Chapter 9: CH 9

Updated: Apr 9, 2021

The villa where Cheng Ran lived wasn’t big, the yard was small, and there were only two parking spaces at the entrance, so Shi Qingyang could easily see every expression on his face despite the fence dividing them.

"This is where I live." Cheng Run agreed, his smile widening. "You... Grandpa Gu said, he went to search for you."

"Uncle went to find me? To retouch the paint, right?" Shi Qingyang inquired.

He knew Gu Changjin wouldn't find him because of a minor scratch, but he couldn't reveal it.

"No." Cheng Run was beginning to feel uneasy. He seemed to be distressed that Shi Qingyang had misunderstood him. He wanted to explain, but he couldn't articulate it clearly because he was anxious. "No, no, no, no need to repaint…"

Seeing Cheng Ran like this, Shi Qingyang couldn’t help but wonder. He appeared as though he'd never been exposed to the outside world… Might the Cheng family have kept him sheltered because of his poor health since he was a child?

Shi Qingyang remembered the past again.

Everyone gave way to the ninth and tenth class students who had entered Spark Academy through the back door. They were not only rich, but the majority of them came from prominent families. Only Cheng Ran didn’t behave in this manner, nor order others around. Teacher Mingming was biased toward him because of Cheng Ran’s privilege, and he had no idea the boy was bullied. Cheng Ran's words and actions were often contradictory to his family's birth status.

“Then why did the uncle go looking for me?” Shi Qingyang questioned, intrigued.

"Are you short on funds? Grandpa Gu said he'd like to assist you." Cheng Ran resumed his slow manner of speech.

In this situation, Shi Qingyang’s former self would been unhappy and would definitely refuse, but this time, he was no longer blinded by his youth's inferiority and sensitivity, and he thought Cheng Ran looked very cute.

Cheng Ran seemed so innocent at the first glance, speaking so softly... Shi Qingyang felt compelled to stroke his hair.

"You don't have to help me. Now that I've got another job, I'll be able to pay for my tuition entirely." Shi Qingyang lifted his hand, holding the box.

Because of his parents' deaths, he became somewhat withdrawn in his former life. It wasn’t easy, but his life now was much better than before, and he hasn't been hungry since he was reborn.

“I saw it; you deliver food.” Cheng Ran smiled as he nodded.

"Did you happen to see me before? I seem to walk a lot from here." Shi Qingyang recalled and thought that he appeared quite natural every time he went by. He avoided most villas monitoring devices and stayed in the blind corners. There should be no problem.

“Yes, I saw you the day after we met.” Cheng Run smiled flatteringly yet again.

Shi Qingyang's heart was moved.

According to Cheng Ran's statement, he had seen him many times these days and had been paying attention to him for a long time.

“So you have seen me many times? Would you then like to invite me inside? We should also notify uncle so that he's not just looking in wain.”

A trace of embarrassment flashed across Cheng Ran's face: "I forgot, I will open the door right away." He spun around and dashed to the entrance.

Their third encounter resulted in him walking straight into the villa. Shi Qingyang was very satisfied with his progress.

When he reached the living room and passed Cheng Ran, he realized he was half a head taller than the other boy.

Shi Qingyang was sixteen, and he was a little too thin and short for his age. But Cheng Ran somehow was even thinner and shorter than him. His body was in terrible shape. Next to him, Shi Qingyang seemed chubby and more pleasing to the eye.

“Please, take a seat, and I’ll call grandpa Gu.” Cheng Ran smiled and fiddled with the communication terminal on his wrist.

Cheng Ran was unguarded and didn’t even use the private mode when making the call. Shi Qingyang could clearly hear his conversation with Gu Changjin.

From the clues, he gathered that Gu Changjin hadn’t gone out to find him, but instead was signing a purchase contract. While speaking to Cheng Ran, he sounded really kind and attentive. He told Cheng Ran to let Shi Qingyang stay for dinner. He would come back soon and make something delicious.

"Have you eaten yet, Young Master?" Shi Qingyang questioned.

It was already twelve o'clock, and most families now were having lunch.

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"No. How about you?" Cheng Ran asked, cautiously. [TN: Daddy Google Translator said "I'm not hungry, were you hungry?" but it would been weird for Shi Qingyang to offer to cook to someone who said they are not hungry. I’ve made a similar correction from the context before, but only just now remembered to mention it. As someone to whom English is a second language, I know many sentences have the opposite meaning in context to the literal one. So I’m guessing, similar situation might be here. With Zero Chinese I can only hold my fingers and hope for the best :D Editing Daddy Google Translator’s text I strive to both make it more understandable and more enjoyable to read.]

“I’m starving! As compensation for hitting your car, how about I make you something to eat, young master?” Shi Qingyang could see that Cheng Ran wished he would stay. Since the boy wanted to acquaint with him, he won’t pass up the opportunity.

Instead of simply sitting and chatting with Cheng ran, he ought to do something for the young master.

Although the dishes he could make wouldn’t be anything special, they would be made from his heart. Cheng Ran would definitely appreciate the gesture. Even he enjoyed this level of intimacy.

Isn't it true that Liang Liang entered his life by cooking for him? At the moment, just watching someone wait on him to come home made him feel like he had a family again, but Liang Liang sold him in the blink of an eye.

He used to hate Liang Liang, but now his feelings had calmed down.

“No need.” Cheng Ran quickly shook his hands. “The car is fine.”

“How can you say it’s fine after I’ve scratched the paint? If I had encountered someone else in your place, I would have been beaten! I have some ingredients on my hand, but they aren’t expensive… Would you be dissatisfied with this sort of food, young master?” Shi Qingyang pretended to be hesitant, but actually, he was confident in Cheng Ran's character and knew he wouldn't dislike it.

"No, definitely not." Cheng Ran shook his head, lest Shi Qingyang might misunderstand him: "I'm not picky."

"That's great; where is the kitchen?" Shi Qingyang inquired.

“This way.”

He was led through another door to a spacious dining room. The kitchen was connected to the dining room.

As Shi Qingyang stepped into this kitchen, the first thing he noticed was the open window and the chair underneath it—clearly, Cheng Ran had been here before staring out the window. Immediately after, Shi Qingyang watched Cheng Ran return the chair to the dining table with some embarrassment. He didn't ask any questions, but he was certain that his scheme was working. He'd been walking this way for a few days, and he was certain Cheng Ran was waiting for him here.

The kitchen was spotless, but there were all of the essential condiments that could be used. Obviously, someone was cooking here.

Shi Qingyang examined all of the bottles and cans and understood what they were for. He was amazed to discover a bag of starch and a few potatoes.

In the previous life, he never saw Cheng Ran eat the school’s cafeteria food. Gu Changjin made meals for him and most of the time they were vegetarian. He didn’t see any spicy seasoning, but there were starchy potatoes. Most likely, Cheng Ran’s stomach was in poor health. In this case, he couldn’t cook anything too greasy… which made him somewhat unhappy, but considering Cheng Ran, he could only give up on making a large plate of barbecue.

Fortunately, a few pupae of the beast were sent today, and after the chef cut it open, there was still plenty of meat and internal organs left. The cicada chrysalis was known for its hard shell that insulated it from the radioactive particles, therefore its flesh was considered to be nourishing. Because of this, Shi Qingyang decided to use these scraps to prepare food.

Cheng Ran approached Shi Qingyang as he took the ingredients out of the box and asked, "Do you need help?”

“No, I’ll be fine! You can wait outside. Want some jerky? I have some in my pocket. Snack on it while you wait.” Shi Qingyang said, motioning with his eyes to the pocket of his jacket. "My hands are filthy, you can take it yourself.”

Cheng Ran was visibly embarrassed, and yet he didn’t want to refuse. He reached out, hesitantly, and took a small bag from Shi Qingyang's jacket pocket. In the bag, Shi Qingyang selected hunger-resisting snacks. Although the meat was hard from dehydration to last for a long time, it had been marinated and tasted good.

Cheng Ran took the jerky but did not go outside, instead he remaining at the kitchen entrance. While he stared at Shi Qingyang, he took a little piece of jerky in his mouth and chewed it.

The minced cicada meat was no bigger than a fingernail, therefore there was no need to cut it any smaller. Shi Qingyang washed the meat clean after seeing Cheng Ran's villa had plenty of water, then added seasoning, starch, and thoroughly mixed.

Then he sliced the potatoes and simmered them while rendered off some fat from the meat and fried it. Eventually, he added the boiled potatoes and mixed them. This way, it wasn’t so greasy.

Since there wasn’t much of cicada meat, he also stewed a soup with cicada innards which he first washed with salt and then cut into pieces. Even without a drop of oil, the soup was very fragrant.

Both dishes were meant for Cheng Ran.

Shi Qingyang himself loved big chunks of meat, so he simply mixed the minced meat with seasoning and bakes it in the oven. After that, a big pot was cooked.

Cheng Ran rarely come into contact with the outside world and was unaware that the meat Shi Qingyang used was insect scraps. Even if he did, he most likely wouldn't minded.

Cheng Run nibbled on the jerk on the side as Shi Qingyang cooked. If Shi Qingyang glanced his way, the boy would immediately show a big smile. When Shi Qingyang finished cooking, Cheng Run seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he just kept smiling.

When Gu Changjin returned, Cheng Ran was happily eating, and Shi Qingyang was holding a huge pot he feasted on.

[TN: Reading some parts of Cheng Ran raw translation was a bit funny, because he mostly only smiled: he smiled and did that; he said and smiled; he nodded and smiled; he smiled; he smiled; he smiled... I couldn’t help but imagine that Cheng Ran was the type of person who smiles, drops the smile to neutral expression and smiles again, on repeat.]

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