Walking towards her apartment in the evening, the air was extremely silent between Xing Bi and Nian. The iciness from his gaze was yet to settle down after her fortune telling.
"...Your handsome face will get creases upon it if you ooze such a dangerous aura like that."
If it was a normal scenario, Nian would have hopped up and down and cried tears of joy just listening to her calling him handsome. But it was evident that the fortune telling didn't fare well with him.
By this point, they had already reached her apartment.
"Oof! Enough with that murderous expression!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him inside the building. "Let's go inside. I will cook something for you and if you dare think about my fortune anymore, then I will strangle you!"
Nian snapped out of his head and stared at her hand clutching his arm. "You shouldn't invite me inside. I just accompanied you to drop you home safely."
She shot him a stare. "I am the elder one here, and younger ones should listen to their elders," she harrumphed. "It's my order or forget about scoring any date from me in the future."
She opened the door to her house and forced him to sit on the couch. "Now sit and wait for me!"
Nian could see angry steam escaping her head as she stomped away, and he sighed.
This wasn't how my first date was supposed to end…
Nevertheless, his mood slowly lightened and the thrill of being in Xing Bi's home for the first time started to fill his heart.
This is my Xing Bi's home…he sobbed.
He could very well see how much of a book lover she was, seeing a big shelf of books in her living room. The room was slightly messy and disorganized, but that just added more to her charm, making him grin.
Nian froze on his spot as if an earthquake had rumbled under him.
What is happening? Why there are dangerous sounds coming from the kitchen?
"Xing Biiiiii! Are you okay?"
The fortune suddenly crossed his mind, and his expression turned ugly.
"I am coming, Xing Bi!"
As soon as he rushed into the kitchen, he wasn't sure who should he feel sorry for. He thought Xing Bi would be in danger, but it seemed like the kitchen was in more peril.
Her apron had marks of chocolate cream and she was frowning at the egg in her hand.
"This egg wasn't breaking. This is so annoying. And I am trying to sift the mixture, but it's still coming so thick…"
Nian wanted to faint. Inwardly, he was shedding tears of blood. If it was anybody else, he would have straightaway buried that person, never to see him alive again.
But it was Xing Bi, so…
She sighed. "I was trying to make chocolates for you but damn this is hard. A pâtissier's job is so tough…You have my respect. Just a little bit though!"
Nian looked at the sorry state of the fluffy ingredients and managed to smile somehow.
"You have something to say to me?" She blinked.
He furiously shook his head. Between his obsessive compulsiveness for sweets and his future love life which could disappear if he dared to scold her, he promptly chose the latter.
Xing Bi narrowed her eyes. "Guess you have considering how you harshly rebuked my precious Ai."
She still remembers that…
"Of course not! Ai was exaggerating…I never scolded her. I only taught her as a good teacher, which I should…" his eyes shone with tears, his heart bleeding immensely, "do that with you too."
He carefully took the bowl from her, and a painful gasp escaped in his heart.
The chocolate, the eggs, the flour…Ah such violence. How are these two sisters so glaringly similar in this area?
Xing Bi scratched her head. "I didn't think making sweets will be so difficult. Isn't it just mixing, whipping and baking?"
How can it be just that? It's such a delicate process…
Nian quickly cleaned up the counter and took out some fresh ingredients. "How about you stand at a distance and I will show you?"
He is definitely making fun of me…
But as she observed him, she quickly crashed on the ground, realizing the stark differences in their abilities. She could finally see the violence in her movements as compared to his flawlessness. He handled everything with such finesse that she wished to hide her face. His eyes were focused on his task before him.
It was honestly shocking to see a man who beat the shit out of judges and who brought out his violent side if he flips could do such delicate movements too.
He popped in a chocolate inside her mouth, and she felt she was in heaven. "This ish amashing!" She cried.
The dessert he had previously prepared in Shanghai and at Zixin's party were just as delicious. "Guess you have some redeeming qualities."
It's handy to have a man who could cook, she brightened. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs novel•fire.net
She completely forgot that she was supposed to make chocolates for him to lighten his mood rather than the other way around.
Suddenly, his thumb touched the corner of her lips and brushed past just at the edge, wiping the slight smear of the chocolate.
"Y-you are taking advantage of me!" She gasped.
"Advantage?" Nian cocked his brow. In front of his tall and handsome profile, she felt slightly smaller even with her five feet and nine inches height as he closed the gap between them.
He smiled and leaned. "This is why I told you not to invite me inside your house. I don't want to be a pervert but standing alone with the woman I like under one roof and not touching her seems like a far-fetched idea to me."
"H-Hey, I just wanted to cheer up your mood. How could I have let you go with that ugly mood?" she looked away, feeling his jawline too close for her to handle. "You were overthinking about my fortune."
The mention of her fortune turned his voice darker and grimmer. "Because whether it's the past, present or future, I will never let anybody hurt you, and I will never tolerate such crap against you."