30 THE PITIFUL BOWL OF NOODLES (1/2)
Xuan Tianyi was a bit confused when he stepped into the apartment. Hua Zhendan had promised him dinner so he had expected candles and flowers and well, food. What he saw however, was Hua Zhendan emptying the contents of an instant noodles sachet into a pot.
”You're back,” Hua Zhendan's eyes lit up with a small smile as he noticed Xuan Tianyi. ”Welcome.”
Xuan Tianyi smiled at the warmth in Hua Zhendan's voice and eyes. Softly, he whispered, ”Baby?”
”En?” Hua Zhendan answered with the same softness in his voice.
”What are you doing?” Xuan Tianyi asked as he sat himself on a dinning chair in the kitchen. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please clickfor visiting.
”Making noodles.”
”Oh!” Xuan Tianyi couldn't hide the disappointment in his voice.
Hua Zhendan covered the pot. He walked towards the dining table so he was standing opposite Xuan Tianyi. Hua Zhendan leaned on the table and rubbed Xuan Tianyi's cheeks, ”What's wrong?”
”Well... Nothing. It's just that you said you'd be making dinner so I was thinking you would cook something a lot more sophisticated. And that it'd be ready by now, I'm very hingry.”
Hua Zhendan smiled and straightened his back. ”This is just noodles. But it has a special meaning.”
Xuan Tianyi raised an eyebrow. Mockingly, he asked, ”Really?”
”Yeah,” Hua Zhendan nodded as he spoke. ”This is the first time I'm cooking for you. The first time you cooked for me, you made noodles. So, I'm recreating that memory.”
Xuan Tianyi's heart skipped a beat, ”God, that's romantic.”
Hua Zhendan had an amused grin on his face. He had guessed, rightly that that answer would satisfy Xuan Tianyi; his lover was such a simpleton. ”And you know I can't eat cold food. So, I had to start when I knew you were close to home.”
Xuan Tianyi nodded, then frowned. ”How could you possibly know when I was close to home? You didn't call me.”
”Well, call it instinct.”
”Hmm,” Xuan Tianyi nodded.
”Do you want to eat now or after you've taken your bath?”
”Right now. I can't wait a moment longer.”
Hua Zhendan strolled back to the oven, turned off the gas, and wearing oven mitts, poured the contents of the pot into a bowl. He placed two boiled eggs inside the bowl and carrying two pairs of chopsticks, placed the bowl on the dining table.
The first thing that caught Xuan Tianyi's eyes were the eggs. The egg was roughly peeled, and the white was barely hard. As soon as his chopsticks touched the egg, the egg fell apart and an undone yolk poured from it, surprising both himself and Hua Zhendan.
”The egg isn't done,” Xuan Tianyi pointed out to Hua Zhendan.
”Oh! I didn't want to overcook it. I know you like your eggs easy.”
Xuan Tianyi smiled again. Hua Zhendan was extravaneously romantic tonight. He pushed the undone egg aside and shoved some noodles inside his mouth. Slowly, he chewed, then swallowed.
Hua Zhendan, who had been watching Xuan Tianyi the whole time, rose a brow at him, ”How's it?”
”You... Didn't put in the spice.”
Hua Zhendan scratched his head, ”I—”
”And it's not well-cooked,” Xuan Tianyi interrupted him.
”I—”
”You can't cook,” Xuan Tianyi said in an accusing tone.
Hua Zhendan scoffed, ”I can. It can't be that bad.”
”Baby,” Xuan Tianyi put down his chopsticks. ”I don't want to hurt your feelings but it is that bad.”
”Oh!” Hua Zhendan dropped his chopsticks as well. ”So, let's order something to eat.”
”You've haven't cooked a day in your life before today,” Xuan Tianyi wouldn't let it go.
Hua Zhendan rolled his eyes. ”Of course, I can't cook. Happy now?”
Xuan Tianyi shook his head in dismay.
”What? You're not that much better at cooking yourself.”
”No, I'm not. But I can cook noodles. And I can definitely boil eggs. I mean, who can't boil eggs?”
”Me!” Hua Zhendan's voice was rough. ”What do you want to hear? I didn't even know how to turn on the stove thing till this evening.”
”Oh my God.”
Hua Zhendan sighed. His voice softened as he spoke, ”There's no way I could've learned to cook growing up with Shen Rui, okay? My mum was obsessively protective of me as a child. This one time, as a child, with our cook's assistance, I wanted to prepare dinner for her birthday. While I was slicing onions, I cut my finger a little bit. Our cook freaked out and drove me out of the kitchen because she knew Shen Rui wouldn't be happy about it. As I didn't get my way, I went upstairs and cried till my eyes were swollen. When Shen Rui returned from work, like she always did, she came upstairs to look for me. She frowned so deeply when she saw my swollen eyes that it scared me. Before I could explain why I had been crying, she noticed the band-aid wrapped around my finger and all hell broke loose. The only thing she was interested in was how I had hurt myself. So she would calm down, I hurriedly told her the whole story, but the only thing she heard was that the cook let me handle a knife. She fired the cook and threatened to have her arrested. The way she made it seem like a big deal made me afraid of even stepping feet in the kitchen. It's no wonder I can't cook, is it?”
”So, she fired the cook because you cut your finger?”
”She fired the cook, alright. But I felt like it was my fault, so I threw a tantrum. I wouldn't eat until she rehired the cook.”
”You're grown but you still throw tantrums to get your way,” Xuan Tianyi shook his head.
”Err... I think you're talking about you. Among the both of us, you're the one who throws tantrums more.”
Xuan Tianyi shook his head again but chose to let it go, ”So she rehired the cook?”
”Yeah. But she mistreated her, and the cook got really uncomfortable so she quit.”
”Wow!”
”Well... That's it.”
Xuan Tianyi chuckled. ”Fine, I understand you can't cook. But really, this was supposed to be a date. You could've bought candles and flowers to set the mood at least.”
”Of course I bought candles. You said the scent of the burning candles turn you on.”
”You'd remember that,” a red color crept into Xuan Tianyi's face as he replied.
”Of course,” Hua Zhendan had a sly smile on his face. ”But I forgot to buy flowers.” He scratched his head. ”And I totally forgot to put on the candles.”
Hua Zhendan smiled while Xuan Tianyi burst into a small torrent of laughter.
”You're such a mess,” Xuan Tianyi shook his head amidst laughter. ”The real reason you wanted to make noodles was because you thought it would be easy and not because you wanted to recreate the first time I cooked for you, right?”
”I'm a mess, yes!” Hua Zhendan nodded. ”And you're an idiot for believing me earlier.”
Xuan Tianyi smiled, ”So, you just ordered food all the time you've lived alone. Including when you were at school.”
Hua Zhendan wasn't dumb. He understood the real question Xuan Tianyi was trying to ask. His lover wanted to know how the romance was between him and his ex. If Xuan Tianyi really wanted to know, he'd tell him. ”When I was in school, at first, I used to eat out. I hated the food. But when Qiu Dawei and I started to date, he would cook so I ate home-cooked meal all the time.”
”Oh!” Xuan Tianyi's reply was hushed.