#36: Kidney-Boosting Meal

Early morning.

Lin Xingzi was in a deep sleep. Her phone was still in the study, so Li Qing’s call went to Jiang Yan.

Li Qing was Jiang Yan’s high school chemistry teacher. Teachers have a naturally strong voice, and Jiang Yan jolted awake, putting on his clothes while answering the phone.

They had been up late last night. There were several used condoms in the living room and study trash cans. Jiang Yan quickly tidied up before opening the door.

Li Qing had made breakfast and specially brought it over, packed in several insulated containers because of the cold weather.

The living room was neat and tidy. She looked around the house and felt relieved.

Lin Xingzi vaguely heard her biological mother complaining that when she used to live alone, her home was like a pigsty: “clothes and shoes thrown everywhere,” “yesterday’s takeout still piled on the table today,” “dishes not washed,” “the kitchen looking like it had been robbed”...

No, I didn’t, I’m not, I refuse to admit this is my biological mother!

She grabbed a pillow, covered her ears, and hid under the covers. Jiang Yan closed the bedroom door, sat on the edge of the bed, and softly called her, “Jiangjiang, Mom’s here. She brought you breakfast.”

“She brought it for you, didn’t she?” Lin Xingzi mumbled.

Jiang Yan pulled the quilt down a bit. Lin Xingzi exposed half her face, her hair spread across the pillow. She had just woken up, her eyes hazy with sleep, looking at him softly, her body pliant. “Your mother-in-law is slandering me.”

Jiang Yan nodded in agreement.

Lin Xingzi immediately perked up, asking him why.

“Because you don’t cook, the kitchen is still new.”

Lin Xingzi: “...”

It was all a mistake in the end.

Li Qing had finished preparing breakfast, but Lin Xingzi still hadn’t emerged from the bedroom after more than ten minutes of dawdling. Li Qing was an impatient person. Thinking Jiang Yan was on the balcony, she casually knocked twice and pushed the door open.

“Hehe,” Lin Xingzi froze, laughing dryly. “Mom... good morning.”

The scene in the bedroom made Li Qing pause. She watched her daughter pounce on Jiang Yan like a hungry wolf first thing in the morning, her old face flushing.

Lin Xingzi felt like she was sitting on pins and needles during breakfast. She had always been a little afraid of Li Qing, having been closer to Lin Xudong since childhood. Li Qing kept staring at her with an unreadable expression, sighing repeatedly, but saying nothing. Lin Xingzi felt a chill run down her spine from being stared at, and even after Li Qing left, she still felt baffled.

“Is Mom going through menopause?”

Jiang Yan saw through it but didn’t say anything, merely smiling and changing the subject. “What are you wearing?”

“I need to dress formally today,” Lin Xingzi said as she put on her makeup. She had a meeting with a group of forty or fifty-year-old traditionalists; being scrutinized and criticized was inevitable, but she couldn’t lose face. “That wine-red shirt, and the half-skirt next to it.”

Jiang Yan helped her take out the clothes. After doing her hair, she started changing. She took off her pajamas and threw them into the dirty laundry basket, then slipped her arms into the straps of her camisole. Her palms cupped her fair, soft breasts, gathering them into a dark bra.

She didn’t allow him to leave marks on her collarbone or shoulders, but in places outsiders couldn’t see, faint red marks spread, looking like blossoming peach flowers around the dark bra.

Jiang Yan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He walked over and helped her fasten her bra clasp.

Lin Xingzi faced the mirror, tucking the hem of her shirt into her skirt. Putting on the wedding ring from the table onto her ring finger was a habitual action. Wearing the wedding ring, just like having Jiang Yan by her side, made her feel particularly capable and more confident.

The half-skirt perfectly outlined her exquisite figure—slim where it should be, with no excess flesh where it curved. The shirt collar was slightly open, revealing her collarbone, and lower down, it was lifted by her chest.

It was Jiang Yan’s first time seeing her in professional attire. Her high heels made her ankles look slender. Her left knee was a bit swollen, inviting endless thoughts.

“Wearing too little, you’ll be cold.”

“I’ll wear a coat outside. The office building has heating, so it’s not cold. I’m running out of time, I’ll go first.”

Lin Xingzi didn’t yet have the ability to manage things on her own. She had been with the company for two years, and Li Yao personally taught her everything, big and small. However, there were some occasions where she couldn’t rely entirely on her uncle. The company’s reputation hadn’t been particularly good in the past six months, with a popular male actor being accused of drug use and another causing an accident while drunk, both stirring up significant online controversy. At the shareholders’ meeting, Lin Xingzi would inevitably be held accountable, but Li Yao was satisfied with her performance.

After the meeting, only the uncle and niece remained in the conference room. Li Yao subtly glanced at Lin Xingzi’s knee, with the exact same look her mother had given her that morning.

Lin Xingzi earnestly explained, “I was working overtime last night and accidentally bumped into the table...”

Li Yao smiled. “You’re both young and newly married, your uncle understands.”

Lin Xingzi: “...”

For half a month straight, Lin Xingzi and Jiang Yan were called back to eat at Li Qing’s home every day. The dishes on the dinner table were quite telling: goji berry and beef pizzle soup, stir-fried lamb kidney, steamed oysters, pork bone soup...

Ms. Li didn’t let Lin Xingzi touch a single bite of these dishes, urging Jiang Yan to eat more and more. Lin Xingzi was unhappy; she worked hard too and needed nourishment.

Li Qing: “Your nutrition is good enough already. Any more and you’ll easily exceed the limit.”

Jiang Yan, whose bowl was packed full, looked up at Lin Xingzi, his ears red from trying to suppress his laughter.

Lin Xingzi: Speechless!