Fifteen

  She was barefoot, and the sunlight shone on her face as she had just woken up like an angel. He stared at her. She asked: "How did you get up? How are you feeling?" He averted his gaze, looking a bit shy, saying: "I'm almost fine." Then he returned to normal tone and said: "If I didn't get up, you would have burned our house down."

  She repeatedly said, "I'm so sorry, I fell asleep by accident. I don't know if it's overcooked or not." He suddenly changed his tone and asked, "Is this your first time making soup?" She was surprised that he also used the word "" (to simmer) which she hadn't heard anyone use since coming to Wucheng. This was a local dialect in her hometown that she liked very much. It seemed that using this word made the soup come out with a unique thickness, warmth and flavor that far surpassed soups made with "" (to boil), "" (to stew) or "" (to braise).

  "How did you know the way to cook this soup?" she asked directly. He didn't answer, instead using a small spoon to scoop up some soup and bring it to her lips. She dodged away, saying "No need, I can do it myself." In the past, at school, what she couldn't stand most was campus couples feeding each other food while eating, always hiding from them. He raised his tone, saying "If you want to drink, then drink, don't be so stubborn." Seeing him glare at her with wide eyes, she actually obediently opened her mouth and drank the soup.

  She couldn't help but indulge in the rich, fresh and delicious flavor. "Not bad, huh? My first time stewing soup is already a success." She couldn't resist boasting to him: "Look at me, my first time stewing soup is already so successful." He didn't miss the opportunity to strike her down: "What's that? No salt was added, it was I who added the salt. Also, you need to cover it with a lid to keep the flavor of the chicken soup."

  She said with surprise: "I didn't expect you to be so capable, why don't you usually do it?" He closed the stove and said: "I know where to find delicious food, no need to do it myself."

  She quickly went back to the house, put on her slippers and came over to take the bowl and chopsticks. She saw him bring out a set of bamboo mats from the room and carefully place them on the table. In the center of the light green bamboo mat, there were delicate blue flowers that she didn't know the name of but thought they looked nice. He brought out the pot and placed it in the middle of the largest mat, pointing to the small flowers and telling her: "This is a chamomile, it's Germany's national flower."

  She sighed, "This is chrysanthemum tea. I've only heard of it before and didn't know what it looked like." He smiled and rubbed her head as if she were a child. She pouted and walked to the other side of the table, ladled out a bowl of soup for him, and then served herself possibly because there wasn't enough time to cover it and it had been too long, so she only gave herself half a bowl.

  He used chopsticks to pick up the chicken leg and put it in her bowl. She didn't want it, so he said: "You don't want it? Then I'll hug you!" What kind of logic is this? She didn't push him away anymore, obediently putting the chicken leg in her bowl and watching him drink soup. After he finished drinking his own soup, he looked at her again, and the atmosphere was not right again. So she brought up the previous question: "Why do you also say 'braised soup'?"

  He rested his elbows on the table, his eyes full of amusement: "Because I'm so talented and knowledgeable." She hummed a sound, knowing he wasn't telling the truth. After a moment of silence, he softly called out to her: "Ru Shuang."

  She looked up at him with inquiring eyes. He said, "If we part now and meet again after a few years, will you still recognize me?" She was taken aback and didn't know how to respond. He continued, "If I hide something from you, would you be unhappy?" Her heart inexplicably became heavy and cold as she recalled Ai Qing's gaze at her last night.

  She still didn't speak, across the table he held her hand and said: "Some things you will know later, now I don't tell you also because I love you."

  No one has ever spoken this word so bluntly in front of her, is this a confession of love? Like an enigmatic riddle that happens to be a reference she doesn't understand. He suddenly laughed and said: "I'm not like Ai Qing, let's drink the soup quickly, isn't this soup for treating illnesses? First of all, I must clarify that I didn't intentionally eavesdrop on your phone call with your mom."

  She had to admit that at that moment she was wondering in her heart if he was already married and the like, but it seemed like he saw through her so he said he was different from Ai Qing. She didn't ask anything because she felt that she hadn't yet regarded herself as his girlfriend and wasn't familiar enough with him to interrogate him thoroughly.

  A pot of chicken soup was finished by two people in one meal. While drinking the soup, he told her about the background and plot of the book she had taken to read. At night when she read that book again, it became very interesting.