Help! My Fanservice Partner is Looking at Me Differently Lately - Chapter 18

“It seems this time is truly different,” Shen Wei said, looking at Shen Xunye with a beaming smile.
“I can actually see a sense of impatience on your face.”

Shen Xunye raised a hand to touch his cheek. “Is that so?”

Did the desire to see Chi Li actually make him feel impatient?

Shen Wei did not answer directly but instead asked, “What if I wanted you to stay and have lunch with me before you left?”

Shen Xunye smiled. “I think you would not go looking for trouble for yourself.”

“Haha.” Shen Wei was not annoyed at all; instead, she stood up. “Let us go. I know a restaurant nearby that tastes exceptionally good.”

“I am not going. I cannot eat while looking at your face,” Shen Xunye said, having no intention of moving. Chi Li was still waiting for the ingredients he bought to cook a meal.

“I am not asking you to eat with me,” Shen Wei said, watching the micro-expressions on Shen Xunye’s face with great interest. “I am suggesting you pack it up, take it back, and eat it with Chi Li.”

Shen Xunye’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Even though you eat everything as if it were pig feed, he is different,” Shen Wei continued her persuasion. “To please someone, you cannot just do what they tell you to do; you also have to create extra surprises for them.”

When Shen Xunye returned to the Nurture House carrying a large bag of items, Chi Li was in the courtyard wearing a sun hat, playing with a puppy.

The dog was named Chestnut, a small local yellow dog. A former member of the Nurture House had picked it up by the side of the road during a rural volunteer activity and brought it back to raise. Later, when that person moved out of the Nurture House, the dog stayed behind.

“Chi Li,” Shen Xunye called out his name loudly. “I am back.”

Livestream Comments:

• • “You finally decided to come back, you rascal!”

• • “You have only been here for two days and you dared to hang an Out sign on your personal channel all day? You are legendary, man.”

• • “Sorry, with a face like that, he can do whatever he wants.”

• • “The moment this person appears, my screen feels cleaner. Do you guys have any idea why?”

• • “No licking the screen in the livestream room!”

• • “Those veins on his forearm are totally husband material. I feel like he could pick up Chi Li with one hand.”

• • “Hmm, perfect for a spicy romance.”

• • “Ladies, it is daytime. Can we rein it in, please?”

Hearing the voice, Chi Li first looked up, then reached down to scratch the puppy’s chin. After teasing it a few more times, he stood up to greet him.

“You are so late,” he complained in a low voice. “Xie Weishui is using the kitchen, so I will have to wait until later to cook.”

“No need to wait. I brought lunch back for you,” Shen Xunye said, leading Chi Li toward the house. “Use the ingredients I bought for dinner or tomorrow instead.”

“You are quite thoughtful,” Chi Li said, jogging a few steps to reach for one of the bags in his hand. “Let me carry one for you.”

“It is just a few things,” Shen Xunye said with a half-smile as he looked at Chi Li. “Even if I added you to the load, I could still carry it.”

“I do not believe you.”

“I could pick someone like you up with one hand. Do you want to try?” Shen Xunye arched an eyebrow.

Chi Li recalled the scene from the previous night where he was firmly pinned down, and he suddenly felt a faint soreness in his thighs. “No.”

Livestream Comments:

“Why do they give off such old married couple vibes? Is this not only their second day knowing each other?”

“Night Embers Dawning (Ye Jin Li Ming), Night Embers Dawning.”

“They have a ship name already? For real?”

“How could it be fake?”

“From the ashes of the night, the dawn is born. It symbolizes the end of a dark past and the arrival of new hope because of each other.”

“Whoa, where did this intellectual come from? I usually just bang my head against the keyboard for them.”

Shen Xunye placed the large bags on the dining table and set the bag containing the packed lunch aside, signaling to Chi Li. “You open this one. I will put the things in the fridge and then come eat with you.”

Chi Li pulled out a chair and sat down. He grabbed the insulated food bag, which was printed with the logo of the Yanhua Grand Hotel. It was a very famous five-star hotel. Chi Li was not surprised and did not overthink it; he opened the bag with a calm expression.

Inside were four large insulated containers and two small boxes of rice. Chi Li arranged them on the table and picked up a slip of paper from one of the containers.

“Leopard Coral Grouper in Golden Sea Urchin Broth,” he read the words aloud. “Step one: Fillet the coral grouper and cut into Kylin slices. Is this trying to teach me how to cook it?”

Chi Li tossed the slip aside without interest and picked up another. “Double-boiled Angus Beef Consommé with Fish Maw, Lily Bulbs, and Dried Tangerine Peel, also known as Amber Light of a Decade.”

“Moonlight Brewed in Pine Wind—Braised Bamboo Shoots Stuffed with Black Truffles and Morel Mushrooms.”

“Dawn of the East, Condensed Fragrance—French Duck Leg Confit.”

“Quite sophisticated,” Chi Li remarked. Only after reading the common and poetic names of the four dishes did he open the insulated containers.

Livestream Comments:

• • “I wanted to order the same takeout as my wife to eat along with him, but the price made me faint.”

• • “You could tell just by the names that those dishes are not cheap, okay?”

• • “Yanhua Grand Hotel has an average cost of 5,800 per person. Even then, you cannot get a seat without a reservation. Shen Xunye, which family’s young master are you, coming down to experience life?”

• • “His livestream went dark for over an hour yesterday, and the forums were already guessing he had a background. I did not expect it to be true.”

• • “True my foot. He is just spending a lot of money to build a persona. Yanhua is expensive, but they do not check your assets before you eat there.”

• • “That makes sense. Although the cost of a rich young master persona is high, if it works, it is a guaranteed profitable business. That persona is really popular right now.”

• • “Use your brains. If he were truly rich, would not any other place be better than the Nurture House?”

• • “Stop analyzing! Everyone, follow my lead! Open your cheap meal delivery and enjoy lunch with my wife!”

“This meal must be quite expensive, right?” Chi Li opened the utensil box and handed a pair of chopsticks to Shen Xunye.

“I do not know. My sister paid for it,” Shen Xunye replied as he served a small bowl of soup to Chi Li. “She said this place is good.”

“It really is delicious,” Chi Li said, biting into a tender bamboo shoot. He whispered to the camera, “Thank you, Sister.”

Shen Xunye savored the fish. “What about me?”

“Thank you for carrying it back, too,” Chi Li said, picking up his phone. “How much did all the groceries cost? I will transfer the money to you.”

“I do not know,” Shen Xunye said, clearly not caring. “No need to pay me back.”

Chi Li did not act coy. “Then I will cook for you to pay off the debt.”

“You know how to cook too?” Gao Yuan sat down opposite them, carrying the takeout he had just received. “May I have the honor of tasting it?”

“Hmm,” Chi Li nodded while eating. “Of course, but do not have too high an expectation. My cooking is only at the level of being edible.”

“Do not worry; I am not picky,” Gao Yuan said happily as he opened his takeout.

Halfway through the meal, an uninvited guest arrived. Zhou Yang placed a plate of stir-fried pork at the other end of the dining table and craned his neck to see what Chi Li was eating.

“Eating takeout every day is not good,” he said.

He could not see exactly what Chi Li was eating, so he deliberately raised his voice. “Chi Li, why do you not say a few nice words to me? I will ask my Senior to make more so you can join us.”