I Found My Future Wife Next Door - Chapter 5

The little glutinous rice ball leaned toward Yu Qianran. After hesitating repeatedly, he decisively apologized, “I’m sorry, Ranran. I won’t do it again next time.”

Yu Qianran tilted his head, a triumphant smile spreading across his face. He reached out and patted Lu Zhishen’s head. “Good boy.”

“You’re not angry anymore?” Lu Zhishen blinked his eyes, looking delighted.

Yu Qianran guiltily averted his gaze. “Mm-hmm.”

The other three children hadn’t come out yet, so the two kids found a spot to squat down and carefully planned when they should eat all these snacks.

Lu Zhishen shared his limited experience. “Ranran, let me tell you, snacks taste best when you sneak them before meals. You just have to be careful not to get caught.”

Yu Qianran nodded blankly. He had never tried eating snacks before a meal and decided to give it a try when he got home. He believed Shenshen wouldn’t lie to him, and his parents wouldn’t scold him either.

“Ranran, Shenshen, why are you hiding here?” A childish, milky voice interrupted them.

Yu Qianran followed the sound and saw Yuyu holding a small bag of snacks, his eyes gleaming brightly. At first, he looked puzzled, but when he spotted the two large, bulging bags of snacks, his lips trembled, and he looked like he was about to cry.

Pointing at the snacks, Yuyu wailed, “How come you two bought so many snacks? I only have this little bit. It’s not fair!”

Yu Qianran guiltily turned his head away. He tugged at Lu Zhishen’s sleeve with his small hand, his face filled with uncertainty.

Lu Zhishen replied matter-of-factly, “You can buy your own too.” Inside, he was overjoyed that Ranran was relying on him.

Ranran liked him too. They were going to be best friends for life.

Yuyu froze, looking down at the few coins left in his palm. His mind went blank for a moment. Then, glancing at the two large bags of snacks, he burst into tears.

“I don’t care! I want that many snacks too! If you don’t buy them for me today, I won’t leave! Waaah…” He threw himself on the ground, crying uncontrollably, flailing his arms and legs wildly like a cockroach scurrying in the dark.

Yu Qianran pursed his lips and took a fearful step back, his small hand tightly clutching Lu Zhishen’s sleeve.

Yuyu, rolling on the ground, paid no attention to his own dignity, focused solely on getting snacks. Even when the other children tried to comfort him, he stubbornly refused to listen.

The four little dough balls standing together glanced at each other, then all turned to look at the staff member.

Each child wore an expression that clearly said, “Hurry up and buy him some.”

If Yuyu continued to make a scene, the onlookers would likely start scolding the adults present. The staff member reluctantly agreed.

“Me too,” Jiajia chimed in, looking up with a bright smile.

Staff member: “…”

“Fine,” he gritted his teeth and agreed.

Buying snacks for one child was the same as buying for two.

Yu Qianran noticed the boy standing at the edge of the group. His eyes were filled with longing and hesitation, but he remained quiet and still, not speaking or moving.

After finally calming the children down, just as everyone was about to leave, Yangyang’s eyes dimmed, and he hung his head without saying a word.

“Wait,” Yu Qianran called out to the staff member, pointing at Yangyang. “Uncle, he should have snacks too.”

Yangyang suddenly looked up, his eyes dazed as if lost in a beautiful dream.

Staff member: “I’ll buy for everyone. Everyone gets a share.”

“Hurry up, hurry up!”

Yu Qianran stood on a small stool, vigorously rubbing the vegetable leaves with both hands. “I’m washing them!”

The fresh green leaves became uneven in color, covered in various creases that crisscrossed like an irregular spiderweb.

Yangyang hugged the large inner pot of the rice cooker, looking up as he said, “I haven’t washed the rice yet.”

Yu Qianran tilted his head. “Does rice need to be washed?”

Yangyang nodded. “Yes, yes.”

Yu Qianran lowered his head to look. The glistening grains of rice were plump and round, not dirty at all. He said, “I don’t think it needs washing.”

Yangyang looked down, hesitated for no more than three seconds, then decided Qianran was right. Hugging the inner pot, he ran off.

Now he could wash vegetables again! Yu Qianran happily scooped up the vegetables from the sink, turned, and hopped down. Hugging the vegetables, he trotted over to Lu Zhishen, stood on tiptoe, and placed them in front of him.

Yu Qianran blinked his big eyes. “We can cook now.”

Lu Zhishen let out a puzzled “Huh?” In front of him was a whole, intact Chinese cabbage. He felt like something was missing, but it didn’t seem wrong either.

He turned on the induction cooker, placed the entire cabbage inside, covered the pot, and clapped his hands. “That’s it. We’ll be able to eat soon.”

“I’m a little hungry,” Yu Qianran said.

From morning until now, he hadn’t eaten much, and his stomach kept rumbling.

Lu Zhishen comfortingly patted Yu Qianran’s head, brimming with confidence. “It’ll be ready soon.”

Cooking wasn’t hard at all. He would definitely make sure Yu Qianran ate his fill.

The simple-minded Yu Qianran chose to trust Lu Zhishen, whom he had only known for a few hours.

A few minutes later, when the two of them lifted the lid together, they realized something was off.

Recalling the Chinese cabbage he had eaten in the past, Yu Qianran asked, “Shenshen, why is the cabbage still whole?”

Lu Zhishen remembered the step he had forgotten, embarrassed and guilty, he said, “We didn’t cut it…”

“Can we still eat it?” Yu Qianran placed his hands on the edge of the stove, his beautiful eyes filled with confusion.

“Probably,” Lu Zhishen wasn’t entirely sure either, but not cutting it shouldn’t affect the final result, right?

He put the lid back on. “Let’s cook it a little longer.”

A little while passed, then a little more. The cabbage cooked through amidst repeated lid-lifting and lid-covering. A whole cabbage lay sideways at the bottom of the pot, surrounded by the broth it had released.

Yu Qianran found a porcelain bowl and handed it to Lu Zhishen. Lu Zhishen gripped the pot handles with both hands, lifted it with effort, and poured the contents in. A bowl of “water-boiled cabbage,” filled with the flavor of Chinese cabbage, was complete.

Lu Zhishen asked, “Want to taste it?”

Yu Qianran had a feeling it might not taste good and was a bit reluctant to try. But Shenshen’s eyes were full of anticipation, and he didn’t want to disappoint his first friend. He nodded lightly in agreement.

Delighted, Lu Zhishen immediately rummaged through the cabinet, found chopsticks and a small plate, and struggled to tear off a small piece from the cabbage. Holding it with the chopsticks, he brought it to Yu Qianran’s mouth, using the small plate underneath to catch any dripping broth.

With an “Ah-um,” Yu Qianran took a bite. His calm expression instantly scrunched up, it was awful!

He hated the taste of Chinese cabbage, wuwuwu…

Lu Zhishen watched helplessly as big tears began to fall “plop, plop.” Flustered, he wiped Qianran’s cheeks, comforting him, “Don’t cry, don’t cry…”

Was the cabbage he cooked really that bad? Ranran was crying.

On one hand, he thought he should try a bite later; on the other, he wondered how to stop Ranran from crying.

Yu Qianran sniffled, holding back his tears, his voice tinged with a sob. “I’m not crying.”

“Okay, okay, Ranran isn’t crying, I am,” Lu Zhishen said as he dried Ranran’s face.

Yu Qianran turned his face away, embarrassed. “Mm.”

He was coaxed and persuaded by Lu Zhishen to go to the living room sofa, where he watched TV with Jiajia.

In the kitchen, Lu Zhishen started preparing the second dish, convinced that this time it would definitely taste good. He even used his smartwatch to look up a recipe.

…

Yuyu announced loudly, “Dinner’s ready, dinner’s ready!”

The children instantly gathered in the kitchen again, each carrying a plate of food out. When it was Yuyu’s turn, he opened the rice cooker.

He was stunned.

Why was the rice still just rice? It looked only slightly yellowed.

He reached in with the rice scoop and poked it, hard.

The children watching exchanged confused glances, none of them understanding why.

Yuyu turned around, bewildered, and asked, “Are we not going to have any rice to eat?”

Jiajia replied matter-of-factly, “Clearly, no.”

Yuyu whined, “I’m hungry.”

Yu Qianran whispered to Lu Zhishen, “I’m hungry too.”

Lu Zhishen patted his chest confidently. “It’s fine, we still have the dishes to eat.”

The food he cooked was definitely delicious!

Nothing could stump Boss Lu, he was the most capable among all the children.

The children scurried to the dining room, climbed onto their chairs, and eagerly picked up their chopsticks to try the food.

“Yuck~”

“It’s so salty!”

“It tastes awful!!”

Hearing this, Yu Qianran immediately put down his chopsticks and looked at Lu Zhishen’s expression. Lu Zhishen looked crestfallen, his face ashen with disappointment.

Yu Qianran took Lu Zhishen’s hand and comforted him, “It’s okay. It’s amazing that you managed to cook the food for the first time.”

“Really?” Lu Zhishen asked hopefully. “Ranran, you won’t look down on me for not being able to cook, will you?”

Yu Qianran gave Lu Zhishen a big hug. “Of course not.”

The five children had worked together in vain, but fortunately, the production team only wanted them to experience cooking rather than actually go hungry. The little ones were given delicious lunchboxes.

“Not very tasty,” Lu Zhishen commented after finishing his meal.

Yu Qianran looked up silently.

He clearly agreed with Lu Zhishen’s assessment. It was the worst meal he had ever had, but he had to eat it to fill his stomach.

…

The afternoon sun seemed intent on melting everything. Even the lush trees couldn’t withstand it, their leaves curling downward in an attempt to block the heat.

Yu Qianran pressed his face against the glass, observing the scene outside the window.

“Ranran, why aren’t you sleeping?” Lu Zhishen’s voice was drowsy, his peach-blossom eyes drooping. He swayed unsteadily on the bed as if he might collapse at any moment.

Yu Qianran turned his head. “I don’t like taking naps.”

Waking up from a nap always made him feel terrible, headaches and chest tightness. He hated napping the most.

“Alright then, you can play with anything in the room.” Lu Zhishen didn’t force Ranran to sleep with him. After saying this, he lay down and immediately fell asleep.

Yu Qianran wasn’t in the habit of touching other people’s things. Seeing that Lu Zhishen had fallen asleep, he turned back to continue watching the activity outside the window.

This nap time was destined to be restless.

“Knock, knock, knock.”

Before Yu Qianran could react, he heard Yuyu’s voice outside the door. “Are you guys asleep? I want some snacks. Do you want any?”

He slipped on his slippers and padded over to open the door. Yuyu asked, “Ranran, you’re not asleep yet? What about Shenshen?”

Yu Qianran raised a finger to his lips and whispered, “He’s asleep. Keep your voice down.”

“Asleep? That’s perfect!” Yuyu exclaimed joyfully, grabbing Yu Qianran’s hand and pulling the slightly smaller boy out before closing the door. “Come on, let’s go have some snacks together.”

Yu Qianran stiffened, unwilling to be dragged away by Yuyu. In his mind, they weren’t close, aside from Lu Zhishen, everyone else was a stranger.

Yuyu turned around, a puzzled look on his face. After staring for a moment, he suddenly understood, “Don’t tell me you’ve never done it before?”

Yu Qianran pursed his lips and nodded slowly.

He really had never done something like sneaking snacks before.

Yuyu grinned, “Let me tell you, snacks taste way better when you sneak them than when Mom lets you have them.”

Yu Qianran remained unmoved.

“Please, Ranran, let’s bring Yangyang along too, I promise we won’t get caught.” Yuyu clung to Yu Qianran’s arm, shaking it gently. “Don’t you want to let Shenshen have some snacks too?”

Hearing this, Yu Qianran’s eyebrows twitched with curiosity. “How do we bring them back?”

The snacks were all stored in the cabinet downstairs in the living room. Sneaking down to eat them would obviously get them caught, let alone bringing any back to their room.

“Silly.” Yuyu put on a serious face. “One of us can block the camera, and the other two can hide the snacks under our clothes. That way, no one will notice.” His voice was full of confidence and pride, as if he had come up with a brilliant plan.

Ranran wasn’t silly.

After thinking it over, Yu Qianran nodded in agreement.

But as soon as he agreed, he regretted it. Yuyu hadn’t even talked to Yangyang yet and wanted him to come along to persuade him.

Feeling deceived, Yu Qianran watched Yuyu busily trying to convince Yangyang, a hint of displeasure in his eyes.

Yangyang timidly objected, “But… this isn’t right.”

Yuyu corrected him, “We’re just having snacks early, not stealing them.”

Instinctively, Yangyang looked to Ranran for help. Ranran was the only one who hadn’t taken a clear stance, so surely he wouldn’t agree either.

But Yangyang was wrong. Outnumbered and worn down by Yuyu’s persistent pleading, he was forced into this sneaky business.

He grumbled indignantly, “You guys are so mean.”

Yu Qianran lifted his gaze, slowing his pace to fall a step behind Yuyu, drawing a clear line. “Ranran isn’t mean, he is.” He pointed a finger at Yuyu, the ringleader.

Yuyu: ?