Chapter 882 - 881: Good Evening, Brother

A day with no interruptions is still a joyful one.

When tired of lying on the sofa, I’d go lie on the small balcony, and when it got too hot, I’d head back to the room for a quick shower and nap.

I’d make a call to family or friends, read a novel, snack on some treats Guan Yu and the others brought yesterday, or even watch some TV and throw a few words at the male lead.

By the time Cheng Zhirang got home, I was so relaxed I didn’t bother to get up, just lazily waved at him from the sofa.

"Good evening, big brother."

Cheng Zhirang paused in his steps.

"What do you want to eat? I’ll make it for you."

"Calling you big brother gets this perk? Then I want soy milk and fried dough sticks."

"Soy milk and fried dough sticks? Isn’t that breakfast food? Plus, you rarely eat fried dough sticks. Soy milk can be freshly made, but the dough sticks need to be bought, or I can make them, but it’ll take a while. Can you wait?"

Mu Qiu mimicked the gestures from TV, pointing at him through the air, "Whether I want it is my business; whether you can do it in time is yours."

"... What kind of drama are you watching?"

"Palace intrigue drama."

Cheng Zhirang raised an eyebrow, came over to hug her: "I’m afraid it might not be quick enough; you’ll have to help me make them."

He’d never made fried dough sticks, and Mu Qiu hadn’t either, but they both knew you had to knead the dough first.

The counter was cleared for kneading, and Mu Qiu, wearing disposable gloves, pinched a lump of dough from Cheng Zhirang’s roll, kneading it while listening to him talk.

"The new film starts shooting on Thursday, and I’ll have to live with the cast, it’s quite far from home, so I might not have time to come back."

She shaped the dough into animals, engrossed in her task, while replying with her head down: "It’s okay, focus on filming, I’ll visit occasionally. Just let me know in advance what you’d like to eat, and I’ll bring it."

"I don’t have any cravings, just going to miss you."

"Cough cough cough!" She choked, flattening the dough she had shaped into a long-necked creature, "You’re getting more direct... It’s not like we can’t see each other, we can call, message, and once you’re not filming we can video chat."

"If I send you videos every day, will you find it annoying?"

"No, but we should probably set a time; I don’t like surprise calls, they disrupt my thoughts."

Cheng Zhirang nodded, pulling another bit of dough for her: "I’ll call you daily. Can you stay at home with me for these two days?"

Why ask such obvious questions? Things she would naturally do, yet he sought her permission, always giving off a cheeky vibe.

"Of course I’ll be home, it’s so hot outside, I’m not going out."

She combined the two lumps of dough, pulling them into a strip—it was slightly dry, and broke after just a little stretch, apparently making dough sticks is challenging.

"Good." She heard Cheng Zhirang say and then he moved on to heat oil in the pan without pursuing the topic further.

Fryer is a great aid in making dough sticks; Cheng Zhirang leisurely rolled the dough into strips, watching video tutorials, cutting them into several small lumps, rolling them out, pressing two together, stretching slightly, and gently placing them into the oil pan.

Mu Qiu tiptoed to peek from beside his arm, apart from the slightly swollen dough sticks, they looked quite promising.

She pressed her short dough strips with chopsticks, carefully lowering them into the oil.

"I initially wanted to shape a giraffe to drop in."

Cheng Zhirang glanced particularly at the short dough stick, even if a giraffe flattened, it wouldn’t resemble this.

But he said nothing, attentively turning the stick with a food tweezer to ensure every side was golden and crispy.

Inexperience shows; despite a promising start, the timing when frying the sticks impacts the final product’s texture significantly.

For instance, Cheng Zhirang’s cut was so light it couldn’t slice through Mu Qiu’s thick dough stick, only scraping the knife against its grainy surface.

Disappointed in the dough stick, Mu Qiu decided to give it to Cheng Zhirang, depriving it of its chance to soak in her soy milk.

Soy milk with dough sticks alone wouldn’t suffice, so Mu Qiu took out the stock from Guan Yu and Li Yang, and cooked some instant hot and sour noodles, soaking sliced dough sticks in the spicy broth... slurping, delicious.

That’s when He Jia’s video call came through.

Upon seeing the name flash on the screen, Mu Qiu immediately answered, without a second thought.

After greeting, He Jia caught sight of the two leftover sticks on her plate and the packaging that hadn’t been thrown away.

"Cheng Zhirang only let you eat this?" her voice slightly raised, "I said to come home for dinner and he didn’t agree, and this is what he feeds you?"

Mu Qiu wasn’t sure if this was considered unhealthy or insufficient, quickly explaining: "No, Auntie, it’s what I wanted to eat."

"Don’t cover for him, he’s gotten lazy, not bringing you over for soup, just having you eat instant noodles. I should’ve asked Assistant Liang to bring over some home-cooked meals, a bit of chicken broth, fish, isn’t that better, Cheng Zhirang? Thirty years old and feeding your girlfriend just instant noodles!"

Indeed difficult to articulate, Mu Qiu looked up at him, wearing a mischievous smile.

Cheng Zhirang glanced at her with a smile, replying, "Mom, having these occasionally also helps adjust our appetite. Don’t keep thinking of bringing her over for meals, I’m starting filming Thursday, she’ll be at home with me. Besides, she doesn’t care much for soup."

"If she doesn’t like soup I can cook other things; I watched your show, enjoying food’s good, I can make rabbit meat too."

Cheng Zhirang reiterated, "Yes, that makes sense, but mainly she’s staying at home with me, also, I can make rabbit meat."

What could He Jia say, would mother and son seriously compete over who cooks rabbit better? The focus was he emphasized twice about Mu Qiu accompanying him.

Indeed hard to intrude, even a mother feels awkward addressing this upfront.

The call concluded swiftly, with Madam He Jia majority of the time reproaching Cheng Zhirang and concerning over Mu Qiu’s life, nothing much was said otherwise.

Once ended, Cheng Zhirang gazed at Mu Qiu with a knowing smile.

"I feed you instant noodles?"

"No, no, I explained it was my choice. Alas, Auntie didn’t believe me." She flashed a cheeky grin.

"But she scolded me quite a bit, I’m a bit saddened."

"... Your sudden shift almost makes you seem like a fragile flower. You’re sad, then what?"

Cheng Zhirang caught her eye: "Sad, I’d like some comfort."

Trying not to laugh, she replied: "Oh, then I’ll offer you my noodles with dough sticks, deeply affectionate, is that comfort enough?"

"Not enough."

He merely replied slowly, though did nothing much afterward, joining her in finishing their homemade dough sticks. Though greasy, they brewed tea after the meal. Cheng Zhirang took up cleaning, tidying up, refreshing the air conditioner, and placing all used utensils in the dishwasher.

As for the two freed from dish duty, they were already upstairs entangled together.