“Your Wenwen actually knows C++?” Rong Mu listened for a while and felt like he could barely keep up, so he decisively shifted his attention and started chatting with Chen Sichu beside him.
“I have no idea. I guess she does?” Chen Sichu replied with a blank look on her face.
“You guess? Aren’t you her assistant?”
“I’m starting to doubt whether I’m really Wenjie’s assistant anymore.”
“Uh… what did your Wenjie study in college? Music? Broadcasting?”
“Neither. Wenjie majored in Bioengineering.”
“Huh? So she didn’t come from a professional background in this field?”
Chen Sichu shook her head.
Lin Shuwen and Luo Ming went back and forth with questions and answers for nearly an hour.
Rong Mu also managed to get a general picture of Lin Shuwen’s background from Chen Sichu.
“Woods, have you decided on a place for dinner yet?” Luo Ming asked after they’d finished their serious talk.
“Booked it ages ago. Just been waiting for you two to wrap things up.”
“Great! Then let’s head out!”
As they walked along, Rong Mu couldn’t quite put his finger on why Lin Shuwen’s gait seemed oddly familiar.
The same feeling struck Chen Sichu too—she also thought some of Luo Ming’s mannerisms looked strangely familiar.
During the meal, this inexplicable sense of familiarity only grew stronger. Both of them also keenly noticed that Luo Ming and Lin Shuwen shared a peculiar rapport.
It was the kind of unspoken connection that left you scratching your head.
“Could Wenjie actually have some strange history with this Luo Ming?” Chen Sichu wondered to herself.
Coincidentally, Rong Mu was thinking along similar lines: “Erming didn’t have to sell his good looks to get this big star to invest, did he?”
After lunch, Lin Shuwen and Chen Sichu took their leave.
“Wenjie, you and President Luo…” Chen Sichu couldn’t contain her curiosity and asked in the taxi.
“What about us?” Lin Shuwen’s gaze was calm, without a hint of evasion.
Chen Sichu scratched her head. Was it just her imagination?
“Don’t overthink it. We’re just former classmates who get along well.
Oh, and I’m staying at my own place tonight. Just find a hotel nearby to crash at!”
“Huh? Wenjie, you—”
“Don’t worry! I just haven’t been back in a while and wanted to drop by. Driver, please change course to Lanshan Residences.”
“You got it!” The taxi driver acknowledged and turned the car around.
Fifteen minutes later, the car pulled up in front of Lanshan Residences.
Lin Shuwen put on her mask and got out.
As a property owner, Lin Shuwen didn’t need a key card to get into the complex. Chen Sichu watched her enter the gates before asking the driver to take her to the nearest hotel.
Lin Shuwen knew the way like the back of her hand—Building 8, Unit 3, Apartment 602.
The smart lock on Lin Shuwen’s door naturally recognized her fingerprint, so she didn’t need to punch in a code like Luo Ming did. She simply unlocked it with her finger and that was that.
Once inside, Lin Shuwen stretched, plopped onto the couch, and dozed off for a bit.
At a little past 3 PM, she rubbed her sleepy eyes and hauled herself up from the couch.
She changed into different clothes, dug out her yoga mat, spread it out on the balcony, and did two hours of yoga.
The days in November were already short. By 5:40, the sky was gradually darkening. “Time to start thinking about dinner, I guess,” Lin Shuwen murmured to herself. She changed again and headed out to buy groceries.
Luo Ming had deliberately left work a bit early today. His gut told him Lin Shuwen would definitely be coming home tonight.
He didn’t know why, but he was especially looking forward to seeing her there. It was a feeling he’d never experienced before, and it made him walk even faster than usual.
“Ding ding ding~” Luo Ming typed in the passcode with a mix of anticipation and nervousness.
“Click~” The moment the door swung open, the light from inside spilled into the hallway—and into Luo Ming’s heart.
“Back already? Perfect timing. I just finished the last dish. Let’s eat!”
Luo Ming froze on the spot when he saw Lin Shuwen emerging from the kitchen carrying a clay pot.
He’d never seen her like this before. Her jet-black hair was tied back in a ponytail with a simple black elastic band, and she wore a yellow bear-print apron over her clothes.
“Why are you still standing in the doorway? Didn’t expect me to be home?” She took off the apron as she spoke, revealing a pink pajama top printed with Mickey Mouse.
Luo Ming snapped back to reality and smiled. “I did think you might be here. I just didn’t expect you to know how to cook.”
“I’m actually a pretty good cook. You’re in for a treat today! Now go change and wash your hands!”
Luo Ming nodded.
A few minutes later, he sat down at the dining table.
There were four dishes on the table, plus a clay pot in the center.
The four dishes were: scallion tofu salad, stir-fried cabbage with chili, ground pork with glass noodles, and the famous Shanxi specialty—Guo You Rou (sautéed sliced pork). The clay pot in the middle was still covered, so he had no idea what was inside.
Once Luo Ming was seated, Lin Shuwen stood up and lifted the lid off the pot!
“Ta-da! The star of today’s meal—Fish-Fragrant Eggplant Clay Pot!”
The moment the heavy clay lid was lifted, the rich, savory aroma that had been locked inside burst outward, filling every corner of the room.
Neat, uniform strips of eggplant lay snugly in the clay pot, each one thoroughly soaked in the flavorful sauce. They glistened with oil, and the flesh had turned a deep brown from the soy-based gravy. Immersed in the thick, reddish-oil broth that lazily bubbled with tiny, popping bursts of heat.
Lin Shuwen sprinkled a handful of bright green scallions right in front of Luo Ming, adding a vivid pop of color to the entire dish.
“Luo Ming, come on, try this fish-fragrant eggplant. It’s my signature dish! The absolute crown jewel of my repertoire! Everyone who’s tried it has nothing but praise.”
“Let’s hope you’re not just blowing your own trumpet.”
“How could I be!” With that, Lin Shuwen picked up a strip of eggplant from the batch lying ever so “neatly and obediently” in the pot.
The purple skin of the eggplant was coated in the fragrant, oily sauce, glistening brilliantly. The once-white flesh had long since been dyed a rich, dark brown by the gravy.
Though she was picking up just a single strip, it came with more than that—the eggplant was clinging to bits of minced pork and rings of green and red chili peppers, making it look utterly irresistible.
“Phew, phew~” Lin Shuwen blew gently on the eggplant strip, then held the chopsticks up to Luo Ming’s lips. “Say ah~”
Luo Ming paused for a second, then opened his mouth and bit right in.
The juice trapped inside the eggplant burst forth, flooding his mouth with that distinctive, mildly spicy, savory richness of the chili-oil broth, perfectly blended with the fragrance of the eggplant itself and the savory hints of minced pork. The flavors exploded across his tongue.
Luo Ming’s eyes lit up, but he couldn’t speak right away. Even though she’d blown on it before offering it to him, the eggplant’s “inner heat” was still intense. He sucked in sharp breaths through his teeth, his tongue doing battle with both the incredible flavor and the scorching temperature, while simultaneously raising his hand to give Lin Shuwen a big thumbs up.
Lin Shuwen’s eyes curved into happy little crescent moons. For some reason, getting Luo Ming’s approval made her happier than any compliment she’d ever received.
Lin Shuwen also picked up a strip of eggplant, blew on it, and popped it into her mouth.
The next second, her hand froze. These… these were the same chopsticks she’d just used to feed Luo Ming. If she was using them now, didn’t that mean they’d just had an indirect kiss?
Lin Shuwen’s face instantly flushed bright red.
