Chapter 33: She Got the Wrong Idea

There was a moment of silence in the room.

Jiang Ning thought to herself, “Did I say something wrong?”

Lu Dingquan’s indifferent and deep eyes looked over. He picked up the vegetables and meat. Jiang Ning’s mind suddenly went blank: “I mean… cooking!”

He slightly raised his eyebrows: “Oh, I’ll do it.”

It was as if he didn’t even notice her misunderstanding, it was just Jiang Ning who had gotten the wrong idea.

Jiang Ning wiped her hair, speechless, and slightly curled her lips.

She really realized now that Lu Dingquan was actually very good at pretending.

Honest, simple, not at all.

The stove in this house had never been lit. Lu Dingquan was back to cook tonight, which attracted the attention of the neighbors.

Jiang Ning sat in the room, listening to the sounds outside.

“Director Lu, are you stir-frying? You’re not busy these days, it’s good to cook more often with Little Jiang at home. Look at how thin Little Jiang is! Her waist is as thin as a stalk of chrysanthemum!”

It was Sister Ying from next door who was greeting him.

“This spinach is so tender, so fresh and juicy. Blanch it and then dress it with oil and vinegar. It’s delicious.”

Aunt Wang enthusiastically shared her cooking tips.

“Director Lu is back.”

A couple from next door smiled and passed by, taking out their keys to open their door.

“Oh! Director Lu, where’s Little Jiang? Why are you cooking? You’re a big man, you’re tired after a day outside, and you still cook when you get back? It’s not that I’m saying this, but Little Jiang is still too young, she’s a bit delicate and doesn’t understand much.”

The tone seemed concerned, but in fact, it was pointed and provocative. It was Zeng Guilan, the wife of Master Ma.

Zeng Guilan spoke, deliberately peeking through the door crack, as if she wanted to verify her thoughts. This Little Jiang must be hiding in the room being lazy because she doesn’t cook!

Jiang Ning heard Lu Dingquan say something outside.

His voice was low, and there were people coming and going outside now, she couldn’t hear clearly.

But then, Zeng Guilan fell silent, and Sister Ying from next door raised her voice and laughed:

“Two people are living their lives, why are you saying all these things, Zeng Guilan? You’re even meddling in whether other people’s husbands cook or not? Your old Ma doesn’t cook all day, are you jealous? Guilan, sister tells you, you don’t see how good Little Jiang looks, how good her personality is, and she’s also very capable. Only someone like her can control Director Lu. As for you… heh, I think you and your old Ma are a good match, don’t be envious of others!”

Zeng Guilan’s husband, Master Ma, was a man with a mole on his face. He relied on his skills to have a secure job, and he never helped with chores at home. He wouldn’t even help if a bottle of oil fell over, let alone cook.

The few neighbors who passed by all burst into laughter, making Zeng Guilan so embarrassed that she could only make a few excuses and quickly ran away.

Jiang Ning also chuckled softly in the room. She didn’t care what the neighbors whispered about behind her back, but this was right in front of her face, she had to retort.

Before she could go out to retort, Sister Ying did it for her.

She wiped her already half-dry hair, thinking to herself, did Lu Dingquan say something too?

She kind of wanted to know.

Half an hour later, Lu Dingquan brought the food in on time.

He cooked a big pot of noodles, plus a side of cold spinach, a dish of chili-fried pork, and a golden fried egg.

Jiang Ning went to get the chopsticks and put them on both sides of the table. Seeing that he was a little hot after stir-frying, he sat opposite her and unbuttoned the button under his open collar.

Meeting her gaze, Lu Dingquan wiped his neck with a tissue and quickly said, “It’s nothing, just make do with it.”

Jiang Ning first scooped up two chopsticks of noodles. This way of eating was quite common here, the stir-fried dishes were used as toppings, and they would eat the dry noodles by mixing them.

Lu Dingquan also reached out and scooped up a few big chopsticks. Jiang Ning watched, thinking that maybe his hands were big, or his chopsticks were steady, he could scoop up a big mouthful of noodles each time, the amount he scooped up each time was almost as much as her bowl.

A door separated the noise of the corridor outside from the quiet of the two people eating in the room.

Jiang Ning wanted to ask him about what happened earlier, he was eating with his head down, and suddenly raised his eyes to glance at her waist sitting opposite him.

That glance was quick.

He lowered his dark eyebrows and continued to eat.

Jiang Ning was inexplicably puzzled, her chopsticks holding the noodles slowed down.

What was he looking at? She quickly glanced down, her clothes were fine, why was he looking at her?

She remembered what Sister Ying said outside, that she was too thin and her waist was thin.

Jiang Ning’s delicate eyebrows furrowed, but her cheeks were slightly warm.

After finishing the meal, she cleaned up the dishes, Lu Dingquan went straight over and took them to wash.

He simply explained, “I’m going to take a shower later, it doesn’t matter if they get wet.”

He was so thoughtful, Jiang Ning was embarrassed to really just sit there, she saw that he brought back a few pieces of clothing, she thought they were dirty and needed to be washed, but they didn’t look dirty, so she picked up the pile of clothes: “I’ll wash the clothes, I’ll wash yours too…”

The clothes on top were lifted by her, revealing a few… men’s shorts underneath.

Dark gray.

Jiang Ning’s hand trembled, she quickly put those clothes back.

Lu Dingquan was washing the dishes in the bathroom, and quickly said, “No need, those are clean.”

So he had washed them at the factory and brought them back? Jiang Ning couldn’t help but blame herself for being overzealous, and she even saw something she shouldn’t have seen…

She reasonably guessed the size was quite big.

…No! There’s no guessing, there’s no size! She she she was just talking nonsense… hmm.