The pasta was cooked just right—not too soft, not too hard, with a springy chewiness. The black pepper beef sauce had soaked into every strand of noodles. With just one bite, the rich aroma of meat burst forth, exploding on the palate.
"Delicious!" XiXi shouted out. The little girl's eating manners weren't as refined as her mom's, and she even had a streak of meat sauce on her forehead from the pasta, completely unaware of it.
Murphy, on the other hand, was very reserved. Despite how tasty it was, she maintained an elegant posture. She just glanced at Yang Yi in surprise, then tucked her hair behind her ear, lowered her head, and savored it slowly.
Yang Yi couldn't help but laugh. He went to get a towel, wiped the little girl's face, and said softly, "Don't rush, no one's competing with you. Look, you've turned into a messy cat!"
"Hurry, hurry!" XiXi couldn't help wiggling her little bottom, eager to keep eating.
Murphy watched the interaction between father and daughter, and the corners of her mouth involuntarily lifted. This warmth felt like a wisp of smoke, lingering in her heart.
After Murphy finished eating slowly, Yang Yi pushed the fruit salad forward and asked with a smile, "So? Not bad, right?"
He was quite confident in his cooking skills.
Murphy shot Yang Yi a sidelong glance. The icy goddess's glare seemed to melt the frost and bloom with vibrant colors, incredibly alluring. But she wasn't about to praise him, lest Yang Yi get a big head!
Still, Murphy couldn't hold back her curiosity and asked, "Where did you learn Western cuisine?"
Yang Yi had known Murphy would bring this up sooner or later, so he had his answer ready. Calmly, he said, "I've traveled all over for years, worked as a security guard and a waiter, right? I picked it up by sneaking lessons from a chef at a hotel."
Murphy lacked life experience and didn't realize how flimsy this excuse was—cooking isn't something you can just learn by sneaking peeks. She naively believed him.
At the same time, Murphy felt a pang of sympathy, inexplicably empathizing with Yang Yi's hardships over the years. She almost teared up, muttering a bit dejectedly, "Then why didn't you come find me..."
"What?" Yang Yi was busy cleaning up XiXi's mess—the little one had flung noodles all over the table.
"Nothing!" Murphy tried to hide her emotions, pretending to be annoyed. "Why haven't you ever made me Western food before?"
Bringing this up, Murphy felt incredibly wronged!
Yang Yi was taken aback. A surge of irritation welled up inside him, an emotion from his predecessor's memories: "You've never spent a full day with me here—no, not even half a day. When would I have had the chance to make you Western food?"
There was one thing Yang Yi ultimately didn't ask: "Weren't you just disgusted by me?"
"I've been so busy..." Murphy pouted, unsure how to respond. She wasn't actually disgusted by Yang Yi, and it wasn't that she had no time to spend with him before. But the old Yang Yi had such a terrible temper!
That clash of worldviews made Murphy feel like she'd suffocate just being around the old Yang Yi for a moment!
Now, for some reason, Yang Yi had changed a lot. Though his temper was still a bit prickly, he was doing things he'd never touched before—like Western food, like coffee. The old Yang Yi had stubbornly considered these foreign imports to be spiritual opium!
The current Yang Yi felt much more comfortable to be around.
"Since you learned to cook, why didn't you open your own restaurant?" Murphy didn't want to dwell on emotional topics, so she changed the subject.
Yang Yi frowned and said, "I don't like being a chef. Cooking is about making my own life more interesting."
He glanced at XiXi and added, "Besides, I only want to cook for myself or for the people I care about."
Well, that chubby kid who shamelessly barged in didn't count—he was just eating XiXi's leftovers.
Hearing Yang Yi's "confession"—that's what it felt like to Murphy—her heart nearly melted. But then, she suddenly remembered something that had been bothering her.
"Oh, really? Then what about cooking for that Xiao Kai's mom?" Murphy couldn't control the bitterness in her heart and blurted it out.
Yang Yi was stunned. He said honestly, "No."
"No what?"
"I never cooked for her." Yang Yi was telling the truth.
"But you brought her into our home! And gave her clothes to wear!" Murphy's grievance erupted. She felt she'd burst if she didn't speak up.
XiXi, who was eating fruit on the side, thought her mom was upset about the clothes. She quickly grabbed Murphy's hand and comforted her, "Mommy, don't be mad. Xiao Kai's mom gave Daddy's clothes back!"
But Murphy wasn't angry about a piece of clothing. She stared stubbornly at Yang Yi, demanding an explanation.
Yang Yi, however, didn't think this needed much explanation. He said flatly, "Her feet got dirty, and the downstairs bathroom didn't have a place to rinse off, so I let her use the upstairs one."
That explanation wasn't enough. Murphy turned her head away, sulking with Yang Yi.
Yang Yi had never dealt with relationship issues like this and didn't know what to do.
Meanwhile, XiXi, climbing on her chair, sticking her bottom out, and leaning over the table to eat fruit, mumbled unintentionally, "But Xiao Kai doesn't like playing with XiXi. He doesn't come anymore."
Murphy perked up her ears. This was new information she hadn't heard before.
Yang Yi nodded and laughed. "Maybe his mom's been busy too, running their flower shop. And Xiao Kai has piano lessons. After they returned the clothes that day, they never came back."
Hearing this, Murphy felt a weight lift off her heart, but she still couldn't help asking, "Never came back?"
"Yeah. I was hoping XiXi could have a good friend, but it's a bit of a shame." Yang Yi shook his head.
Murphy pouted and said, "So you still want to keep in touch with that woman?"
"Not her. I just thought XiXi could have a playmate so she wouldn't be so lonely," Yang Yi said. "But it's fine. There are plenty of teachers' kids at school who play on the lawn in front of the management building. Next time, I can take XiXi in the evening to meet some other kids."
So it was only two meetings...
Murphy's mood brightened instantly. She was so happy she didn't even listen carefully to Yang Yi's words. Her appetite returned, and she started competing with XiXi for the fruit salad.
But there was still one more question!
"And that shirt you gave her to wear?" Murphy asked, pretending to be casual.
Yang Yi was puzzled. "What do you want it for?"
"I want to wear it too! I rushed back today in these clothes, and I'm dying of heat!" Murphy said stubbornly.
"Then I'll get you a new one, or take you shopping for clothes. Are you sure you want to wear men's clothes?" Yang Yi said, exasperated.
"No, I want that one, and only that one!" Murphy pouted.
"But I threw it away..." Yang Yi said honestly.
"Threw it away? Why?" Murphy didn't believe him.
"Because I don't like wearing clothes someone else has worn." Yang Yi said succinctly.
Murphy still wasn't convinced, but Yang Yi was telling the truth! He was such a clean freak—how could he wear someone else's clothes? The day Yan Xiaopei returned the shirt, Yang Yi tossed it straight into the trash...
"I'll take you shopping for clothes..."
"No."
"Then I'll get you a new one?"
"No, no! I'm not hot anymore. These clothes are perfectly comfortable! Hmph!"
"..."