As she yawned, she rubbed her eyes. She was so sleepy, yet she managed to endure it and started working in the kitchen. A few packets of vermicelli as well as some newly bought tomatoes were found in the refrigerator. All this seemed like evidence that Lu Yi has been cooking for himself.
Lu Yi was not skilled in cooking. He could only make sure that the ingredients were cooked. They would be edible, but not delicious. However, his noodles tasted great, so he would usually cook himself some noodles.
Meals were provided in the procuratorate on a daily basis while milk was available every morning and night, hence there was a large possibility that he would not have starved. As long as he ate more during lunch, he would not feel hungry for the rest of his day, but she was still worried if he did not eat anything in the afternoon and only drank a bottle of milk at night. Although milk is nutritious, but it should not be consumed like this.
She made a plate of braised pork, a portion of stir-fried mushrooms with vegetables, a spicy diced chicken, and a stir-fried pork with edamame. The steamed rice was still cooking in the rice cooker, they could start eating after Lu Yi came home.
She sat in front of the table, not giving Lu Yi a call because she knew that he was busy, therefore, she did not want to disturb him, but she was exhausted. She lifted up her face with her arms and forcefully squeezed her eyes just to make herself stay awake. The only thing left to do was to use a big needle to poke her body, perhaps it could make her slightly more awake, but anyhow, she could not manage to perform such a self-hurting act.
So she continued to squeeze her eyes and bear with the drowsiness while waiting for him. In the end, she could not stand the sleepiness and fell asleep on the table.
Lu Yi came back at around 11 o’clock at night, he realized the lights were still on when he opened the door. The first thing that came to his mind was that he forgot to turn off the light, never did he had the thought that someone might have broken into his house.
The place he was staying at was basically impossible for robbery as no common people could have access to the door security. Other than that, high definition security devices were installed in front of the doors of every level in the building, hence, it was indeed not a favorable target for the thieves.
He closed the door, just when he was done changing his shoes, a sudden thought came up. He turned around and looked towards the living room. Someone was lying on the table.
She came back?
She come back without telling?
Lu Yi then remembered that Yan Huan recently mentioned to him that her drama filming would be ending roughly before New Year. Not long ago he was just having the thought of when she would be back.
Now she ended up giving him a pleasant surprise.
He put down all the documents he was holding and walked toward Yan Huan. Immediately, he saw the dishes on the table. Shas has cooked herself; the food was already cold. He touched the bowls on the table, indeed, they were already cold. He lifted up the bowls that was covering the food – braised pork, stir-fried mushrooms with vegetables, stir-fried tomatoes with vegetables, braised chicken with mushrooms – these were all his favourite dishes. Of course, the vegetable was the one that Yan Huan liked. He took a woolen blanket from the sofa and carefully placed it on Yan Huan’s shoulder. After that, he took every single dish to the kitchen, lit up the stove and heated them up. By looking at his actions, it was clear that this was not the first time he has cooked in the kitchen. In fact, he was quite skillful.
After a while, he took the warm food to the dining table, plate by plate. The next thing he did was ladle out two bowls of rice. As the rice in the cooker were maintained in a fixed temperature, so there was no need to reheat them.
He reached out his arms and placed them in front of Yan Huan.
“Huanhuan…” he called Yan Huan’s name.
Yan Huan rubbed her eyes, they were extremely sore and dry, she wanted to go back to sleep but at the same time she was getting hungry, especially after smelling the food, she could not decide between eating and sleeping.
“Wake up and have some food, then you can continue your sleep.” Lu Yi patted her face to make her feel more awake.
Yan Huan sat up and realized Lu Yi was already home.
“You are back?” She squinted her eyes. She was too tired to move, once again she felt like rubbing her eyes.
Lu Yi grabbed her hand, “I told you not to rub your eyes, why won’t you listen?” While talking, he took a pair of chopsticks and put them in Yan Huan’s hand, “Let’s eat first.”
“Okay.” Yan Huan held the chopsticks and started to gain more consciousness. No matter what, her stomach had to be filled. Although she knew that it was bad to eat so much at night, she had not been eating well for the whole day, hence, she should have felt her hunger much earlier.
Lu Yi kept on filling her bowl with food, most of them were vegetables and sometimes, a few pieces of meat just to prevent her from not gaining sufficient nutrients.
Yan Huan was not picky as well, not only because she was really hungry, but all the dishes were made by her. Thus, they were less seasoned and even the meat did not taste as oily as the ones served outside.
She was full after having half a bowl of rice, while Lu Yi, with a good appetite, had approximately two bowls of rice.
Yan Huan raised her head and stared at him.
“Didn’t you have your lunch?”
“Hmm, no I did not.” Lu Yi reached out his hand and pinched her face, “Don’t fall asleep, let’s go out for a walk after this, if you sleep right after eating you might become a fatty.”
“Good idea.” Yan Huan grinned and rubbed her eyes again. She was getting sleepy, but just as what Lu Yi said, she should not be lying down right after eating. It would be bad for her stomach as well as her body.
Lu Yi took a scarf and wrapped it around Yan Huan’s face. It would be New Year soon, the weather remained cold and it seemed like it was going to snow anytime soon. If the snow came, the weather would be even colder.
Lu Yi wrapped her up securely when they went out, then he held her delicate hand. Both of their shadows were elongated by the light poles on the sides of the road, the wind of autumn swept away the fallen leaves, the scene looked somewhat desolate. If both of them could hold each other’s hand for the rest of their lives, there would be nothing bad with aging, nevertheless it would just be the end of the circle of life.
There was nothing pessimistic about this ending.
Everyone has to go through death one day.
Yan Huan turned her face to the side, staring at the side angle of Lu Yi’s face, his slender eyes and his long, thick lashes. His eyes were so beautiful, just that he did not like to smile, that was why they seemed exceptionally serene.
“What’s the matter?” Lu Yi stopped, he grabbed her hands and put them beside his lips, blew out some air to warm her hands, and carefully rubbed her fingers. He then placed her hands on his chest, as if he was still worried that she would be cold.
The wind blew the scarf away from Yan Huan’s face, showing her delicate face with pretty good complexion. She leaned her head against Lu Yi’s shoulder, “I’m thinking that if I can walk until the end of life with you, death doesn’t seem terrifying anymore.”
“What nonsense are you thinking?” Using the side of his jacket, Lu Yi hugged her in his arms. He meant to give her a world without wind and rain. “We are still far away from death, it is still early.”
