He took a bus to RT-Mart near his home and purchased all the ingredients he needed. When He Tianran rushed home carrying large and small bags, it was already around six o'clock.
When he walked to the gate of the community, he accidentally spotted Cao Aiqing standing outside. The girl had long hair tied into a ponytail and was dressed in a simple casual dress. The dim sunlight just happened to smear on her fair cheeks, so clear that she could see everything clearly. A tiny piece of hair, even a strand of raised hair at the end, is so calm and gentle, and outlines the shape of light.
The other party was leaning sideways at the moment, holding a phone to his ear, and just in time, He Tianran felt his phone buzzing and vibrating twice in his pocket, which seemed to be at the same frequency as his heartbeat.
"Hey~!"
The man stood there and called with a smile.
The woman suddenly turned her head to look, slowly put down her phone, and when her eyes made contact, the corners of her mouth unconsciously raised slightly.
Both of their faces were glowing.
The sunset at this moment is infinitely better.
He Tianran walked over and handed a lighter plastic bag to Cao Aiqing. The girl took it and led it with both hands. The two walked into the community facing the sunset, and their shadows were stretched so long.
"Why did you come downstairs? Didn't you make soup at home? My mother doesn't distinguish between grains and grains. She can help you ignore the fire."
"Aunt Bai is not as miserable as you said."
"Haha, if you lived with her for a while, you would know how poor her knowledge in this area is, and you don't know how she has lived abroad in the past few years."
"Of course she hired domestic helpers when she was overseas. I even went to eat there once. The Filipino maid was very good at cooking."
"Really? How do you compare with me?"
"no the same."
"What's different?"
"Of course the nature is different."
The two chatted casually during the short journey back. The girl took two steps forward, turned around, and said happily while walking back:
"There's a surprise for dinner today. It's all your favorite food."
"That's for sure. Whether it's made by you or made by myself, what don't I like to eat? And I bought the ingredients."
Unexpectedly, Cao Aiqing shook her head, the ponytail behind her head swaying slightly, and she said mysteriously:
"No, no, no, aren't you asking why I came down to pick you up? Because someone has already taken my place in the kitchen, and all the ingredients have been bought."
"ah?"
The man was stunned, Cao Aiqing smiled and said nothing, and He Tianran was not busy exploring the answer to the mystery, but retained some expectation of the unknown. After a few minutes, the two walked into the elevator and arrived at the floor where the rental house was located.
The door to the house was open, and as soon as they got out of the elevator, they could smell the rich aroma of the dishes being stir-fried in an iron pot. When the two of them walked to the door, they could see Bai Wenyu in the living room wearing loose clothes at home, with her hair pulled into a bun casually, and the bridge of her nose raised. Wearing a pair of anti-blue light glasses, staring at an Apple laptop in front of him, he was concentrating on some matters.
"mom."
"Aunt Bai~"
The young man and woman were changing slippers at the door. When they heard the noise, the middle-aged woman in the living room looked up, said "hmm", picked up the steaming barley tea on the table, blew on it, and drank it. One mouthful.
There was the sound of cooking in the kitchen one after another. Just when He Tianran was still wondering, a familiar man's voice suddenly came from the side invisible to the perspective:
"Tranquility, your kitchen knife is not easy to use. Has it not been sharpened since you bought it?"
He Tianran was immediately startled when he heard this voice. He looked at Cao Aiqing beside him. The girl covered her mouth and chuckled, and gave him a look.
The man took two hurried steps, walked to the living room and looked towards the open kitchen. Sure enough, the person cooking at the moment was his father - He Panshan.
Having removed the suits and leather shoes and solemn dignity that he usually wears in the company, He Panshan is now like an ordinary old man, wearing a simple white two-strand vest and a pair of sprinting trousers. Although he is not young, he still looks like an ordinary old man every time. The bulging forearm muscles when shaking the pot still proved the man's strength and reliability. When he felt his son's gaze, he actually raised his head and looked at each other, grinning.
"……dad?"
"You're back just in time. Where's the dark soy sauce that Ai Qing asked you to buy? Take it out quickly. The braised pork is waiting to be colored."
"Ah, oh!"
He Tianran quickly put the plastic bag in his hand on the table, took out the newly bought soy sauce and walked towards his father.
Cao Aiqing followed and also put things on the table. She first looked at the back of He Tianran walking towards her father, and then turned to look at Bai Wenyu who was sitting on the sofa. The middle-aged woman had just picked up the tea cup and held it in her hands. She never put down her hand. At this moment, her eyes were also looking at the father and son. When she found that Cao Aiqing was looking at her, she subconsciously raised the tea cup and took a sip of tea to cover up.
But when she made this move, she already realized that her move would eventually backfire and highlight her own embarrassment. However, when she looked again, as if she hadn't noticed, Cao Aiqing had already carried the ingredients and walked to the refrigerator.
On the other side, He Tianran unscrewed the lid and poured some dark soy sauce into the spoon handed by He Panshan.
"alright."
Following the instructions, He Tianran put the soy sauce aside, and He Panshan poured in a spoonful of soy sauce and stirred it again to collect the juice. The aroma rose in the iron pot, and the braised pork was sizzling with oil. People's appetite increases greatly.
However, rather than food and drink, He Tianran was more concerned about his father appearing at home.
He looked at the other person up and down, and when he saw that the vest and trousers he was wearing looked inexplicably familiar, he said:
"Dad, are you... wearing my clothes inside out?"
"Yes, I came here in formal clothes. It was too tight and uncomfortable to cook, so I went to your room to get two pieces of clothing to wear."
"Then... why didn't you talk about it when you came here today?"
"What are you talking about? It's not convenient for me to come home, isn't it? Get out of the way and load the dishes. Don't block the way."
He Panshan turned off the fire and took up the iron pot. He Tianran hurriedly took out a dish from the cupboard to serve the food. While the old father was loading the dish, his son said:
"It's not inconvenient, it's just a bit sudden. How could I have thought about it..."
"Taste it."
"ah?"
"Taste it."
Before his son could finish speaking, He Panshan scooped up the last piece of meat in the pot and handed it to He Tianran's mouth.
The son looked at the plump, juicy, and shiny braised pork in front of him in shock for a while, and his father shook the spoon again, signaling him to move his mouth quickly.
Finally, He Tianran lowered his head, looked at He Panshan with his eyes, stretched out his neck, took the piece of braised pork on the iron spoon into his mouth, and then the next second——
"Whoa-hiss, whoosh, it's so hot, so hot..."
"Hahahaha... you blow it when you eat it. It's exactly the same as when you were a child."
The son's momentary embarrassment made the father overjoyed, and the movements of the father and son also attracted the attention of the two women present not far away, and then they both smiled knowingly.
He Panshan said proudly: "How is it? Is your father's craftsmanship the same as before?"
"same……"
He Tianran opened his mouth and kept fanning himself with his hand fan, still mumbling affirmation in his mouth.
In fact, he had long forgotten what the food cooked by He Panshan tasted like. Even this time, under the scalding temperature of the meat, no matter how wonderful the taste was, he could not taste anything for the time being.
The scorching temperature in his mouth seemed to force tears from his eyes, but even so, he still smiled and repeated firmly to his father:
"Same...same..." (End of chapter)
