Oh my god...
Gu Sheng abruptly stood up from the bed, nearly bursting into tears. Why was Jue Mei here?!?!
A dozen or so strands of hair were completely pulled out—all that effort just now... wasted. Mo Qingcheng wanted to laugh but ended up coughing several times. His voice sounded weary and somewhat helpless as he replied, "If you want to help us close the door, no problem, but first turn on the light for me."
A hand reached in, feeling along the wall until it found the switch.
With a click, the room lit up.
Only then did Jue Mei poke his head in, glancing around with a gossipy curiosity. Apart from one of the leads still coughing softly and the other lowering their head as if they'd stolen a hundred chickens, everything seemed... normal? He apologized with a smile, "Forgive a voice actor's imagination... like, 'Does it hurt? Hmm... if it hurts, don't move around...' or something like that," he cleared his throat again, "You know what I mean, Top talent."
"Finished playing your game?"
"Pretty much. I'm hungry and wanted to rummage for something to eat. Otherwise, I wouldn't dare disturb you."
He was here all along?
Jue Mei had been home the whole time?!
Gu Sheng looked at Top talent in disbelief. Top talent seemed to know what she wanted to ask and told her in a hoarse voice, "When you arrived earlier, I sent him a message telling him to stay in his room and not wander around, so you wouldn't feel uncomfortable."
......
......
Now I feel even more uncomfortable, okay...
Gu Sheng felt she could no longer stand beside him while that tall, imposing man at the door watched. Rolling up her sleeves, she headed toward the kitchen, muttering to herself, "Let's have porridge for dinner, okay? There should be rice at home, right? I'll also stir-fry a few light dishes..."
Before she could finish speaking,
the person leaning against the bed leisurely raised an objection: "I want to eat Steamed Beef in Rice Flour Cups."
Gu Sheng turned around in confusion. Shouldn't sick people eat light food?
"Okay?" He actually... deliberately altered his voice a bit, asking her softly in a tone that absolutely melted her heart... Gu Sheng paused, fighting against her completely subdued self, hardening her resolve: "How about another day? You have a fever today..."
"The prepared ingredients are all in the fridge," he said, already throwing off the quilt, getting out of bed, and slipping his bare feet into slippers. "It seems like the fever has subsided a bit now. I'll cook for you."
......
......
Seeing him in short sleeves, she had the urge to bury him back under the blankets. How could she bear to let him go to the kitchen to cook?
Gu Sheng's gaze drifted around, utterly helpless, trying once again to persuade this man who stood a head taller than her: "It's better to eat light food when you have a fever... You're a doctor yourself..."
You, this tall, imposing man beside us, can't you say something to persuade him?!
Jue Mei gave her an innocent look that said, "I really can't cook," and stared back at Gu Sheng.
She watched as Mo Qingcheng put his watch back on, calmly walked to the wardrobe to grab a sports jacket to wear, and truly intended to cook dinner for them while still feverish...
Completely diligent and devoted, completely... heartbreakingly diligent and devoted...
"I'll cook... but you have to eat less."
She surrendered, completely and utterly...
Since she agreed to make Steamed Beef in Rice Flour Cups, she had no choice but to find all the ingredients in the fridge as he said, only to discover that even the Egg Tart Molds were ready to use. Good heavens, if he weren't a doctor, he'd surely be a world-renowned chef...
She began to reminisce.Just now, during those five minutes, the top talent had been explaining how to make this dish face-to-face with her. He spoke two sentences before starting to cough softly, then picked up a water glass and drank several sips. In the end, she couldn’t bear it and told him she’d just search for the recipe online and figure it out herself.
Hopefully... it won’t turn out too disappointing.
The beef had already been sliced by the top talent.
In the white porcelain bowl beside her, there was also rice flour made from rice, glutinous rice, and millet...
He had prepared it when he arrived home at noon... He must have already had a fever by then. Could nothing really stop him from wanting to eat steamed beef with rice flour?
She poured the beef into the porcelain basin, added baking soda and cooking wine, and stirred vigorously... The recipe didn’t say how long to stir, so she just kept mixing it for a while longer before adding scallion and ginger water, light soy sauce, and olive oil.
Does it need to marinate for ten minutes?
She looked at the porcelain basin and checked the time.
"Thank goodness you’re here," Jue Mei stood at the kitchen door watching, casually remarking, "I’m starting to feel more and more that if he had a girlfriend, the first beneficiary would definitely be me. You know, if you hadn’t come, I’d be the one making dinner tonight..."
Jue Mei couldn’t cook at all. Usually spoiled by the top talent, he considered cooking the most terrifying thing.
Gu Sheng smiled: "I’m not very good at it either... but I’m quite perceptive. Probably because I’m a girl, I can pretty much get it right after reading the recipe once."
"He’s the same," Jue Mei said with deep admiration. "Most of the time, he goes to the supermarket, buys whatever vegetables or meat he feels like eating, and then studies the recipe to figure out how to make it..."
Buy the ingredients first, then decide how to cook them?
Such... an advanced foodie.
Qiang Qingci, who seemed detached from the mundane world online, was actually Mo Qingcheng, who loved good food.
An angel descending into the kitchen, becoming more and more grounded in reality.
Gu Sheng chatted casually with Jue Mei while cooking porridge and washing and cutting the vegetables she’d taken from the refrigerator. She didn’t cook much at home either... T.T... Hopefully, she wouldn’t embarrass herself too much in front of these two men.
"He’s been out of the scene for two or three years," Jue Mei suddenly changed the subject. "He doesn’t have much time, so he doesn’t pay much attention to gossip in any circles." Gu Sheng turned on the rice cooker, not quite understanding what Jue Mei was really trying to say, and looked at him in confusion.
"Do you know about that repost incident he had before?"
"I know."
Was that Qiang Qingci’s only black mark? Actually, he meant well. Someone @ed him about a lost pet, and he casually reposted it to help. In the end, it turned out the post was just a scam to boost reposts, and the pet owner’s phone number left in the post was a paid number.
After it was confirmed, he deleted the Weibo post immediately and even posted an apology.
But it couldn’t stop the flood of hate posts, criticizing him from head to toe. Some even speculated with certainty that he was the mastermind behind the whole thing, even suggesting he shared the profits from the paid number...
For three whole months, fans and haters argued endlessly, with malicious bystanders adding fuel to the fire. Even now, whenever there’s gossip about the two-dimensional world in various forums, someone will confidently bring up this incident as if it were true...
Where there are people, there is drama.
The more popular someone is, the more envy they attract...
She started liking his voice relatively late, only finding out about it last year.
But she still felt he was truly wronged.She poured oil into the pan and began stir-frying the mushrooms and bok choy.
“So, there’s a kind of hatred called envy-jealousy-hatred,” Jue Mei said with a smile as she watched her. “This kind of hatred can never be argued right or wrong; it can only be left to time.”
And with that, Jue Mei wandered off...
Gu Sheng was lost in thought for a moment before suddenly understanding what he meant.
It was those negative comments floating around online... She pursed her lips into a smile. At noon, she had been feeling down because of this, but after Mo Qingcheng’s fever came into the picture, it didn’t seem like such a big deal anymore...
People hiding behind computer screens don’t have to take responsibility for what they say.
So, once you turn off the computer, everything just fades away.
She finished stir-frying the mushrooms and bok choy, scooped them onto a porcelain plate, and carried it to the dining table.
Ten minutes should be about right...
What was next on the list...
Oh no, she had to check the webpage again. Annoyed, she returned to the Top talent’s room, picked up his laptop, and looked at the open webpage. Sitting on the sofa, she saw the Top talent get out of bed again and couldn’t help but feel exasperated: “Don’t get up so often... It’ll make your cold worse.” Even though she had already forced him to put on a long-sleeved tracksuit earlier.
But for someone with a fever, walking around like this really wasn’t good.
T.T...
Why did she become so naggy around him...
He took a throat lozenge, put it in his mouth, and sat down beside her, pointing to his throat. “The fever’s gone, just a sore throat, so it’s fine.”
“Whenever I had a fever before, I’d be too weak to get out of bed for a whole day.”
Mo Qingcheng smiled indifferently. “Once, I had a fever in the morning and was called to work in the afternoon, working straight through until the next morning.”
...Wasn’t that just asking for trouble?
Gu Sheng frowned. “Didn’t your parents feel bad for you... letting you work like that?”
“It’s fine. One of them works in a liver transplant center, and the other is in cardiac surgery. They’re lucky if they can sit down for two meals together in a week. That’s why they encouraged me to choose the relatively easier cardiology department... They probably don’t think it’s too hard on me.”
Wasn’t it pediatrics?
The old lady across the hall really wasn’t a reliable source of information...
But when it came to the heart, was it really “relatively easier”? Her understanding of hospitals was still no different from that of the average person—occasionally complaining about the crowds and the doctors. Although ever since she found out he was a doctor, she had started to think more fondly of medical professionals... she still didn’t really understand.
She could only murmur vaguely in response and lowered her head to look at the recipe again.
The next part was easy. She mixed the rice noodles and beef he had prepared, placed them in the Egg Tart Molds, steamed them for 12 minutes, and then drizzled them with heated sesame oil. It was a simple dish, and most of the prep work had already been done by him.
Mo Qingcheng sucked on the throat lozenge, occasionally making a soft clicking sound as it tapped against his teeth.
She took note of it and was about to set the laptop aside when she felt a weight on her shoulder—his chin resting there... His voice came close to her ear, whispering, “Thank you, my dear girlfriend, for making dinner for me.”
The warmth of his breath, and his voice...
The voice she found hardest to resist...
His voice, slightly muffled yet incredibly gentle, continued, “Thank you for coming to keep me company.”
...
She replied softly, “I was worried you’d be alone at home... in case no one was here to take care of you...”
A few seconds of quiet followed.She seemed to sense that he wanted to...
The blood rushed to her face again, her neck flushing crimson. She immediately set down her laptop and fled, saying, "I'm going to cook."
Once she retreated into the kitchen, she didn't emerge until the meal was ready. Seeing the two men who had already prepared and were eating scallion-tofu salad with porridge, she silently took a seat beside Mo Qingcheng. The two were casually chatting, and as Jue Mei spoke, the topic turned to Perfect's upcoming anniversary celebration. Jue Mei said seriously, "By that day, you must make sure your voice is in good condition."
Mo Qingcheng picked up tofu with his chopsticks, eating bite by bite. "No work talk during meals."
Jue Mei let out an "oh," then smiled and stared at Gu Sheng for three seconds, making her shudder, before turning back to Mo Qingcheng. "Did I ruin something good earlier?"
Gu Sheng had just taken a sip of porridge and nearly choked...
"Don't go too far," Mo Qingcheng said, narrowing his eyes as he continued eating tofu bite by bite, savoring it with a sense of satisfaction...
Jue Mei laughed heartily, and the conversation quickly shifted to his annual health checkup. As he spoke, he went to fetch the report and handed it to Mo Qingcheng, who flipped through it. "Nothing major, just that you usually eat too well. If you don't watch it, you'll end up with fatty liver." Jue Mei sighed and looked at Gu Sheng. "You know, being around him, I bet anyone could develop health issues from eating."
Gu Sheng thought this made sense and nodded. "It's better to balance meat and vegetables, and occasionally eat whole grains or something."
Jue Mei: "I'll try. When he's not home, I eat corn porridge."
Gu Sheng chuckled softly and lowered her head to continue sipping her porridge.
But just as she took another sip, Jue Mei added earnestly, "So when you marry him in the future, you'll have to watch out too."
The mouthful of porridge caught in her throat.
It was so hot that tears welled up in her eyes...
Author's Note: ╮(╯▽╰)╭ Jue Mei, you really know how to stir things up... Aren't you afraid the Top talent will catch you in a compromising scene someday?
OpenNovel