Chapter Thirty-Four: His Three Daily Meals

Grandma Chu, upon seeing the scene before her, assumed that Chu Muyun had bullied Bai Chenxi and made her cry. Given Chu Muyun’s temperament, it wasn’t an impossible scenario.

“Muyun, why is Chenxi crying all of a sudden? Did you bully her?” Grandma Chu questioned him as she hurried over to comfort Bai Chenxi.

“No, it’s not that. He just told such a touching story, I couldn’t help but cry,” Bai Chenxi quickly explained on Chu Muyun’s behalf.

“Oh, I see. Well, don’t cry, it was just a story.” But even as Grandma Chu spoke, Bai Chenxi felt tears welling up again. Grandma Chu patted her gently, then shot Chu Muyun a secret thumbs up behind her back.

Finally, he’s starting to get it, she thought. He even tells her stories now—he’s almost there. But why offer a tissue at a time like this? He should just pull her into his arms and comfort her!

Seeing his grandmother’s enthusiastic thumbs up, Chu Muyun could only press his hand to his forehead in resignation. Clearly, his grandmother was letting her imagination run wild again. Grandpa Chu patted him on the shoulder and sighed, “Take care of yourself.”

Chu Muyun raised an eyebrow: Understood. In this family, Grandma’s word is law.

As Grandma Chu continued to comfort Bai Chenxi, she asked, “Chenxi, if you’re free tonight, have dinner with me, won’t you? You’ve been away filming for so long, I barely see you anymore.” She even added a pitiful expression for effect.

Bai Chenxi, finally managing a smile through her tears, agreed, “Of course! I’m not going anywhere tonight—I’ll spend it with you, Grandma.”

“Muyun, you don’t have anything going on tonight either, do you?” Though it sounded like a question, Grandma Chu clearly wasn’t expecting any answer other than agreement.

Even if he did have plans, she would’ve told him to cancel them.

“I’m free,” Chu Muyun replied calmly.

Grandma Chu was pleased by his answer. Good, he’s learning. I always knew he’d fall for Chenxi eventually.

How to put it? Perhaps he’d simply given up resisting. It’s not as if Grandma would force them to get married right away.

In truth, Grandma had once considered arranging a marriage-first, love-later situation for them; after all, it’s quite trendy these days. But she worried that if the two really didn’t feel anything for each other, it would only waste the young woman’s time, so she dropped the idea.

Bai Chenxi followed Grandma Chu into the kitchen in high spirits, eager to learn new recipes. Chu Muyun, thinking he ought to practice his own cooking skills, volunteered, “I’ll help too.”

“No.”

“That’s not necessary.”

Grandma Chu and Bai Chenxi refused in unison, exchanging a knowing glance. Words were unnecessary.

“Muyun, come play a game of chess with me!” Grandpa Chu called out at just the right moment, giving both of them a chance to breathe easier.

Inside the kitchen, Grandma Chu was visibly excited to have found an ally. “Have you ever tasted Muyun’s cooking?”

Bai Chenxi nodded; it was truly hard to describe.

Grandma Chu finally had someone to confide in. “You have no idea—Muyun is good at everything except cooking… To say he has no talent is giving him too much credit.”

She mused, “With all my culinary skills, why didn’t he inherit any of it? People say talent skips a generation, but it should’ve landed on him!”

She continued to complain about Chu Muyun, “I’ve watched him cook, guided him myself, yet somehow, his dishes turn out so differently from mine.”

Bai Chenxi nodded in deep agreement. Then Grandma Chu’s tone shifted, “But now that you’re here, everything’s better.”

Bai Chenxi held her breath—was Grandma Chu trying to matchmake again?

But Grandma Chu’s smile was full of warmth. “Now that you’re here, at least someone will inherit all my cooking skills.”

Relieved, Bai Chenxi laughed along, “Of course, Grandma! You must teach me everything you know, no holding back!”

Listening to the laughter from the kitchen, Chu Muyun found his thoughts drifting. Grandpa Chu tapped a chess piece lightly and said, “Muyun, the key to chess is a calm mind. Are you distracted by someone?”

Grandpa Chu wore a look of knowing amusement. As Chu Muyun’s mind wandered, he carelessly placed a piece. Grandpa immediately declared, “No regrets once the piece is down!” and gleefully captured several of Chu Muyun’s pieces.

Watching his grandfather’s childlike joy, Chu Muyun couldn’t help but smile. Though Grandpa was usually steady and composed, he turned into a little boy when playing chess.

Soon, Grandma Chu and Bai Chenxi brought out a sumptuous dinner, a world apart from Chu Muyun’s culinary attempts.

As Bai Chenxi ate, she glanced at Chu Muyun across the table, realizing that all three meals today had been shared with him. Each one had been unique in its own way. Thinking of his cooking, she couldn’t help the smile tugging at her lips.

Noticing her beaming expression, Chu Muyun knew she was lost in thought again. He nudged her under the table with his foot, and she glared at him indignantly.

He gestured with his eyes: Eat quietly.

She glared back, then obediently lowered her head to eat in silence.

Grandma Chu watched the exchange, growing more satisfied with each moment. Not bad—they’re even communicating with their eyes now.

After dinner, Grandma Chu shooed Chu Muyun and Bai Chenxi into the kitchen to “cultivate their relationship,” all the while giving them suggestive looks.

The two of them stood in the kitchen, exchanging awkward glances as an air of embarrassment filled the room. Bai Chenxi hesitated, “You… won’t break the plates while washing them, will you?”

Chu Muyun looked at her helplessly. “Cooking skills and dishwashing skills are not the same thing, you know.”

Bai Chenxi gave him an apologetic look—she was just still reeling from the shock of his “legendary” cooking.

They stood side by side, washing dishes quietly. Neither forced conversation nor shied away from it.

Without looking up, Chu Muyun said, “Hand me those dishes over there.”

“Oh!” Bai Chenxi quickly fetched the plates and handed them to him.

They interacted naturally, carrying on with the simple tasks of daily life. There weren’t many words, yet there was no awkwardness—there was even a touch of the comfort found between couples who had been together for years.

When Bai Chenxi returned home, she still felt as if her day had been a surreal dream. She had spent the entire day with Chu Muyun. If someone had told her this before, she would have rolled her eyes at them.

What a joke! With a guy like Chu Muyun, she would have expected nothing but arguments or icy silences, never a full day spent together.

But thinking back on the day, she couldn’t help but smile. Actually, it hadn’t been bad at all.

She recalled waking up to the sight of Chu Muyun playing guitar on the balcony, and her heart fluttered. “He really is handsome!”

She gave herself a light smack on the forehead. “Bai Chenxi, what are you thinking?”

To stop her thoughts from running wild, she pulled the covers over her head and soon drifted off to sleep.

When Chu Muyun got home, Caesar greeted him at the door. Chu Muyun gently patted his head. “Hungry? I’ll get you something to eat.”

As he changed his shoes, he caught sight of the pink slippers on the rack and paused for a moment. He could almost see someone chattering beside him.

Opening the refrigerator, now fully stocked, he felt as though some empty space within him had been filled as well.

It had only been a day, but already her presence lingered in every corner of his home. Instinctively, he wanted to push away this sense of change, but perhaps—just perhaps—it wasn’t so bad after all.