It was the first time Shen Fangyu had heard Jiang Xu tease like that. He froze for a long moment before saying, “You look good too.”
“Half-hearted.”
“It’s really not.”
Jiang Xu couldn’t be bothered to argue with him. The blistered green peppers were especially good with rice, and for the moment he had no interest in diverting his attention to Shen Fangyu.
So he didn’t notice that Shen Fangyu had quietly put down his bowl and chopsticks and was watching him eat with full attention, as if he could see flowers blooming on Jiang Xu’s face.
“I didn’t expect you to like this so much,” Shen Fangyu suddenly said.
Jiang Xu looked up in surprise. Resting his head on one hand, a trace of nostalgia flickered through Shen Fangyu’s eyes.
“You know, Jiang Xu, when I was little, my favorite dish was the blistered green peppers my grandpa made.”
The corners of his lips lifted slightly. It was rare for him to bring up things about his family.
“I heard my grandpa learned how to make blistered green peppers because of my grandma.”
He glanced at Jiang Xu and continued, “When my grandma was young, she was a real beauty. Pretty and hot-tempered. As for my grandpa… in our hometown we’d say he was pa’er duo, completely henpecked.”
“Later on, I don’t know who told him that if you fed your wife blistered green peppers, even a tigress of a woman would turn gentle. So he went and apprenticed himself, learned the craft from a restaurant, and brought this dish home.”
“Turns out, after my grandma ate the blistered green peppers my grandpa made, not only did her temper not get any smaller, she fell in love with the taste. And so my grandpa ended up making blistered green peppers for her for the rest of his life,” Shen Fangyu said with a laugh.
“Mountains may change, but a person’s nature is hard to alter. Temperaments don’t change that easily,” Jiang Xu said.
“True. Besides, my grandma’s temper was spoiled by my grandpa anyway. And he enjoyed it,” Shen Fangyu’s lips curved faintly. “When I was little, my grandpa even told me I had to learn this dish. He was afraid I’d inherit his ‘afraid-of-my-wife’ genes, so he told me to remember to cook it early on for the one I love.”
He looked at Jiang Xu with a smile. Because he was caught up in his memories, his gaze seemed especially soft, tinged with a teasing warmth.
“But I didn’t expect that the first time I made this dish wouldn’t be for my wife…”
“…but for you.”
“Cough, cough,”
Jiang Xu, who had been eating happily, suddenly choked. Shen Fangyu immediately snapped out of his reminiscence and reached out to pat his back, reminding him in a low voice, “Slow down. Chili seeds are easy to choke on.”
After quite a while, Jiang Xu finally recovered from his coughing. He quietly put down his chopsticks, wiped his lips without a change in expression, and said calmly, “I’m done.”
Shen Fangyu thought he’d become wary of the chili seeds and advised, “Don’t give up eating just because you choked. If you’re careful, it’s fine, like picking fish bones when you eat fish.”
Jiang Xu shook his head firmly and, without looking back, took his tablet and went into the study.
“Picky eater,” Shen Fangyu muttered under his breath. He glanced at Jiang Xu’s back, then lowered his eyes to the half plate of green peppers left on the table. With a sigh, he said to himself, “Forget it. Next time I’ll remove the seeds before cooking.”
He stood up, cleared the table, put the bowls and chopsticks into the dishwasher, and wiped down the table with disinfectant. Just as he wrung out the cloth, his phone suddenly rang.
“Shen Fangyu? Do you still remember me?” A somewhat familiar voice came from the other end.
“Huang Bin?”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s me.”
Shen Fangyu was puzzled about why Huang Bin would contact him.
Huang Bin had also been their university classmate, though he wasn’t particularly close to either of them. After graduation, Huang Bin hadn’t become a doctor; instead, he became a pharmaceutical sales representative. He was quick-witted and, by all accounts, his business was doing quite well. Since Jihua had fixed suppliers, Shen Fangyu and Huang Bin hadn’t had much interaction after starting work.
Huang Bin quickly got to the point. “I heard you and Jiang Xu are both at Jihua now, and you’ve even been promoted to associate chief physicians? Congrats!”
Shen Fangyu smiled and exchanged a few polite words with him, complimenting him in return and flattering him enough to make Huang Bin beam. Then Huang Bin stated his purpose bluntly: “I want to bring my girlfriend in for an abortion. Do you think… you could help me find a good doctor?”
Normally, that would be someone else’s private matter, and Shen Fangyu wouldn’t interfere. But Huang Bin was famously fond of showing off his relationship. Even someone like Shen Fangyu, who rarely scrolled through social media, couldn’t escape Huang Bin’s constant message bombardments in the class group chat. Probably everyone from their cohort knew Huang Bin had a long-term girlfriend he doted on and planned to marry.
So Shen Fangyu asked an extra question, “Aren’t you and your girlfriend doing pretty well?”
Abortion wasn’t as light a matter as it sounded, it would inevitably harm the body to some degree. Unless they were planning to be childfree or had no intention of marriage and children anytime soon, there was really no need to go through this.
“What does having a good relationship matter?” Huang Bin said. “Her family has no power or influence, and she can’t help my career at all. Recently when we talked about marriage, she even asked for 100,000 yuan as a bride price. She should ask herself whether she’s worth it. It’s not like I can’t find a wife. If I want a kid, I can have one anytime, I don’t lack this one child.”
His tone was smug. “Shen Fangyu, we’re both men, you get it. If I have a kid with a woman like that, I’ll be tied down for life.”
Huang Bin’s business was doing well. Besides flaunting his romance, he also loved flaunting his wealth in the group chat. He didn’t look like someone who couldn’t afford 100,000 yuan.
From his first sentence, Shen Fangyu had felt something was off. He casually pressed the recording button. As he listened further, his brows knitted tighter and his voice turned cold. “Huang Bin, do you know what you’re saying?”
He asked, “Are you even a man?”
“What do you mean by that, Shen Fangyu?” Huang Bin snapped, embarrassed and angry at the shift in tone.
“I don’t mean anything. Huang Bin, you can’t live without a conscience,” Shen Fangyu took a slow breath. “Since you don’t understand what responsibility means, I can only sincerely wish you lifelong sexual dysfunction, impotence, and the end of your family line—”
Huang Bin hung up, cutting off Shen Fangyu’s stream of curses.
“Damn it—” Shen Fangyu swore at the disconnected call.
At the same time, Jiang Xu frowned slightly as he looked at the latest message notification on his phone.
Huang Bin: Hello, are you there, Jiang Xu?
Huang Bin: I wanted to ask if you have any recommendations for a good doctor for an abortion?
Jiang Xu typed a few words: “Send me the patient’s WeChat. I’ll contact her directly.”
Huang Bin: Sure thing! You’re the best.
He then sent over a contact card.
You’re the best?
Jiang Xu found that sentence a little strange but didn’t think much of it. He didn’t know Huang Bin had already contacted Shen Fangyu and, after being scolded bloody, had learned his lesson and chosen to reach out via WeChat this time.
He opened the contact card and added her. The other party quickly accepted. Jiang Xu sent over relevant information and precautions, along with a few doctors’ names. Just after hitting send, he heard a knock at the door.
He glanced at the tightly shut door and lowered his eyes. “Come in.”
Now, whenever he was in a room, whether bedroom or study, Shen Fangyu would politely knock before entering. Logically, Jiang Xu should have felt pleased, but for some reason, the feeling in his heart wasn’t quite that.
As Shen Fangyu pushed the door open, Jiang Xu suppressed that faint, complicated thought.
“Why are you so angry?” He could tell at a glance that Shen Fangyu was in a bad mood.
“Did Huang Bin contact you?”
Jiang Xu looked at him. Shen Fangyu directly played the recording in front of him.
Jiang Xu’s expression turned cold. After a moment, he said, “Send it to me.”
After receiving the file, he paused, processed Shen Fangyu’s voice, then forwarded the edited mp3 to the girl who had just been thanking him.
Perhaps the recording was too shocking. After he sent it, the other side didn’t reply again.
He handed the phone back to Shen Fangyu. Shen Fangyu, flushed with anger, scrolled through the chat history before returning the phone. His fury finally eased a little, and only then did he realize he was still wearing an apron.
Jiang Xu also didn’t allow him to appear in the bedroom wearing anything other than home clothes.
Fortunately, Jiang Xu hadn’t noticed yet. Shen Fangyu quickly reined in his emotions and, before Jiang Xu could point out that he had barged into the bedroom wearing an apron, said, “I’ll go change.”
Jiang Xu, who had noticed the apron the moment he walked in: “…”
Watching Shen Fangyu’s retreating figure, he shook his head helplessly. Then he picked up his phone and sent over his personal contact information, adding that if she needed help, she could reach out to him. But the moment the message went through, he received a red exclamation mark.
Huang Bin’s girlfriend had blocked him.
Jiang Xu fell silent for a moment. He deleted the unsent follow-up message, put away his phone, and decided not to tell Shen Fangyu about it, so as not to affect his mood.
When Shen Fangyu came over with a plate of sliced apples, Jiang Xu speared a piece and handed it to him, choosing a happier topic to smooth things over. “Tang Ke said the results from the last prenatal check were all good. The NT screening was normal too.”
The crisp apple was sweet and refreshing, its fragrance lingering between the lips and teeth. Shen Fangyu handed the fruit fork back. “I know.”
Jiang Xu looked up in confusion.
“Tang Ke told me,” Shen Fangyu said. “He also asked when you’re going to do the Down syndrome screening. Considering your special physical condition, he suggested doing another ultrasound.”
“Another one?” Jiang Xu had already had far more ultrasounds than an average pregnant woman.
Shen Fangyu hummed. “I also think it’s a bit frequent. But he said that after the five or six-month 4D scan, if everything’s fine, we can return to a normal schedule. I think one or two more times won’t hurt, just for peace of mind.”
He continued, “I checked your schedule and made an appointment with him for the ultrasound the evening after tomorrow. Blood draw in the morning. I’ll take you. Remember not to drink water when you wake up. Afterward, I’ll have breakfast with you.”
Jiang Xu liked drinking water in the morning but didn’t like eating. He used to skip breakfast often.
After Shen Fangyu moved in, unless it was a day off, he would usually get up earlier than Jiang Xu, go downstairs to buy breakfast, and watch him finish it. Over time, after about a month, he had actually managed to get Jiang Xu into the habit of eating breakfast.
But what Jiang Xu cared about was something else. “Why does he contact you instead of me?” he said, certain Tang Ke hadn’t reached out to him about the prenatal check. “Why does he tell you everything now?”
“Obviously because I’m more reliable than you,” Shen Fangyu said. His moods shifted quickly; after eating a couple pieces of apple Jiang Xu had fed him, he was already getting smug. “I don’t know who it is that tells patients to follow medical advice every day, yet is the least compliant person of all. Just look at what you’ve done to your stomach. If it weren’t for me—”
Jiang Xu shot up from his seat, forcefully stabbed the golden fruit fork into a chunk of apple, and carried off the entire plate.
“Hey, what are you doing? I’m not done eating!”
“I cut it for myself. Who said you could eat it?”
Jiang Xu locked the study door from the inside. Shen Fangyu, still chewing on the apple Jiang Xu had just fed him, knocked on the door and said, “Are you even being reasonable, Jiang Xu? I cut the apples, why can’t I eat them? Besides, you were just feeding me! Why do you change your face faster than flipping a page?”
Jiang Xu ignored him and directly called the traitorous Tang Ke, scolding his friend for siding with the enemy.
Realizing knocking was useless, Shen Fangyu brought out his ultimate weapon, a portable speaker whose volume rivaled that of a radio an elderly grandma might use on her daily walk.
The familiar, surging “ah~~~” instantly reverberated through the entire apartment, piercing the study door without resistance and drilling straight into Jiang Xu’s ears. Even Tang Ke on the other end of the phone was startled and quickly pulled the phone away.
“Jiang Xu, what are you doing? Hosting a cultural revival at home?” Tang Ke still didn’t know they were living together.
“Hey, even if you’re going to blast the theme song of The Legend of the White Snake, could you at least turn it down? I know your place has good soundproofing and you won’t bother the neighbors, but my ears can’t take it!”
The deafening sound waves were attacking Jiang Xu’s eardrums through the door. He could barely hear Tang Ke anymore.
He glanced at the apples on the desk, took a deep breath, hung up on Tang Ke, and pushed open the study door with a face as calm as deep water. The moment his eyes met Shen Fangyu’s, he grabbed the plate of apples and smacked it over Shen Fangyu’s head.
The brief peace shattered instantly. The harmony between him and Shen Fangyu probably could never last more than three seconds.