Chapter 18 — Eat It Long Enough and You Get Used to It

He stir-fried the vegetables in the stock until fragrant, added the seasonings, then poured in water, and in no time the broth was ready. Wei Zhao, for his part, had not been idle either: he boiled a pot of clean water, dropped in the noodles, and once they had come up to a rolling boil, fished them out and divided them between two bowls. Then he ladled the broth over them, and two steaming bowls of plain yangchun noodles were ready.

Strictly speaking, Wei Zhao's yangchun noodles had not been made by the proper steps, yet they had a flavor all their own. The old man at home loved nothing better than the noodles Wei Zhao cooked.

There were still some noodles left in the pot. Wei Zhao reckoned one bowl was enough for Shen Yushu, and the remainder would do him nicely for a second helping.

"Are they ready yet?" Shen Yushu, breathing in the waves of fragrance, swallowed her saliva again and again. At last she could bear it no longer; she slipped on her little slippers and came flip-flopping into the kitchen, calling out to Wei Zhao.

"Ready — I was just about to call you in to eat," Wei Zhao said, untying his apron and hanging it to one side.

"Hey, you used Yaoyao's apron! Whatever you do, don't let her find out!" Shen Yushu glanced at the apron on the wall, then said, "Since you've gone and cooked for me, I won't tell her."

"Hm?" Wei Zhao was somewhat puzzled. Since when had Shen Yushu grown so kind-hearted? But on second thought, he realized her heart was in fact thoroughly bad — one only had to recall how gleefully she had gloated yesterday when Gu Mengyao drank from his water. She probably meant no good this time either. Still, what she thought was no concern of Wei Zhao's; so long as Gu Mengyao did not seize the chance to make trouble for him, he would be content to keep his head down and play the companion tutor.

As for Wei Zhao sitting across from her while she ate, Shen Yushu furrowed her brows. A grown man sitting opposite her while she ate made her feel rather uncomfortable.

But then she thought: these fragrant noodles were all Wei Zhao's doing, and it would hardly be fair to drive him off now. So she put up with it — better to fill her belly first and worry about the rest later.

Shen Yushu had never eaten noodles this good. Ordinarily, in the mornings, she would make do with instant noodles or a glass of milk before heading off to school; this was the first time she had eaten hand-pulled noodles made entirely from scratch.

Still, afraid of making Wei Zhao proud, she kept her admiration to herself and said not a word of it aloud. Head down, she demolished the noodles in the bowl before her and paid the man across the table no mind at all.

Shen Yushu's silence suited Wei Zhao fine — what he had dreaded was the girl finding some new fault to pick with him. He wolfed down the noodles in his own bowl like a whirlwind sweeping away clouds, then carried the bowl off to serve himself a second helping. But when he reached the pot, he thought of Shen Yushu again and asked, "Want any more?"

"No," Shen Yushu said, shaking her head. "Go and pour me a glass of water."

"Isn't there a drink right behind you?" Wei Zhao pointed at the cooler cabinet behind her, then helped himself to another bowl of noodles.

"Juice first thing in the morning is bad for you — plain water is what's good for your health... Why must you be so full of pointless questions? Are you going or not?" Shen Yushu glared at him and spoke with impatience.

"All right, all right..." Wei Zhao set the bowl of noodles he had just filled down on the table, then turned and went out to the living room to pour Shen Yushu her water. What choice did he have? The girl had him over a barrel.

"Where's your cup?" Halfway there, Wei Zhao remembered he had never seen Shen Yushu's cup — what was he supposed to pour the water into?

"Oh, it's in the cupboard under the water dispenser. The pink one is mine," Shen Yushu said.

Wei Zhao nodded and headed for the water dispenser.

"Ahh — I'm so sleepy. Wretched alarm clock." Yawning, Gu Mengyao came groggily down the stairs. She had not slept soundly all night: the first half of it she had done nothing but brood over the loss of her first kiss, and she had sobbed out her troubles to Shen Yushu for half the night. At last, too tired to keep her eyes open, she had drifted off into a muddled sleep — and now that she was awake, yesterday's business did not seem quite so heartbreaking anymore.

Only, Gu Mengyao felt as though she had scarcely slept at all before the alarm clock shook her awake. She had not wanted to get up, but remembering that there was school today, she had no choice but to drag herself out of bed.

Finding Shen Yushu absent from her side, Gu Mengyao was rather puzzled. She had been talking to her all this while, and Shen Yushu had seemed to stay up late too, hadn't she? So how had she gotten up so early?

Downstairs, a delicious smell of cooking suddenly reached her. Gu Mengyao had hardly eaten anything the night before, and what she had eaten she had thrown up again, so her stomach was now utterly empty. At the smell, her mouth watered at once: "Xiaoshu, what good thing are you sneaking a bite of? It smells so good — and you didn't even call me!"

Gu Mengyao trotted into the dining room and found Shen Yushu busy demolishing a bowl of noodles, while across from her sat another bowl, full and steaming hot. Her heart leaped with delight: "Ha, I knew you wouldn't forget me, Xiaoshu! You fixed a portion for me too — thanks a lot!"

Shen Yushu was in the middle of drinking the noodle broth — she had discovered that the broth was full of flavor too and could not bear to leave a drop — and just as she was drinking, she heard Gu Mengyao's words. She was about to open her mouth when she saw that Gu Mengyao had already picked up her chopsticks and begun to eat: "Er..."

Shen Yushu let out a sigh, seeming about to speak but holding back. She thought to herself: Well, don't blame me now — who told you to be so quick with your chopsticks? I hadn't even opened my mouth before you were digging in!

"So fragrant, so delicious!" Gu Mengyao was truly starving. After one mouthful of the tasty plain noodles, she couldn't put her chopsticks down, and she praised them as she ate: "Xiao Shu, where did you buy this?"

"It wasn't me who bought it. It was Brother Arrow who made it." Shen Yushu shrugged, casting a pitying look at Gu Mengyao. She really didn't have the heart to strike again at Gu Mengyao's fragile soul.

"Ah!" Gu Mengyao was startled. "He made it? Then I won't eat anything he made..." As she spoke, she put down her chopsticks.

Shen Yushu thought to herself: You've already eaten some, so what's the point of saying that now? But at least you did have a taste of Wei Zhao's saliva yesterday, so today it doesn't matter. Anyway, you'll get used to it with every bite... Heh heh, Shen Yushu thought with malicious glee.

"Humph, who would go against food? I'll eat it anyway!" After putting down her chopsticks, Gu Mengyao felt her mouth watering. Looking at the fragrant noodles before her, she simply couldn't resist, so she picked the chopsticks back up and said: "Eating his food doesn't mean I forgive him. I just didn't have anything last night, and I'm hungry. Honestly, these noodles are just so-so, right, Xiao Shu?"

"Oh, I suppose..." Although Shen Yushu was dying to see Gu Mengyao's reaction once she learned she had eaten Wei Zhao's saliva again, she felt the girl was already pitiful enough, so it would be better not to say a word.

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Martial Universe