DPT chapter 62

Sheng Li went to the supermarket, bought ribs, and followed a recipe to make rib soup for Zuo Chi.

There’s a saying that “to get to a person’s heart, you must first go through their stomach.” Sheng Li used to dismiss this, thinking it implied finding a partner just for food. But now, he understood the importance of cooking skills. It was a basic survival skill; if one couldn’t take care of themselves, how could they take care of their loved ones?

Over the past two months, he had tried making some simple dishes and even attempted to make soups, but this was his first time making rib soup.

Step by step, he washed the ribs, added an appropriate amount of salt, let the ribs sit, blanched them, drained them, then put them into boiling water. After the water boiled, he added white radish and corn, covered the pot, and continued cooking.

The whole process took an hour and a half. Once the ribs were done, he quickly poured the soup into a thermos and headed to the hospital with it.

……

“Ah Chi,” Sheng Li said as he entered the ward, opening the thermos with a proud look, “I made rib soup.”

It was already 1:30 PM, and Zuo Chi was stunned, not expecting this at all: “I’ve already eaten.”

“Oh,” Sheng Li asked, “What did you eat?”

Zuo Chi: “I went downstairs and bought a hospital meal.”

Sheng Li was a bit disappointed and blamed himself for not being quick enough with the cooking: “Oh.”

Sheng Li could make rib soup? He had said he went to get a USB drive but had actually been making rib soup?

Zuo Chi knew Sheng Li used to be a pampered young master who wouldn’t lift a finger, except for making instant noodles and using the microwave. He didn’t expect him to have made such progress in just two months.

Zuo Chi was touched: “I can still have some soup.”

“Great!” Sheng Li immediately poured a bowl of soup from the thermos, “Try it and see how it tastes.”

Zuo Chi: “Didn’t you taste it?”

“No time,” Sheng Li said, “If it’s bad, just spit it out.”

Zuo Chi took a sip. It wasn’t too salty or bland, the taste was quite good. A warm current flowed from his throat to his limbs, and he had to admit that drinking hot soup in winter was much better than eating a hospital meal.

Sheng Li eagerly awaited his feedback.

“Not bad,” Zuo Chi said concisely, “Have you eaten?”

Sheng Li said, “I’m not hungry.”

Zuo Chi pushed the bowl towards him: “If you don’t mind…”

Sheng Li smiled, “Why would I mind? I drank from your cup in kindergarten.”

“That’s different. You were too young to understand.”

Sheng Li put on a serious face and asked, “Do you think I’m mature now?”

“Maybe,” Zuo Chi smiled faintly, “I thought you’d never grow up.”

Sheng Li pressed further: “Do you think it’s too late?”

Zuo Chi shook his head without answering: “Hurry and eat.”

In the afternoon, the caregiver Sheng Li hired arrived. She was a Beta woman in her forties, efficient and capable.

Sheng Li was both satisfied and dissatisfied because this meant, as agreed, he couldn’t stay in the ward the day after tomorrow.

But on second thought, he couldn’t stay by Zuo Chi’s side all the time. He had work to do and had to investigate the car accident. Whether there was a mastermind behind the accident was the most important issue now.

Knowing that Zuo Chi was driving Qin Xu’s car, Sheng Li didn’t believe the accident was a coincidence.

If Qin Xu had no reason to make a move, then who else? Who would find Zuo Chi’s existence threatening?

And if the target wasn’t Zuo Chi? Could it be that the person intended to hit the car’s owner, Qin Xu?

Who would target Qin Xu?

When it involved the Qin family, the possibilities multiplied. If Qin Rui was out of the picture and Qin Yanren had no heirs, who would take over? With Qin Xu suddenly appearing and taking the inheritance, who wouldn’t be dissatisfied?

Several faces flashed in Sheng Li’s mind. No matter what, he had to find the person behind this.

To target someone, there would surely be traces of prior tracking. Sheng Li made a call to a friend, asking for help with some tasks.

At five o’clock, Zuo Chi’s subordinates came to visit him, bringing flowers, milk, supplements, and other gifts, chatting with him.

Zuo Chi joked, “You guys are off work at five?”

His subordinate replied, “We were afraid of coming late. Isn’t the hospital prohibiting visits?”

“Don’t worry, boss, we’ll definitely stay voluntarily overtime when we go back.”

“Boss, it’s better for you to recover early so you can come and supervise us earlier.”

Zuo Chi himself was a workaholic, but he didn’t expect his employees to be the same. He cared more about efficiency, but most of the employees he recruited came from big companies, willing to follow him with vigorous ambitions and wanting to achieve something. So overtime was common in the company.

Zuo Chi said, “You don’t need me to supervise you. Remember to rest and don’t wear yourselves out.”

The subordinates smiled, “Yes, we’ll listen to you.”

While they were chatting, Sheng Li voluntarily left the ward. About the same time, he went home to cook congee.

He made yam millet congee. When he brought it to the ward, Zuo Chi was drinking milk, his eyes fixed on the computer screen, his teeth biting the straw flat, not sure if he was drinking milk or chewing the straw.

Sheng Li asked, “Did the colleague leave?”

Zuo Chi nodded, “Visiting the boss also counts as another form of overtime. I said they didn’t have to come. I’ll be discharged in a few days. They probably think I’m just being polite.”

“Boss Zuo,” Sheng Li teased him, “You didn’t like drinking milk when you were young, but now you love it.”

Zuo Chi glanced at him, “People’s tastes change. Besides, if it weren’t for you supervising me to drink two boxes of milk every day, I wouldn’t want to drink it. Do you know how annoying you were back then?”

Sheng Li laughed, “Wasn’t it to help you grow taller? Look at you now, six feet tall, isn’t that thanks to me?”

“Don’t praise yourself.” Zuo Chi looked down and saw the thermos, “What did you make again?”

“Congee.” Sheng Li lifted the lid of the thermos, “It should still be hot, eat it in a few minutes.”

Zuo Chi raised an eyebrow, “Did you go to cooking school for two months?”

“If only I had the time, you don’t know how busy I am every day, running around to facilitate a deal, not getting enough to eat at dinner parties…” Sheng Li stopped, he actually wanted to share his experiences and insights from the past two months with Zuo Chi, but it sounded like complaining when he said it.

He wasn’t complaining; he genuinely wanted to make the Sheng Group bigger and increase his own bargaining chips.

Zuo Chi tilted his head, “Go on, why stop?”

Sheng Li said, “…but it’s all worth it.”

The weather was cold, even with the air conditioning on indoors, the congee cooled quickly.

Zuo Chi took a sip, and Sheng Li asked him with concern, “How is it?”

The unspoken question was – how does it compare to the congee made by Qin Xu? He knew comparing was too childish, but he cared.

Zuo Chi said, “It’s alright.”

“Oh.” Sheng Li wore that pitiful expression again, but Zuo Chi just turned away, not wanting to look at him.

“Hey, can’t I sleep on the adjacent folding bed? Stingy!”

Back then sixteen-year-old Zuo Chi already knew his feelings for Sheng Li. Once when sick, he didn’t want to sleep next to Sheng Li not only because he was afraid of infecting him but also because he was afraid of his own reactions.

But In his heart, he was truly happy to spend a quiet night with Sheng Li.

Back then, Sheng Li wasn’t very good at taking care of people. He made Zuo Chi eat peaches, but after peeling them, they looked so ugly, pockmarked, he took Zuo Chi’s temperature and started counting before the time was up. But he would notice when a bottle of liquid was about to run out and call the nurse to replace it in time. He would cover Zuo Chi’s eyes when the nurse was giving injections, although Zuo Chi wasn’t afraid…

In these ten years, Sheng Li seemed to have changed a lot, yet at the same time, nothing had changed.

Zuo Chi immersed himself in the intersection of the past and the present. Suddenly, there was a “thud” from the sofa, startling him.

He sat up and saw that Sheng Li had gone from lying on the sofa to lying on the floor. The sofa was a bit narrow, not suitable for a tall Alpha like Sheng Li. He rolled off as soon as he turned over.

“…he must have felt the pain from falling by now, why hasn’t he woken up?”

Even though the air conditioning was on, sleeping on the floor wasn’t comfortable. Zuo Chi got out of bed, put on his slippers, and walked over to call him, “Sheng Li.”

“Sheng Li.” Zuo Chi bent down carefully, his right hand about to touch Sheng Li’s left arm when Sheng Li reached out and grabbed Zuo Chi’s right wrist.

Sheng Li tightly grasped Zuo Chi’s right wrist with his five fingers. He opened his eyes, but his gaze wasn’t clear. In a daze, he smelled the black currant fragrance he liked, let go of Zuo Chi’s wrist, but intertwined his fingers with Zuo Chi’s, slowly clasping them together.

“Ah, Chi.”

His tone was sincere and affectionate.