Chapter 47: What a Coincidence (1/2)

Lin Fan didn’t feel the same ruefulness that Cheng Xi was savoring. Although he noticed that Cheng Xi was still distracted, he couldn’t have imagined that she was already reevaluating their relationship in her mind.

He was still very happy because this was his first time coming to Cheng Xi’s house, the house that belonged solely to her. He felt that this was an intimate gesture in and of itself.

Cheng Xi refused his offer to help cook, entering the kitchen alone and busying herself. Lin Fan held the glass of water she had poured for him and slowly took in this house that had been filled to the brim with Cheng Xi’s presence.

Her house was very clean and tidy. Despite her interior decoration being somewhat at odds with itself, with maple-colored furniture and European-style marbling, the house was filled with a faint fruity smell that naturally made him relax. Because Lin Fan liked her so much, he couldn’t seem to find a flaw with any part of her home; everywhere he looked, it felt pleasing and intimate.

After looking around in a circle, he sat down on the sofa that she liked to lounge on and picked up the books that she looked at, all related to medicine, complicated and arcane. But the sight of her notes penciled in that oh-so-familiar script, slim and graceful, threw him back to those childhood years.

He was engrossed in his reminiscing as he leafed through her books.

By the time Cheng Xi finished making breakfast, she had decided how she would break the news to him. But when she saw looking through her books, she couldn’t help but smile. “Do you like them?”

“Yes.” He nodded seriously.

Cheng Xi’s smile grew even wider. “Not bad. As someone who studied abroad, reading books like these must be a piece of cake for you. If there’s something that I don’t understand, I’m sure you’ll be able to help explain it to me.”

Lin Fan playfully bowed in the manner of a scholar. “It would be my pleasure.”

This was a conversation that they had often had while studying. Although it sounded like it would be an awkward conversation, when Lin Fan said it, it was surprisingly intimate—perhaps because his posture was so refined and natural.

The two of them laughed together. Lin Fan put down the books and walked over happily. Cheng Xi’s breakfast was very simple: a simple bowl of noodles with a poached egg that was topped with a few stalks of green onion and flavored with a dash of red oil. The golden yolk and pale white noodles contrasted with a few splashes of onion-green; while it looked quite ordinary, it tasted remarkably good.

When Cheng Xi heard Lin Fan’s praise, she laughed. “It’s the seasoning that my mother made for me that’s truly tasty, this red chili oil.” As she talked, she picked up a small bottle of chili oil from the table. “It’s a true miracle seasoning that can turn even the most unpalatable meal into something indescribably tasty. Without it, I really wouldn’t have had the courage to invite you to eat my food.”

Her exaggeration made Lin Fan laugh. “Your parents really do make delicious food. When I was overseas, I would long for their noodles and dishes every now and then… But since I’ve been gone for so long, I do feel somewhat afraid of going to see them again now.”

Because Lin Fan had been poor in the past and his mother always busy, he often either ate cup noodles or whatever he could scrounge up. Luckily for him, Cheng Yang’s grades were poor, and, as his younger sister, Cheng Xi found it embarrassing to help tutor him. So, she had gotten Lin Fan to do it for her instead. For this reason, Lin Fan was quite familiar with the Chens, and had frequently had meals with them.

After Lin Fan went abroad, they hadn’t heard from him again. Cheng Xi’s mother had even asked about him a few times, and still brought him up occasionally, always starting off with the words, “That refined and particularly responsible classmate of yours…”

After Cheng Xi swallowed the food in her mouth, she said, “I’m not free this weekend, but next weekend when I’m free, I’ll invite you to have my mother’s food again.” She paused, and then added, “Call Shen Wei and Tian Rou and the rest of them over too. My mom will be delighted.”

Lin Fan stared blankly before accepting happily, his eyes curving upwards like small crescent moons. “Alright. I’ll be free in the afternoon, so I’ll go pick out some gifts for them right after. I still have some things from overseas. Oh, you should help me pick some things out when you’re free, something that they’d like…”

He said a whole lot all at once, and Cheng Xi could immediately tell that he was nervous.

She smiled comfortingly. “Don’t worry about all that. What’s most important is that you go.”

Lin Fan shook his head. “How can that do? I used to freeload from your place so much. If I still did that now, then I’m afraid they’d chase me out.”

“How was that considered freeloading? You helped too. If Cheng Yang hadn’t had you around, then he probably couldn’t have gotten into even the most ordinary of universities.”

Upon Cheng Yang being mentioned, Lin Fan asked, “How’s he doing now?”

“Oh, he dropped out of university and got a job doing construction, which made my mom really angry. But he has a small business now, so I guess he’s doing alright.”

Lin Fan smiled. “I guess he did get what he wanted in the end. Even when he was studying, he always said that he wanted to be a boss in the future.”

As they ate, they talked about some other funny childhood stories related to Cheng Yang. When they had almost finished the noodles, Cheng Xi asked, “Lin Fan, do you remember that patient that you met last time at the hospital?”

“The one that bit you?”

“Yes.”