茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

Actually, even before noticing Xia Libing, Xiang Kun had already noticed several people he knew in the supermarket, some of whom were friends of friends he had met a few times before, some were neighbors with whom he would nod when meeting in the same neighborhood, and there were also two old middle school classmates.

But Xiang Kun didn’t intend to greet them. Firstly, they didn’t make eye contact, so there was no need to deliberately go over to them to show his presence. Secondly, he has changed so much that even if they were to see him, they might not recognize him, and he would have to explain at length, and there would be lengthy pleasantries, wasting both parties’ time. Lastly, unless necessary, he didn’t want to engage in too much social activity on this homecoming trip. During his time at home, he wanted to spend more time with his parents. In his spare time, he could explore the “super sensory state”, theorize about various connected object-derived abilities, and… cook five meals for Old Xia.

Normally Xiang Kun and Xia Libing would have finished shopping by the time those two classmates had checked out and left the supermarket.

While Xiang Kun didn’t plan on greeting the people he knew, as his various senses “subconsciously” collected all sorts of information, he still paid special attention to their locations and their situations.

Those two middle school classmates, now husband and wife, happened to start arguing after checking out and leaving the supermarket. Unaware that their son, who was supposed to be holding their hand, had wandered off with a ball towards the roadside and was unknowingly headed towards the center of the road.

Xiang Kun didn’t see this firsthand. When the kid was heading for the road, he and Old Xia were queuing up at the checkout with their carts. From their location, they couldn’t see outside through the supermarket’s main entrance.

But through various nearby sensory data, especially sounds, he was still able to make a basic judgment of the situation.

Xiang Kun hesitated for a moment. As he lacked direct visual information of the outside and what was happening on the road, he couldn’t accurately infer the traffic flow, thereby judging the level of risk the child was at, or whether his parents, or someone nearby would notice him in time, and pull him back to safety.

Xiang Kun didn’t consider himself a superhero nor did he consider helping others as his responsibility or duty. But like when he saw the knife-wielding assailant downstairs of his rented apartment, or the wanted murderer and robber on the road, or finding traffickers in the car that rear-ended him, when he could afford it, and when there was no harm to himself, he would take action.

Otherwise, if something were to happen to that child, although others, or even he himself, might not blame themselves, there would occasionally be thoughts of “what if” popping up in the future.

After weighing the situation, Xiang Kun felt that the only possible impact of making a move now would be alerting Old Xia, who was with him, that something was off.

This impact was something he could accept—Old Xia had noticed plenty of abnormalities already, one more wouldn’t hurt.

So Xiang Kun quickly handed the cart to Old Xia and walked straight out of the supermarket. It seemed like he took into account many factors, but he didn’t actually spend more than half a second doing so. After he walked out of the supermarket, he saw his old classmates arguing. The spot where they stood was blocked by a car parked on the side of the road. They didn’t notice that their son was standing in the middle of the road holding a ball. Opposite the road was an open lawn and further away a small park where many children were playing ball with their parents.

Xiang Kun quickly rushed over, picked up the child and carried him back.

Before he rushed onto the road, a minivan was already stopped in the child’s path just a few meters ahead, and the driver was also about to step out of the vehicle.

Further away, a father, holding a child, saw the scene and was raising his hand to signal the cars behind him to stop while moving toward where the child was.

According to Xiang Kun’s estimation, even if he hadn’t stepped out, the child would have also returned safely with the help of others.

Xiang Kun nodded in thanks to the minivan driver and the father holding the child, then carried the child back to the roadside and handed him over to his parents, who had just finished arguing, and noticed that their child was not by their side.

“You should have taken care of your child before you started arguing—your child was about to run into the middle of the road and you were still busy arguing,” Xiang Kun muttered as he passed the child to his mother.

The child’s father was very scared and kept blaming himself, “Yes, yes, it’s my fault, it’s all on me. I shouldn’t have lost my temper.”

The mother, holding the child tightly, also said softly, “I should were the one holding our son… this is my fault…” and then thanked Xiang Kun, “Thank you so much.”

Xiang Kun smiled and said, “Xiao Jie, Wei Zhuo, you don’t recognize me, do you? I’m Xiang Kun.”

It’s not strange that they don’t recognize Xiang Kun now, since he has changed so much that even his mother didn’t recognize him at first, but it would be impossible for Xiang Kun not to recognize them. After all, he saw them last Spring Festival, and they have hardly changed at all.

What’s more, they would undoubtedly meet again in a few days.

More than half a month ago, Xiang Kun had received a call from a close middle school friend inviting him to a wedding during the Spring Festival.

This classmate used to share a desk with him for two semesters. They had a good relationship, and they would meet up every year during vacation. Even if he didn’t want to socialize at this reunion, there was no way he could miss the wedding.

At the time, Wei Zhuo and Xiao Jie would be there too, and would naturally see him.

“Which Xiang Kun…” Wei Zhuo started, then looked closer at Xiang Kun’s features. To his surprise, Wei Zhuo exclaimed, “Damn, Xiang Kun!”

They didn’t talk much outside the supermarket. As they were parting ways, Wei Zhuo and his wife suddenly noticed a tall and pretty girl pushing a shopping cart, looking at them from far away, which made them feel curious.

Xiang Kun noticed that his two classmates had noticed Old Xia, so he signaled her over and introduced her, “This is my friend, we were shopping together in the supermarket just now.”

After a brief moment of pleasantries, they said goodbye and went their separate ways.

Weizhuo and his wife drove their child to the parking lot, while Xiang Kun and Xia Libing returned the shopping cart, each carrying a few bags, and went to the side of the road to hail a taxi.

“I’m sorry I left you to check out by yourself. How much was it? I’ll transfer the money to you,” Xiang Kun said to Old Xia, who was standing side by side with him on the side of the road.

“No need, consider it a payment for two meals,” Xia Libing said shortly.

“Alright… then, as there are many ingredients, let’s consider it as three meals.”

“Just two,” Xia Libing insisted.

“Okay, two it is, two out of five,” Xiang Kun immediately realized that even though Old Xia technically owed him five meals and should “treat” him to five meals, according to the deal he made with Old Xia, he was actually going to “make” five meals for her.

This was indeed… you’re treating, I’m cooking.

As it was New Year’s Eve, there were plenty of people shopping like Xiang Kun and Xia Libing, making it hard to hail a taxi. The same was true for ride-share apps. But the buses didn’t look very crowded, so Xiang Kun and Xia Libing moved a few steps and hopped on a bus.

When they got on the bus, there was an empty seat. Xiang Kun let Old Xia take it and then placed the plastic bags at her feet, standing by the railings beside the bags.

Xia Libing also helped using her feet to secure the plastic bags that contained ingredients for lunch, dinner, and possibly a future meal…

Once the bus started moving, Xiang Kun felt somewhat dazed. This scene felt incredibly familiar.

He immediately realized that last time when they went to Citong, he and Old Xia went grocery shopping and rode the bus together.

The cell phone in Old Xia’s pocket vibrated. Xiang Kun instinctively looked over and saw the face of Yang Zhen’er on the screen of Old Xia’s phone.

At this time of day, Yang Zhen’er usually sends a video request. Xia Libing had a hunch about her cousin’s intentions – she was probably eating something delicious, teasing her on purpose.

Most of the time, Xia Libing would reject her cousin’s bragging and not answer her video call.

But this time, Xia Libing accepted.

Sure enough, immediately after Yang Zhen’er’s face appeared on the screen, a tableful of hot dishes followed, and Yang Zhen’er’s clear voice rang out from off-screen,

“My dear little sister! Look at these delicious dishes, they are so tasty, so appetizing! Look at this red-braised pork trotter, rich in collagen, ummm~~so fragrant! Merely looking at it makes my mouth water! This is personally prepared by Nana’s mother, with thirty years of cooking experience, probably just as good as what chef Xiang cooks, particularly crispy pork trotters! My dear sister, since you didn’t want to come back for the Spring Festival, do you regret it now?”

From the screen, we could see that besides Yang Zhen’er, there were Tang Baona, Baona’s sister Baoting, prospective brother-in-law Gao Yao, and Tang Baona’s dad. It is clear that Yang Zhen’er isc eating lunch at Tang’s house for the New Year’s Eve.

Xia Libing did not answer, she just flipped her phone letting the camera face those plastic bags at her feet. She pointed to those plastic bags, introducing, “Pork trotters, pork ribs, pig ears, mantis shrimps, chicken legs, beef…”

After “taking roll call” for the ingredients, Xia Libing moved the camera up to Xiang Kun who was standing there, she said: “Chef.”

Xiang Kun agreed and revealed a bright smile, waving hello.

At that time, in the Tang’s dining room, Yang Zhen’er who’d just finished her video call with Xia Libing, looked at her phone and at Tang Baona beside her, and smiled bitterly, “I thought I’m the only one who’d cheekily eat at someone else’s house on New Year’s Eve, but turns out Old Xia also went to chef Xiang’s house for meal? Sigh? The chicken soup in my bowl suddenly seems less savory…”

Just as Mrs. Tang was carrying a pot out of the kitchen, she wondered, “Zhen’er, does the chicken soup taste bad? Is it because I didn’t put enough salt and it’s too plain? Ah, our Baona’s taste is too light, I’m used to it…”

Yang Zhen’er quickly waved her hands: “No no! Auntie, your chicken soup tastes amazing! I meant… the scent of Nana’s perfume is too strong, but not as strong as the smell of your chicken soup!”

“Blah… cough cough!” Gao Yao, who was drinking soup, choked when he heard this and the soup came out of his nose.

Baoting, sitting next to him, helplessly passed a napkin to him.

Mr. Tang was smiling at his daughter who was bickering with Yang Zhen’er, and then asked, “I heard from Baoting before that you guys have a friend who is a great cook. Is it Xiang, the chef Zhen’er just mentioned?”

“Yes, it is chef Xiang, he is indeed a great cook…” As she was speaking, Yang Zhen’er turned to Mrs. Tang and laughed, “Of course, auntie is slightly better! Auntie’s chicken soup is just too delicious!”

Mrs. Tang shook her head with laughter, “I’m just making homemade meals, I can’t compete with a professional chef.”

Tang Baona joked: “Zhen’er, you’re truly a sycophant!”

Gao Yao, who just wiped his nose with a napkin, also agreed, “Xiang Kun’s cooking is really delicious, especially when it comes to rabbit meat. His handling of ingredients, controlling the heat, and seasoning are all unparalleled. They wouldn’t be worse than those high-end restaurants’ chefs’ dishes.”

Both Mr. and Mrs. Tang knew their prospective son-in-law was a “straightforward person”. His serious praise of Xiang’s cooking means that Xiang’s cooking must be incredibly delicious.

Mr. Tang smiled with his eyes squinted: “Now I am really curious, I hope to have a chance to taste chef Xiang’s cooking!”

Tang Baona laughed: “Sure, after the Spring Festival, when Xiang Kun returns, I will invite him to our home and cook a few dishes. Oh right, dad, do you remember the Canary Wooden Carving I sent to grandpa? The one you said was interesting? The artist who made it was Xiang Kun.”

Mrs. Tang exclaimed with surprise, “I thought chef Xiang was a restaurant owner. Who would have thought he’s actually an artist?”

Yang Zhen’er chuckled, “Uncle and auntie, why don’t you guess what chef Xiang’s main profession is? Each wrong guess means one glass of wine. After all, it’s fruit wine with low alcohol content, hehe.”

Citong City.

When Xiang Kun returned with Old Xia, as expected, his parents couldn’t hide their surprised look.

And judging from Old Xia’s appearance, they easily guessed it’s the “friend’s sister” mentioned by their daughter-in-law last night and discussed at breakfast.

“Mom, this is the sister of my friend. Dr. Xia that I mentioned to you,” Xiang Kun introduced to his mother.

“Welcome, welcome, Dr. Xia, please come in, no need to take off your shoes…oh my, I didn’t mop the floor. Old Xiang! Quick, come out, we have a visitor!” Mrs. Xiang, having her eyes glued to Xia Libing, couldn’t help but smile.

“Hello, auntie and uncle. I’m sorry to intrude. You can call Xia or Bing, either is fine.” After changing into slippers, Xia Libing greeted Mr. and Mrs. Xiang.

At this point, Xiang Kun found it peculiar. At this moment, Old Xia looked different than usual. Normally slightly curled lips were curved upwards a little more, eyes were filled with a greater sense of humor, the pitch of her words went slightly higher, exhibiting a greater sense of warmth and…obedience?

Xiang Kun could tell from her behavior that she was unnatural and inexperienced, the current state of her was much less relaxed than her usual demeanor.

“Dad, Mom, I bumped into Dr. Xia at the supermarket and invited her to have lunch at our home. I’m going to cook now, you guys chat with her okay?” As Xiang Kun spoke, he took the bags of ingredients to the kitchen. He put most of them in the fridge and started prepping the remaining ingredients for lunch.