Gu Jing Shen reached out and untied the apron around Su Jin Yue’s waist.
His fingers accidentally brushed against her slender shoulder, the warmth of his touch sending a faint shiver across her skin.
Without giving it much thought, he put the apron on himself, adjusted the ties, and turned to her.
“I can’t promise my cooking will be as good as a five-star restaurant, but I guarantee it’ll be good enough to keep you from going hungry.” Seeing his tall, broad figure wearing the apron so naturally, Su Jin Yue couldn’t help but let the corners of her lips curve upward.
“Then I’ll put down my weapons and wait to see what Lawyer Gu is capable of.” Gu Jing Shen turned and walked into the kitchen.
Soon, the rhythmic sound of a knife striking the cutting board began to fill the room.
Su Jin Yue sat down on the sofa, looking at the carefully bandaged finger on her hand before turning her gaze toward the kitchen glowing with warm light.
A strange sense of peace slowly spread through her.
It was a kind of tranquility she had never experienced in the cold, imposing Su family mansion.
And somehow, it filled the quiet corners of her heart.
Standing at the kitchen counter, Gu Jing Shen rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt several times, revealing his strong forearms and the faintly visible veins beneath his skin.
Su Jin Yue leaned back against the sofa, watching his every movement.
Gu Jing Shen placed a ripe red tomato on the cutting board, holding it steady with his slender fingers while the knife in his other hand moved rhythmically.
The crisp sound of the blade striking the board rang through the kitchen.
In the blink of an eye, thin, perfectly even slices of tomato had been cut.
Next, he cracked two eggs into a bowl.
His chopsticks moved quickly and steadily, beating the eggs until a fine layer of froth formed on the surface.
Gu Jing Shen turned on the stove.
Once the pan was hot, he coated it with a thin layer of oil before quickly pouring in the beaten eggs.
A pleasant sizzle filled the kitchen, and the rich aroma of eggs immediately spread through the air.
With practiced movements, he tilted the pan slightly, turning the eggs so they would cook evenly before sliding them onto a plate.
Then he added the tomatoes to the pan and stir-fried them until they softened into a fragrant sauce.
Every movement Gu Jing Shen made was smooth and practiced, no less skillful than that of a professional chef.
Watching his tall figure moving busily through the warm haze of the kitchen, Su Jin Yue couldn’t suppress her curiosity.
She got up and walked toward the dining table, her eyes filled with amusement and surprise.
“Is cooking your secret side career?” Gu Jing Shen didn’t turn around.
He calmly slid the scrambled eggs into the tomato sauce and replied: “My father wasn’t a chairman, and we never had a maid at home.
So cooking was simply a survival skill.” Su Jin Yue blinked.
For some reason, she suddenly felt that married life like this wasn’t so bad after all.
It was completely different from all the bleak scenarios she had imagined when she decided to stand against her father.
There was no suffocating control.
No unreasonable demands.
And certainly no heated arguments.
Su Jin Yue and Gu Jing Shen lived peacefully under the same roof.
Each took care of their own affairs, and neither interfered excessively in the other’s private world.
But every now and then, they would sit down and share a meal, exchange a few casual words, or simply show each other a measured amount of concern at just the right moment.
Perhaps there would never be passionate, dreamlike love between them.
But this kind of respect and understanding could very well grow into a lasting bond between soulmates.
They didn’t necessarily have to become a real married couple in every sense of the word.
They could simply become good friends.
Trusted allies who would face whatever storms the future brought, side by side.
Lost in her thoughts, Su Jin Yue was suddenly brought back to reality by the sound of approaching footsteps.
At some point, Gu Jing Shen had already taken off his apron.
He carried two steaming plates to the dining table and set them down before looking up at her, the corners of his lips curving slightly.
“The food is ready.
Please, Miss Su.
Give it a try.” The table was filled with several simple home-cooked dishes, each one arranged neatly and presented with surprising care.
The mouthwatering aroma made Su Jin Yue’s stomach rumble involuntarily.
She sat down, and Gu Jing Shen naturally handed her a pair of chopsticks before taking the seat across from her.
“See if it suits your taste.” His tone was casual, but his deep eyes watched every tiny change in her expression.
Su Jin Yue picked up a piece of food and put it into her mouth.
The rich yet perfectly balanced flavor spread across her tongue.
Her eyes immediately brightened.
She looked up and offered an entirely sincere compliment.
“This is… much better than I expected.
I didn’t know you were such a good cook.” Gu Jing Shen smiled faintly, a trace of tenderness passing through his eyes.
“My grandmother taught me how to cook all these dishes.” Su Jin Yue nodded thoughtfully.
For some reason, her fondness for him increased a little.
A man who had built himself up from nothing, who was independent, refined, and composed Gu Jing Shen truly possessed qualities that made it difficult not to develop a certain affection for him.
She picked up another bite.
Seeing her positive reaction, Gu Jing Shen’s expression softened even more.
The deep eyes that were usually filled with calculation whenever he was dealing with business now shimmered with warm nostalgia.
Leaning back in his chair, he spoke with a hint of enthusiasm.
“My grandmother was naturally gifted when it came to cooking.
We were poor when I was young.
There was no meat, fish, or expensive food at home.
But somehow, with just a few wild vegetables from the garden, a couple of scallions, or a radish, she could turn them into something that tasted like a feast.” He paused briefly before continuing.
“She always said that the secret wasn’t expensive ingredients.
It was how much heart the person cooking put into the meal for the person eating it.” Su Jin Yue listened attentively to every word.
“When I first started learning to cook, she would hold my hand and teach me everything step by step.
How to control the flame, how much salt to use, even how to turn the pan so the food would absorb the seasoning evenly.” “Whenever I ruined a dish or burned something, she never scolded me.
She would just smile and say, ‘If you want to win someone’s heart, first learn how to warm their stomach.'” Too absorbed in his story, Su Jin Yue unconsciously put another bite of food into her mouth without noticing that a little tomato sauce had smeared onto the corner of her lips.
Gu Jing Shen suddenly stopped speaking.
His gaze unconsciously fell to the corner of her mouth.
When Su Jin Yue noticed that he had suddenly gone silent, she blinked in confusion.
“What’s wrong?” Gu Jing Shen didn’t answer.
He slowly pulled out a tissue before unexpectedly leaning across the table.
The distance between them suddenly shrank.
Su Jin Yue startled.
Her breath caught, and her entire body stiffened.
Gu Jing Shen wrapped the tissue around his slender fingers and gently brought it to the corner of her lips.
His movements were so gentle and careful, as though he were handling a precious, fragile jewel.
The warmth of his body and the faint scent of sandalwood drifted into her senses.
Su Jin Yue’s heart began pounding wildly.
“You’re in such a hurry.
You’ve got sauce all over your lips.” Gu Jing Shen’s low, husky voice whispered right beside her ear, carrying an irresistible charm.
After wiping away the sauce, he withdrew his hand.
Yet his gaze remained fixed on her face, which had already begun to flush faintly with embarrassment.
Su Jin Yue hurriedly lowered her head and focused on eating, using the food to conceal both her embarrassment and the chaotic rhythm of her heartbeat.
“You have a wonderful grandmother.” “I think so too.” Gu Jing Shen readily agreed with her.
Su Jin Yue put down her chopsticks and looked up at him, her voice sincere.
“Thank you… for dinner.” “Actually, if you like…” Gu Jing Shen hadn’t even finished speaking when the phone on the table suddenly began to vibrate.
Su Jin Yue’s eyes instinctively flicked toward it.
The name displayed clearly on the screen immediately caught her attention: Lin Wan Nuan.
Gu Jing Shen’s expression changed instantly.
He quickly reached for his phone, stood up, and walked toward the balcony.
Even though he deliberately lowered his voice, the apartment was so quiet that every hurried word still reached Su Jin Yue’s ears.
“It’s me.
What’s wrong?
What happened?
All right.
I know.
I’ll be there right away.” The call ended within seconds.
Gu Jing Shen strode back into the kitchen.
He stopped beside the dining table and looked at Su Jin Yue with a trace of guilt in his eyes.
“I have something urgent to take care of.
You keep eating.
Don’t wait for me.” Before Su Jin Yue could respond or even nod, Gu Jing Shen quickly grabbed the car keys from the table and hurried toward the front door.
Bang!
The heavy wooden door slammed shut behind him.
The meal on the table remained almost untouched.
But the man who had been sitting across from Su Jin Yue had already left without the slightest hesitation.
Su Jin Yue sat alone at the dining table, her fingers slowly tightening around her chopsticks.
The warmth that had just begun to bloom inside her felt as though someone had suddenly poured a bucket of cold water over it, extinguishing every last spark.
She leaned back against the chair.
A faint, self-mocking smile appeared on her lips.
Then, unable to suppress the question any longer, she murmured to herself: “Who exactly is that woman?
How can she make someone as rational and cold as you become so flustered and anxious every single time?”