The peephole in the door reflected a bald head with nearly a centimeter of hair already growing back. The haircut itself was not attractive, but its owner had a handsome face, which at the moment was twisted in indecision.
“Boss, I’m really sorry to bother you again. I know you might find it annoying, but I don’t have much choice. It’s already so late that going to the supermarket now would take too long, and at this hour there probably isn’t much…”
“Get to the point.” Chu Yifeng cut off his rambling.
“Could I… borrow some ingredients?” Wang Cheng pressed his palms together with a pleading expression. He had already thought it through. Asking for ingredients had to be easier than asking for ready-made food.
“You haven’t eaten?” Chu Yifeng folded his arms across his chest and leaned half his body against the doorframe, raising an eyebrow at him without saying whether he would lend him anything.
“Yeah. My brother still isn’t back, there’s nothing to eat in his refrigerator, I don’t know where the nearby supermarket is, and I don’t even have the number for food delivery. So I had no choice but to come bother you, Boss. You’re the only person I know here.” Wang Cheng hurriedly smiled ingratiatingly. It was all his brother’s fault for changing plans at the last minute. If he knew his younger brother was coming, he could at least have put something in the refrigerator, even snacks would have been fine.
Chu Yifeng said nothing and turned back into the apartment.
What was that supposed to mean?
Wang Cheng stared at the half-open door. Could he take that as an invitation to come in? Whatever. For the sake of his stomach, he would brave even a dragon’s den or tiger’s lair.
He followed Chu Yifeng into the kitchen, initially expecting it to be just as unused as his brother’s. On closer inspection, however, it did not have that brand-new, never-opened feeling. Someone seemed to cook there occasionally. The appliances looked both new and expensive, and the refrigerator was enormous, finished in a deep blackcurrant purple that was both flashy and elegant.
“Take whatever ingredients you want.” Chu Yifeng leaned against the side.
The refrigerator opened from the middle. The upper section was packed more than halfway full with condiments, fruit, drinks, and other lighter items. Wang Cheng looked around but did not see the vegetables and other fresh ingredients he wanted.
“Below,” Chu Yifeng reminded him.
Wang Cheng opened the upper drawer in the lower section and immediately saw plenty of fresh vegetables, fish, meat, shrimp, and other ingredients, all neatly arranged in containers. The bottom drawer was filled with frozen foods: dumplings, steamed buns, tangyuan, and more. Calling the refrigerator a miniature supermarket would not have been an exaggeration.
“Boss, I didn’t expect your refrigerator to be stocked with this many ingredients. I couldn’t tell you cooked for yourself.” As the owner of a company, Chu Yifeng seemed like the sort who should be waited on hand and foot. Before coming over to borrow ingredients, Wang Cheng had not held much hope. This was an unexpected surprise.
“Not me.”
“What?” The abrupt answer caught Wang Cheng off guard.
“The food in the refrigerator was stocked by Auntie Liu. She’s the housekeeper I hired. Every Monday, she goes to the supermarket and buys groceries.” Chu Yifeng explained with a perfectly calm expression.
Today happened to be Monday, so apparently Wang Cheng was lucky. Still, he immediately withdrew his earlier conclusion. A big boss really was someone who got waited on hand and foot. After hesitating, Wang Cheng decided not to take any of the fresh vegetables or meat. It was already eight-thirty, and he still did not really know how to use his brother’s kitchen. By the time he finished fumbling around, dinner might turn into a midnight snack at eleven or twelve.
“Boss, have you eaten dinner yet?” Holding a bag of frozen dumplings, Wang Cheng hesitated before politely asking.
“No.”
The unexpected answer nearly made Wang Cheng choke on his own saliva. He had already been preparing to leave, but now that he had heard that, he could hardly pretend he had not. Besides, he was borrowing food from the man. A favor had to be repaid sooner or later. “Boss, should I cook some extra and we can eat together?”
“Cook them here.” Chu Yifeng agreed without the slightest understanding of polite refusal, giving the instruction openly and without a trace of awkwardness.
Wang Cheng took another bag of dumplings from the freezer. One was seafood-and-shrimp flavored, the other chive-and-pork. Each bag contained twenty dumplings, which would not even have been enough for him alone. He found a pot, poured in some water, and set it to boil so he could add the dumplings once the water was ready.
If there were dumplings, there had to be dipping sauce.
Wang Cheng searched through the refrigerator. There was soy sauce and sesame oil, along with garlic, chopped scallions, and freshly minced ginger. The ingredients Auntie Liu had prepared were even more complete than he had expected.
Chu Yifeng leaned against the kitchen doorway and watched him work. At first, Wang Cheng fumbled around as though he was not used to modern kitchen appliances, but he quickly got the hang of them. From boiling dumplings to washing ingredients and mixing the dipping sauce, it was obvious that he cooked often. His knife skills were good too, and in only a few strokes he chopped the ingredients for the sauce into fine pieces.
When Chu Yifeng said he had not eaten dinner, he had been telling the truth. After returning home, he had dismissed Auntie Liu and gone straight into the study, where he had worked until now. If Wang Cheng had not rung the doorbell, he would probably still be in there.
The aroma of dumplings drifted out of the kitchen, accompanied faintly by the rich fragrance of the dipping sauce.
“Boss, where are the plates and bowls?” Wang Cheng called from the kitchen. The dumplings were ready to come out of the pot, but he could not find anything to serve them in.
Chu Yifeng had been watching the news in the living room. Hearing him, he walked over. Seeing Wang Cheng completely focused on adjusting the sauce, he had no choice but to fetch the dishes himself. He occasionally cooked frozen food for himself, so he knew where everything was. He took out one large plate and two bowls, then handed the plate to Wang Cheng.
Wang Cheng scooped out the dumplings and piled the plate high. The rim quickly grew hot, so he casually handed it to Chu Yifeng. “Boss, could you take this out for me?”
Chu Yifeng silently accepted it.
Wang Cheng divided the finished dipping sauce between the two bowls, sprinkled chopped scallions over the top, and declared it done. From the cabinet where Chu Yifeng had taken the bowls, he grabbed two pairs of chopsticks and two small plates. When he walked out of the kitchen, Chu Yifeng had already set the dumplings on the dining table.
By then, it was already nine-thirty at night. The two sat on opposite sides of the dining table.
“Boss, try my cooking.” Wang Cheng picked up a dumpling and placed it on Chu Yifeng’s small plate. He had not made the dumplings himself, but boiling them still required skill. If they cooked too long, the wrappers would turn mushy and ruin the texture. The dipping sauce mattered too. If it tasted bad, eating plain dumplings would be dull.
Chu Yifeng stared at the dumpling Wang Cheng had placed on his plate. Ever since meeting this man, quite a few of his first experiences had somehow been given to him.
“Hurry up. They won’t taste as good once they’re cold.” Wang Cheng did not notice the strange look on his boss’s face. He picked up a dumpling, coated it in sauce, and popped the whole thing into his mouth, only to burn his tongue. His free hand immediately began fanning his mouth. By the time he looked up again, Chu Yifeng was already eating.
When neither of them spoke, eating dumplings somehow turned into a competition.
The difference was that Chu Yifeng ate quickly while still looking perfectly normal. Wang Cheng, on the other hand, simply stuffed one dumpling after another into his mouth. Occasionally he used too much force and sent dipping sauce over the rim of his bowl onto the table. Before long, the two of them had finished all forty dumplings. For an ordinary family, that would have been enough for three or four people, yet neither of them seemed full. Wang Cheng himself was only seventy or eighty percent satisfied.
As the guest, Wang Cheng conscientiously gathered the dishes and carried them to the kitchen sink. Just as he was considering washing them while he was there, the doorbell rang. It was like someone flipping a switch. Wang Cheng suddenly remembered the older brother he had completely forgotten about. It was already ten o’clock. Eldest Brother had probably returned long ago, and after discovering Wang Cheng was not in the apartment, he might think he had gone out or disappeared… right?
Wang Cheng walked into the living room and peered toward the front door. Wang Ning’an was standing outside. His brother looked in at the same time and froze for a moment when he saw him.
“Mr. Chu, he’s my younger brother. I’m very sorry for disturbing you. I’ll take him back now.” Wang Cheng heard his brother say this to Chu Yifeng before turning toward him. “Why are you still standing there? Come out.”
Wang Cheng silently walked out. As he passed Chu Yifeng, he murmured, “Boss, see you tomorrow.”
＊
“Chengcheng, why were you at Mr. Chu’s place? I told you to make yourself dinner and you ran over to someone else’s home instead?” Wang Ning’an clearly had not heard what his younger brother had whispered to Chu Yifeng. Once they returned to his apartment, he immediately began questioning him. He might not have spent as much time with this brother as he had with their little sister, but they had hardly grown distant after only a few months apart.
“First question: he’s my boss. When I came to the complex to find you, the security guard stopped me outside, and my boss helped me get in. Second question: there was absolutely nothing in your refrigerator, so I had to ask my boss to lend me some ingredients. He happened not to have eaten either, so I made extra and ate with him.” Wang Cheng scratched his head. Apparently, Eldest Brother genuinely had no idea his refrigerator was empty.
His guess was correct. It was not that Wang Ning’an never stocked the refrigerator. He usually replenished it once a week, but he had gotten busy yesterday and forgotten.
Only then did Wang Ning’an remember that Mama Wang had indeed told him his younger brother was working for a real estate company. He had not expected the resident who had moved in across the hall not long ago to be his brother’s boss. Still… Wang Ning’an looked him up and down, then helplessly raised a hand to his forehead. His clothes were neither torn nor damaged, but the oversized shirt and shapeless wide trousers had obviously been washed countless times, their colors faded almost white. What were Dad and Mom thinking, letting him come to work in the city dressed like this without making him change?
“Next time you go out dressed like that, don’t tell anyone you’re my brother.”