Chapter 24: Yam with Red Dates and Longan Soup
Translated by Kollumceti of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
As Shen Fu had thought, Old man Yang had secretly made up his mind in the last few days and stopped calling Yang JianGuo’s family. In a huge reversal, he took on an uncaring att.i.tude. He enjoyed delicious food and a good night’s sleep daily and stopped sighing. Although he did not know what Old man Yang really thought, it gave him a rather gratifying impression.
Xiao Wan’s Grandma came twice during the period where the neighbors who lived near the XiQin Restaurant visited, and each time she bought a Yam with Red Dates and Longan Soup that she had made. Longan and red dates helped to nourish the qi and blood and strengthened the spleen and stomach. Yam was also good for nourishing the spleen and stomach. It could be seen that Xiao Wan’s Grandma put in great effort to care for Old man Yang.
It happened to be a Sunday when she visited the second time, so Xiao Wan also came along with her grandmother. Xiao Wan was now in high school and her school was also in the city. When she heard that Lin ShuYi had not been to the city, she offered to bring Lin ShuYi to look around. In any case, Lin ShuYi liked to eat snacks and gourmet food and Xiao Wan had tried all the gourmet food in the city.
Originally, Shen Fu was going to stay in the ward to take care of Old man Yang, but when he heard that Lin ShuYi and Xiao Wan were going out to play, he told Shen Fu to go with them. Old man Yang was feeling much better now and did not need someone to keep a watch over him.
Xiao Wan’s Grandma also echoed when she heard this, “It’s all right. You guys can go. Aren’t I still here? You all can feel free to play.”
Only with this did Shen Fu go out with them.
The hospital that Old man Yang was staying in was a famous hospital, so it was not located in an attention-getting area like the city center, but in a relatively quiet and remote place. They needed to take a bus to get to the city center. The journey was not long and cost about a dollar.
Three people walked together side by side. Xiao Wan was the shortest so she was crammed in the middle of Shen Fu and Lin ShuYi. However, it was not known why but she felt somewhat awkward. Finally, she changed positions and walked beside Lin ShuYi, letting Lin ShuYi and Shen Fu stand side by side.
Xiao Wan actually had some special thoughts about Lin ShuYi at first. It was normal for a girl at such an age to feel the stirrings of love emerge. In addition, Lin ShuYi was rather handsome. However, she did not have such thoughts anymore after gradually becoming familiar with him and just treated Lin ShuYi and Shen Fu as her brothers. Both of them took particular care of her. As a seventeen-year-old girl, the fact that she had two brothers whose looks were off the charts of the attractiveness index made her feel so vain that she was itching to flaunt them off.
The three got on the bus together and happened to hit the morning rush hour. There were so many people on the bus that no seats were available. Xiao Wan got on first. After paying for her trip, she headed inside. She was quite short and struggled to reach the strap-hangers, so she stood at where the middle pole was and swayed with the bus and the crowd of pa.s.sengers.
Lin ShuYi was the second to get on and Shen Fu was the last. Once the three got on, they attracted the attention of the crowd. Two handsome boys, and one loli – it was truly a feast for the eyes and the three had a hundred percent head turning rate. Except for Xiao Wan who felt a little uncomfortable, one of the remaining two ignored the gazes with familiarity, while the other was completely indifferent.
The three stood together and Xiao Wan was originally standing in the middle, but as more and more people boarded the bus, Xiao Wan was crammed into a position where she could not stand stably and was pushed by the crowd into the interior of the bus. Though Xiao Wan was discomforted by the congestion, she could not say anything.
A fair hand with protruding knuckles reached out from the side and pulled on Xiao Wan’s wrist. Then Shen Fu’s cheerful voice was heard, “I’m sorry, please excuse me.”
The people around Xiao Wan heard this and looked at Shen Fu. They all blushed and moved to the side. Xiao Wan sighed in relief and walked towards the two. It was only when she walked over did she see that the person who was pulling her was not Shen Fu, but Lin ShuYi.
The two had moved to the side at some point in time. When Xiao Wan came over, Lin ShuYi stuffed her in the middle. Then, Shen Fu and Lin ShuYi each stood at an angle to ensure that she was not affected by any external forces while she was in between them. Xiao Wan had never been treated like this and she was so happy that she squinted her eyes. Having two brothers was really good!
Although both seemed to be protecting her, Xiao Wan saw that Shen Fu’s hand was slightly wrapped around Lin ShuYi’s waist to prevent the people behind him from falling onto Lin ShuYi when the bus braked. This was also when Xiao Wan slowly noticed the intriguing and unfathomable connection between the two.
Shen Fu smiled after pulling Xiao Wan in between them, “Be careful. It’ll be hard to explain ourselves to your Grandma if we lost you in the crowd.”
Lin ShuYi also pursed his lips, “Stand in the middle.”
These two people, one who was smiling and the other who was not, had totally different styles. Yet, they created an unexpected harmony when they stood together. Xiao Wan looked at them and for some strange reason… she blushed. (Once the fujoshi door was opened, it was as deep as the sea. LOL)
The three created a corner that was aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Regardless of whether it was those who had just got on or those who were already on the bus, the first thing they did was to involuntarily look over. The three were subjected to this parade of gazes till they got off.
Xiao Wan took a deep breath once she got off the bus, “So crowded! It’s so annoying at rush hour when it’s so crammed and suffocating.”
Shen Fu also loosened up his hands and feet and put his hands in his pockets, “Let’s go and let Lin ShuYi, this little glutton, see what is called the Gourmet Food Street.”
Xiao Wan was somewhat surprised, “Brother Xiao Fu, you’ve been here before?” She thought she was the only guide amongst the three?
The corner of Shen Fu’s mouth twitched. He looked at Lin ShuYi’s expressionless face and replied, “Eh, I’ve been here twice.”
Xiao Wan wanted to ask why Lin ShuYi had never been here when Shen Fu had visited this place. However, she was interrupted by Lin ShuYi, “Let’s go.”
Xiao Wan immediately forgot what she just wanted to say. Halfway through, Xiao Wan remembered, “Are we going now?” They had just eaten the meal brought by her Grandma at the hospital ward.
Shen Fu also stopped. “That’s right, if we go now…” Lin ShuYi, this person who can’t walk away when he sees delicious food, wouldn’t he eat until his stomach exploded?
“Shall we go for stroll around here first?”
Shen Fu agreed, while Lin ShuYi objected, and Xiao Wan trembled as she raised her hand and walked over to Shen Fu. Lin ShuYi’s objection was overruled and he was forcibly dragged away by Shen Fu.
Although S city was not a first-tier city, its economy was very developed because it was near the coast and was a town in Jiang Nan with charming ancient architecture. There were many places of interest and historic sites. Every year, numerous people came to visit and migrate over here. Although it was not a first-tier city, there was not much difference between S City and a first-tier city. S city was also a very suitable place for people to live. Bridges and streams could be seen everywhere, creating an aesthetic feeling of returning to nature, giving Lin ShuYi a comfortable feeling.
It was just like he was lying on a rattan chair in the Lotus Tower, sitting in the shade of the tree and drinking tea while eating roast chicken roasted by Song Yan. Lin ShuYi unconsciously smacked his lips as he thought of this.
Shen Fu burst into laughter and interrupted Lin’s reverie. Lin ShuYi’s resentfully stared at him, “What are you laughing for?!”
Shen Fu put his hand on Lin ShuYi’s shoulder without caring about his image and smiled as he told Xiao Wan, “This person actually smacked his lips when you were talking about eating.” After that, he looked at Lin ShuYi again with eyes that that clearly showed his mirth, “I say, you’re definitely a very gullible person. Be sure to not be lead off by a roast chicken when the time comes.” Shen Fu’s eyes were particularly bright when speaking of kidnapping. Unfortunately, Lin ShuYi did not see it at all.
This was because he had already been shamed into anger.
“Ridiculous.” With that, he shook off Shen Fu’s hand and walked off.
Shen Fu burst into laughter. Xiao Wan did not get the joke at all and was bewildered as she followed Shen Fu.
The three people walked to the most bustling area in the city center while laughing and talking. In truth, Xiao Wan was the only one talking and Shen Fu was the only one laughing.
Since it was the city center of S City, the streets were bustling with noise and excitement as people came and went even at 10 a.m. There were several streets intertwined in a disorderly manner where one could buy everything. As Shen Fu had been here before, Xiao Wan was full of zest as she introduced the main attractions to Lin ShuYi, “This place sells everything you could want. How about we go shopping first?”
Lin ShuYi originally had no interest in anything other than eating, but Shen Fu agreed with Xiao Wan’s suggestion. Thus, Lin ShuYi’s objection was overruled once again.
Xiao Wan was still a girl in the end and the places she visited were all places that girls liked to see. The things that attracted her were trinkets like a ‘super cute’ key ring, a ‘super cute’ bookmark, a ‘super cute’ phone case…
Lin ShuYi speechlessly looked up at the sky, unable to understand what the purpose of adding a ‘super cute’ before everything was.
Although neither of them had any interest in these, they were still very accommodative to Xiao Wan and followed her on her shopping spree. Sometimes, she would ask for Shen Fu’s opinion when it was difficult for her to make a choice. Lin ShuYi was exempted because no matter what it was There. Was. No. Difference in his eyes.
For example, Xiao Wan would find it difficult to choose between two phone cases of the same design because one had a bow behind, while the other had a sunflower. Lin ShuYi felt that there was totally no difference between the two. The disconcerting thing was that Shen Fu actually gave a serious answer that the bow looked better, because of… therefore…
Lin ShuYi once again speechlessly looked up at the sky.
Shen Fu always stood beside Lin ShuYi. It was only when Xiao Wan asked him for his opinions that he walked a few steps over to Xiao Wan, and then he walked back after he had finished speaking.
That was until Xiao Wan said, “Hey, this phone casing really suits Brother Xiao Yi.” Lin ShuYi remained unmoved. Xiao Wan repeated, “It really suits you.”
Shen Fu grinned and pulled Lin ShuYi forward, “Let’s go and take a look. Don’t waste other people’s good intentions.”
As a result, Shen Fu looked at it and smiled again, “I also think it’s very suitable.”
Xiao Wan was still looking at the ‘super cute’ styles, but the difference was that this phone case was transparent. There was only a picture of a boy on the lower right corner. His side profile was displayed and he was wearing a blue T-shirt with his hands in his pockets. It looked exceptionally cool, but the main point was that it gave off the same unexplainable feeling that Lin ShuYi had.
The image was embossed, and it felt really nice to touch.
Shen Fu stroked the face of the boy on the casing as the corners of his mouth turned up, “This is it. Buy this. You don’t have a phone case anyway.”
This accessory store was small and the boss was a young lady who did not look very old. She glued her eyes onto Shen Fu shen Xiao Wan and the two came in. Lin ShuYi was really handsome, but it was unfortunate that he was a little young. When she saw that they wanted to buy something, she felt that she had finally found a conversational topic. So she walked up and asked, “This handsome brother, do you want to buy a phone case?”
Shen Fu raised the case he was holding, “Do you have this model?”
The young lady nodded hurriedly, “Yes, I do.”
Then she rummaged through her inventory as she said, “That phone case looks really similar to the handsome guy beside you.”
Shen Fu’s eyes crinkled in a smile, “We feel the same too.”
After that, the young lady pulled one out, “Found it.”
The model number was exactly the same as the one Shen Fu was holding. Once she opened it, he was stunned.
The model number was correct, but it was not the same as the one that Shen Fu was holding. The one that the young lady was holding also had an embossed image of a person in the lower right corner. He was wearing a white shirt, with one hand in his pocket and the other covering his mouth, like he was yawning lazily. Based off his bearing, he looked one hundred percent similar to Shen Fu.
Both the young lady and Xiao Wan stared at the phone case with wide eyes. Xiao Wan pointed at it, “Brother Xiao Fu, that one looks like you!”
Shen Fu was stunned too. He looked at the one in his hand then looked at the one in the young lady’s hand. The corners of his mouth slowly lifted, “We’ll buy both of them.”
Finally, the young lady searched for quite a while before she found the two models. Unfortunately, the model numbers just happened to be opposite. The model number for the one that looked like Shen Fu turned out to be for Lin ShuYi, and the one that looked like Lin ShuYi was for Shen Fu.
After paying the bill and putting the two phone cases on, the three then leisurely walked off. The young lady looked at the discarded boxes on the table and murmured to herself after quite a while, “Isn’t this equivalent to buying a couple case? What is this situation?”