The most beautiful space

65 Judge Su Tong

Wang Lu was very satisfied with Su Tong's shocked expression. Although his facial expression did not show any obvious smugness, his whole body exuded a smug and annoying aura. Su Tong did not understand what he was so proud of.

His smugness was so obvious that Xie Chengjing couldn't bear it any longer and glanced at him indifferently. "Wang Lu, I have something to tell you."

Wang Lu quickly walked over, and Xie Chengjing got up and walked with him to the window. Only then did Wang Lu listen to Xie Chengjing's instructions.

Seeing an opportunity, Su Tong quietly took out her phone and scrolled through Weibo, but didn't see anything interesting. Then she saw Li Li's QQ avatar flashing with a picture of her handsome son, Xin Xin, so she clicked on it and started chatting with Li Li. A mother's characteristic is that she can't stop talking about her child, especially since Xin Xin is so cute. Sure enough, Li Li wanted to share some stories about Xin Xin. Perhaps older women all have a natural enthusiasm for cute children. Su Tong often felt her worries lessened by looking at Xin Xin's adorable photos and listening to his stories; that's probably why celebrity parent-child reality shows are so popular now. Xin Xin is so handsome and cute, Su Tong really wanted to know more about him, and she usually enjoyed chatting with Li Li.

Today, Li Li first sent over three crying emojis, along with the message, "I have a premonition that my son will be snatched away by another woman in the near future. It's all because my genes are too good and he's so handsome!"

Then several recent photos of Xinxin were sent. The first one showed Xinxin wearing light blue swim trunks, still with a cool expression, but her big eyes were bright and sparkling. She was playing with a little girl in a pink lace swimsuit, holding her hand with her right hand, while a slightly older girl of about 4 or 5 years old was on her left. In the background was Li Lisang, gazing at them with a mournful expression. The next photos showed Xinxin in various cute swimsuit outfits, each time accompanied by little girls of different ages, all of whom were quite adorable. The sight of everyone playing together in their little swimsuits was incredibly cute.

Li Li regretted it immensely, saying that because it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, Xin Xin had been learning to swim recently. However, she didn't expect that he was nothing like his father, Xiao Hansen. Although they were both cold-faced, Xiao Hansen seemed to have a unique way of scaring away girls, and there were no unwanted suitors. Unexpectedly, a lot of girls were chasing after Xin Xin to play with him, and Xin Xin seemed quite happy to play with them. He even fell in love with swimming. Every day, as soon as Xiao Hansen got home from work, he would drag the couple to the pool to learn to swim, which made Li Li very sad.

Su Tong laughed uncontrollably, saying that Li Li really had a death wish; there are quite a few kids these days who start dating in kindergarten.

Xie Chengjing gave instructions in a low voice for a while, and Wang Lu nodded and said, "I will take care of it."

Then Xie Chengjing returned to the table and sat down. Before leaving, Wang Lu went to the patient's master bedroom and took the bottle of water that Xie Chengjing had placed on the bedside table. When he opened the ward door and went out, he didn't forget to secretly glance at Xie Chengjing and wink at Su Tong. His eyes were full of ambiguous expressions, as if he was telling Su Tong to seize the opportunity to win over his second young master.

Throughout the entire confession, Su Tong didn't hear a single word.

Xie Chengjing always seemed so open and honest, never acting like he would hide anything from Su Tong because he liked her. He would do what he felt was right, tell her what he needed to tell her directly, and keep things he felt should be kept secret from Su Tong.

As soon as Wang Lu left, Xie Chengjing's gaze returned to Su Tong's face. This situation was completely different from before. Su Tong remembered that when she first met Xie Chengjing in the city, she would break out in a cold sweat and feel scared and nervous if he stared at her like that. Now, however, she could clearly feel her heart pounding. She tried her best to maintain a normal expression and, facing a table full of dishes specially prepared by Xie Chengjing, said under immense pressure, "Well then, Xie Chengjing, I'm starting to eat."

Xie Chengjing asked, "I heard your QQ notifications going off the whole time, what were you talking about?"

Although Su Tong's QQ notification sound wasn't muted, the volume was very low; she could only faintly hear it herself. She hadn't expected Xie Chengjing to hear it so clearly. Su Tong often played on her phone in front of Xie Chengjing, but this was the first time he'd asked her what she was chatting about. Fortunately, it wasn't anything inappropriate, so Su Tong showed him her phone: "I'm chatting with my best friend. This is her son, he's a little over two years old, his name is Xinxin, and he's been learning to swim recently."

After looking at it, Xie Chengjing actually complimented, "He's quite cute." It seemed he didn't dislike children at all. Su Tong thought that someone as serious and aloof as him would be very averse to children who could cry and whine. Perhaps it was because Xinxin was cute.

Then, as if he hadn't said anything, Xie Chengjing said to Su Tong, "Let's eat."

Xie Chengjing nodded, then naturally picked up his chopsticks and started eating. He then said something very simple, which made Su Tong feel flattered once again. He said, "Those two cold dishes were prepared by the nanny beforehand; I just put them on the plate. They were originally meant to reward you for filming night scenes, but now consider them a comforting gesture while you're in the hospital. It's my first time cooking for you, so it probably isn't very good. You can give me some feedback after you try it."

Xie Chengjing's "just arrange it" was incredibly blatant; he didn't even bother to make it look nice, or add some cilantro or anything like that for garnish. It was just a plain, unappealing dish on a plate. However, looking around, Su Tong realized there were seven dishes in total, including cold dishes—a very lavish meal for two. Of the five dishes Xie Chengjing made, aside from a simple tomato and egg drop soup, they were all meat dishes—chicken, duck, and fish were all included. Su Tong had previously noticed that Xie Chengjing didn't like vegetables, unlike Su Tong, who was from an ordinary family and generally not a picky eater. These dishes today seemed to perfectly reflect Xie Chengjing's carnivorous nature.

When Su Tong reached for her chopsticks, she seemed to think carefully about which dish to eat first. The one that looked the best was the stir-fried cured pork and potato slices, which was both unexpected and reasonable. Xie Chengjing's knife skills seemed quite good; all the potato and cured pork slices were the same thickness as if they had been measured, so of course they looked pretty good. As for the worst-looking dish, it was probably the fried fish; it looked like many parts of the fish were slightly burnt.

Su Tong finally decided to eat the fish first. She picked out a piece from the part that wasn't burnt, removed the bones, and started eating. Just as she put it in her mouth, she noticed Xie Chengjing watching her, clearly seeking her opinion. Thinking that she was now the one to critique the Second Young Master's masterpiece, she relaxed a bit, instantly feeling like she had transformed into a culinary competition judge. She pretended to savor it carefully, and only after slowly finishing it did she say, "It's alright. There aren't any undercooked parts, and it's not too burnt either. The seasonings are all quite appropriate. For a beginner, it's already very good." Actually, it was indeed quite delicious, but it was a little overcooked, and it lacked the tenderness of high-quality fish meat, and there was also a slight fishy smell that hadn't been masked.

Xie Chengjing did not react to Su Tong's evaluation, but continued to ask for evaluation, "What about the other dishes?"

So Su Tong, like an emperor visiting a concubine, tasted all four dishes Xie Chengjing had prepared. They were all quite good, none of them were unpalatable. In the end, the stir-fried cured pork and potato slices that looked good were the most delicious. Su Tong seized the opportunity to praise Xie Chengjing: "This dish is very delicious, Xie Chengjing. You should try it too, it's really quite good."

Xie Chengjing listened attentively to Su Tong's serious critique of his five dishes, tasted them himself, and concluded, "I'll do even better next time."

"No way!" Su Tong exclaimed in surprise. "There's going to be a next time?" To spare herself from such pressure, Su Tong sincerely suggested, "Everyone has their own strengths. You've always been so outstanding. Just focus on doing your important work well. There's no need to waste time on these household chores. Wouldn't it be easier to just hire a housekeeper?"

"That's different." Xie Chengjing's reaction was indifferent, but those four words left Su Tong speechless. Yes, how could what she made herself be the same as what she paid someone to make? Eating the dishes that Second Young Master Xie had condescended to prepare himself, Su Tong wasn't moved to tears as Wang Lu had expected, but she was still touched. However, if he had hired someone to cook a Manchu Han Imperial Feast, even with 108 dishes that were perfect in color, aroma, and taste, Su Tong would only think: Ha, this probably cost some money.

In her current state, it was impossible for her to film. Fortunately, Su Tong's scenes in China had been mostly filmed. After dinner, Xie Chengjing went to handle some matters, and Su Tong called Lin Lili to say that she was sick and apologized for not being able to continue filming for the next few days. Lin Lili already knew roughly from Wang Hai what had happened to Su Tong and figured that even if Su Tong was usually calm and gentle, she must be feeling incredibly dejected right now. He didn't say much and just agreed, offering a few comforting words like "Take good care of yourself" and "You'll recover soon."

Although Su Tong's symptoms currently only seem to be worsening, according to the attending physician, "Although the initial diagnosis is poisoning, the cause of Ms. Su's symptoms has not yet been analyzed. There is a risk of further deterioration, and we recommend that she stay in the hospital for observation."

As a result, Su Tong was admitted to the hospital for observation, but in the emergency, Wang Hai only went to the nearest large hospital. Xie Ershao clearly didn't trust the doctors' skills and professionalism, so that very night Su Tong was taken to another hospital. Although Su Tong couldn't be described as a tiger-slaying warrior, she had always been a healthy person, and when she was occasionally sick, she would usually just take some medicine. Unexpectedly, she was hospitalized again so soon.

When Su Tong left the hospital, the dermatologist who had treated her there casually muttered to another doctor next to her, "Hey, don't you think the bumps on her face seem a bit better than when she came to the hospital?"

Fortunately, the other doctor just rolled his eyes and said, "Where are they? There are so many of them, and they're so densely packed."

Su Tong's heart skipped a beat. Although she didn't want to be so beautiful that she would attract attention wherever she went, she also didn't want to be so uniquely ugly. Besides, the doctor had hinted that the bumps might break and the skin might ulcerate and ooze pus. So, after washing her face and hands with the spring water from her spatial dimension in the bathroom as soon as she arrived at the hospital, Su Tong later ate her meal, rested for a while, and then went to the bathroom to take a good bath in her spatial dimension.

The effects of using the spatial water might not be immediately apparent, but if it's effective, she should recover within a few days. However, if the poison Su Tong was given or came into contact with was something that would completely disfigure her, how would she explain her rapid recovery?

There's no point in thinking so much. In any case, she couldn't just sit by and watch herself turn into a purplish-red toad just to avoid making things difficult to explain.

Although Su Tong didn't show her emotions outwardly, Xie Chengjing still noticed that she was troubled. However, he could only think that it was because of her "disfigurement," so he asked Su Tong before going to bed, "Are you still worried about your skin?"

Su Tong couldn't tell him the truth, but she didn't want to lie to him either, so she could only say, "No, but I do have some things troubling me."

"Is it serious? Can you fix it now?" Xie Chengjing asked.

Su Tong said with a wry smile, "It could be very serious, but I have absolutely no idea how to solve it." That's why I'm so annoyed!

Xie Chengjing looked at her, not asking what else was bothering her, but simply said, "Since that's the case, then go to sleep. At least you'll have some energy to deal with it if it really happens."

However, Su Tong still couldn't fall asleep. Xie Chengjing kept popping into her mind, completely out of her control, and she would even suddenly think of that fleeting kiss. So, she chatted with her mother, who was still online, on her phone while in bed. She told her mother about Li Li's story about Xin Xin's good luck with girls after starting swimming lessons. Sure enough, Su Tong's mother laughed heartily. But after laughing, she turned her attention to Su Tong, saying that she was getting old and didn't want to think about anything else, only about how she would be at ease when Su Tong had her own family and children, blah blah blah. Su Tong was a little annoyed and secretly regretted her impulsive decision to bring up Li Li, who was the same age as her but already had such a cute child, to evoke her mother's sentimentality. But she didn't dare to log off and stop talking to her mother, or next time it would be a double-edged sword of pressure to get her married.

The next day at noon, Su Tong received a call from Lin Zhen. She answered, and his usual magnetic and pleasant voice came through: "Su Tong?"

Author's Note: Thank you kkh and tea egg for the landmines ╭(╯3╰)╮ 166 Reading Network