Yang Yi decided to pursue Mo Fei, and this wasn't just empty talk! Usually not exactly cold, but as passive as a wooden block, he rarely took the initiative. Yet now that he was determined to do something, his creativity seemed endless!
Mo Fei still got up as usual in the morning to practice vocals with Yang Yi, but after washing up and wanting to pour herself a glass of water, she suddenly noticed on the living room coffee table, next to her cup, two beautiful flowers!
If they were real flowers, Mo Fei wouldn't have been that surprised, but these weren't real! She looked closely and realized they were carved from fresh carrots—buds shyly waiting to bloom, not fully open, yet exquisitely detailed and stunningly beautiful!
Of course, after the surprise and a hint of being touched, Mo Fei couldn't help but laugh.
This guy, even carving flowers had an obsessive streak—one wasn't enough, it had to be two symmetrical ones, and the two flowers were carved identically!
Surprises kept popping up. At lunch, Yang Yi's heart-shaped fried eggs were just a small affair. When he brought out a plate with only two symmetrically placed chicken wings and some lettuce for garnish, Mo Fei was genuinely amazed.
Yang Yi's cooking skills were beyond doubt. The chicken wings were crispy on the outside and tender inside, drizzled with a thick tomato sauce that gleamed like amber, making them look incredibly appetizing.
"This dish is called 'Flying Side by Side'!" Yang Yi explained seriously. "The 'Yi' is from Yang Yi, and the 'Fei' is from Mo Fei. The wings are marinated with honey and other seasonings to ensure sweetness seeps into the bone, then fried until cooked, and finally topped with tangy tomato sauce—sweet and sour, symbolizing the beautiful taste of love!"
He was really confessing his feelings to Mo Fei right in front of Xixi! Of course, Xixi didn't understand the beginning or the end; she only heard that the chicken wings were sweet and sour, and her mouth started watering instantly.
Mo Fei, on the other hand, caught both the beginning and the end. She was initially touched and sweet inside, but when she heard Yang Yi explain that "Flying Side by Side" meant "Yi from Yang Yi, Fei from Mo Fei," she couldn't help covering her mouth and laughing.
She had planned to keep a cool distance from Yang Yi these days, but being with him, she couldn't stop laughing for some reason. Her usual aloofness had vanished.
This guy, when he wasn't being a wooden block, he was just too mushy!
"I want to eat chicken wings!" Xixi stared eagerly at her favorite dish, barely waiting for her dad to finish his introduction before impatiently shouting.
Just thinking about the sweet and sour taste, Xixi didn't care about love or anything! What went into her mouth and stomach was the real love!
But there were only two chicken wings—how to divide them?
Since it was called "Flying Side by Side," shouldn't Yang Yi and Mo Fei each have one?
But no help for it, with Xixi as a big bright light, romance had to take a hit.
Yang Yi didn't mind. He gave one wing to his daughter. This wing wasn't just the middle part but included the tip and the drumette. The little one got her wish and happily grabbed it to gnaw on.
As for the remaining wing, Yang Yi naturally gave it to Mo Fei. He didn't care if he ate any himself; the message had been delivered to her.
"You're so silly!" Mo Fei said to Yang Yi, half-annoyed. "Why didn't you make an extra wing? You knew there were three people at home!"
"Three wouldn't make sense," Yang Yi explained.
"Then couldn't you have set one aside on a plate and brought it out later when eating?" Mo Fei was truly exasperated with this obsessive-compulsive case.
"Three isn't enough—Xixi can eat two!" Xixi chimed in from the side, her face smeared with red tomato sauce, probably from the wing tip. She paused her eating, cheeks puffed, to join the conversation.
Yang Yi just grinned sheepishly, not arguing.
Mo Fei didn't rush to eat like Xixi. She hesitated for a moment, then broke the wing apart, placing the drumette into Yang Yi's bowl. Her cheeks flushed slightly, but she pretended not to care, saying, "You worked hard, so I'll share some with you. Hmph!"
...
In the afternoon, Mo Fei felt like playing the piano, so the family went down to the coffee shop. Yang Yi wiped down the counter, cleaned all the utensils, and prepared milk for Xixi and coffee for Mo Fei.
Mo Fei played a song, and at Xixi's urging, she held the little girl in her arms to teach her piano.
Of course, Xixi's tiny arms and hands couldn't really play the piano; she was still stuck between one-finger and two-finger techniques—the latter meaning she also used her left index finger.
So Mo Fei played the tune slowly, occasionally letting Xixi press a couple of notes, more like playing with a child, but hoping to spark her interest in piano through the fun.
Yang Yi usually drank black coffee, no sugar or milk, but that didn't mean he couldn't make other types. Today, seeing the milk he'd prepared for Xixi, he had a sudden inspiration to show Mo Fei a cappuccino.
The process was a bit tedious, as he had to prepare milk foam using chilled fresh milk, which involved frothing and heating steps!
Luckily, Mo Fei and Xixi were having fun. Though the little girl only followed her mom's instructions to press a couple of keys, she felt the beautiful melody was partly her doing.
Xixi giggled nonstop, her laughter like a silver bell, adding a chord to the music.
Once the milk foam and milk were ready, Yang Yi started to create latte art. It had been a long time, and he worried he might be rusty, but his control over his body seemed improved in this life, making up for the lack of practice.
He tilted the coffee cup at thirty degrees, then gently tilted the frothing pitcher, raising and lowering it...
The process required precise control over the pouring point and the pitcher's tilt and swirl, or the pattern would deform.
Gradually, the cup filled up, and Yang Yi began to finish the design, lifting the pitcher to let the milk foam flow thinner, slowly pulling toward the front.
By the time he finished, the cup was perfectly full without spilling—flawless!
The process looked calm and steady, but when he set the cup down, Yang Yi let out a long breath. It had taken a lot of mental effort, as he hadn't made a cappuccino in years.
Mo Fei's coffee and Xixi's milk were brought over on a tray by Yang Yi, who carried it like an experienced waiter, holding it steady with one hand without spilling a drop.
Next to the piano was a small table. Yang Yi set the tray down, first handing the milk to Xixi.
Xixi, being a child, had already had enough of the piano and couldn't sit still.
"Let me see what Mommy's drinking!" The little girl held her bottle, sipping as she curiously leaned in to look.
At that, Xixi exclaimed in delight, "Wow, so pretty!"
Her shout made Mo Fei, who was still finishing the tail end of her piece, curious. What kind of coffee could be so beautiful that her daughter called it pretty?