Chapter 032: From Today On, We’re Meal Buddies

Fang Yimeng didn’t take Lu Jingshan’s business-like explanation to heart.

“What do you want for lunch? I feel like having rice noodles in broth. I heard there’s a place with really tender beef. Want to order from there?”

She lounged back on the comfy sofa, absentmindedly scrolling through food delivery apps, casually asking Lu Jingshan.

“Rice noodles get soggy by the time they arrive. I don’t want that.”

She resigned herself to trying another option. “How about this Thai place? Sweet and sour flavors, very appetizing.”

“Can’t get used to Thai sweet-and-sour.” He thought about it and turned that one down too.

She kept her cool. “Fine. Then let’s order from this five-star hotel. Should be good.”

“It’ll be cold when it gets here.”

“……”

Three rejections in a row. Her patience snapped. She tossed the phone onto the sofa and sat up, reaching out to throttle Lu Jingshan’s neck.

Her pretty eyes filled with playful fury as she gritted her teeth. “Eat or don’t—whatever!”

Lu Jingshan let out a low chuckle from his throat. He reached up to grab her wrist and pulled her hands apart, throwing her off balance.

In a blink, she stumbled forward, landing right on his lap. Her hands instinctively gripped his, and somehow, their fingers ended up interlocked.

Her long black hair brushed against his face. All she had to do was tilt her head slightly and she’d be staring directly into Lu Jingshan’s tender, peach blossom eyes.

For a moment, both of them held their breath.

“Before I came, I had someone deliver some fresh vegetables and meat. I bought too much, so I wanted to see if you’d eat with me.”

His voice was a bit husky.

Fang Yimeng’s earlobes flushed red. Last night’s events were still vivid in her mind. This posture… was a bit too much.

She shifted slightly to reduce contact with him, then blurted out without thinking, “I can’t cook. You bring raw meat over and both of us are going to end up with food poisoning.”

“I wasn’t asking you to cook. I’ll do it.” His deep eyes curved with a smile.

The position between them was still awkward. She was about to shift again when suddenly a ringtone interrupted them.

She let out a quiet sigh of relief. It wasn’t her phone.

But in the next second, Lu Jingshan adjusted his posture and moved upward, which unintentionally closed the distance between them again. Her breath caught.

He seemed to realize the awkward contact too and quickly let go of her hands.

Freed, she hastily rolled off him and sat curled up on the sofa, hugging her knees, eyes darting around the room—anywhere but at Lu Jingshan.

Even the man’s ears were slightly red. He pressed his lips together—looking for all the world like a shy young man, nothing like the arrogant one from last night.

“Hello?” Lu Jingshan picked up the phone from the table and cleared his throat.

The caller said something, to which he replied, “Okay, thank you,” and hung up.

“Want to take a walk downstairs?” he asked, turning to look at the woman on the sofa trying to shrink into a ball.

Fang Yimeng peeked up at him but quickly looked away. She glanced around for a bit, then nodded.

She changed into a casual outfit suitable for going out and grabbed a bucket hat from the coat rack before following Lu Jingshan downstairs to pick up the delivery.

When she reached the gate and saw him chatting familiarly with the security guard and carrying several heavy bags of groceries back, it finally hit her.

“This is a high-end apartment—no delivery-to-door service? How am I supposed to pick up takeout in the future?”

She noticed the bags looked quite heavy, so she reached out to take one. But Lu Jingshan easily avoided her.

“Too heavy. It’ll leave red marks on your hands—uncomfortable,” he said, motioning for her to stop fussing.

She had only offered out of politeness anyway. Since he insisted, she happily walked beside him, watching as he lugged the two heavy bags, veins bulging from his forearms.

His arm muscles were already defined, and now with the veins showing, the boyfriend vibes were off the charts. Fang Yimeng stared at his arms, biting her lip, slightly moved.

Of course, it was broad daylight, and without the haze of red wine, she wasn’t about to start having inappropriate thoughts.

She deliberately averted her gaze and looked around the upscale apartment complex instead.

Back in unit 1902, Lu Jingshan placed the groceries in the open kitchen and began organizing them neatly into the fridge.

Fang Yimeng walked in, sipping a glass of water, only to see her kitchen completely transformed.

“Stocking my fridge? It’s going to mold in here eventually,” she said, placing her glass on the counter, staring at the fridge with mixed feelings.

Rolling up his sleeves, Lu Jingshan washed leafy greens at the sink. Hearing her comment, he didn’t reply—he just moved his hands faster.

Fang Yimeng leaned lazily against the counter, watching him cook. His movements were smooth and practiced—not a hint of awkwardness. About an hour later, when the rice cooker clicked off, the final dish was plated and brought to the table.

A simple meal: four dishes and a soup—two meat, two veggie, plus a tomato and egg soup.

Fang Yimeng had a habit of drinking soup before eating.

She took a spoonful of the red broth, and the moment the sour-salty flavor hit her tongue, her eyes sparkled. She looked up at Lu Jingshan in surprise.

“You can cook?!” This younger guy had more tricks up his sleeve than she imagined.

Seeing her genuine surprise and delight, Lu Jingshan silently let out a breath of relief before scooping some soup for himself.

“I didn’t like the food when I was studying abroad, so I just learned to cook myself,” he said casually, “Ah Yi likes it, too. Want to consider deepening our partnership?”

“Not deep enough already?” she blurted, immediately catching the innuendo.

Both of them froze for a beat at the unintended double meaning.

Realizing her words sounded a bit off, she scrambled to recover, “I mean—how exactly do you want to deepen it?”

…Which somehow made it worse.

Fang Yimeng frowned, her charming face full of confusion and helplessness, making her look more like a delicate woman than her usual aloof self.

“Meal buddy arrangement—you buy what you want to eat, I’ll cook,” he said seriously now, no longer teasing.

“But I won’t always be home. I just happen to have fewer gigs this week,” Fang Yimeng said, clearly interested in the idea.

Lu Jingshan raised an eyebrow, a playful gleam in his deep eyes. “My work is busy too. It’s not like we’ll eat together every meal. But if we’re both home, we’ll do it like this.”

“That works,” she nodded, then added, “If I buy the groceries and you cook, who’s doing the dishes?”

She threw out the most soul-crushing question of post-meal life.

Without hesitation, Lu Jingshan replied, “I’ll wash them.”

The words hit her right in the heart. But on the surface, she still acted coy, “That… might not be appropriate.”

Of course, he could see through her playful reluctance and chuckled, “Going downstairs to get groceries is tiring enough. I’ll wash the dishes. It’s only fair.”