Back in the car, glancing at Feng Ling in the rearview mirror who was carefully stroking the watch in her pocket, Li Nanheng smiled in satisfaction.
He adjusted the angle of the rearview mirror and turned his eyes to her. “It’s getting dark. What would you like to eat? Should we go back to the hotel first?”
Feng Ling came back from her reverie. “Well, OK.”
Li Nanheng stretched out his hand and rubbed her soft hair. “What were you thinking of?”
Feng Ling was still stunned at this surprise gift.
She had never taken a gift from others. Members were not allowed to send gifts to each other in the base, so even on festivals or her birthday, she would just have a drink with other members, but no one would give her a gift.
After she left the base, she made no friends except for Ji Nuan, but the latter didn’t give her any gift.
So this was the first time she got a gift.
And the gift was so precious.
Li Nanheng, the boss of XI Base, had broken the rules of the base for her several times.
She gently stroked the cold dial in her pocket. When the man stopped the car at a red light and turned to look at her again, she remembered what he had just asked her and answered, “I ate a lot at noon, so I am not hungry. I can skip dinner.”
“It’s less than five o’clock, and you will be hungry at night.”
“Well, then…” Feng Ling thought about it. “Although I had only lived in China for a few months, I was impressed by the food there, especially the hot pot. Can I eat hot pot?”
Li Nanheng looked at her and then at the time. He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he suddenly drove the car to the road on the left and stopped in front of a large supermarket. Then he motioned her to get off the car. “This is Los Angeles. It’s not easy to eat authentic hot pot here. Let’s buy some meat rolls, vegetables, and hot pot ingredients and eat hot pot in the hotel, OK?”
Feng Ling didn’t know that the hot pot could be made at home, and immediately nodded. “Okay.”
Looking at her innocent look, Li Nanheng didn’t feel guilty at all for lying to her.
There was a well-known hot pot restaurant nearby, which was run by a Chinese couple, but there would be a long wait for a table, and it would take at least three or four hours before they could go back to the hotel.
It was getting dark now. Every minute of this night was precious and he didn’t want to waste any.
He planned to cook and eat hot pot in the hotel room, and when the little woman was replete, he could start to do what he wanted. This night was so precious and must not be wasted elsewhere except the bed.
He could compensate her with a hot pot dinner tomorrow afternoon.
Half an hour later, they finished shopping and returned to the car. Feng Ling didn’t realize that she was actually a foodie. Missing the hot pot so much, she couldn’t wait to get to the hotel.
After finally reaching the hotel, Feng Ling happily took the meat rolls, vegetables, and the like from the car, with an expectant look on her face.
Although Li Nanheng couldn’t “wait” anymore, he didn’t want to let her down. After returning to the room, he asked the hotel staff to deliver them an induction cooker and a pot and helped her cook the hot pot.
There was no chili in the hot pot, but because it was too hot, Feng Ling blushed and sweated hard, fanning with her hand and eating happily.
Seeing that her usual pale lips turned rosy now, Li Nanheng was getting more and more absentminded, and in the end, he simply got up and went to the bathroom.
“Where are you going?” Feng Ling asked while putting a piece of tofu into her mouth.
“Take a bath. Enjoy yourself.”
Feng Ling nodded.
It wasn’t until the sound of water came from the bathroom that Feng Ling stopped and suddenly remembered that she still had a tough battle to fight tonight.
Listening to the patter of water from the bathroom, she felt her cheeks turn even hotter. She quickly put down her chopsticks and pondered. Although the suite was big, there was only one bathroom. She was too shy to bathe with Li Nanheng. Listening to the sound from the bathroom, she sat on pins and needles.
At this time, Li Nanheng walked out of the bathroom. He wore a dark blue bathrobe and water was still dripping from his short hair, and the drops of water rolled down from his chin and all the way into the loose bathrobe. He was about to come over to light a cigarette, only to see that the induction cooker had been turned off and Feng Ling was sitting in a daze.
The man raised his eyebrow. “Are you full?”
“Yes.” Feng Ling said and looked away even if she knew he was wearing a bathrobe.
“All right. Eating too much at night is not good. If you still want to eat hot pot, I will take you to eat it tomorrow.” The man picked up the cigarette case and put it down, looking at her deeply.
Although he didn’t say or do anything, Feng Ling couldn’t resist his hot gaze, so she quickly stood up. “I… I’m going to take a bath.”
Without waiting for Li Nanheng to speak, she quickly got into the bathroom and closed the door.
Hearing her lock the door from inside, Li Nanheng smiled and casually combed his water-dripping hair with a hand.
