"Right, Tianxiang, did you tell your uncle and auntie that you aren't going home for dinner tonight?"
"Relax, I called them as soon as school ended and told them I'd be eating at your place tonight."
The two of them had hung out constantly since they were kids, and over time, Zhao Tianxiang's parents had grown close to Lin Xuan as well. In the past, Lin Xuan had often gone over to Zhao Tianxiang's house for meals.
"What should we buy? Tianxiang, what do you feel like eating?"
"I want shredded pork with green peppers, braised pork rib soup, roast duck, roast lamb chops, roast chicken legs..."
"Stop right there!" Lin Xuan interrupted. "Roast duck and roast lamb chops? Do you seriously think you can eat all of that?"
"Didn't you just ask me what I wanted?"
Lin Xuan was speechless. Zhao Tianxiang really wasn't going to hold back at all.
Right beside the entrance to the residential compound was a vegetable market where many peddlers brought fresh produce they grew themselves. Compared to what was sold in supermarkets, the vegetables here were not only cheaper and tastier, but more importantly, completely natural and pesticide-free.
Lin Xuan bought pork ribs, corn, pork, tomatoes, eggs, green peppers, and some seasonings. The ribs and corn could be used for soup, the tomatoes scrambled with eggs, and the green peppers stir-fried with shredded pork. Finally, he picked up some cold-dressed side dishes at a small street-side shop.
The menu looked pretty solid. It should be more than enough for the three of them.
"Looks like I'm in for a real treat tonight, Xuanzi. Whoever marries you in the future is going to be so lucky—not only are you considerate, but you can actually cook. I wish I were a girl!"
"Get lost..."
The guy was talking nonsense again. He certainly wasn't into guys!
Just as the two of them finished buying the groceries and were getting ready to head back, Lin Xuan's phone rang. Curious as to who was calling, he picked up his phone and took a look. To his utter disbelief, it was Yu Jiaxin.
Gazing at the caller ID, Lin Xuan froze.
"Xuanzi, who's calling you?" Zhao Tianxiang glanced over and was shocked as well. "Yu Jiaxin?! She's actually calling you? No way!"
After all, Yu Jiaxin had never called Lin Xuan in her life. In fact, because Lin Xuan used to call her so many times, it had annoyed her to the point that she blocked his number for a very long time. It was only after Lin Xuan's tearful and desperate pleading that Yu Jiaxin had finally removed his number from her blacklist.
Meanwhile, Yu Jiaxin was nervously waiting in her room for Lin Xuan to pick up. After talking with her mother just moments before, Yu Jiaxin had also started to feel that she might have gone a bit too far, and thought she would call Lin Xuan to apologize. Offering him an olive branch like this should count as making amends, right?
Yet, the moment Lin Xuan saw the caller ID, he hung up without a second thought.
"Xuanzi, you're not going to answer?" Zhao Tianxiang asked. "We're all classmates, and we see each other every day. Even if you guys can't be a couple, you can still be friends. There's no need to make things so awkward..."
"Friends? Forget it!" Lin Xuan replied. "I don't want to have anything to do with this person now or ever again!"
After hanging up, Lin Xuan promptly added Yu Jiaxin's number to his blacklist. When you love someone, no matter what they do wrong, you can always forgive them. But when you don't love someone anymore, no matter what they do right, you find them utterly repulsive! That was probably the exact feeling Lin Xuan had right now.
Yu Jiaxin had expected Lin Xuan to at least answer her call, but to her disappointment, the phone indicated the call had ended.
*He hung up? No way! He must have pressed the wrong button, right?*
Unwilling to give up, Yu Jiaxin dialed his number again.
"Sorry, the number you have dialed is powered off!"
*Powered off? That's impossible! It went through just a second ago!*
Yu Jiaxin tried calling again. Once, twice, three times, several times... Every single time, it showed that the phone was powered off.
*Could he have blocked me?*
At that thought, Yu Jiaxin's heart trembled. Why would he block her? She had even taken the initiative to call him! Was it because he felt her apology over the phone wasn't sincere enough?
*It has to be that! Otherwise, there's no way he would block me!*
Maybe she should find some free time and apologize to Lin Xuan in person?
She looked at her phone screen, where the call log was practically filled with records of the countless calls Lin Xuan used to make to her—calls that, without exception, she had never once answered.
What Yu Jiaxin didn't know, however, was that the heart she had broken could never be mended again...
"Xuanzi, you're ruthless! You said you wouldn't pay attention to her, and you really meant it! What a real man!"
"Am I ruthless?"
Only he himself knew how much agony he had suffered because of Yu Jiaxin in his past life! Only by staying far away from her could he turn his life around!
"All right, let's hurry back and cook. I'm starving!" Zhao Tianxiang urged Lin Xuan anxiously. He was genuinely famished; it had been over two hours since school ended, and his stomach had been growling for ages.
When the two returned home, his grandfather, Lin Changshan, saw them come back and stepped forward to take the groceries, only for Lin Xuan to stop him.
"Grandpa, let me cook a meal for you tonight!"
"Good, good! My Xuanzi is all grown up! Grandpa finally gets to taste his grandson's cooking!" Lin Changshan beamed, his smile stretching from ear to ear. Anyone could see how happy he was.
Lin Xuan had cooked for Yu Jiaxin many times, but he had never once cooked a meal for his own grandfather. His grandfather had given so much to the household without ever asking for anything in return. Yet just by cooking a single meal, he was this overjoyed.
It formed a stark contrast with Yu Jiaxin's attitude in the past. Someone who loved you never asked for anything in return, while someone who didn't love you couldn't be moved no matter how much you gave.
At that thought, a sour ache gripped Lin Xuan's heart.
"Grandpa, you must be tired, rest for a bit. We're going to make dinner! Tianxiang, come help me prep!"
"You got it!"
The two of them dashed into the kitchen. Zhao Tianxiang took charge of washing the vegetables, while Lin Xuan handled chopping, washing the wok, and stir-frying.
Lin Xuan skillfully cut the corn that Zhao Tianxiang had washed into several pieces, then tossed them into an earthenware pot along with the chopped ribs. Lin Xuan was quite skilled at making soup; in the past, he had frequently simmered rib soup, chicken soup, and white fungus soup for Yu Jiaxin. The secret was slow-simmering over low heat—he would get the rib soup going first, then stir-fry the other dishes, and by the time the dishes were nearly done, the soup would be ready as well.
"Tianxiang, rinse the rice and put it in the rice cooker to steam. I'm getting ready to start stir-frying!"
"You got it, leave it to me!"
Zhao Tianxiang expertly washed the rice, added the right amount of water, and finished in no time at all. Now they just had to wait twenty minutes or so.
"Not bad, Tianxiang. Have you cooked by yourself before?" Cooking rice was simple, but add too much water and it turned into porridge, add too little and it was too dry. Seeing that Tianxiang had added just the right amount, Lin Xuan couldn't help feeling curious.
"Even if I haven't eaten pork, I've seen a pig run! I watch my mom cook every day, so a little task like this is nothing. Stir-frying is out of the question, though."
At Zhao Tianxiang's house, his mother usually did the cooking, which Lin Xuan already knew from frequently crashing meals there in the past.
Next came the moment for Lin Xuan to show off his skills. He expertly chopped the tomatoes, green peppers, and pork. As the cooking oil heated up in the wok, Lin Xuan picked up the spatula, tossed in the shredded pork, and began stir-frying. A few minutes later, he added the green peppers.
Before long, the aroma of shredded pork with green peppers drifted through the house.
"You really know your stuff, Xuanzi! Just smelling this makes my mouth water. Hurry up, I'm starving!"