at He Kezhou, and set it to the highest speed.
The breeze, carrying warmth and the scent of roses, blew away the stuffiness and smell of cooking oil from the kitchen.
He Kezhou handed the chopsticks to Ning Xi.
The noodles didn’t look particularly appetizing, but they smelled wonderful.
Ning Xi sniffed and couldn’t help but swallow.
Looks didn’t matter—as long as they were edible.
She put a mouthful of noodles in her mouth and flinched at the heat.
Her stomach, which had been hungry all afternoon, was soothed by the piping hot noodles.
Ning Xi swallowed and her eyes lit up. “He Kezhou, you’re amazing! The noodles are so good!”
He had a talent for cooking!
In He Kezhou’s line of sight was Ning Xi’s delighted, satisfied smile. The noodles he had picked up slipped back into his bowl.
Ning Xi urged He Kezhou to eat quickly, then slurped her own noodles noisily.
Eating noodles in the middle of summer was fine except for the heat.
After a few bites, Ning Xi fanned herself and the noodles with her hand.
He Kezhou stretched out his arm and aimed the fan at Ning Xi.
Ning Xi waved her hand, her cheeks puffed with food. “Don’t point it at me the whole time. Set it to oscillate so we can both get some air.”
“If it’s not cool enough, we can turn on the air conditioner.”
He Kezhou adjusted the fan so it would blow on both of them.
Ning Xi squinted her eyes in comfort.
Between the cold air of the air conditioner and the natural breeze of the fan, she preferred the fan.
She planned to let the fan blow on the noodles for a while and eat them once they cooled down a bit.
He Kezhou didn’t seem to be afraid of the heat at all.
Ning Xi deliberately interrupted his meal. “He Kezhou, why did you kiss me earlier?”
“If I had actually done something like that, you’d probably find it dirty, wouldn’t you…”
How could he even bring himself to do it?
She didn’t say the second half of that sentence.
“You didn’t.”
He Kezhou’s words were soft, yet they carried weight.
Ning Xi gazed into the man’s pitch-black pupils and completely forgave him.
Kissing between a boyfriend and girlfriend was perfectly normal.
But precisely because the original owner and He Kezhou had never kissed, that normalcy seemed somehow less normal.
While He Kezhou was cooking the noodles, Ning Xi had already prepared herself mentally.
Two grown adults sharing the same space, in a romantic relationship—something happening between them was normal. If nothing happened, then either she had a problem, or he did.
Ning Xi felt she was completely incapable of remaining indifferent to He Kezhou’s face and his perfect physique.
For a few minutes, the only sound was the chewing of food.
“I’m getting paid this month. I want to move to a new place.”
After saying this, He Kezhou stopped eating and stared at Ning Xi.
Ning Xi swallowed the soup in her mouth and said “Okay” with a smile. She took out her phone and transferred six thousand yuan to him. “I’ve kept about two thousand for myself as next month’s living expenses. The six thousand I sent you is to pay back the two months of rent I owe Meng Yizhen.”
“You’re busy with work on weekdays, and my schedule is more flexible, so leave the house-hunting to me.”
Ning Xi’s reaction was completely different from what He Kezhou had expected.
He had thought that if he brought up moving, the current peace would be shattered entirely.
Ning Xi didn’t wait for him to ask where her money came from. She volunteered, “I sold the bag.”
“He Kezhou, thank you for taking care of me these past two months. From now on, I’ll work hard to support myself and not be a burden to you.”
The moment He Kezhou heard that Ning Xi had sold the bag, the noodles in his mouth lost all flavor.
He had seen with his own eyes how precious that bag was to Ning Xi, how much she treasured it.
He should have felt relieved.
But why did he feel no sense of relief at all?
It was because he was too poor that Ning Xi had been forced to change.
He Kezhou took a big gulp of the noodle soup.
Ning Xi’s lips moved.
Now was the time to confess that matter to He Kezhou.
Maybe it was a good opportunity.
“He Kezhou, I want to confess something—”
Scrape.
The sound of a chair scraping against the floor interrupted Ning Xi’s words.
He Kezhou stood up, picked up his bowl, and went to the kitchen.
Ning Xi thought He Kezhou was going to get the noodles, but to her surprise, he went to wash the dishes instead.
She carried her own bowl and chopsticks into the kitchen.
She had eaten too much—she was completely stuffed.
As if he had eyes in the back of his head, He Kezhou took her bowl and chopsticks from her hands.
Ning Xi said to him, “You cooked the noodles, so I’ll wash the dishes.”
He Kezhou didn’t move out of the way. He swiftly cleaned the dishes and chopsticks, then asked her, “Do you want some milk tea tonight?”
Ning Xi shook her head and pointed at the fridge. “There’s watermelon in the fridge.”
He Kezhou: “How about durian?”
Ning Xi shook her head again.
He Kezhou: “Lychees, guava, avocado, basque cheesecake…”
These were all Ning Xi’s favorites.