Chapter 206: He Really Is a “Little Brother”!

Chapter 206: He Really Is a “Little Brother”!

Li Ruobing remained upstairs for a full half hour.

She had not merely changed clothes. The fish had left its smell on her, so she had showered and touched up her makeup as well.

Naturally, she could not recreate her earlier look with the same care, since she had not brought that many cosmetics.

Instead, she settled for light makeup. She still had lipstick and an eyebrow pencil in her handbag.

At around six in the evening, when darkness had already fallen outside, Li Ruobing finally came downstairs.

Her expression was cold.

She was genuinely in a rather poor mood.

There was no one she could blame. The only culprit was that already-gutted fish.

She had dressed beautifully before coming to see Wu Chen today and had even planned to cook personally.

Then, once her younger brother arrived, the three of them could sit down to dinner together like a “family.”

She had planned to scold Li Ruotai in front of Wu Chen as well.

Make him apologize.

Li Ruobing truly did not want any problems between them. She did not want Wu Chen to harbor resentment toward her younger brother.

Everything had been planned perfectly.

She had even imagined that today might create a certain atmosphere of “home.”

And yet she had failed before she had even begun cooking.

It left her with a sense of defeat.

Wearing another set of Wu Chen’s pajamas and a pair of his slippers, Li Ruobing walked to the kitchen doorway.

She still held her phone, thinking that if necessary she could call a chef over to cook.

But the scene inside the kitchen stopped her short.

Whoosh!

The carp went into a generous quantity of hot oil, triggering a fierce burst of sizzling.

Wu Chen stood at the stove in an apron.

It was a three-burner range, two burners currently lit. Something was already simmering beneath the lid of the pot on the middle burner, while Wu Chen cooked the fish over the one on the left.

The kitchen was enormous.

In terms of floor space, it was comparable to a standard bedroom.

All kinds of washed ingredients were arranged neatly in bowls and plates along the long counter behind him.

Nothing looked cluttered.

Everything was orderly, deliberate, and almost professional.

Li Ruobing stood frozen in the doorway.

She still remembered that day at Wu Chen’s family apartment, when she had watched Wu Chen and Su Qingying bustling around like a young married couple while she herself had moved through the scene almost as if sleepwalking.

She vaguely recalled Wu Chen watching a pot for Su Qingying while Su Qingying hung out the laundry.

But that alone had not been enough to tell her whether he could actually cook.

Knowing how to do a little did not mean knowing how to cook.

Anyone could boil instant noodles or fry leftover rice.

Now, however…

Li Ruobing had the distinct impression that Wu Chen did not merely know how to cook.

He looked like a professional.

Was it because his family ran a noodle restaurant?

Otherwise, very few men his age would possess such skill in the kitchen.

And as Li Ruobing thought about it, the same question once again entered her mind.

Was there anything Wu Chen could not do?

“What are you staring at?” Wu Chen glanced at her and asked with a smile when she remained silent.

“Come help. There are still vegetables to wash… Take a look in the bags…”

“Oh… all right.” Li Ruobing snapped out of her daze.

She had taken only one step into the kitchen when something seemed to occur to her.

She stopped, backed up to the doorway, and raised her phone.

Click!

The flash went off.

Li Ruobing took a photograph of Wu Chen cooking.

“What are you doing?” Wu Chen looked at her with a smile.

“Keeping it as a memento.” Li Ruobing pressed her lips together.

She looked at the photograph, then opened Weixun and posted it to her Moments.

No caption.

Only a picture of Wu Chen cooking.

This was not her work account.

It was her private account, so she had very few contacts on it. She might not add more than a handful of people in an entire year.

The most recent person she had added was Su Qingying.

Li Ruobing wanted to make the matter indisputable, to keep spreading the word so that more people would know Wu Chen was her boyfriend.

Besides…

Wu Chen was cooking for her.

A few minutes later, Li Ruobing had put on an apron as well. Following Wu Chen’s instructions, she washed, scrubbed, and chopped vegetables.

She did know how to cook.

She was simply rusty.

“My dear Mr. Wu, may I ask you a question?” Li Ruobing suddenly said.

“What?”

“Have you ever cooked for Su Qingying?” Her tone was exceedingly casual.

“No.” Wu Chen smiled and turned to glance at her. “If you don’t count cooking at home, then I don’t think I’ve ever cooked for any woman. You’re the first.”

He was only telling the truth.

The loop did not count. Everything from that time had been reset.

Li Ruobing pressed her lips together in a smile.

She was delighted, though she kept the emotion under control.

She even felt a little unlike herself.

She was actually pleased simply because a man had cooked for her and had never cooked for another woman.

In truth, she was comparing herself with Su Qingying.

It felt strange.

Li Ruobing had never thought herself the kind of woman who would play petty games or compete with other women out of jealousy.

Yet she could not stop herself from thinking that way.

“Wu Chen,” she suddenly called.

“Hm?” Wu Chen turned toward her.

At that moment, Li Ruobing leaned sideways and kissed the corner of his mouth.

She had reapplied her lipstick, and it left a clear mark.

After the brief kiss, she drew back.

“What was that for?” Wu Chen asked with a smile.

“You’re my man. Am I not allowed to kiss you?” Li Ruobing returned with a sidelong look.

She used a forceful tone to conceal her feelings.

It was a reward for Wu Chen.

She was simply happy.

Wu Chen smiled and did not argue.

Another half hour or so passed.

At around 6:40 p.m., Li Ruotai arrived.

He did not need to knock. He simply entered the code and walked into the villa.

The fragrance of food filled the living room, and sounds drifted from the kitchen.

“Sis? Brother-in-law…” he called twice.

“Watch the pot,” Wu Chen told Li Ruobing in the kitchen.

Then he took off his apron and went out, shuffling across the living room in his slippers.

When he reached the sofa area, he raised a hand toward Li Ruotai.

Li Ruotai stared at him for a moment.

This was the first time he had ever seen Wu Chen in pajamas and slippers, looking completely at home.

Every previous time they had met, Wu Chen had been wearing a suit.

A suit lent a person an air of maturity.

So right now…

Wu Chen looked genuinely young.

Like a college student home for summer vacation, idling around the house.

It reminded Li Ruotai of Wu Chen’s actual age.

And that realization was almost frightening.

How could someone so young be this extraordinary?

It was not only his mind.

His fighting ability as well…

Li Ruotai had questioned the bodyguards in detail yesterday. He knew Wu Chen had fought seven men alone inside an elevator and won.

From the way the bodyguards described it, what Wu Chen had done was inhuman.

No normal person could have managed it.

He was monstrously strong.

Wu Chen was four years younger than Li Ruotai.

More and more, Li Ruotai felt that he was not merely the “little brother” in front of his older sister.

In front of his brother-in-law Wu Chen, he was a “little brother” too.

“Sit down. What are you standing there for?” Wu Chen reached the sofa and sat, glancing at him.

Then he pulled out a tissue and wiped his mouth.

The lipstick mark from Li Ruobing’s earlier kiss was still there.

Li Ruotai sat down.

He was about to speak when Wu Chen asked first, “How is Old Dao?”

“No problem. They gave him another blood transfusion, and the doctor treated his wounds again…” Li Ruotai gave him a brief explanation.

Wu Chen nodded.

“Brother-in-law, Old Dao… Have you finished talking to him?” Li Ruotai asked.

“Yes. We finished.” Wu Chen smiled at him but volunteered nothing further.

Li Ruotai had already begun to feel pressure whenever he was in Wu Chen’s presence.

For no discernible reason.

“So… what did you talk about?” he asked again.

“Nothing much. We just chatted.”

Wu Chen’s meaning could not have been clearer.

He did not want to say.

Over the next several minutes, Li Ruotai tried every possible angle to draw information out of him.

He brought up the Ding family, Golden Flower, Old Dao…

Wu Chen had mentioned a few things before, and that was all Li Ruotai knew.

So he kept probing.

Naturally, he learned nothing.

If Wu Chen did not want to tell him, Li Ruotai would not get so much as a single word.

There was nothing he could do.

After several seconds of silence awkward enough to make Li Ruotai uncomfortable, he seemed to remember something.

He took out his phone and dialed a number.

The call connected quickly.

“Dad, I’m here… Mm… mm… right… okay…”

After a few brief words, he stood and walked over to Wu Chen.

“Brother-in-law, my dad wants to speak to you.”

Li Ruotai held out the phone.

Since he could not get anything out of Wu Chen himself, he had brought in his father, Li Maoren.