CHAPTER 18: CHAPTER 18: BAI YUEGUANG’S STAND-IN (18)

Just because he reached out actively just now, Jiang Lai had already taken a liking to this young man who helped her out.

The hug was limited, Jiang Lai timely distanced herself, shook hands with One, and retreated from the stage under the envious and jealous eyes of the audience.

Having won the championship, all the members of OPK were excited and agreed to go for barbecue together.

It was a rare opportunity to relax, everyone was talking about today’s match, but only One sat silently in the corner, drinking beer without uttering a word.

"What’s wrong today? What are you thinking? You’ve been out of it since the match ended."

A teammate hooked his neck.

"Come on, spill it! What’s going on?"

"Nothing."

"What else could it be about, definitely thinking about that beautiful girl just now!"

Another teammate jostled loudly, and the others, hearing this, gathered around to gossip too.

"That girl is truly beautiful, but unfortunately she doesn’t like me, she only likes One!"

One frowned, pushing away the teammate beside him.

"Don’t talk nonsense, I’m just a bit tired."

Seeing his odd demeanor, everyone wisely stopped asking and continued drinking and eating.

One still kept his head down, indeed he was thinking about what had just happened.

The one who went on stage was Jiang Lai, it had to be her.

Isn’t she Shen Liao’s mistress? Why would she be at the finals?

Interesting, she even said she liked him, amongst so many she chose him.

How is this woman still so overconfident as before?

But thinking of this, he subconsciously recalled the hug just now.

The woman smelled nice, her body was soft, when leaning over she felt like a cat, weightless.

——

After watching the match, Jiang Lai remembered on her way home why that One seemed familiar.

A second-generation wealthy in Shen An’s circle, although they didn’t socialize much, they had met once, no wonder he seemed familiar.

This world is so small, everywhere you go you meet people from that wealthy circle, tsk, bad luck.

Setting apart those miscellaneous memories, Jiang Lai passed by a vegetable market.

She intended to just eat at a restaurant, but thinking about what day it was, Jiang Lai thought for a moment, turned the steering wheel, and drove into the market.

When she returned to the villa, she smelled the rich aroma of cake as soon as she entered, and on entering the kitchen saw a beautifully styled cake on the long marble table, currently trending with floral internet style.

Zhou Min, wearing a white dress, was bowing her head, mixing cream, a strand of hair loosely hanging by her ear, it looked very serene and elegant, together with the cake’s aroma and the cream’s sweetness, the scene was quite pleasing.

Jiang Lai stood outside watching for a while, noticing the woman’s overly elaborate manner, a smile tugged at her lips.

Zhou Min had timed it well, turned around, and pretended to look to the kitchen door unintentionally, then was shocked by the person standing before her.

"Miss Jiang, you’re back."

Jiang Lai casually tossed the groceries onto the cooking counter, following with a nod as she glanced around, finally her gaze resting on the most conspicuous cake.

It was clear a lot of effort went into it, the craftsmanship was decent too.

The kitchen that was supposed to be busy now had only her, Jiang Lai casually took a white chocolate rose from the cake, eating while asking.

"Where’s everyone else?"

Zhou Min stared at the flower in Jiang Lai’s hand, her heart ached, her hands clenched tightly, her voice tinged with tension.

"They all went out to buy groceries, I, I used the kitchen to make a cake."

"Hmm, it tastes good, did you specifically learn it before?"

Saying so, Jiang Lai took the little decoration figurine from the cake, unfortunately it couldn’t be eaten, looked somewhat cheap.

At this moment, Zhou Min’s heart was hanging high.

She wished she could chop off Jiang Lai’s restless hand, but she was too guilty to even express dissatisfaction, so she had to endure.

"Hmm, studied for a few years."

"Nice taste, just happens to be missing a cake for tonight, saves me from going out to buy one."

"Alright, you can go now, you can get off work early today."

"Ah, why?"

Jiang Lai looked at her, smiling gently, yet her eyes were cool.

"Isn’t leaving work early good? Do I need to explain why?"

"No, I didn’t mean it that way, I just feel it’s not great to get off early on the first day."

Jiang Lai raised her eyebrows.

"Alright, suit yourself, just help me a bit then."

Zhou Min was startled, looking at Jiang Lai, unsure if she was genuinely oblivious or just pretending.

For over an hour next, she was really instructed by Jiang Lai to be an assistant, peeling garlic one moment, cutting vegetables the next, watching her busying herself preparing a table full of homemade dishes like scallion tofu stew, scrambled eggs with chili, finally brewing an ordinary rib winter melon soup, not even adding ginseng or caterpillar fungus.

"Miss Jiang, you really don’t have to make these yourself."

Jiang Lai served the last dish, Dapan Ji, on the table, satisfied, arms akimbo, letting out a sigh.

"I actually kind of like cooking."

Zhou Min fell silent, just feeling that Jiang Lai didn’t have the slightest bit of restrained elegance, no wonder Master Shen An said she couldn’t uphold the family’s reputation.

Suddenly, the sound of the door opening came from outside, the steady and powerful footsteps indicating Shen Liao was back.

Zhou Min’s eyes lit up, almost seemed more excited than Jiang Lai.

"Mr. Shen is back, I’ll get the cutlery ready."

Jiang Lai watched her busy back and forth, saying nothing, removed her apron, and quietly walked to Shen Liao’s back, taking advantage of him bending to change shoes, she suddenly pounced forward, reached out to cover his eyes.

Shen Liao instinctively grasped Jiang Lai’s wrist, but before exerting any force, he caught the familiar scent, a faint aroma of shower gel mixed with a hint of green onion and garlic.

He helplessly sighed.

"What are you doing?"

"Guess what day today is!"

Shen Liao seriously thought for a moment.

"French abolition of feudal independence day."

"..."

Jiang Lai’s face fell, she released her hands, her silence evident.

Shen Liao finally straightened up, turned to look at her, then saw the little girl’s face quite unhappy.

"What’s wrong?"

"Don’t you really know what day it is today?"

Shen Liao frowned, at this moment the secretary standing outside who didn’t dare make a sound softly said a word.

"Boss, today is Valentine’s Day."

Upon hearing, before Shen Liao could say anything, Jiang Lai snorted, turned around and left, muttering incessantly.

"This is our first Valentine’s Day since we’ve been together..."

Shen Liao followed swiftly, a sense of guilt and unease rose unbidden, but he couldn’t quite articulate, he could only silently watch Jiang Lai’s back, following her to the kitchen.

"Alright, forget it, you didn’t know this time, remember next time, come have dinner."