As only the two of them were home, dinner was not particularly sumptuous. Mo Ye, according to Eleven’s preferences, prepared Chinese fare. Eleven, after several hours of sleep, was much more attentive and helped with the preparation.
The atmosphere still remained warm. Once the steamed fish was done, Eleven tasted it and it tasted good. She broke into a hearty smile and was about to praise Mo Ye when he said, “Has my cooking improved by much?”
Eleven gently smiled. He had indeed made much progress. Some people were smart in many areas to be able to prepare food this well. He improved extremely quickly to the point they were much better than when he began. He had caught the fish with the villagers the day before. The little river that ran in front of Mrs. Kurt’s house was a tributary that led to the main river further up. The ice further up was much thinner, and many villagers went to fish downstream.
That day, Mo Ye saw a few middle-aged men and young men bring hunting tools out. After some curious sleuthing, he learnt that they were fishing. While he was a little tired of the food in Mrs. Kurt’s house, he hence volunteered to help them.
While they did not agree to Mo Ye’s requests initially, Mo Ye cooked up an excuse and claimed that he was preparing some nourishing food for his pregnant sister-in-law as she was malnourished in this blistering winter. The simple villagers were touched by his sincerity and reluctantly agreed to him following them.
Dearest Mo Ye was saddened as he, The Godfather of The Mafia, had to ask for help for something extremely trivial. If it were something else somewhere else, he would simply have given orders and reaped the fruits. If one dissented with him, said person would be walloped without question.
The area they were in was extremely spartan, and they were lodging at the Kurt’s home and ought not to inconvenience the elderly couple. He, most importantly, wanted to know how Eleven got him food back then.
It was hard work catching fish, and Mo Ye’s heart secretly ached for Eleven back then as he witnessed the young men who were frozen over from cracking the ice. How could her body withstand the blistering cold of the frozen river?
The weather was extremely good that day. Once the layer of ice was broken, many fish gathered under the water after a moment to enjoy the rare sunlight. The young men got their wishes.
Mo Ye saw that they were having a hard time catching fish. A few young men reached their hands into the ice to grab the fish, and the fishes in the winter loved the warmth of their hands. The young men were not quick enough and took a while to catch a few fish.
Mo Ye ruminated. To him, catching fish out to be simple and he hence reached out to grab them. He grabbed many fish and continually threw them backwards. While his palm was pierced in several places and bled, the cold numbed his hands until he managed to catch a few bigger fish. He was happy at the thought of being able to have extremely fresh fish soup and steamed fish for dinner.
This was his first experience. When he asked Eleven about it back then, it wasn’t Eleven’s first time hunting for food in this manner although it was his first time. While it was tough, he was able to do what she did. While she suffered for him by catching fish five years back, it was his turn five years later and he felt even closer to her.
Mo Ye was hence extremely happy and could not wait to show Eleven his handiwork when he returned home. Mo Ye was a little chap who happily described how he caught the fish while deliberately hiding his injured hand.
Eleven’s first reaction was to look at his hand and call him an idiot. He did not know that he could have worn a hand shield that, while restricted his mobility and grasp – would protect him from injury.
“You’re not in good shape and could use all that nourishment from fish.” Noodles formed the bulk of food in the house, and she did not eat much meat as she did not like them. She did not have much nutritious food in the past few days that had been extremely cold. God knew when her body would be back to normal.
Eleven gently smiled. She was wondering whether he had said so randomly as she saw him busy at work. She might, after all, not agree to that bet and become his girlfriend.
“It’s so-so, passable.” He would be in cloud-nine if she praised him even more.
“That’s so-so? I felt that it was really good, like something a six-star chef would prepare,” Mo Ye laughed and kissed her on her face. “All these skills are thanks to serving wifey dearest, and will become my future dowry,” he smiled heartily and said.
Eleven felt her ears become warm and rolled her eyes at him. As she saw him attentively at work, she felt her heart thump and quickly looked down to conceal her nervous side. She then remained silent as she ignored him and brought the fish out.
As Mo Ye laughed happily, his stifled feelings from seeing Meng Lianying earlier were all gone.
Once he had prepared the fish soup, Mo Ye looked at the remaining ingredients in the refrigerator and wondered if he could go fishing tomorrow. Fresher ingredients were the best as they naturally tasted fresher.
“Don’t go out tomorrow. Let’s go after Mr. and Mrs. Kurt are back.”
“Okay!” Mo Ye acknowledged.
He then wondered if Meng Lianying had left. Since she was already here and knew about what happened, she would definitely guess that Eleven was here too. If she came up…
Mo Ye looked down slightly as a malicious and insidious look flashed past him.
It was best she heed his warning as everyone would be better off.
He looked at Eleven’s gentle side profile and secretly wondered whether he ought to confess to her now. Would she…
He was in a dilemma.
“Anthony, dinner!” Eleven shouted. Her vocal cords were not in her best shape, and she did not sound as bright as she would. As he heard her voice, he was certain.
“What’s up? You seem to have many thoughts going through your mind.”
“It’s okay. I’m guessing that the snowstorm outside has picked up,” Mo Ye smiled.
Eleven looked at the falling snow and did not quite care about his shrugging shoulders. Mrs. Kurt once said that it would be ideal for the weather to remain as such until Christmas. While she had wanted to leave the mountain sooner a few days ago, she was no longer in a rush to.
“Are you thinking of leaving?”
Mo Ye shook his head and smiled. “Yourself?”
“I’m okay with it. Since I’ve nothing to do for now, might as well consider it a break and spend a few more days here,” Eleven smiled. Everybody wanted such days as they calmed hearts and were serene. One could put all their grudges and passions beneath them and not put themselves in a spot by not thinking about them.
“My thoughts too.” Mo Ye smiled as he took food for her.
Deep in his heart, he knew that his calm would not last. How should he confess to her?
Following dinner, Eleven wrapped herself in a blanket and watched the news while Mo Ye went to prepare some syrup to relieve her heat as Eleven’s vocal cords were not well. The headlines of the news were still the turmoil within the Italian government.
The competition between the two political parties reached fever pitch and Eleven tucked her lips and skipped this news to look at news about the terrorist organization. The recent situation did not seem particularly optimistic as Jason was enraged and razed several huge Mafia bases in a show of force. She was puzzled at what Mo Ye was up to while he condoned what the terrorist organization was up to.
She thought for a moment and then understood that he was not unconcerned about The Mafia, but that said bases that were struck did not hurt. To put it differently, the bases that were struck did not critically affect the Mafia, hence he was unfazed. With the terrorist organization hot on their heels since a while ago, others would have long crumbled whilst Mo Ye and Mo Jue seemed to have incurred immense losses. Their ability to rise up like grass after a wildfire implied a plethora of ways they had to preserve their strength.
For a party to pick a fight and the other to remain calm could only mean that Mo Ye was gathering his forces and biding his time. She rarely asked about affairs about the terrorist organization. She needed not excessively worry since Chu Li, Black J, and Ning Ning were present. She hence flung her head.
He was concerned because…
“Enjoy the syrup.” Mo Ye passed her the lukewarm syrup. Eleven changed the channel and watched a movie on the movies channel. There were several French movies that were considerably good. “Do you understand French?”
Mo Ye nodded and Eleven did not change the channel.
“Little Seven, there’s something that I want to tell you.”
“Say it then. I’m listening.” Eleven did not look at him. She kept watching the movie and enjoying the syrup.
Mo Ye took a deep breath and calmed himself down. If he said it now, would Eleven, with her terrifying force, strike him to his death with a single blow? It was child’s play for Eleven, and Mo Ye was aghast at his own imagination.
“I lied to you about something,” Mo Ye said. He had to tell the truth however much it hurt.
“Uh, you’ve lied to me more than once.” Seeing that he could not bring himself to speak and had a solemn look on his face, Eleven looked at him and laughed. She could not help but find him strange and frowned. Did something really serious happen?
“I…”
As she looked at him, he could not bring himself to continue the statement ‘I am Mo Ye’. As Mo Ye held his words back, his ears became red.
“Little Seven, I am actually…”
Eleven’s crystal clear eyes looked at Mo Ye as he calmed his heart. He was at a loss at how to take this seemingly insurmountable step.
“Anthony, you are really strange right now. What is there that you can’t say?”
“Little Seven, would you forgive me if I lied to you?”
“That will depend on what you lie to me about,” Eleven said as she finished the syrup.
Mo Ye suddenly held her hands tightly as he said through gritted teeth. “What exactly is going on to the point you can’t say it? What did you lie to me about?” Eleven laughed and asked.
Mo Ye felt his heart sink as he saw her happy gaze. He could not bring himself to say it as he knew that the smile in her eyes would disappear once he said it.
“Little Seven, would you still stay by my side when the mountain path clears and you head down the mountain?” Mo Ye gently asked.
