Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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You Xu suddenly had a craving for spicy food, so she went to the supermarket and bought a bunch of red and green chilies and various chili sauces.
That evening, she stir-fried a pot of fiery spicy chicken[1], its pungent aroma bringing tears to her eyes and making her mouth water.
As someone who couldn’t live without spicy food, You Xu discovered that her boyfriend actually had a sweet tooth, so she decided to guide him on a new path, to let him taste new delicacies. Perhaps because Duan Min’s trust in her increased day by day, and her fear of him decreased, she had become incredibly bold, too lazy to bother making a special dish for him, simply making a larger portion and giving him a plate from the pot.
She could no longer define her relationship with Duan Min: landlord and next-door neighbor, boss and task target, and now, a freeloader.
What a complex and fragile relationship.
You Xu carried the plate of fiery spicy chicken to Duan Min’s door, then returned to her own table to eat dinner. She felt a little strange; since they ate together for lunch, why not for dinner? Was it really a habit, or some kind of ritual?
However, day by day, her trust level had steadily increased to 50.
….
The next day, around noon, You Xu prepared to cook and opened the door as usual.
There she saw Duan Min standing outside, holding a clean plate in both hands, his eyes and nose red, looking down at her.
He seemed strangely docile.
You Xu remembered her old dog, who would always come with its bowl at mealtimes, begging for food.
You Xu suppressed a laugh and invited him in, “Come in.”
Duan Min expertly placed the clean plates he was carrying into the cupboard. As he straightened up, a soft, warm hand gently stroked the top of his head. He turned his head slightly and saw her blinking, her dimples appearing as she smiled, saying softly, “Thank you.”
They were quite close; until he could even smell the faint scent of jasmine on her.
Duan Min paused, and before he could react, she withdrew her hand and stepped back. He suppressed a slight disappointment and calmly looked away, asking, “What do you want for lunch?”
You Xu suppressed a laugh, pretending not to have patted his head like she would a big dog.
She understood that Duan Min had noticed her habit of enjoying cooking but not wanting to wash dishes, so he now proactively washed the dishes, and quite skilfully at it.
You Xu opened the refrigerator, looked at the ingredients inside, and said, “For lunch, we’ll have crispy pepper fish[2], cola chicken wings[3], and stir-fried pork intestines with sour sauce[4]…”
As if suddenly remembering something, she turned to him and asked, “Was the spicy chicken good last night?”
She had added too much chili last night, thinking she could handle spicy food, but it had been so long since she’d had any that she was getting used to the spiciness that her eyes welled up with tears. She wondered if Duan Min could handle it.
“It was very spicy,” he said softly, his eyelashes slightly lowered, “but I finished it.”
You Xu paused, an image involuntarily flashing through her mind: Duan Min eating a piece of spicy chicken, the burning spiciness making him close his eyes and clench his teeth. He then took a couple of gulps of water, endured the spiciness, and then continued eating until he finished the dish, his eyes and the tip of his nose red.
This image softened her heart.
Duan Min looked up at her, saying nothing.
You Xu managed to read two words and a punctuation mark in his expressionless eyes—compensation.
“What do you want?” she asked knowingly.
Duan Min answered without hesitation, “Red jam, sweet.”
You Xu remembered the dessert she had made for him last time, topped with strawberry jam. It was homemade, sealed in glass jars, and she still had five jars left.
You Xu opened the compartment under the cupboard and took out a jar of bright red strawberry jam. “Are you going to eat it directly?”
She turned around and saw Duan Min had already picked up a small spoon. She paused, then silently handed him the strawberry jam.
This strawberry jam was all preserved with rock sugar, and it was especially sweet. She rarely ate it directly, using it mostly as a decoration or for flavoring. She had intended to let Duan Min try a little, but he ate half a jar in one go.
You Xu had no choice but to snatch the remaining half jar of strawberry jam from his hand and then she tapped the edge of the pot with the spatula. “Are you going to eat lunch or not?” She felt like a mother worrying that her child would eat snacks before lunch and then not be able to eat the main meal.
“Yes.” His eyes were still fixed on the strawberry jam.
You Xu ignored him, placed the strawberry jam far away, and continued cooking.
After lunch, You Xu sat on the sofa as usual to digest, while Duan Min conscientiously took back the strawberry jam, opened the jar, and continued eating.
His fine eyelashes fluttered slightly as he sat cross-legged on the floor, holding a glass jar in one hand and a small porcelain spoon in the other, eating in small bites, looking quiet and obedient. He looked like a clean-cut, well-behaved boy who loved sweets, completely unlike the strange and crazy man he would later become. You Xu couldn’t help but glance at him a few more times but eventually succumbed to the drowsiness of her afternoon nap and drifted off to sleep.
When she woke up, she saw Duan Min licking his lips and opening another jar of strawberry jam, while there were already four empty glass jars beside him.
You Xu: “…”
Aren’t you afraid of getting diabetes?
—Give an inch and you’ll take a mile. After taking on the dishwashing duties, Duan Min developed the progressive idea of exchanging labor for reward and thus requested extra food.
You Xu readily agreed, but she hadn’t expected that Duan Min’s “extra meals” didn’t mean increased portions at every meal, but rather a late-night snack.
Under the cover of darkness, in the dead of night, Duan Min appeared at You Xu’s door, followed immediately by a death knell.
“…” You Xu grabbed a handful of hair, buried her head in the covers, covered her ears, and mentally cursed Duan Min’s ancestors countless times—if they even existed.
At that moment, even the system seemed like an alarm clock Duan Min had summoned: “Wake up, go and earn trust points!”
You Xu sat up with a headache, rubbed her face, and reluctantly got out of bed to open the door.
Duan Min even raised an eyebrow and said, “You’re so slow.”
You Xu snorted softly, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. She had to figure out that the fact she hadn’t beaten him up for disturbing her sleep in the middle of the night for a free meal was already incredibly touching in terms of upbringing and manners.
Duan Min, familiar with the routine, sat down at the dining table to wait for her. On his third night, he was still served a bowl of instant noodles, and he complained, “I don’t want this.”
You Xu was also fed up, really wanting to quit: “Then let’s order takeout.”
Seeing her expression that said, “I’m so annoyed, I want to sleep, why aren’t you leaving yet?”, Duan Min frowned and said coldly, “No.”
Sleep-deprived, You Xu was so irritable she wanted to argue with everything and everyone, wanting only to slam his head on the table and make him swallow his “no,” but she restrained herself, suppressing her temper, and said, “It has to be done.”
Duan Min’s gaze was reproachful: “You promised extra food.”
“Extra food doesn’t mean overtime, why now?” You Xu said, somewhat exasperated.
She took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, then braced herself on the edge of the table, leaned down towards Duan Min, and softened her voice, pleading, “Can we try something else?”
The way she called him “we” startled Duan Min for a moment. From the moment he was born, his world had only distinguished between “you” and “me,” only enemies, no friends. This was the first time someone had used “we” to address him, meaning “two people together. “
Even though he hated being involved with or connected to anyone, he surprisingly didn’t dislike this term at this moment.
“Is it good?” she asked again.
Duan Min snapped out of his reverie and realized they were quite close. Although there was a dining table between them, You Xu leaned closer to him.
A sweet scent lingered in his nostrils, like the apple pie with sweet milk she had made for him the day before yesterday.
In the quiet night, in their private space, one’s senses were amplified, and this scent carried a subtle, alluring temptation in the tranquil darkness.
She wore a white slip dress, revealing her delicate neck and collarbone; the dim light added a hazy, soft glow to her exposed skin.
Duan Min unconsciously followed her lead and asked, “What way?”
“We won’t have a midnight snack,” You Xu smiled and said, “How about breakfast at eight in the morning?”
Duan Min pursed his lips, somewhat disagreeing, “No, I can’t get up in the morning.”
You Xu suggested, “I’ll go wake you up.”
Duan Min firmly stated, “No.”
You Xu was tired from bending over and supporting herself on the edge of the table, so she simply bent her arms forward, pressing her forearms against the table. She half-lay on the table, looked up at him, and said, “Remember when I was sick last time?”
Duan Min nodded slightly, his gaze falling. Her soft hair was loose, and the straps of her tank top were tied into two bows, making her look light and playful.
You Xu continued, “My constitution is particularly weak, and I get sick easily. I have to go to bed early and get up early.”
She didn’t notice that her movement while lying on the table caused the low-cut fabric of her dress to droop a little, revealing her round and beautiful curves.
You Xu blinked her almond-shaped eyes and coaxed him in a soft, sweet voice, “So, shall we have breakfast together?”
Duan Min’s eyes darkened, and he subtly shifted his gaze, saying in a hoarse voice,
“Whatever you say.”
T/N: Such an adorable chapter….
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