Chen Miao was wearing pajamas and an apron while cooking in the kitchen. Since filming for Shattered Window had wrapped, he had been coming up with new ways to cook for Lu Lianning. A meal for the two of them always had at least four dishes and a soup.
He had grown much more comfortable in the kitchen—stir-frying on one side while the soup simmered on the other.
Around noon, Lu Lianning stretched and came out of the bedroom, feeling hungry when he saw Chen Miao’s busy figure. He decided to sit down at the dining table and scroll through his phone while waiting.
It seemed like Chen Miao was determined to help him regain the weight he’d lost.
Suddenly, a phone rang in the kitchen. Chen Miao was in the middle of serving the soup and couldn’t free his hands, so he let it ring.
Once he was done, he picked up the phone. Upon seeing the number on the screen, his pupils contracted sharply, and he hung up abruptly.
He slipped the phone into his pocket, but it rang again almost immediately.
He muted it, but the phone continued vibrating in his pocket, constantly reminding him.
Finally, Chen Miao opened the kitchen door, his hand gripping the phone tightly in his pocket. With hurried steps, he walked toward the bathroom.
As he passed Lu Lianning, Lu Lianning glanced up briefly, but quickly returned his attention to the trending topics on his phone. He rarely used Weibo and didn’t even have an account, so he was surprised to see his name on the trending list.
In the bathroom, Chen Miao turned on the faucet and locked the door behind him. Only then did he cautiously pull out his phone and answer the call.
He lowered his voice. “Didn’t I tell you not to call me!? If you need something, just text me!”
The voice on the other end sounded excited, speaking intermittently for a long time.
Chen Miao stood frozen, a blank expression appearing on his face for a moment, followed by a look of disbelief and joy.
“Are you saying… you found a donor? Is that what you mean? Did I hear that right?”
Just then, Lu Lianning’s voice called out sharply from outside the bathroom door, “Chen Miao! What the hell are you doing!”
Already tense, Chen Miao was so startled that he dropped his phone to the floor.
The device, already low on battery from the constant calls, went black the moment it hit the ground.
He quickly scooped it up and stuffed it into his pocket, rushing out in a panic. “What is it?”
“Can’t you smell that! Something’s burning!” Lu Lianning frowned. “What on earth are you doing? Is the food ready? Did you forget to turn off the stove?”
Chen Miao dashed back to the kitchen and, sure enough, one of the dishes had burned.
He swiftly turned off the stove and tossed the charred remains into the trash.
Through the kitchen’s glass door, he saw Lu Lianning, still sitting at the dining table with his legs crossed, waiting expectantly for his meal.
With no time to waste, Chen Miao brought out the rest of the dishes.
Lu Lianning, accustomed to being served four dishes and a soup, glanced at the three dishes and one soup laid in front of him. He then looked at the bowl of white rice that Chen Miao had filled to the brim for him.
He asked casually, “Who was calling?”
Chen Miao paused with his chopsticks. He thought the noise from cooking, the hum of the exhaust fan, and the closed kitchen door would’ve kept Lu Lianning from noticing the call.
Chen Miao replied, “A friend.”
This caught Lu Lianning off guard. Chen Miao was practically working for him around the clock and had never mentioned having any friends.
Chen Miao passed him a small bowl of soup.
As Lu Lianning began to eat, Chen Miao barely touched his own food.
Such a sight was impossible for Lu Lianning to ignore, even if he wanted to.
Chen Miao had been completely thrown off by the unexpected news, losing his composure. He knew should have come up with a more rational and appropriate reason—waited until after Lu Lianning finished his meal, then calmly considered what to say.
But impatience got the better of him. So, when Lu Lianning looked up and asked if he had something to say, Chen Miao blurted out as if he had been waiting for this moment, “Yes, I have a favor to ask you.”
This piqued Lu Lianning’s interest. He continued, “What is it?”
Chen Miao hadn’t had time to properly organize his thoughts or carefully choose his words. After a brief hesitation, he said, “I… I want to borrow some money.”
Lu Lianning studied him. The pajamas Chen Miao wore were his old ones, already faded from countless washes, yet he still wore them.
He believed that the salary he paid Chen Miao was much higher than those offered in the same industry. Yet Chen Miao remained as frugal as ever. Lu Lianning had always thought that Chen Miao was simply stingy by nature, having been that way for so long. He would make a few dismissive remarks but never said anything serious about it.
Now, it seemed like that wasn’t the case at all.
“Why do you need to borrow money?” Lu Lianning set down his chopsticks, as if ready to listen to Chen Miao’s explanation carefully.
Chen Miao avoided his gaze, instead watching Lu Lianning’s fair fingers tapping erratically on the table.
“How much do you want to borrow?”
Chen Miao’s voice was low as if he lacked confidence or was afraid of being turned down. “Three million.”
Lu Lianning clearly hadn’t expected that. His eyes moved from Chen Miao’s thin wrist to his anxious face.
Chen Miao, with his buzz cut that looked like he’d done it himself to save some cash, was now asking to borrow three million.
At this moment, Lu Lianning’s tone could still be considered calm. “What do you need three million for?” His thoughts flashed back to the mysterious phone call that had even caused a dish to be missing from today’s dinner table. “Is this for that friend of yours?” He wondered if Chen Miao was getting scammed.
But Chen Miao seemed unwilling to discuss that friend. He looked tense, shaking his head. “No.”
He looked a little flustered. “Actually… actually, I used to gamble, and I lost a lot of money.”
Look at him—he not only had his little secrets but was also too nervous to come up with a convincing lie. Lu Lianning’s tone was gentle as he suddenly laughed and looked at Chen Miao. “How come I never noticed that you’re a gambler?”
