Chapter 99 (2/2)

The call cut off with a beep.

Shen Fu laughed gently. This was the first time he felt as if the separation wasn’t completely terrible.

He wiped himself clean with a tissue before he finally started to tidy up and get ready to go home. Even though he was far from satisfied in his body and heart, for better or worse he had gotten to have some appetizers. It could pad his stomach a little and tide the hunger over.

On the other end, Lin ShuYi’s entire body was heating up. He had no choice but to go to the bathroom to take another shower. By the time he got out, the blush on his face still hadn’t receded, and he saw Xiao Yu standing in his doorway, rubbing his eyes.

Lin ShuYi instantly felt awkward.

And then Xiao Yu even asked him, “Papa, are you not feeling well?”

Why did he seem to have heard his father crying in the bathroom? Was it because he missed Papa Shen too much? Xiao Yu also missed Papa Shen a lot too.

The blush on Lin ShuYi’s face darkened even more, but it wasn’t because of what happened before. He could only avert his gaze, not looking at Xiao Yu’s watery eyes. “It’s nothing. Does Xiao Yu need something?”

Only then did Xiao Yu rub his eyes before he rubbed his stomach. “Papa, I’m a little hungry.”

He ate too much at the kindergarten that afternoon, so he had only eaten a little bit of what Lin ShuYi cooked for dinner. Now it was almost eleven at night, and when he got up to use the restroom, he felt very hungry.

Lin ShuYi wrapped himself up tightly in his bathrobe before he carried Xiao Yu to the bed. “Hungry? I’ll go make something for you. First lie down for a bit on the bed.”

Xiao Yu nodded. He lifted his head, wanting to kiss Lin ShuYi on the cheek, but he stopped after thinking over it again. He mumbled as if to himself, “Papa Shen said not to kiss Papa.”

Lin ShuYi found it amusing. “Isn’t Papa Shen not here right now?”

Xiao Yu’s eyes lit up. That was true! So then he smacked a kiss on Lin ShuYi’s cheek. “Thanks, Papa.”

Lin ShuYi smiled at he rubbed his head, before he went downstairs to go make him a midnight snack.

Lin ShuYi usually never cooked at home, so he typically didn’t have anything except milk, eggs, and a bag of baby noodles in the fridge. Auntie Chen was the one who told Lin ShuYi to buy Tao Tao the baby noodles. There were all sorts of flavors like eggplant juice, egg, and shiitake mushrooms. However, since Xiao Yu went to a friend’s house to play today, Lin ShuYi had brought back some of the dish using a food storage container. Now, he could just sprinkle some noodles on top and nestle an egg in; it was both simple and very convenient.

Lin ShuYi ate noodles for lunch too, but it was the hand-made noodles that he himself had cooked. Even though there were lots of dishes with generous amounts of meat and fish in the restaurant, anyone would get sick of eating too much meat, especially after the new year. Instead, these kinds of small noodle dishes with clear broth were exceptionally popular. When he ate it at lunch, quite a few customers also wanted a bowl.

The veggies came from shredded eggplant in oyster sauce, sliced thinly. There was ground meat that was like fragmented rice, and you couldn’t really taste it, but it was very aromatic when added in. There was a bit of saucy red broth at the bottom of the container, and the dish was still warm. Lin ShuYi covered it up before he started to boil the noodles.

The baby noodles that Tao Tao ate were very fine and short, about as long as a finger. The eggplant sauce was pink, and the mushrooms were dark, the egg a faint yellow. Lin ShuYi scooped out a large spoonful of eggplant juice, before he nestled an egg in the water when it began to bubble but hadn’t boiled yet. The egg placed in at this time wouldn’t break or stick to the pot. After the white of the egg congealed, Lin ShuYi put the noodles in.

The process of making baby noodles was fairly complicated. There weren’t any other food additives either. Besides noodles and salt, it only contained all sorts of vegetable juice, so it had a short expiration date and had to be eaten in a short amount of time. Tao Tao liked this stuff a lot, and he could eat a big bowl every time someone boiled it for him and put some egg and veggies in.

It didn’t take very long to boil, and it was just about ready as soon as the water boiled again. Lin ShuYi scooped up the noodles before he added some broth and mixed in the dish from the food storage container.

A bit of oil floated to the surface of the broth, and the egg poked out a little from the surface as the broth slowly became a shallow soy paste color. Just looking at it was enough to awaken an appetite.

Lin ShuYi selected a pair of Xiao Yu’s chopsticks before he took the noodles up.

Xiao Yu was still lying on his bed, waiting for him with big eyes. When he saw him come in, his eyes lit up, looking no different from when Lin ShuYi himself saw delicious food.

“Come and eat.”

Xiao Yu tossed aside the blanket before he thump-thump-thumped over to Lin ShuYi’s side without even putting on his slippers. Luckily, the temperature was constant in the house, and Lin ShuYi only gave him a helpless look without really saying anything.

“Papa eat too.”

Xiao Yu gathered up some of the noodles, stained with sauce, before his eyes curved and he revealed his sharp little canines as he looked at Lin ShuYi.

Lin ShuYi shook his head. “You eat, I’m not hungry.”

Xiao Yu lowered his head and wolfed down the rest of the noodles. Not even the soup was spared, and there was oil next to his little mouth after he was done.

“Are you full?” Even the soup was gone; it looked like he really had been starving.

Xiao Yu nodded before he patted his own rotund stomach. “Full.”

Lin ShuYi laughed. “Then go rinse out your mouth and go to sleep.”

Xiao Yu stood up obediently and walked over to the door, wearing his soft little bear pajamas. “Good night, Papa.”

“Good night.”

Xiao Yu turned and walked towards his own room. Halfway there, he stopped and looked back at Lin ShuYi.

“Is there something else?”

Xiao Yu spoke softly. “If Papa misses Shen Papa, then you should just call him. I also miss him a lot. Don’t hide away secretly and be sad, okay?”

Lin ShuYi was startled. He knew what Xiao Yu had misunderstood, and he didn’t even know how to begin explaining.

He did miss Shen Fu, correct, but he wasn’t feeling sad in the bathroom in the slightest.

Lin ShuYi felt like his face was a bit red. “En… I will till Papa Shen you miss him a lot.”

Xiao Yu’s eyes curved. “There’s still two more days. Let’s secretly go and visit Papa Shen, and then we can give grandma and grandpa a pleasant surprise along the way too.”

Lin ShuYi was stunned before he finally smiled himself and said, “Okay.”

If he stealthily appeared in front of Shen Fu, who knew what kind of expression Shen Fu would have?