NABC 46. Having dinner together
46. Having dinner together
Su Tong finished making the last plate of cucumber salad, and as she chewed on a piece of cucumber, she walked towards the living room. As soon as she came out of the kitchen, she saw Xie Chengjing standing in the living room, still wearing a crisp military uniform. His expression seemed even more serious than before he left the capital, and he also looked a little tired, but his eyes were even colder and more dignified. He was holding the mask that Lin Zhen had given her and examining it.
While Su Tong was cooking, Kong Kong and Xie Er'er went for a walk somewhere in the neighborhood. She knew that Xie Er'er looked cold and fierce, but was actually well-trained and much more obedient than Kong Kong. She would never scare or bite people randomly in the neighborhood, so she let them go. As a result, without the two dogs in the house, Su Tong didn't even realize that Xie Chengjing had returned.
Xie Chengjing glanced at her indifferently. Su Tong was wearing a very simple and ordinary home dress, but she was wearing a colorful and very funny apron with Lazy Sheep on it.
Su Tong's apron was borrowed from the nanny, and it was indeed a bit childish. She felt fine wearing it herself, but after Xie Chengjing looked at her like that, especially with the cucumber she was secretly eating, she suddenly felt incredibly childish in Xie Chengjing's presence. She gave a forced smile and said, "Second Young Master Xie, you're back." Su Tong glanced towards the entrance and doorway, but didn't see anyone, before asking, "By the way, where's Brother Wang?"
Although Su Tong was a little angry today because Wang Lu let Xie Chengjing chat with him on WeChat, she could still tell who was good to her. Wang Lu was friendly and warm-hearted, and although he and Xie Chengjing were superior and subordinate, their relationship was obviously good. Moreover, he took good care of Su Tong. In Su Tong's heart, Wang Lu was indispensable to her normal and friendly relationship with Xie Chengjing.
“His daughter Tingting misses him and called to ask him to come home for dinner. He said he has to obey his precious daughter’s orders and told us to eat by ourselves, and just leave him some so he can taste your cooking.” Xie Chengjing finished speaking seriously about the casual conversation Wang Lu had entrusted to him, then picked up the mask and shook it, asking knowingly, “This mask is very unique, did you buy it?”
Su Tong shook her head, not wanting to mention Lin Zhen. "It was a gift from one of the actors at the opening ceremony today, a souvenir I said. If Brother Wang wants to eat my cooking, I can just make it again next time he wants it; there's no need to specially save this batch for him." Then she carried the cucumber salad into the living room, took the remote to turn off the TV which was turned up quite loud, and smiled as naturally as possible as she turned back to call him, "Second Young Master Xie, let's get ready to eat."
As she spoke, she glanced at Xie Chengjing's well-fitting military uniform, which made him appear even colder and more imposing, and asked in a low voice, "Should we change our clothes first?"
Xie Chengjing nodded. When he returned in casual clothes, Su Tong was already sitting at the dining table. There was a set of chopsticks and a bowl on the table opposite her. The table, which was not large, had three main dishes and several side dishes. Although they were not very exquisite, they were all quite delicious and appealing. Since there were only two people eating, it seemed to be a rather grand occasion.
As soon as Xie Chengjing arrived, Su Tong stood up, flashing a polite, hotel-style greeting smile, and asked Xie Chengjing, "Young Master Xie, what would you like to drink? The liquor cabinet also has vodka, whiskey, rum, Lafite red wine, Rémy Martin OX champagne, and so on. Today we've made watermelon juice, orange juice, kiwi juice, and grape juice. However, drinking on an empty stomach isn't good; if you're going to drink, you'll have to eat something first."
Judging from the complete selection of wines in Xie Chengjing's wine cabinet, he probably drinks regularly, but given his serious and meticulous nature, he likely drinks in moderation. Naturally, she becomes extremely attentive in Xie Chengjing's presence, almost adopting a serious attitude towards work. Seeing this, Xie Chengjing asks, "What would you like to drink?"
The question wasn't difficult to answer. Su Tong assumed Xie Chengjing would want the same thing as her, so she replied, "Watermelon juice. It's perfect for summer." The heat in the capital in August was no joke. Although the air conditioning was working well indoors, drinking watermelon juice would definitely make you feel cooler.
Xie Chengjing glanced at her and said, "I don't like watermelon juice. Give me kiwi juice instead."
Su Tong brought over the prepared chilled juice. After Xie Chengjing picked up the bowl and started eating, Su Tong began to eat as well.
As long as she didn't mistreat herself, Su Tong never wanted to make herself suffer. She was the one who plated all the dishes on the table. Since she didn't know Xie Chengjing's tastes anyway, she put the dishes she liked on her side. Before Xie Chengjing came back, she had thought about how to subtly ingratiate herself with him by toasting him and serving him food, under Wang Lu's subtle hints. But now that Wang Lu wasn't there, and Xie Chengjing, whom she hadn't seen for more than a month, was sitting opposite her with his ice-cold skills fully activated, Su Tong just kept her head down and focused on eating the small patch of food in front of her.
She ate the dishes she had made slowly and with relish, while Xie Chengjing across from her found them tasteless.
"Weren't you trying to bribe me?" Xie Chengjing asked.
"Huh?" Su Tong was slightly surprised.
Xie Chengjing picked up a piece of chicken, put it in his mouth and swallowed it before saying again, "Didn't you say on WeChat that you were going to bribe me? Is this how you bribe me?"
Since Xie Chengjing had already asked, Su Tong had prepared herself mentally before raising her head. A faint smile appeared on her exquisite and beautiful face. Xie Chengjing had always felt that Su Tong was completely different with other people and with him. She was calm and gentle with others, often with a smile, but with him, she was silent and cautious, usually not speaking or moving. This smile was just like how she was with other people. She smiled and said, "Yes, Second Young Master Xie, you are right. You have helped me so much, and you even know some things that I don't want others to know. I am very grateful to you, but I am even more afraid of you. I think my cooking is quite edible, so I specially made some home-style dishes to please you."
Under Xie Chengjing's scrutinizing gaze, Su Tong maintained her smile, picked up the serving chopsticks, and pointed to several main dishes, introducing them: "This is stir-fried chicken with potatoes, made with the best local chicken legs and flanks, stir-fried with scallions, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, and green and red peppers. However, I prefer potatoes, so the chicken is just there to enhance the flavor; this is stewed pork ribs, but I also added vermicelli, mushrooms, and cabbage. The broth is very flavorful, and I deliberately didn't add any chili peppers; the last one..." "It's my specialty, pickled fish. The pickled cabbage was specially sourced from the most authentic one around here, which the nanny found for me. Carp is sweet and neutral in nature, and it has nourishing, stomach-strengthening, diuretic, and swelling-reducing effects. The pickled cabbage is crisp and refreshing, and the lactic acid in it can stimulate the appetite, refresh the mind, and relieve hangovers and greasiness. However, this dish is very spicy and numbing, so I don't know if you can handle it." After introducing the dish, she asked Xie Chengjing, who had been listening attentively with a cold expression, "These are all very common home-style dishes. I wonder which one you prefer? Let me get it for you."
When Xie Chengjing introduced the dish, his seriousness and earnestness made it seem like he was focused and respectful, which made it seem less intimidating. He even gave me face and said directly, "Pickled cabbage fish. I'm not too afraid of spicy food."
Su Tong used serving chopsticks to pick up two pieces of fish belly meat for Xie Chengjing, and then asked him, "Would you like some soup? This fish soup should be quite delicious."
Xie Chengjing nodded, and Su Tong ladled a large spoonful of fish soup into his bowl. The soup was bright red with a hint of chili and had a rich aroma. She put the bowl back to him and said, "But it should be quite hot. Blow on it before you drink it." After serving Xie Chengjing some food, Su Tong ladled a bowl of fish soup for herself and felt much more relaxed. She then naturally started to eat the food that was further away from her.
He took a spoonful and drank it twice, then gave a curt "Not bad."
Just as Su Tong was picking up a piece of chicken, the barking of Kong Kong, who had grown bigger and seemed even more affectionate, came from afar. Along with a few barks of Xie Er'er, the two happily ran back. When Xie Chengjing came in, he saw that the courtyard gate and house door were open but Kong Kong and Er'er were not there. He knew that the two had gone out to play, so he did not close the door.
So now the two of them ran straight into the living room. When Kongkong saw Su Tong holding a piece of fragrant chicken with her chopsticks, it ran to her feet and wagged its tail and meowed affectionately. Even though Su Tong had already put some in their food bowls before adding the seasoning to the dishes, Kongkong just preferred to eat hers. Su Tong helplessly patted its head and fed it.
But then she saw Xie Er'er next to her, and she felt bad about feeding the seasoned food to Xie Chengjing's dog. So she looked at Xie Chengjing for his opinion, and Xie Chengjing nodded knowingly, "It's okay if it's not too much."
Su Tong then picked up a larger piece of chicken for Xie Er'er to eat, but Kong Kong was unhappy and kept pestering Su Tong for more delicious food.
When the meal was finished, Kongkong had almost eaten more than Su Tong. It circled around Xie Er'er barking smugly, as if showing off that its owner loved it more and gave it more treats. However, Xie Er'er was sitting next to Xie Chengjing and completely ignored Kongkong's childish provocation. When Su Tong finished clearing the table and was about to wash the dishes, Xie Chengjing stopped her, rolled up his sleeves, and said, "I'll do it. You cook, and I'll wash the dishes."
In Su Tong's mind, soldiers shouldn't be incapable of doing housework, so she nodded, took off her apron, washed her hands, and was about to leave the kitchen when she heard Xie Chengjing say, "I accept your bribe."
He was looking down, seemingly focused on washing the dishes. His profile remained cold and hard, and his voice was cold. The content was simple, but it finally put Su Tong at ease. He said, "From now on, as long as you don't want to talk about it, I won't mention your secrets again, and I won't tell anyone else. You're staying here, and I won't interfere with your affairs."
So the next morning, when Wang Hai knocked on the door, Su Tong opened it with a genuine, even radiant, smile, completely different from her usual polite and gentle smile towards him. She was wearing a blue tracksuit, her long hair cascading down her back, with only a few strands gently swaying in front of her. Her eyes were slightly curved with laughter, as if there were tiny starlight in them.
Wang Hai had always known that Ms. Su Tong possessed unparalleled beauty, but when he first saw Su Tong's smile, he still felt unable to resist her charm and dared not look at her too closely. Su Tong smiled and took out a pair of slippers. "Wang Hai, it's still early. It's not comfortable to eat at the film set. Why don't we come in and eat something before we go over?"
When Wang Hai was led to the living room, he saw Xie Chengjing, the ice-cold boss his older brother Wang Lu had mentioned, sitting at the dining table, eating steamed buns with a blank expression.
Author's Note: Thank you Yan_who_who_who_for the landmine~166read.com