Chapter 90 – Cherished
Without even looking up, Yan Shengping could feel Lin Ganzhi’s direct, undisguised gaze. After finishing up the last bit of company business, he looked up at Lin Ganzhi and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Caught in the act, Lin Ganzhi hiccuped, his shoulders trembling slightly. He held the bottle, looking at Yan Shengping at a loss, like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on.
Having spent some time with Lin Ganzhi, Yan Shengping’s eyes darkened slightly. What kind of ulterior motive was he plotting now, to be so guilty?
Lin Ganzhi did feel more and more guilty. If he handed over the bottle now, he would be a total idiot! Only a fool wouldn’t see what he was trying to do. So, he quickly composed himself and said, “Nothing, I just drank a bit too much water and hiccuped.”
Yan Shengping had seen Lin Ganzhi’s passion for food with his own eyes. He didn’t rule out the possibility that his past trauma made him cherish food so much, always afraid of going hungry.
“Drink water in moderation. Shall I take you out to eat after we land? What do you want to eat?” Yan Shengping asked.
This was the first time Yan Shengping had offered to treat him to a meal. At the mention of food, Lin Ganzhi immediately cast aside all his messy thoughts. But he still remembered Yan Shengping’s habits and asked first, “Don’t you not eat out?”
“Mm, but Feichen’s place is fine,” Yan Shengping said calmly, dropping his friend’s name.
Oh, Lin Ganzhi nodded. Just a few days ago, he could have normally teased Yan Shengping about freeloading off Qin Feichen again, but now his heart felt strangely heavy, a feeling he couldn’t quite describe.
Yan Shengping suddenly sighed. “Of course, if you don’t find it troublesome, we could also buy groceries and go back to cook for Wenren. Home-cooked food is still the most reassuring.”
Lin Ganzhi’s dim eyes suddenly lit up, but then his brows furrowed. “So you were just saying you’d treat me, but you really wanted to treat Wenren Yi?”
“We ate at their house for over a week for free. Shouldn’t we show some appreciation?” Wenren Yi had just stepped out to take a call; otherwise, she would have started bickering with Lin Ganzhi again upon hearing this.
“Of course, of course. Let’s show our appreciation at Qin Feichen’s restaurant then. I already promised them that I’d invite them over for a meal when I have time. We’re in a hurry this time, so it’s too late to prepare anything suddenly, and I didn’t tell you,” Lin Ganzhi said, glancing at Yan Shengping after the last sentence.
Yan Shengping suppressed a deep urge and replied calmly, “I saw it on the live stream. You should treat your friends to a meal. They all took good care of you on the show.”
“Then I guess I wasn’t too bad, right?” Lin Ganzhi’s words carried a hint of asking for praise.
“Mm, you are a survival bandit, after all,” Yan Shengping chuckled softly.
!!!
Why did that sound so cool coming from Yan Shengping’s mouth?
The next day, the plane landed in H City. It was exactly twelve o’clock when they came out. Uncle Yan had come specifically to pick up the three of them and take them to Qin Feichen’s restaurant. Originally, Yan Shengping had wanted to go to a new molecular gastronomy restaurant that Qin Feichen’s family had recently opened. The decor and location were quite nice, but this suggestion was firmly rejected by the foodie duo. It was obvious that neither of them was used to this kind of restaurant where the prestige was higher than the taste.
In the end, they chose a Cantonese restaurant that the Qin family had invested in. But what started as a meal for three ended up being a meal for four.
Qin Feichen sat next to Wenren Yi with a grin. His tall, handsome appearance fit right in at their table, and sitting next to Wenren Yi, the two were evenly matched. They had even exchanged WeChat contacts within a few sentences.
“Don’t you have to go to the company?” Yan Shengping’s question from the depths of his soul almost made Qin Feichen recall the painful memories of being forced to study by Yan Shengping during their school days.
“Brother Yan, it’s the weekend. Do you think everyone’s work cycle is calculated by the year like yours? So, how was your honeymoon in America? Did you have fun?” Qin Feichen’s gaze shifted back and forth between Yan Shengping and Lin Ganzhi. A lot had happened recently, but Lin Ganzhi had always stood by Yan Shengping’s side without reservation. Although Qin Feichen had only met Lin Ganzhi once, he had already accepted this little sister-in-law in his heart.
Lin Ganzhi coughed. How did it turn into a honeymoon? Just as he was about to argue, Yan Shengping answered for him, “You don’t need to ask about your brother and sister-in-law’s business.”
Hiss!
Across the table, Qin Feichen and Wenren Yi both hissed like single dogs. Being forced to swallow a bowl of PDA while just trying to have a meal was really something else.
Lin Ganzhi’s waist drum started beating non-stop again.
Once the food was served, Yan Shengping and Qin Feichen started discussing the stock market. Lin Ganzhi didn’t try to force his way into the conversation and instead looked at the recent trending topics online with Wenren Yi.
A starved camel is still bigger than a horse. Zhong Jingyi’s trending topic had been taken down. Although some marketing accounts were still talking about it, it couldn’t stir up much of a storm. This was normal, but Zhong Jingyi had taken a major fall this time and wouldn’t be coming after them for a while.
The Shi Wending case had finally been settled. The father and son were expected to be sentenced to more than five years in prison for molestation and other crimes. This not only brought justice for Lin Ganzhi and Que Jin but also for all the young artists whose careers had been ruined by the father-son duo. Relevant government departments were also cracking down on this phenomenon recently. At least in the current environment, some people wouldn’t dare to act recklessly.
“That kind of trash deserves it!” Lin Ganzhi said with satisfaction.
“I thought with your personality, Ganzhi, you’d still be a bit slow to react, but you seem to be able to empathize so well,” Wenren Yi nodded.
Lin Ganzhi froze. Uh oh, he didn’t seem to have told Wenren Yi that he had also been disgusted by Shi Wending. But Yan Shengping was currently in his dormant phase, so it was best not to show his hand. It would be better to wait until Yan Shengping was completely stable before saying anything.
“Of course, this kind of thing is different. Even if I haven’t eaten pork, I’ve seen a pig run. Especially for an unknown like me, this is the kind of thing I’m most afraid of encountering!” Lin Ganzhi tried hard to explain.
Hearing this, Wenren Yi didn’t suspect anything further. She picked up a small bowl and served Lin Ganzhi a spoonful of bitter melon soup.
“Drink some of this. You’ve been eating so much fried and grilled food these past few days. It’ll help cool you down,” Wenren Yi said.
Lin Ganzhi rarely ate bitter melon. In the orphanage, although they couldn’t afford anything particularly good, almost no children liked to eat bitter things, so they only had bitter melon a little bit every summer. He didn’t have much of an impression of it, only remembering that whenever they ate it, the other kids in the orphanage would cry. So, as an adult, he subconsciously never bought it. In his region, bitter melon was usually pickled with salt and then stir-fried, rarely made into soup. But he also had a nickname: “bad at it but loves to try.” He lifted the small bowl to his lips and took a sip.
An overwhelmingly bitter taste instantly filled his mouth. And he had only taken a sip; it hadn’t even gone down his throat. Lin Ganzhi’s face contorted in discomfort, and he subconsciously opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue to air it out, looking extremely pained.
From the corner of his eye, Yan Shengping saw Lin Ganzhi’s discomfort and quickly placed the sweet water from his side in front of him. “Drink this.”
This made Qin Feichen, who was sitting across from them, sigh with emotion. He had never seen Brother Yan care so much about someone. Look at how he cherished him!
Lin Ganzhi drank it as if he had seen his savior. After the gentle, smooth sweet water passed over his tongue, his discomfort gradually disappeared. Now, the way he looked at the bowl of bitter melon soup was like looking at a mortal enemy from a past life.
Across the table, Qin Feichen and Wenren Yi were both amused by Lin Ganzhi’s expression, but they still tried to persuade him, “Ganzhi, this is good for you. We can’t be picky eaters.”
Lin Ganzhi frowned, a look of disgust on his face, as if he would rather die than give in.
He even used his hand to slowly push the bowl away, wishing it would disappear from the table.
At this moment, a hand reached over. Yan Shengping picked up the small bowl in front of Lin Ganzhi and drank it all in one go. Lin Ganzhi wanted to stop him, but it was too late. It wasn’t because Yan Shengping drank the bitter melon soup for him, but because the spot Yan Shengping drank from was the exact same spot he had just sipped from. It was easy to see, as there were still water droplets clinging to that spot from when Lin Ganzhi had just drunk from it.
Lin Ganzhi’s mind uncontrollably thought of that comment: [Offer him a drink you’ve already drunk from and see if he drinks it?]
Although it wasn’t a drink, he drank it. And… and he drank from the same spot he had.
The waist drum team was back online. This time, Lin Ganzhi couldn’t even deceive himself. In short, it was very messy, extremely messy.
For the rest of the meal, Lin Ganzhi was completely out of it. He even replied to Wenren Yi’s farewell with, “Mm, this is also pretty good.”
Everyone: …
However, as his friends, they respected and understood Lin Ganzhi’s mental state. They even told Yan Shengping that the child was still growing and to prepare more food for him. As the perfect husband, Yan Shengping readily agreed to this suggestion.
That night, Lin Ganzhi stayed up very late, suffering from a rare bout of insomnia until three in the morning.
If nothing unexpected happened, he had probably fallen for Yan Shengping. But he didn’t know what Yan Shengping was thinking. Was it a whim, just an act? After all, he was very self-aware. At best, he was a mascot to be kept at home. He had been in his profession for several years, and his greatest achievement was having a lot of anti-fans. The word “failure” was written all over Lin Ganzhi.
“Sigh.” It was Lin Ganzhi’s 109th sigh in the darkness. Back in his hometown, you needed a bride price, a house, and a car to get married. He was a “three-no” product—the kind that matchmakers wouldn’t even bother asking about, let alone marrying a top-tier person like Yan Shengping.
After a night of contemplation, Lin Ganzhi finally decided not to reveal his feelings, lest he embarrass himself. As he was now, even if Yan Shengping didn’t say it, he himself found himself lacking.
On the other side, Yan Shengping didn’t sleep very well either. A night without Lin Ganzhi’s snuggles was cold.
The next day, Uncle Yan got up early as usual to check on the vegetables Lin Ganzhi had planted. The radish leaves had already grown, and they would probably have radishes to eat in less than a month.
“Excuse me, is this Lin Ganzhi’s home?” a woman with a somewhat shrill voice asked from outside the fence.
Uncle Yan looked up. A woman who looked to be nearly fifty was wearing a bulky padded jacket. Her cheeks were sunken, but her body looked somewhat heavy. Next to her stood a middle-aged man with a crew cut and half-gray hair. He was carrying a large bag of fruit in a red bag. Both of them were smiling very hard, but it was hard to see much sincerity in their smiles.