"Ye Xiaofan..."

Knock, knock, knock, knock.

"Ye Xiaofan..."

"Huh? I'm over here, that's my room over there, Li San and the others are cooking here, did you arrive this early?"

Returning to the dorm, Xiaofan immediately started preparing tonight's hot pot because Shen Zuimo promised to come, so he needed to get ready beforehand, so she wouldn't have to wait around once she arrived.

Little did he expect Shen Zuimo to arrive so early. It seems that next time if he wants to invite her, just preparing the food will do. Regardless of the past or now, delicious food is this beauty's only weakness.

Walking past the dorm, Shen Zuimo smelled the fragrance of flowers as soon as she entered, looking at the pile of small gifts on the nearby table. Although puzzled, she didn't ask about it.

Actually, Shen Zuimo didn't come early. After all, apart from training, she didn't really know what else to do. After training, she took a shower, then went to the training hall out of boredom to see if Xiaofan was around, only to find out he was at the medical department teaching some medical content.

Judging by the time, it should be about over, so she came over to take a look. Of course, what she was most concerned about were those big crabs.

"Where are the crabs?"

"Ah? Right here, come look, they're big enough, right? Wow, that hotel really makes a lot. I went to the market, and the most expensive ones were just over eighty yuan per pound. And look at this, the biggest one, it's one-pound three ounces, even bigger than what we had before, only one hundred and ten yuan. In a hotel, these would cost at least three hundred."

"You only bought a few?" Shen Zuimo frowned, realizing this was different from eating out; there were more people, and just over ten crabs weren't enough for even two each.

"There's still hot pot, and I made drunken shrimp, it's not like you can't get full without crabs." Xiaofan rolled his eyes, seeming to notice her particular fondness for crabs.

"Drunken shrimp? How do you make that?"

"You just get the shrimp drunk. Sit down for a bit; I'll let you taste it once it's steamed. After the drunken shrimp, we'll steam the crabs. For such big crabs, you have to use a large pot."

In front of Shen Zuimo, Xiaofan acted like an ordinary city-dweller, naturally discussing the prices of ingredients. These things were often discussed when they lived together, like when Shen Zuimo picked bad vegetables, Xiaofan would nag beside her. And sometimes, if Xiaofan put in too much salt, Shen Zuimo would point it out next to him.

Life, after all, is made enjoyable through these little concerns.

"What are you doing now?" The kitchen was too small, and Shen Zuimo couldn't sit still, curious to see what was in tonight's hot pot.

"Mushrooms, soak them in water, then slice them. Slice beef, cilantro, and lettuce. I bought fish heads for the soup base, help me wash the lettuce..."

"Huh?"

How natural, "help me wash the lettuce?" said instinctively, just like before, without any formality between them.

"Oh, right, now you're a guest, not the host." Xiaofan realized a bit late, putting down the knife, and turned on the tap to soak the lettuce himself.

"Did I wash vegetables in the past?" Shen Zuimo was also surprised, not imagining herself doing such things.

"Yes, you cooked often, waiting for me to get home from school. At the time, I didn't have the courage to say it, but now you don't remember, I can tell you. The first meal you cooked that day was barely edible. If not for saving your face, I wouldn't have eaten it. But after you tried it, under my brilliant instruction, you finally learned how to cook." Xiaofan squatted down, washing vegetables as he spoke.

"I could cut vegetables too?" Shen Zuimo asked with slight surprise.

"Yes, your knife skills were good."

Hmm, another unimaginable scene, using the hand accustomed to wielding short knives to hold a kitchen knife, was really suitable?

"What? Want to try, see if you can feel like before?" Xiaofan chuckled, noticing Shen Zuimo's puzzled look.

"Yeah."

Shen Zuimo responded, stepping closer, picked up a knife, and began to cut gently.

"Take it slow, if you don't recall it, it's easy to cut your fingers." Xiaofan reminded her.

As she cut, Shen Zuimo really felt she had wielded a kitchen knife before. The feeling was wonderfully peculiar, familiar yet strange, as if cutting like this would naturally lead to slicing well.

Cutting indeed seemed addictive. After finishing with the mushrooms, Shen Zuimo grabbed the already washed beef nearby and placed it on the cutting board, continuing to slice.

With Xiaofan watching Zuimo's earnest demeanor while washing the lettuce, deep thoughts welled up inside. Just like back then, coming home from school to see her in an apron cooking in the kitchen.

That silhouette had become the image he most longed to see after school each day.

Silently, he walked over. Though it was impulsive, perhaps rash, Xiaofan gently clasped his hands around that perfectly slender waist.

Too familiar, her figure remarkably stayed in such perfect form, embracing her felt exactly like before.

Shen Zuimo suddenly paused. A scene flashed through her mind—so warm, so familiar, and so joyful...

What was that? Why did it flash by so quickly again? Why couldn't she grasp that scene this time either? What was the reason...

'Whoosh.'

'Ah.'

'Bang.'

'Thump.'

Stunned only for a few seconds, Shen Zuimo suddenly elbowed Xiaofan hard in the ribs. In pain, Xiaofan let go, followed by a firm stomp that sent him falling to the ground.

'......'

Initially intending to continue her outburst, Shen Zuimo stopped in her tracks, realizing that kick felt oddly familiar. Had she kicked him like that before?

Looking again at Xiaofan, he was sitting on the ground, smirking foolishly, "Wow, I should've expected this. Your roundhouse kick is just as merciless as before. Ouch, you didn't use to kick me this hard."

"The past is the past; now is now. I told you, I don't remember knowing you before, so stop bringing up the past with me. If you try anything again, I'll chop you up with the kitchen knife next time. I won't be nice to you anymore."

"See, even your words are the same. You used to say if I ever touched you again, you'd cut my hands off. Strange, I once made you fall for me, why can't I now?" Xiaofan stood up and smiled.

"How could I ever have fallen for someone like you?"

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