“Please enjoy your meal, Miss Tang Wanyue.” Tang Cheng placed the food on the dining table and then, with gentlemanly grace, pulled out the chair for Tang Wanyue to sit down.
“Mi… Miss?” Tang Wanyue blinked shyly, her hands smoothing over her dress as she took her seat with the elegant poise of a young lady.
“Miss, here are your utensils.” Tang Cheng handed them over with the same refined manner he would use serving Chu Ruoyun.
“Oh, th… thank you…” Tang Wanyue’s cheeks flushed crimson, puzzled as to why Tang Cheng addressed her as Miss. At this moment, she had already forgotten to be afraid of this boy with the zombie-like appearance.
“It might be a little hot, please be careful when you take a bite.”
“Mm, thank you…”
Tang Cheng attended to Tang Wanyue with a practiced air, though this was merely part of the etiquette he had cultivated as a servant of the Chu family.
Tang Wanyue was utterly stunned by his gentlemanly demeanor, and she couldn’t help but wonder if Tang Cheng might have been a chef at some five-star hotel. From his cooking skills to his service manners, everything was wrapped in courteous refinement.
“I’ll eat over there.”
To avoid frightening Tang Wanyue with the zombie-like left side of his face, Tang Cheng took his food to a nearby table and began to eat casually. After being unconscious for so long, his stomach was still a bit hungry.
Tang Wanyue stared blankly at Tang Cheng, understanding that he had moved away out of concern not to scare her, and immediately felt the warmth in his gesture.
“How could he be a bad person? I guess I was overthinking it…”
Feeling reassured, Tang Wanyue picked up her chopsticks and began tasting the stir-fried noodles before her. After just one bite, tears of delight welled up in her eyes.
Though it was only a simple plate of home-style stir-fried noodles, the cooking was perfectly done—neither greasy nor overcooked, the noodles retained just the right elasticity and smoothness, preserving their natural texture. As soon as the noodles touched her lips, the pre-seasoned aromatic oil melted delightfully, accompanied by the subtle, refreshing sweetness of the tomatoes. It was incredibly flavorful.
Any girl would be touched by such a dish—both visually delicate and delicious to the palate. This was the fruit of Tang Cheng’s years of practice; even with the most ordinary ingredients, he could create an extraordinary culinary experience.
“It’s so good! sob sob…” Just eating the noodles, Tang Wanyue forgot the fear and despair that had trapped her moments ago, and tears streamed from her beautiful eyes.
“Is it delicious?” Tang Cheng asked playfully, confident in his cooking.
“Mm, very delicious!”
“Then why didn’t your clothes explode?”
According to certain gourmet anime, if the food is delicious, the girls are supposed to have their clothes burst off!
“Explode? You…” Tang Wanyue seemed to have seen those ‘gourmet spirits’ shows and flushed deeply with embarrassment, glaring at Tang Cheng in indignation.
“Ha ha ha, just kidding, just kidding…” Tang Cheng hurriedly explained.
“Classmate, why is your cooking so good? Could it be that you work at some restaurant?” Tang Wanyue looked curiously at Tang Cheng sitting at the other table.
“Work?” Tang Cheng’s mood turned somewhat complicated as he gazed out at the streets through the glass window. “I guess so. After all, to serve that woman, I basically have to do any kind of job…”
“That woman?” Tang Wanyue grew even more confused.
“Oh, nothing, let’s eat.” Tang Cheng didn’t want to mention it—for one, it would reveal his identity, since Tang Wanyue knew Chu Ruoyun; for another, that capricious young lady was the cold-hearted one who had caused him to become what he was now.
“Oh…” Tang Wanyue sensed the complexity in Tang Cheng’s eyes but didn’t press further. She thought that woman must be Tang Cheng’s girlfriend and shyly asked, “Classmate, since your cooking is so good, you must have a girlfriend, right?”
“Girlfriend? No…” Tang Cheng answered calmly.
“Oh, you don’t!” Tang Wanyue’s eyes lit up with a trace of joy. “But your cooking is so good, surely there are girls who like you!”
“Cooking skills are useless.” Tang Cheng suddenly looked serious as he faced Tang Wanyue and said, “My unscrupulous dad has taught me since I was young that if you want to chase girls, you have to have good driving skills!”