260: Chapter 260 Making a Wish

Ruan Xingyu arrived home.

The flight wasn't delayed, and it wasn't even 6 o'clock yet when she got back from the airport.

When she arrived, Lin Chuyan was still prepping the food... He had been careless; he really hadn't expected this thing to be so troublesome!

Of the three dishes recommended by Lin Zhiyuan, everything was easy to handle except for the celery.

Regarding the celery, Lin Chuyan followed his dad's advice: first cut off the leafy parts, wash it thoroughly twice, then use a peeler to peel the outer skin, and finally, turn to the inside, pinch the root, and pull downward to remove the inner stems as well.

Lin Chuyan felt like he had been peeling for half an hour... there were two big handfuls of peel.

It was said that preparing it this way made the celery crispy and tender.

But it was indeed troublesome... He mentally blacklisted it.

Ruan Xingyu watched from the side, wanting to help chop vegetables or something, but Lin Chuyan quickly stopped her...

"I appreciate the thought... You'd better just watch from the side."

"Alright then, what should I do now?"

"Call me brother and let me hear it."

"..."

20 minutes later, the difficult prep work was finally finished. Fortunately, the cooking process was simple enough; the three dishes only took him about 10 minutes.

Ruan Xingyu helped serve the rice and started commenting on each dish.

"I know this one, celery stir-fried with shrimp. The celery is delicious, even better than the shrimp. This is blanched lettuce; the lettuce doesn't have that earthy taste, not bad. What is this?"

"Recommended by my dad, Cantonese style, sand ginger chicken. Is it good?"

"Delicious!"

"If it's delicious, eat more." Lin Chuyan looked at her with a smile; he felt very happy that his girlfriend liked it, "Don't worry about your throat; none of the dishes I made are spicy."

Ruan Xingyu only served herself half a small bowl of rice, eating without any pressure: "It's delicious, but I have to save some room for cake."

They had agreed to eat it at 12 o'clock at night.

Today was Ruan Xingyu's birthday, and after 12 o'clock, it would be Lin Chuyan's birthday. Celebrating right on the dot—who could say it wasn't the same day?

Love intersects at the zero hour, spending every year together. From now on, could every day be spent like this?

Lin Chuyan didn't eat too much rice either, but he conscientiously polished off all the leftovers. After eating, he threw the dishes into the dishwasher, and the two even changed into fuzzy loungewear.

Ruan Xingyu had bought them; it seemed they were couple's outfits.

The sofa was plenty big, but she still instinctively curled up in her boyfriend's arms: "This is the first time I've spent a birthday so quietly."

Lin Chuyan's hands weren't idle; he touched her lips for a moment, then her earlobe: "So how did you spend them before?"

"Zheng Hai would arrange it, with many people, very lively. Or my parents would be by my side, along with Yiyi, Wen Qi..."

"Then which kind do you prefer?"

"I prefer the birthday with you by my side~"

"I recorded that, I'll play it for them later."

Ruan Xingyu was amused by him and couldn't help but give him a light elbow jab: "Considering you cooked tonight."

Lin Chuyan clutched his chest with a pained expression: "It's over, I've sustained internal injuries. Ruan Xingyu, you're murdering your husband."

Ruan Xingyu didn't go easy on him either: "Is that so? Where? Let big sister check it for you."

"Is that appropriate?"

A sudden moment of reserve from the pure-hearted young man.

Ruan Xingyu was still lying in his arms without moving, just leaning back and looking up at him, blinking her eyes: "I am the nurse, you are the patient, you have to listen to me."

Last time it was a teacher, this time she changed professions?

Ruan Xingyu, oh Ruan Xingyu, you're testing a young man with this? What young man could withstand such a test?

"Hmm... it's not impossible..."

"Tell me, where does it hurt?"

The living room sofa suddenly went quiet.

"Are you not leaving tonight?"

"Not leaving."

"Not leaving tomorrow either, right?"

"...Not leaving."

"Then what about the day after?"

"...I think we should go look at a house sooner." Lin Chuyan whispered in her ear, "It's not convenient here. What if I run into my future mother-in-law? Then I won't be able to live with myself... You can't suddenly tell her not to come over, right?"

"That makes a lot of sense." Ruan Xingyu looked up at him, "So where do you want to buy?"

"I haven't decided, but since we're living together, it definitely can't be worse than where you're living now."

Ruan Xingyu smiled and teased him: "Brother really has made some money, I'm very pleased."

"I wouldn't dare compare myself to you."

In this regard, Lin Chuyan still had self-awareness.

Ruan Xingyu didn't refute it; she did indeed earn more than him, and then she asked casually: "Then besides buying a house?"

Well, this question stumped Lin Chuyan a bit.

He was actually a bit confused: "I don't know. I'm not really that demanding about material things. I always feel like I've already earned more money than others earn in several lifetimes, and I can buy whatever I want. I originally wanted to say that besides buying a house, it's just to live a good life with you from now on, but then I suddenly remembered you're even richer than me..."

"Then the two of us combined are invincible. Even if we get married and have eight or ten kids in the future, it doesn't seem like we'd need that much money..." Lin Chuyan couldn't help but ask, "So, what about you? Besides buying a house."

Hearing him say "eight or ten kids," Ruan Xingyu, lying on his chest, couldn't help but laugh out loud: "I'm too busy and don't have time to think about these things... but I am doing charity work."

Lin Chuyan's eyes lit up: "That's a good idea."

"Right? We're the same, we're not obsessed with money. Whether it's music or movies, we both have other pursuits. So, this is really just a string of numbers; it has to be spent on meaningful things."

"I've learned a lesson, Teacher Ruan."

"I wouldn't dare, Teacher Lin."

Such an unfamiliar way of addressing each other.

The two looked at each other, both thinking of the time when they were still flirting and hadn't yet broken through the window paper.

It felt like yesterday, yet it also felt very far away, but every time they remembered it, it still felt very sweet.

So they couldn't help but laugh.

Looking at the time, it was almost 12 o'clock.

"Get up! Cut the cake!"

The cake had been delivered at 5 o'clock and had long been put in the refrigerator by Lin Chuyan.

He carefully took out the cake and placed it on the dining table. The cake wasn't big, about 1 pound, just right for two people.

Lin Chuyan inserted two candles, one representing him, one representing his girlfriend.

He lit them. By the way, he turned off the lights.

The faint candlelight reflected on their faces, and their shadows stretched out behind them.

The shadows overlapped, just like their future.

Lin Chuyan stared intently at her face: "Xingxing, make a wish."

She reached out and pinched his palm: "Together."

The two closed their eyes together.

On the side of the cake, the birthday plaque read eight characters:

Celebrating birthdays together, bathing forever in the river of love.

At this moment of zero hour, Lin Chuyan and Ruan Xingyu made their wishes together.