Chapter 68: Concern

T/N: So many things to do and so little geographic advantage -_-

When Xiaonian got up early, it was already late in the morning. It was Sunday morning and what surprised her the most was that it was well past 9 and Gong Ouyang hadn’t disturbed her for his breakfast. 

Just out of curiosity, she decided to take her time washing up and wait in the room. She wanted to see how long she can stay here before Gong Ouyang blows up and starts throwing tantrums for his lunch.

After taking a bath and changing into some comfortable clothes, Xiaonian sat cross legged on her bed and kept an ear out listening to what was happening outside the bedroom.

These days, she could feel a subtle change in their relationship. It was not a big glaring one, just a small one, floating just beneath the surface.

Since the last time Gong Ouyang left her at TianZhi for a week, she noticed that he sometimes made few concessions and compromises. He still had his crazy tantrums, but he also showed moments of kindness to her confusing her.

Like yesterday. It might not have been how normal people would console a person in her situation, but whatever he said during that time made her think, just for a moment, that all was not lost in her life.

She really must be going crazy after living with him for so long.

Xiaonian sat in her bed and stared at nothing while struggling to organize her thoughts when she heard a loud bang.

……

It sounded like the sound originated from the kitchen?

Xiaonian jumped out of her bed and quickly walked towards the kitchen. And what she saw made her freeze behind the door.

The most bizarre thing was happening inside.

Gong Ouyang, it seems, was instructing his housekeeper in cooking.

“Young master, I don’t think we should heat the pan for so long,” Feng De meekly told Gong Ouyang.

There was only so much he could do to dissuade his master from trying out impossible cooking experiments. 

“No pour some water into it,” Gong Ouyang said imposingly standing behind Feng De.

“…..”

Pour water on a hot pan?

Feng De wanted to say something, but he remembered what happened when he tried to counsel his young master about pouring frozen vegetables in hot oil.

Sigh.

Accepting his fate Feng De gritted his teeth and proceeded to pour the water on the hot pan.

Clang!

Xiaonian jumped in her spot at the sound of the pan deforming due to the sudden exposure to low temperature. 

“You did not pour the water correctly!” Gong Ouyang accused Feng De. He had been trying to instruct him to cook properly but the old man just failed miserably.

“Young master, why don’t we just call Miss Shi and she can cook somethin-”

“No.”

“She had a bad day yesterday and cried until no tears were left. No need to disturb her, you just continue. I’ve seen her cooking sometimes, it can’t be hard.”

Xiaonian’s lips curled up in a smile at the strange conversation between Gong Ouyang and Feng De.

Walking into kitchen she skillfully picked up the bent an from the stove and put it in the sink, “I’ll take over from here, what do you want to eat?”

Feng De quietly stepped back handing over the situation to Xiaonian. Although he is an accomplished cook, he cannot cook under someone as inexperienced in the kitchen as his young master.

“Why are you here? I thought you would have been dried out from all the crying yesterday,” Gong Ouyang mocked her as his eyes followed her.

Xiaonian did not feel angry at his ridicule, she asked him again, “What do you want to eat?”

“…..”

“Something spicy,” Gong Ouyang said and moved back to sit in a nearby chair and watch her cook. This time, he also paid close attention to her cooking. If she had days like this, he did not want to starve to near death and more importantly he wanted to be more proficient to instruct even someone as incompetent as Feng De.

So, a man and a woman were immersed in their own things until Xiaonian turned the stove off after the last dish.

“Why don’t you go sit in the dining room, I’ll carry all this food in a moment.”

Gong Ouyang looked at her back that busied itself in bustling around the kitchen and without another word went out. 

Xiaonian served her own plate and sat down to eat when she saw a pair of chopsticks deliver a piece of meat on to her plate.

“……”

Was he giving her food?

Him? The guy with a bottomless stomach?

Gong Ouyang noticed her suspicious gaze directed at him. “You cried a lot yesterday, eat some so you can have some energy,” he told her indifferently and went back to eating his food.

“….”

He really worried about her crying, it seems. 

Xiaonian’s hand shook a little as she picked up the meat and ate it with gusto. This kind of concern from a person really makes one tear a little.

Sniffing delicately, she silently continued eating trying not to acknowledge the sweet feeling that was creeping up somewhere at the bottom of her heart.

_______________ 

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