TSDT - 22

Good food should not be wasted. No matter how complicated or gloomy one’s mood, a meal of seafood paella and strawberry fresh cream cake can make the dark clouds dissipate with a gentle breeze.

Jiang Ying was mostly a listener. Hu Ruochen, full and satisfied, felt inspired and talked a lot. Jiang Ying rested her face in her hands, taking small bites of cake, occasionally answering a couple of sentences, and refilling her glass with water.

Once Hu Ruochen had spoken to her heart’s content, they paid the bill and left.

It was still quite early, and Jiang Ying was wondering if she should do some more shopping when a message came from Meng Jingshu saying he wouldn’t be coming tonight because he had something to do.

Jiang Ying couldn’t help but scoff.

If he wasn’t coming, he wasn’t coming. Did he need to specifically say so, as if she were waiting for him?

They passed a movie theater, and Jiang Ying asked, “Hey, want to watch a movie?”

It was a busy time for the cinema. In the bustling lobby, several large posters were displayed at the entrance, with the one in the center being for a new film released yesterday, an earnest work by a popular actress.

Hu Ruochen said, “Okay,” then pointed at the poster, “but I don’t like this celebrity.”

Jiang Ying said, “I don’t like her either. Let’s not watch this one; let’s watch something else. My treat.”

When women find a common person or thing to dislike, they quickly find common ground and develop an appreciation for each other. After one movie, Jiang Ying’s previous reservations were mostly gone.

Lying in bed, thinking about the changes in her relationships over the past few months, Jiang Ying felt it was all quite surreal.

________________________________________

Jiang Ying spent the weekend comfortably at home. Having eaten a lot the night before, she lingered in bed until noon before getting up to make food. After eating, she cleaned her small apartment. As autumn deepened, the air grew more desolate, and even the balcony seemed bare.

On a cloudy afternoon, Jiang Ying went downstairs to buy a coffee. After returning home, she was too lazy to change into loungewear. Instead of sitting down, she casually bent over, half-leaning on the desk to support herself, listening to music on her phone while reading a book.

The playlist was a random selection of English songs. Currently, a soft male voice was humming. Jiang Ying found the voice pleasant and listened for a while, distracted.

“I’ll kiss your back, just breathe I don’t wanna wait another day I wanna drive you crazy When you feel my hand, just breathe On the small of your back with me......”

...

The ambiguous lyrics made her face flush. Remembering what had happened there a few days ago, she couldn’t stay hunched over. She quickly changed into comfortable loungewear and curled up in a chair.

Shortly after, the music on her phone suddenly paused, followed by a buzzing vibration.

Someone was calling.

Jiang Ying glanced at it.

“...”

Why him again?

She really didn’t want to answer.

“Hello.” Even when she answered, her tone was indifferent.

“Home?” His voice on the phone was always lower than usual.

“Yeah.”

Ever since Meng Jingshu ruined one of her skirts, she had deliberately given him the cold shoulder, acting uninterested. He, however, didn’t take offense or mind it at all; instead, he contacted her even more frequently.

“Come over to my place tonight? I’ll pick you up.”

Jiang Ying picked at her fingernails, “No, I’m busy.”

Meng Jingshu paused slightly, then asked, “Got a date?”

Jiang Ying smiled, “Mmm... I’m going to pick up a new member to bring home.”

“Hm?”

Jiang Ying could even imagine his slight frown from that single interrogative sound, his dark eyebrows tightening like sharp swords, his eyes showing displeasure, looking particularly serious.

She chuckled, “Hehe.”

________________________________________

When the unhurried “knock, knock” sounded, Jiang Ying was selecting dinner ingredients from the refrigerator. She looked suspiciously through the peephole, seeing a distorted handsome face.

She opened the door, leaning against the doorframe, quite unwillingly, “Why are you here? Didn’t I say I was busy?”

Meng Jingshu walked in, holding his belongings, “You said you were home.”

Jiang Ying mumbled, “Uninvited guest.”

Meng Jingshu chuckled softly, not arguing with her. Lately, he had been very agreeable.

He bent down to change his shoes, pulling over the dark blue, hard-soled, hole-ridden large slippers on the floor to wear. These slippers were something Jiang Ying had bought online for two dollars as a bonus item, meant to be placed by the door to make it seem like a man lived there. The material was no different from ordinary plastic and they hurt to step on.

Jiang Ying kicked the large blue slippers away with her toe and said, “Don’t wear these anymore, I bought new ones.”

Meng Jingshu indeed found a pair of brand-new gray men’s slippers in the shoe cabinet, much more comfortable.

He smiled again.

Jiang Ying pointed at what Meng Jingshu was holding, “What’s that?”

Meng Jingshu shook one of the dark paper bags, “A few changes of clothes.”

“Oh?”

He then placed another bag, stretched into a cylindrical shape, on the counter, “Auntie made dumplings today.”

“Wow!!”

To make dinner delicious and not monotonous, Jiang Ying simply cooked a tomato mushroom soup and then instructed Meng Jingshu to lay out the tablecloth and arrange the food one by one.

The two sat side by side, and Jiang Ying said mysteriously, “Today, we’re dipping something amazing.”

Meng Jingshu: “Vinegar?”

Jiang Ying scoffed, “Vinegar is so bland!”

Meng Jingshu stopped guessing.

Jiang Ying directly placed the dipping dish on the table and, in front of him, generously poured sesame salad dressing into it.

“...Salad dressing?” Jiang Ying read disdain in his eyes.

“What if it’s delicious?” she challenged.

He raised an eyebrow, “What do you say we do?”

Jiang Ying didn’t hesitate for a second, “You wash the dishes.”

Meng Jingshu: “Deal.”

As it turned out, this meal once again revolutionized Meng Jingshu’s perception of Jiang Ying’s cooking skills. Although the dumplings weren’t made by her, and the salad dressing was store-bought, Meng Jingshu blindly attributed it all to her.

He took a sip of the tomato soup and couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

It was incredibly fresh.

He never bothered with pretense, especially with people he was somewhat familiar with; whatever he felt, he would show.

Jiang Ying was tilting her head, watching him with a smiling face, quite satisfied with his reaction.

Meng Jingshu’s heart warmed under her gaze, and he couldn’t resist leaning over to kiss her.

It was a fleeting kiss, a mere touch and then gone.

More innocent than any of their previous kisses, yet it made both of them blush slightly.

Meng Jingshu’s actions were quicker than his thoughts. After the kiss, he realized how naive and awkward the gesture had been. But looking at her slightly stunned, bewildered expression, he felt as if honey had been brewed from his tongue to his heart, an uncontrollable joy spreading across his lips.

Jiang Ying felt annoyed and embarrassed by his smile. She kicked his foot, wiped her mouth, and said distastefully, “Greasy.”

Meng Jingshu just smiled without a word, and Jiang Ying couldn’t help but feel he was being smug.

Jiang Ying shoved him, angrily saying, “Stop smiling! Finish eating quickly, then come downstairs with me to do some work!”

________________________________________

The night was dark and windy, with a slight chill, perfect for stealthy operations.

In a dimly lit corner of a courtyard on the second floor of a building, a man and a woman stood in a flower bed. Passersby occasionally glanced at them, one or two times, with intent or not.

“...Stop, don’t squat yet. Pretend to be taking a rest here on a walk,” the woman whispered.

The man complied but questioned, “Why?”

“It would be too embarrassing if someone saw us, pilfering the mall’s greenery.”

“...So why don’t you just buy some? Why do you insist on digging it yourself?”

“Online shopping takes too long... What I want today, I want today,” Jiang Ying said fiercely, “Are you digging or not?”

“Didn’t you tell me to stop?”

“Oh... They’re gone. Come on, let’s start!”

The incident originated when Jiang Ying, while cleaning, suddenly felt that her house lacked greenery and a natural vibe. That afternoon, as she went downstairs to buy coffee and passed by, she was drawn by a refreshing herbal fragrance, only to discover a large patch of mint growing in the flower bed. She immediately decided to take some home.

Meng Jingshu arrived uninvited and was roped into the labor.

“Just this patch, it seems to have more space, easier to work with.”

Jiang Ying stood behind him, using her phone as a flashlight, practically a fountain commander.

Meng Jingshu picked a suitable tool from her bag. With one hand, he gathered the dense mint leaves, exposing the soil underneath. The plants here grew too thickly, and the roots beneath the soil were tangled and very firm. He used a wrench to pry a few times before creating an opening. Several clumps of roots wrapped in dirt were exposed.

He put down the wrench, about to dig with his hands.

Jiang Ying stopped him, “Wait, put on gloves. You don’t know if there’s broken glass in the soil.”

Meng Jingshu said nothing. He was actually too lazy to wear them, and it wasn’t convenient to put them on his hands at the moment. Jiang Ying directly put down her phone, found latex gloves, and used both hands to help him put them on.

Her gloves were usually used for cooking and washing dishes to protect her hands. They fit her well, but when put on the man’s hands, it was a different story.

They were too tight.

One could quite directly feel the man’s long and sturdy bones. The translucent white gloves were almost constricting.

Each finger looked so indescribable.

Jiang Ying laughed, “This is really too erotic...”

Meng Jingshu glanced at her, coolly saying, “I think we haven’t settled the score from last time.”

Jiang Ying quickly turned on her phone’s flashlight, changing the subject, “Hmm... Which one should we take? How about this one? Isn’t it pretty?”

Meng Jingshu snorted coldly, temporarily not bothering to argue with her.

The small plants’ roots were almost entirely grown together. Meng Jingshu struggled to separate two plants from the main clump, dug up some soil, and put them all into Jiang Ying’s washed plastic coffee cup, which she had poked drainage holes into. The two of them mostly restored the “crime scene” before sneaking home.

Because Jiang Ying kept looking around like a thief, the whole process felt a bit tense. When they reached the doorstep, both inexplicably let out a sigh of relief.

Jiang Ying softly said, “Welcome, new members~”

What should have been a rather mundane task was made quite ceremonial by her, and Meng Jingshu unconsciously found himself anticipating it too.

Jiang Ying placed the mint on the balcony, found a flat, wide plastic container to put the cup in, and then watered the two sparse green leaves.

Mint doesn’t naturally grow upright, and now suddenly separated from the dense cluster of plants, without support, it looked crooked and particularly desolate.

Jiang Ying inevitably worried, “Can they really survive? Will they die in a couple of days?”

Meng Jingshu thought for a moment and said, “Probably not. I saw a lot of weeds around them, and I guess no one usually tends to them, yet they still grew so lush. Their vitality must be strong.”

“Really? But we seemed to have broken off a segment of its root just now. And I saw online that mint wilts when it gets very cold in winter, and you have to protect the roots for it to grow back in spring. Winter is approaching now; can they really endure the harsh winter away from home?”

“...” Meng Jingshu didn’t know much either. He looked it up online and said, “There will be a period of warming up soon. For the next few days, make sure to keep the soil moist; it should be fine.”

Jiang Ying squatted, gently pressing the soil to give the roots more support.

She murmured, “Since I brought you home, I will take good care of you.” Hoping to add some power to this poor plant through superstition, “Let’s give you a name. A humble name is easier to raise, so let’s call you... Piglet.”

Meng Jingshu also squatted beside her, strongly disapproving, “Where did that superstition come from? I dug it up myself; it must be noble.”

Jiang Ying: “I don’t care, it’s going to be Piglet.”

Meng Jingshu raised his eyebrows, “I don’t get a say?”

Tsk, quite fierce.

Jiang Ying pouted, “Then how about this: one plant each, the one on the left is mine, the one on the right is yours.” Her voice became melodious and emotional, “Please, you, give, it, a, noble, name.”

He pondered for a moment, then uttered two words: “Panda.”

Alright, top-tier nobility across the entire nation.