Chapter 129

After Song Anan hung up the phone, she was still a little dazed.

She stood there in a trance for a good while before she suddenly remembered what Pei Kuang had just said about asking her to go to his house.

Why go to his house? Weren't they going to go out to eat?

Although Song Anan was a little puzzled, she didn't think too much about it.

It was just as well since she could also bring the cat food and canned cat food she had bought for Qiuqiu.

After a simple tidy up, Song Anan carried the express box with the cat food and canned cat food together.

It's quite heavy!

Fortunately, their two homes were relatively close, so she could grit her teeth and carry it over.

Pei Kuang opened the door and saw the box in Song Anan's hands. He couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, then hurriedly took it from her.

"What is this?" he asked.

Song Anan shook her sore arms and replied, "It's some cat food and treats I bought for Qiuqiu."

Pei Kuang frowned slightly. "Such a big box, how heavy was it for you to carry it? Why didn't you say anything on the phone just now and I would have helped you carry it."

But Song Anan didn't make much of it. "No need, it wasn't that heavy."

Pei Kuang casually put the box in a corner of the foyer and looked at her nervously, "Are your arms okay? Let me check them for you, don't get hurt."

Song Anan smiled and said, "Senior brother, I'm not that delicate, I'm really fine."

As she spoke, she vigorously shook her arms up and down to indicate she was unharmed.

Only then did Pei Kuang breathe a sigh of relief, but he was still worried as he instructed, "As long as you're not hurt, that's good, but don't do this again next time."

Song Anan uttered an "oh", looking a bit blank.

Seeing her obedient appearance, Pei Kuang's palms suddenly felt itchy, wanting to rub her head or pinch her cheeks.

But afraid of frightening her, he restrained himself in time and turned to take a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet and put them by her feet, "Don't stand by the door, come on in."

Song Anan looked down at the slippers by her feet, a little puzzled, "Aren't we going now?"

Wasn't it almost time to eat? Wouldn't it be a little late if they didn't go out now?

However, she had just finished speaking when she noticed that Pei Kuang was actually wearing loungewear.

He hadn't gotten ready yet?

Pei Kuang was also clearly taken aback, and asked in puzzlement, "Go where?"

Song Anan blinked and replied, "Weren't we going to go out to eat?"

Where else could they go?

The two looked at each other for a few seconds before Pei Kuang finally realized where the problem was.

He chuckled lightly and explained, "I must not have made it clear, isn't it the weekend today? I was thinking the restaurants outside would definitely be crowded and hard to get a table, so I went out and bought some ingredients this afternoon, thinking it would be more convenient to cook at home."

Song Anan uttered an "Ah", so cooking at home?

But what if she didn't know how to cook?

Seeing her reaction, Pei Kuang thought she was opposed to eating at home. "I'm sorry, it was my oversight for not making it clear earlier."

"If you think it's inappropriate, don't worry, we can still go out to eat now. What would you like to eat? We can call ahead and book a reservation now."

As he spoke, he was about to go back to the room to get his phone and book a restaurant.

That was not what Song Anan meant at all. She hurriedly stopped him, "No no, eating at home is great, I didn't think it was inappropriate at all."

Pei Kuang frowned slightly, half believing, "Really?"

Song Anan quickly nodded her head, "Really!"

She hesitated for a moment, then said, "Actually, I was just thinking about what to eat."

Maybe they could order some noodles, that seemed to be the only thing she knew how to make.

Although the noodles might clump up, they would still be edible.

Pei Kuang did not expect her to be worried about this matter, and instantly smiled, "Don't worry, I bought the ingredients pretty comprehensively, come in first, and we'll decide what to make together."

Song Anan uttered an "oh", but still seemed to have more to say.

She changed into the slippers, and the two went to the kitchen together. Pei Kuang opened the refrigerator, which was full of ingredients.

There was fish, shrimp, chicken, meat, and a lot of vegetables. It really was very comprehensive.

"Is there anything in particular you want to eat?" Pei Kuang asked.

Song Anan thought to herself that there were things she wanted, but she didn't know how to make them!

"Um, senior brother, there's something I still want to tell you." She struggled for a moment before deciding to come clean.

Pei Kuang nodded, "What is it, go ahead."

Song Anan took a deep breath and said, "Actually, I'm not very good at cooking, I'm a kitchen novice."

Pei Kuang raised his eyebrows, pretending to be puzzled, "Oh? Did I remember wrong? I clearly remember you were not a kitchen novice!"

Song Anan was stunned.

What? When did he remember that?

How did that sound so weird?

Pei Kuang had a smiling look in his eyes as he said, "Last year, I watched that variety show you did with your nephew, and I remember kitchen novice was the nickname netizens gave your nephew. Did I remember wrong?"

Song Anan: "..." She confirmed that he had not remembered wrong.

But he must be deliberately teasing her now!

Because of her performance on that show, netizens had jokingly called her the 'kitchen killer'!

Great, now she had no face left at all!

Not even any skin left!

Pei Kuang knew when to stop teasing her, "Okay, I'll stop teasing you. I know you can't cook, it's fine. Just tell me what you want to eat and I'll make it."

Song Anan glared at him angrily.

Since he put it that way, then don't blame her!

After that, Song Anan did not hold back when ordering dishes, waving her hand grandly as she ordered several hearty dishes in a row.

Her original intention was to make things difficult for Pei Kuang, but unexpectedly he readily agreed and really seemed to know how to make them.

Could it be true?

Seeing her skepticism, Pei Kuang did not explain but went straight to take out the ingredients from the fridge and started cooking.

At first Song Anan was still half believing, but when she saw Pei Kuang's knife skills while cutting up ingredients, she believed his claim that he could cook.

As for why she had never considered that Pei Kuang could cook in the first place, well, that was a long story. It should be attributed to her preconceived notions.

Just recently, in the dormitory, Li Sirui and the others had discussed this, saying that Pei Kuang looked like he was not the kind of man who could cook and take care of others, the homemaker type.

And that he was more like the playboy heartbreaker type!

Although Song Anan did not really agree with this view at the time―after all, judging people by their looks was unreliable―she had unknowingly internalized their assessment that Pei Kuang could not cook.

That led to the misunderstanding at the outset.

Pei Kuang glanced back and saw Song Anan standing there in a daze. He smiled and asked, "What are you thinking about? You seem so absorbed."

Song Anan snapped back to reality and quickly waved her hands, saying, "Nothing, I wasn't thinking about anything!"

She could hardly tell him that her roommate said he was a playboy heartbreaker type!

Seeing the girl's flustered appearance, Pei Kuang couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"There's a lot of kitchen fumes here, go keep Qiuqiu company in the living room. The few dishes will be ready very soon." he said.

Of course Song Anan would not leave. "It's fine, let me give you a hand, I can't cook but I can still wash vegetables."

Pei Kuang did not insist. After interacting with the girl these past days, he had a general understanding of her personality.

If he didn't let her do anything, she would actually feel more uneasy, so he deliberately let her help a bit here and there.

Like washing vegetables, passing him things, or helping roll up his sleeves.

After bustling about the kitchen together for a while, this meal was finally ready.

Since it was just the two of them eating, although Song Anan had ordered in a bit of annoyed embarrassment earlier, she still kept it reasonable, not ordering too many dishes.

Looking at the table with four dishes and a soup, Song Anan couldn't help but swallow.

Mmm...It smelled so good.

Seeing her reaction, Pei Kuang was hard pressed not to laugh. Little glutton.

Realizing her own reaction, Song Anan was extremely embarrassed, her face instantly flushing red to the tips of her ears.

Too embarrassing.

Pei Kuang smiled at her and asked, "Try it quickly and see if the taste is to your liking, if it suits your palate?"

How could it not suit her palate when it already smelled so good?

At this time Song Anan uncharacteristically did not stand on ceremony with Pei Kuang. Sitting down, she directly picked up the braised pork she had been eyeing.

Mmm...crying from the deliciousness!

Song Anan gave Pei Kuang a big thumbs up. She really hadn't expected his cooking to taste so good.

Seeing her like this, Pei Kuang also couldn't help adding a bite with his chopsticks. "Is it really that delicious? Could it be that I surpassed myself today?"

Song Anan wouldn't know, since this was her first time eating his cooking after all.

After finishing the braised pork in her mouth, she stared at the plate of white boiled shrimp next, and the stir-fried vegetables also looked good.

If she was still trying to restrain herself in front of Pei Kuang earlier, now she had completely let loose. There was no other way, she was a little foodie after all.

Song Anan had a habit that whenever she ate something she liked, her cheeks would be stuffed full like a little hamster.

When she chewed, her little mouth moved up and down, looking extremely cute.

Seeing Song Anan eat so happily, Pei Kuang's eyes were full of smiles, but at the same time he secretly decided to improve his cooking skills even more in the future.

It was a very pleasant dinner for both the host and guest.

Although there was not enough wine, after the meal Song Anan felt that she didn't help much with the cooking, so she offered to do the dishes.

"No need, just leave them there, I'll clean up later," Pei Kuang said.

But Song Anan spoke righteously, "No, my sister-in-law said that whoever cooks does not wash the dishes, and whoever washes does not cook. This is the basic principle."

Seeing that he could not dissuade her, Pei Kuang could only go along with her.

But he did not intend to let her wash alone either. His kitchen was quite spacious, so the two of them could wash together.

However, just as Pei Kuang had just brought the bowls and chopsticks to the kitchen, the phone in the living room suddenly rang.

Seeing this, Song Anan quickly pushed him out, "Go answer the phone, don't worry, I'll take care of this."

Pei Kuang had no choice but to go to the living room to get the phone first.

It was a call from a colleague at the hospital, probably about work, so after taking a look at the kitchen, he turned and went out to the balcony to answer it.

Seeing that Pei Kuang did not come back, Song Anan decided to speed things up.

By the time Pei Kuang came back, she would have finished washing everything, so he would not be able to compete with her for it.

But just as Song Anan was concentrating on washing the dishes, Ball Ball suddenly jumped up and hugged her legs.

Because she was completely unprepared, Song Anan was startled and accidentally dropped the plate she was washing.

With a crisp 'pop', the moment the plate hit the floor, it shattered into pieces. Ball Ball was also clearly startled, and scrambled down in a panic.

"Ball Ball, don't move!"

Song Anan reacted swiftly, bending down to grab the little guy who was about to step on the broken porcelain.

But because she was in too much of a hurry, she lost her balance and fell to the ground. Her hand pressed directly on a piece of broken porcelain, cutting a large gash.

Ow! Song Anan looked at the blood beads that instantly appeared on her hand and sucked in a breath.

Fortunately the little one was not injured, she thought with relief.

Just as she was about to get up, Pei Kuang had already heard the sound and rushed over, "What happened?"

Song Anan looked up at him apologetically, "Senior brother, I'm sorry, I..."

Pei Kuang's first reaction was to notice her injury. He walked over to her and examined it, "Don't move, you're hurt."

Song Anan shook her head, "It's fine, just a cut, no big deal."

Pei Kuang's brows were tightly knitted, clearly not agreeing with her words, but he didn't say anything more either. He just pulled Song Anan to the living room.

Treating the wound first was the priority.

Sitting on the sofa, Pei Kuang brought over the first aid kit and took out some iodine to disinfect the injury.

"Bear with it a little, it might hurt," he said.

Song Anan nodded, "Okay."

Pei Kuang gently dabbed the wound with a cotton swab, but as soon as the iodine touched the wound, Song Anan instantly sucked in a breath.

Ouch!

She reflexively tried to pull her hand back, but was held down firmly by Pei Kuang.

He gently soothed, "Be good, don't move, it'll be over soon."

Song Anan's heart quivered slightly, as if poked by something.

Pei Kuang lowered his head to examine the wound, making sure there were no porcelain shards inside before letting out a breath.

Although not deep, the cut was still quite long, and needed proper treatment.

He gently disinfected the wound with iodine again, but seeing the little girl's hand trembling slightly, he instinctively blew air at the wound.

"It's alright, blowing makes it stop hurting," his voice was gentle, as if coaxing a child.

After saying that, Pei Kuang's actions sped up considerably, and before long he had treated the wound well.

"Luckily the wound is shallow and doesn't need suturing. I'll bandage it for you, remember not to get it wet when you get home," he said after giving her medical instructions.

Song Anan stared at him blankly, a feeling in her heart that she could not describe.

After finishing his instructions, Pei Kuang did not hear Song Anan respond, so he unconsciously looked up.

Their gazes collided head-on in that instant.

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

At this moment, it was as if something had changed silently.

After returning from Pei Kuang's place, Song Anan had been in a distracted state.

She kept involuntarily thinking back to Pei Kuang's gaze that night.

Her heart would also begin pounding uncontrollably.

This feeling was unfamiliar, but not unpleasant. But she could not specify exactly what it was.

Just as Song Anan was sitting on the sofa in a daze, her phone next to her suddenly rang.

She was jolted back to her senses, and picked up the phone to see it was a video call invitation from Song Linchuan.

That's right, she had made plans with Linchuan that afternoon to video chat after he got off work that evening.

So the aunt and nephew started chatting casually. They had always been close, and never ran out of things to talk about.

"Auntie, you seem to be in a very good mood today," Song Linchuan suddenly said, "Did something happy happen?"

Song Anan was taken aback, "Huh? Did I?"

Song Linchuan nodded firmly, "Yes!"

He understood his aunt very well. Whenever something delighted her, she would become much chattier.

She was extremely talkative today, so it was obvious she was in a good mood.

Song Anan pursed her lips and said, "Well, maybe because I had a very delicious dinner."

Song Linchuan didn't think much of it and casually asked, "Oh? What did you eat?"

Song Anan paused, then said, "Very delicious braised pork, extremely delicious, even more delicious than Aunt Li's."

Aunt Li was the Song family's housekeeper who had been with them for over twenty years. The aunt and nephew had grown up eating her cooking, especially loving her braised pork.

It was clear how high praise this was from Song Anan.

Hearing this, Song Linchuan also became interested, "Really? More delicious than Aunt Li's?"

Song Anan nodded heavily, "Absolutely!"

Song Linchuan immediately decided, "Okay, then when I get back, let's go to this restaurant together."

Song Anan was stunned, "Restaurant?"

Song Linchuan did not understand, "Right, what's wrong, is there some problem with this restaurant?"

With his aunt's cooking skills, where else could they eat such a delicious meal other than a restaurant? It couldn't be something she cooked herself, right?

Song Anan shook her head, replying dryly, "...No problem."

Song Linchuan had an expression as if to say 'that's good then': "It's settled then, when I get back, you must take me to eat there."

Song Anan pursed her lips and gave an ambiguous 'hmm'.

For some reason, she did not mention Pei Kuang to Song Linchuan, as if deliberately trying to hide something.

As for what exactly she was hiding, she could not clarify it herself.