After Zhang Wanle left, Yan Shu lingered in Bu Meng’s apartment, saying with a strange tone, “You’re bringing just anyone into your home. Do you have any sense of safety?”

“Wanle Ge and I grew up together. We’re very close, so it’s fine.”

Yan Shu raised an eyebrow. “Childhood sweethearts?”

“You could say that.”

Yan Shu snorted coldly, then angrily stomped back to his apartment.

Childhood sweethearts?

What’s so great about that!

Recently, Yan Shu noticed that Bu Meng had been frequently going home. Previously, she wouldn't even go home once in two months, so why had she suddenly become so diligent?

One time, Yan Shu encountered Bu Meng in the elevator as she was returning home. He glanced at her and asked in an odd tone, "Why do you suddenly like going home so much?"

Bu Meng turned to him, "Didn't you always encourage me to go home? You said I shouldn't be at odds with my family."

Yan Shu's expression remained calm, but inside, he was fuming. He had told her to go home to reconnect with her family, but now that she was going home, who knew which wild man she was reconnecting with?

Yan Shu was very displeased that Bu Meng was going home so often, but he couldn't stop her because he had no reason to. If she wanted to go home, what right did he, an outsider, have to stop her?

That evening, after work, he drove home and saw from afar that the lights in Bu Meng's house were still off.

She hadn't returned yet.

Yan Shu rested one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the car window, tapping the wheel rhythmically. The more rhythmically he tapped, the more unsettled he felt.

He waited for nearly half an hour before he saw Zhang Wanle drive Bu Meng home.

After seeing Bu Meng enter the building, Yan Shu followed her inside.

He trailed behind Bu Meng as she entered the elevator. When she noticed him, she smiled brightly and said, "Yan Shu, why are you home so late?"

Yan Shu snorted coldly, "Later than you."

Bu Meng was puzzled by his tone; she hadn't done anything to upset him recently. She frowned, "You seem to be in a bad mood."

Yan Shu snorted again, "Who says I'm in a bad mood? I'm perfectly fine."

At that moment, the elevator doors opened, and Yan Shu stormed off to his apartment, slamming the door behind him.

Bu Meng was left confused, wondering why he had gotten angry for no apparent reason.

Over the next few days, Bu Meng continued going home every day, and Zhang Wanle kept driving her back at night.

Watching this made Yan Shu miserable, and it even distracted him at work, leading to him accidentally cutting his hand.

One day, on his way home, Yan Shu ran into Bu Meng again. Looking at her, he couldn't help but ask, "How long has it been since you came over for a meal?"

"Huh?" Bu Meng hadn't heard him clearly.

Yan Shu thought for a moment and said, "Come back early tomorrow; I'll make you something delicious."

The next day, Yan Shu only worked half a day before returning home.

He bought fresh fish, cleaned and deboned it, and cut it into evenly sized slices before marinating it with spices.

He made a huge pot of Sichuan boiled fish, preparing two versions: one non-spicy for himself and a spicy one for Bu Meng.

He timed it perfectly, expecting Bu Meng to arrive soon, and waited at the door. But instead of her arrival, he received a call from her.

She said, "Yan Shu, I won't be coming back to the apartment tonight. Wanle's family has some issues, so I'll be staying over at his place."

In an instant, Yan Shu felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over him, leaving him cold and desolate.

He stood at the door for a long time before putting away his phone and heading back inside.

He looked at the steaming boiled fish on the table and suddenly understood the bleakness felt by those wives in TV dramas, waiting for their husbands who never come home.

His heart felt empty, and he could only fill it with food.

He sat at the long table and silently ate both portions of the boiled fish by himself.

The spice hurt his stomach, but all he could think about was how he had really been abandoned by that little girl who used to come over for meals.

The result of overeating and over-spicing was that his stomach hurt so much he couldn't sleep the entire night.

The next day, when Bu Meng returned, she found Yan Shu looking pale as he was about to leave for the hospital. She was startled and quickly ran over to support him.

"How did you end up like this after just one day?"

Yan Shu had wanted to push her away in his anger, but he was too weak from the pain and ended up leaning heavily on her.

Yan Shu, who was over 180 cm tall, was much too large for the petite Bu Meng, making it difficult for her to help him inch by inch towards the elevator.

It took all of Bu Meng's effort to get Yan Shu into the car and drive him to the hospital, where they found out he had acute gastroenteritis.

After getting an IV and some medication, it was already noon by the time they were done.

Though the treatment had helped a bit, Yan Shu still looked pale, lying weakly on the bed with no energy at all.

Where was the cheerful chef who used to cook delicious meals for her?

Bu Meng went out to buy him a bowl of porridge and brought it to his bedside, but Yan Shu was ungrateful.

"I don't want it," he said grumpily, turning over and pulling the blanket over his head.

Bu Meng tried to coax him, "Even if it doesn't taste as good as your cooking, you still need to eat something, or your stomach will hurt again. You'll only make yourself suffer."

Yan Shu ignored her.

He was angry!

And the culprit who made him angry and caused his stomach pain was completely oblivious to it.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

Yan Shu continued to ignore Bu Meng, leaving her puzzled, but she couldn't be bothered to argue with a patient.

Since Yan Shu had to stay in the hospital, Bu Meng returned to her apartment that night. The next morning, she woke up early to buy ingredients and made chicken soup for him.

Yan Shu felt stifled in the hospital, lying in bed with a defeated look, as if he'd given up on everything.

As he was lying there, he noticed a young girl, who looked like a middle schooler, peeking into the room with a mixed-race boy by her side.

Yan Shu asked, "Who are you looking for?"

The girl, a bit shy, held the boy's hand as they entered the room. "My name is Bu Tian, I'm Bu Meng's sister. My sister said she'll be here soon and told me to wait here for her."

Yan Shu let out an "Oh" and said, "Come on in then, it's not good to stand outside. Your sister will be here soon."

Bu Tian walked in and said to the boy, "Did you hear that? Sister Bu Meng will be here soon, so stop fussing."

Yan Shu glanced at the boy and couldn't help but ask, "Whose child is this?"

"He's the son of our neighbor's brother. His parents have been busy lately, so my sister's been looking after him. Today, my sister didn't go, so he insisted on coming to find her."

A ray of sunlight seemed to pierce through Yan Shu's previously cloudy mood. He quickly asked, "So, your sister's been going home these past few days to take care of him?"

Bu Tian nodded.

In that moment, Yan Shu felt as if a thousand small fireworks were going off in his heart—so all this time, he'd been getting jealous over this little kid!

When Bu Meng arrived at the hospital with the soup, she pushed open the door and saw Yan Shu playing a mobile game with Zhang Wanle's mixed-race son in his arms.

Yan Shu looked up and, seeing her, smiled brightly. "You're here?"

Bu Meng was startled. How could the gloomy person from yesterday suddenly be in such a good mood today?

"Your sister went home," Yan Shu said.

"I know." Bu Meng set down the thermos, opened it, and poured out a bowl of chicken soup. "I made some chicken soup for you. Would you like to have a bowl?"

"Yes," Yan Shu replied, his tone now sweet and compliant, completely different from the previous day.

Bu Meng's immediate thought was: *Yan the Chef, have you been possessed?*

After finishing the chicken soup, Yan Shu started chatting with Bu Meng about random things.

"So, how long has Zhang Wanle been married?"

"Almost five years now. Their son is over three years old."

"Is his wife a foreigner?"

"Yes, a blonde beauty with blue eyes. The couple is planning to move back to their home country, so they've been busy lately and asked me to help take care of the child."

All the gloom that had been hanging over Yan Shu for the past few days suddenly vanished.

That evening, when Zhang Wanle and his wife came to pick up their son, Yan Shu greeted them with a big smile and even complimented him, "Your son is really handsome, takes after you."

Zhang Wanle, an old hand at these things, had noticed Yan Shu's feelings from the first time they met. He patted Yan Shu on the shoulder and said meaningfully, "I told you before, drinking too much old vinegar isn't good for your health."

Bu Meng, not understanding what they were talking about, leaned in to ask.

Zhang Wanle just smiled without saying anything, while Yan Shu patted Bu Meng's head and said, "This is something you don't need to know—it's a little secret between us men about you."

A few days later, Yan Shu was discharged from the hospital. As they reached the hospital entrance, Yan Shu looked back reluctantly.

Bu Meng asked him what was wrong, and he said, "I've gotten used to being waited on hand and foot these past few days in the hospital. Now that I'm out, I'll have to cook for myself again."

Bu Meng laughed. "If you don't mind my cooking skills, I could cook for you every day!"

Yan Shu raised an eyebrow. "The only people who can cook for me every day are my mom and my wife."

Bu Meng shrugged. "Then never mind."

But Yan Shu grabbed her hand. "I've got a mom, but I'm still missing a wife."

Bu Meng's stepmother called to tell her she had arranged another blind date. Bu Meng didn't want to go, but her stepmother insisted, "This will be the last one. If it doesn't work out, I won't push you anymore."

With no other choice, Bu Meng put on makeup and went to the date.

As she stepped out the door, she bumped into Yan Shu. He looked her over and asked, "Another blind date?"

"Yeah."

"Well, go ahead. It's about time you got married."

Bu Meng was speechless.

When she arrived at the restaurant, the man hadn't shown up yet. Bu Meng rested her chin on her hand, gazing out the window. Not long after, Yan Shu appeared in her line of sight.

Wearing a white shirt and bathed in bright sunlight, he looked even more handsome, his features as refined as jade.

He smiled at her and then walked into the restaurant.

Bu Meng's eyes followed him, watching as he stepped through the sunlight streaming in from the windows, passing one table after another, and walked toward her.

"Yan... Yan Shu?" Bu Meng asked in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

Yan Shu pulled out a chair and sat down across from her, casually saying, "Whatever you're here for, I'm here for that too."

Bu Meng was completely baffled.

Seeing the confusion on her face, Yan Shu couldn't help but smile. "You're here for a blind date, so I'm here to date you. How about it? Want to start a relationship based on eating meals together?"

And just like that, Bu Meng somehow ended up as Yan Shu's girlfriend. But for her, it seemed that only the title had changed.

They were still neighbors. He went to the restaurant during the day while she stayed home working on her drawings. When mealtime came, she would naturally head over to his place to eat.

Yan Shu was the owner of the restaurant and didn't usually work much. After getting together with Bu Meng, he went to the restaurant even less.

Bu Meng once asked him, "Why did you suddenly decide we should date?"

Yan Shu thought about it seriously and said, "Well, you keep coming over to my place to eat, so I feel a bit short-changed. I figured I should compensate by claiming your heart."

Bu Meng was clearly unsatisfied with that answer.

"People always say you should find someone who complements you. I can cook, and you can eat. We were meant for each other."

"But there are so many food lovers in the world..."

"But I only met you." Yan Shu pulled her into his arms. "After meeting you, I happened to fall for you too, and now there's no room for anyone else."

During the Lunar New Year, Yan Shu took Bu Meng home to meet his parents. Yan's father was very enthusiastic, asking if Bu Meng liked stone pot fish.

Before Bu Meng could respond, Yan Shu answered, "Your daughter-in-law isn't picky. She'd even eat the stone pot itself, let alone the fish."

Bu Meng: "..."

To be honest, having a food-loving girlfriend like Bu Meng saved Yan Shu a lot of trouble. Other girls might want lipstick, lip gloss, blush, eye cream, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, serum, sunscreen, primer, BB cream, CC cream...

But Bu Meng's daily routine was: sitting and eating, lying down and eating, eating at home, eating out, eating boiled, grilled, braised, or steamed... Basically, everything could be solved with food.

One time, while they were having hotpot at home, they got into an argument. Bu Meng threw down her chopsticks and stormed back to her own place.

Yan Shu wasn't worried. After dipping the beef in the broth for a few minutes, he went out to the balcony and shouted, "If you don't come back soon, the beef will be all gone!"

Bu Meng couldn't stand it anymore and ran back. "Damn it, leave some for me! If you finish it all, we're breaking up!"

...

After all, they were both adults who knew better than to let an argument get in the way of something as important as eating.