Dinner ended in silence.

Fu Shicang was the first to stand up. “I have some matters to discuss with my agent. Enjoy your meal.”

After he left, the others also got up one after another.

The guests smiled and expressed their gratitude to Bai Jingchen for cooking.

“You all worked hard today. I’ll do the dishes.” An Leyan stood up and began clearing the tableware.

“Alright, we’ll take turns from now on.” Mu Wei rubbed his stomach. “I’m heading back to my room.”

Nie Changxing didn’t say anything, just nodded and left.

Yinxin, who rarely seemed fully present, hurriedly returned to her room, even forgetting to say goodbye to An Leyan.

Bai Jingchen, however, stayed behind.

He knew exactly how his cooking tasted and had been nervous about it.

Fortunately, everyone was polite, which put him at ease—though he still felt a little guilty.

“There are so many dishes. Let me help you?” he asked, feeling embarrassed as he watched An Leyan skillfully clear the table.

“No way.” An Leyan gathered the chopsticks and looked up. “In my house, whoever cooks doesn’t have to wash the dishes. Only those who didn’t contribute should clean up.”

“Then I’ll at least help you pour out this soup.” Bai Jingchen quickly walked to the stove and grabbed the handle of the soup pot.

The pot was quite large, with more than half of the soup still inside. Bai Jingchen wasn’t strong enough—when he lifted it abruptly, the liquid inside swayed violently.

The steaming soup sloshed within the pot, threatening to spill over onto him.

Just then, a hand reached over, easily taking the pot from him. Moving with the momentum, the person smoothly poured the soup into the sink.

“Whew—” Bai Jingchen had narrowly avoided disaster and let out a relieved breath.

But just now… An Leyan’s strength was incredible!

He had always thought of him as just a kid who followed him around. When had he grown into a strong, mature man?

He’s so much stronger than me.

Bai Jingchen stole a glance at him, and for some reason, his face felt a little warm.

An Leyan turned off the stove, swiftly placing all the dirty dishes into the sink before saying, “You should go rest. I’m used to this; I won’t get tired.”

Seeing how efficient he was, Bai Jingchen didn’t dare to interfere anymore. He nodded. “Then I’ll head out first. You should rest early too.”

Washing dishes didn’t take long. After wiping off the water stains around the sink, An Leyan glanced at the stove.

Young Master Bai had focused entirely on cooking—oil stains, water splashes, and stray bits of vegetables and garlic littered the counter.

He chuckled helplessly and continued cleaning.

By the time he finished, it was already past 8 PM.

The first episode was being filmed in Haishi. Since the guests had other work to wrap up while shooting the show, the production team had considerately not scheduled any evening activities.

The common areas were quiet—most people had either gone out or returned to their rooms.

An Leyan entered the shared room.

The room was spacious, with two 1.5-meter-wide beds placed side by side. A pair of nightstands stood between them, and on one of them, someone had already placed personal belongings.

So, his roommate had already picked a bed.

An Leyan opened his suitcase and placed his water bottle and charger on the other nightstand.

There was also a shared desk in the room, currently empty.

He took out two textbooks from his suitcase and sat down at the desk.

In his previous life, he had never attended university properly.

Childhood illness had disrupted much of his education, and the orphanage hadn’t had the resources to help him catch up. His grades had always been mediocre.

After middle school, he attended a vocational nursing school that primarily trained caregivers. Upon graduation, he started working and eventually became Fu Shicang’s assistant.

A few days ago, he had subtly inquired with An’s mother and browsed through all his phone’s WeChat groups, only to be shocked—he was actually a freshman in Haishi University’s nursing program and had just finished his final exams last week.

He logged into the campus website to check his grades. Most of his subjects barely passed, and he had even failed one course.

He wasn’t sure if the original host of this body had no interest in the major or had simply been preoccupied with other things.

Sighing, he pulled out a brand-new Biochemistry textbook and began reading under the desk lamp.

The Fu family’s business focused on biopharmaceuticals. Though their growth had been steady, they only truly rose to prominence after Fu Shicang’s father took over.

Fu Xingshan had a research background, but he never intended for his son to follow in his footsteps. As a result, Fu Shicang had studied the arts in his previous life. However, after his father’s death, he abandoned his studies abroad to return home and take over the Fu Corporation, determined to uncover the truth.

During that time, An Leyan had stayed by his side, learning biopharmaceutical knowledge from scratch. He had a decent grasp of these fundamental subjects.

In the blink of an eye, three hours had passed. It was already past eleven at night, and Fu Shicang still hadn’t returned.

An Leyan rubbed the back of his neck, closed his book, and stood up.

He hadn’t felt it while reading, but the moment he stopped, he realized he had been hungry for a while.

The intense hunger drove him to the kitchen, where he opened the refrigerator.

Bai Jingchen had used up most of the ingredients while preparing dinner, leaving behind only two bags of shrimp and a box of squid tentacles.

An Leyan took out a bag of shrimp, placed it in water along with the squid tentacles to defrost, then rummaged through the cabinets and found a box of pasta.

Boiling water, cooking noodles, stir-frying shrimp and squid tentacles—

Before long, a plate of seafood pasta was ready.

To avoid disturbing anyone, he had closed the kitchen door before cooking, leaving only a small lamp by the dining table turned on.

The warm light, the steaming pasta, the fragrant shrimp and squid tentacles—it all felt incredibly comforting.

“Stealing food?”

A voice suddenly interrupted the cozy scene in the kitchen.

An Leyan turned his head to see Fu Shicang standing at the doorway, a teasing smile on his face.

“I—I’m not stealing,” An Leyan defended himself. “I was hungry, so I made a late-night snack.”

“That’s still stealing a midnight snack.” Fu Shicang came to a conclusion.

“No…” An Leyan stood there, troubled for a moment, then lowered his head and walked up to Fu Shicang.

“What? Are you going to silence me?”

“Mm, silence you.” An Leyan reached out, grabbed Fu Shicang’s wrist, and pulled him to the table before pushing the plate of pasta toward him.

Fu Shicang raised an eyebrow. “Trying to bribe me? I don’t eat—”

Before he could finish speaking, An Leyan swiftly divided the pasta into two portions, carefully picking out all the squid tentacles.

“All the shrimp are yours,” An Leyan nodded. “I’ll share half of the noodles with you.”

“That’s not enough,” Fu Shicang shook his head. “Midnight snacks should be shared with whoever sees them. If you want to bribe me, you need to up your offer.”

The young man in front of him looked helpless, his delicate brows furrowed slightly in hesitation.

Fu Shicang wasn’t actually planning to make things difficult for him. He thought that as long as An Leyan pleaded, he would reluctantly accept and eat the shrimp pasta.

But instead, An Leyan seemed to make up his mind. He got up and walked toward the stove. “You eat first, I’ll fry an egg for you.”

The sizzling sound of eggs hitting hot oil filled the pan. Under the warm glow of the kitchen light, the young man kept his head down, his slightly slender back forming a graceful arc.

“All done!” He turned around with a bright smile, placing the fragrant egg onto Fu Shicang’s plate.

The edges of the egg were golden crisp, while the yolk remained soft and runny—just the way Fu Shicang liked it.

The kitchen was filled with rising steam, fogging up his glasses and blurring his vision. The dim light, the aroma of food, and the smiling face before him suddenly pulled him back to the days before he turned twelve, bringing back fragments of long-lost memories of “home.”

The kitchen was always intertwined with the warmth of everyday life. Anyone who found themselves in it—even without drinking—could experience a gentle, intoxicating sense of happiness.

—

In the small building next door where the production crew was stationed, Zhang Mao had just taken a shower and wandered into a room filled with monitors.

The moment he stepped in, he paused mid-motion, towel still in hand. “Huh? Is this the kitchen? How did those two end up eating together?”

The assistant director on duty, sitting in front of the monitors, nodded. “Yeah, An Leyan went to make a midnight snack, and Fu Shicang came back just in time. I guess he was hungry too and happened to run into him.”

“The atmosphere looks nice,” Zhang Mao nudged the assistant director’s shoulder. “Did you record everything?”

“Of course! All eight cameras are on—every single expression is captured.”

“Good, good. If this episode goes viral, I’ll give everyone a bonus.” Zhang Mao grinned, shaking out his damp hair.

He pointed at the boy on the screen. “This An Leyan has potential. Keep an eye on him and assign him an extra follow-up camera from now on.”

—

As the night deepened, the guests gradually returned to the villa. Yinxin, who had been in her room organizing art materials, finally stepped out as well.

They all happened to run into each other in the living room, and without needing to say it aloud, everyone knew—the small amount of food they had eaten earlier was long gone.

“I was thinking,” Bai Jingchen suggested, “should we go out and grab a bite? I saw a—”

Before he could finish, Yinxin suddenly twitched her nose. “That smells amazing! Is someone cooking?”

Mu Wei caught the scent as well. Without hesitation, he walked straight to the kitchen door and pushed it open.

The scene before him made him pause.

Why was Fu Shicang eating with An Leyan?

During the afternoon’s truth-or-dare game, he had been certain the two had some kind of grudge. Even though An Leyan later gave an explanation, it was obviously unconvincing.

Then, during the room assignments, Fu Shicang specifically chose to room with An Leyan, clearly just to mess with him.

But now, sharing food together like this…

Maybe their relationship was improving over a meal?

His thoughts shifted, and he strode into the kitchen. “What’s going on here? You two are sneaking a midnight feast and didn’t invite us?”

Fu Shicang remained unbothered, eating the last of his shrimp at a leisurely pace.

An Leyan looked up, half amused, half exasperated. “We were just hungry and made some food—it’s not as serious as you make it sound.”

“I don’t care. Midnight snacks should be shared with whoever sees them,” Mu Wei declared, his gaze flickering between the two before settling on An Leyan. “This pasta was definitely made by Leyan.”

He plopped down next to An Leyan and instantly changed his tone. “Can you make me a portion too? I’ll treat you to a feast tomorrow!”

An Leyan looked at him helplessly, then turned to glance at Nie Changxing, Yinxin, and Bai Jingchen, who were standing by the kitchen door. As their gazes met for a few moments, he suddenly chuckled.

“Alright, alright. Since it’s ‘whoever sees it gets a share,’ I’ll make a few more portions for you guys.”

The three standing by the door all broke into smiles.

Bai Jingchen took out the pasta. “I’ll help you cook the noodles.”

As soon as he spoke, the laughter in the kitchen abruptly stopped.

Startled, Bai Jingchen whispered, “Is cooking pasta some highly skilled technique?”

An Leyan laughed. “Not really. You just have to time it properly. How about this—you guys set a timer on your phone. Start counting from when the water boils. After eight minutes, take out one noodle every minute to taste. When it feels right, turn off the heat and drain the pasta.”

The kitchen instantly became lively again. Nie Changxing pulled out his phone and stood beside Bai Jingchen, ready to time everything precisely.

Yinxin took out the remaining greens from the fridge.

Meanwhile, Mu Wei opened the freezer. “There’s only one bag of shrimp left. That’s not going to be enough for everyone.”

An Leyan got up. “There’s a supermarket not far from here. I need to grab a few things anyway, so I’ll pick up more ingredients for the pasta while I’m at it. I’ll be back soon.”

With that, he headed out.

Just as he stepped out of the villa, a cameraman carrying his equipment quickly followed.

“I’m just going to buy some stuff,” An Leyan greeted him.

The cameraman nodded. “No problem. Just pretend I’m not here.”

An Leyan made a quick round of the nearby shops, picking up several large packs of Italian meat sauce before hurrying back to the villa.

As soon as he entered, he saw Fu Shicang standing by the entrance.

The man’s face was expressionless, as if the laughter and excitement from the kitchen had nothing to do with him.

“Are you heading out?” An Leyan asked while changing his shoes.

“Yeah, to buy a pack of cigarettes,” Fu Shicang replied.

“You should’ve told me earlier,” An Leyan said with a smile, looking up. “I could’ve brought one back for you.”

Fu Shicang stepped forward to change his shoes as well, glancing down at the shopping bag in An Leyan’s hand.

“What did you buy? Shrimp?” he suddenly asked.

An Leyan shook the bag. “No, it’s meat sauce. I’m making meat sauce pasta for everyone.”

The slightly ajar door let in a sliver of warm night air, swirling softly between them.

Fu Shicang finished putting on his shoes and nodded at the boy. “Alright, go on then.”

An Leyan watched him walk out, then turned and headed back to the kitchen.

Shrimp pasta was Cang Ge’er’s favorite, so… making meat sauce pasta for everyone else should be just fine.