Chapter 48: A Bowl of Plain Noodles

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Li Yan thought she was going to ask whether he wanted to take a shower but interrupted before she could finish, saying: "I don’t need a shower; I had one before I went out tonight."

Wen Qianyi rolled her eyes at him, "Who’s asking about a shower? I meant, you were just drinking; aren’t you hungry? Should I make you a bowl of noodles?"

Li Yan was a bit surprised but didn’t want to miss the chance to taste her cooking. "Sure, I’d love to eat!"

"If you don’t eat, it’s a waste, but even if you eat, it’s still no big deal!"

Wen Qianyi laughed and walked toward the kitchen.

Even though Wen Qianyi lived alone, she still cooked and had all the necessary utensils. As she boiled water, she started making the broth.

Li Yan glanced around the living room but didn’t see the cat Mimi. He poured himself a glass of water, tidied up the blanket, then wandered into the kitchen to watch her.

"Are you done? Do you need help?"

Wen Qianyi had already prepared the broth, and the water had just boiled. She ladled a spoonful into the soup bowl to dissolve it.

"..." Li Yan was speechless, "Wen Xiaoyi, remember your status; you’re at the director level now?"

Wen Qianyi raised her eyebrows and laughed, "No choice, it depends on the person."

"Is it true that proximity to excellence makes one excellent, and proximity to darkness makes one dark?"

"That’s right, you’re the darkness!"

"What if I turn bad? Haha, would you turn bad with me?"

Seeing his mischievous grin, Wen Qianyi playfully waved the ladle at him in mock anger, "Get out of here! Or else, no noodles for you and the cat!"

"Do cats eat noodles?"

"..."

"Alright, alright, I won’t disturb you. Let me tell you a joke!" Li Yan said to himself at the kitchen door.

"Go, go, get out! Don’t get in the way here." Wen Qianyi pretended to kick him.

Li Yan retreated to the living room. Soon, Wen Qianyi came out with a steaming bowl of noodles. Late at night, she didn’t have much to add, so the broth was made with oil, salt, soy sauce, MSG, sesame oil, pepper, and topped with some scallions.

"Eat while it’s hot, but be careful not to burn yourself." Wen Qianyi handed him a pair of chopsticks.

Looking at the noodles on the table, Li Yan had intended to savor Wen Qianyi’s cooking. But the scent of plain noodles without beef or eggs sent his thoughts drifting. It seemed to transport him back in time, evoking the long-hidden memory of his mother’s cooking.

After preparing everything, Wen Qianyi sat beside him. Seeing him holding the chopsticks and staring blankly at the noodles, she laughed and said, "Disappointed? Just the simplest, most everyday noodles to fill your stomach and stop the hunger."

Yes indeed! The simplest, most everyday noodles, a taste Li Yan hadn’t had for a long time.

His life used to be that of a wanderer!

Wandering is a kind of disease, like cancer. It’s not easy to cure, nor easy to contract. No one becomes a wanderer overnight; if someone suddenly becomes a wanderer, there must be a special reason.

Because wanderers don’t reminisce about the past or fantasize about the future, they surprisingly live with a Zen-like demeanor—living in the present! They don’t torment themselves, don’t worry pointlessly about tomorrow, living spontaneously, drinking when there’s wine.

In a non-mission state, Li Yan always took good care of himself. When he could stay in a five-star hotel, he wouldn’t settle for a four-star; when there was company, he wouldn’t stay alone. With so many cuisines in the world, he wouldn’t miss eating noodles, and if he ate noodles, it wouldn’t be plain noodles with nothing. At home, Liu Aunty sometimes prepared noodles for breakfast, but the broth was always rich. Even ordinary beef noodles resembled the ones from instant noodle commercials, not how instant noodles actually are.

So, it’s been countless years since he last had such a bowl of plain noodles, but the aroma of simple noodles with scallion quickly brought back distant yet familiar memories. It seemed like a taste from childhood!

This flavor, this feeling, made Li Yan deeply immersed, unable to extricate himself.

"What? You get full just by smelling it? Did I make it too unappetizing?" Wen Qianyi noticed his peculiar expression and thought he found it unappetizing or didn’t like it but was too embarrassed to refuse. So she joked with a smile and then sat beside him: "Forget it, forget it, if you don’t like it, don’t force yourself, I’ll eat it."

Her words broke Li Yan’s tranquility, bringing him back from his reflections to the present moment.

"Haha, you misunderstood. It’s not that I don’t like it. Just looking at this bowl of noodles and smelling this subtle aroma suddenly reminded me of the taste of noodles my mom used to make when I was a kid. I haven’t seen such a pure bowl of noodles in a long time, so it made me a bit sentimental."

"..."

Wen Qianyi was speechless, thinking he mistook her for his mom... Nonetheless, a simple bowl of noodles evoked memories for Li Yan, which made her happy.

If she only knew Li Yan’s ordinary identity from before, she would surely think he was being sentimental. But considering his Assassin identity, it’s different. Assassins aren’t made in a day, and Assassins can’t just return home on a whim; he mustn’t have been home for many years.

Furthermore, this is the taste of childhood memories. As people grow up, their relationships with family can never return to what they were in childhood.

"Then just treat it as if your mom cooked it... If you like eating this, you can come to me whenever you want, and I’ll make it for you." Wen Qianyi gently patted his shoulder and said softly. She thought to herself, poor guy, feeling sentimental after drinking? I’m not trying to take advantage of you.

"Hmm!"

Li Yan smiled, picked up his chopsticks, stirred the scallions, noodles, and soup, then picked up a mouthful and blew on it before putting it in his mouth.

"Hmm! This is the taste. When I was in school, I’d come home for lunch, and sometimes when there wasn’t enough time to make a proper meal, my mom would make me noodles."

Wen Qianyi found it interesting and laughed: "Did she ever add an egg or fry an egg for you?"

"Hehe, sometimes, but not every time." Li Yan said excitedly, continuing to eat and share: "You wouldn’t know, but my mom added cilantro to the noodles, which is also called ’yan-hui’ or something..."

"Wait a moment."

Wen Qianyi seemed to remember something and quickly got up and went into the kitchen. Soon, the sounds of water and chopping came, and a moment later, she returned with some chopped cilantro on a spoon and added it to Li Yan’s noodle bowl. She stirred it a few times and handed him the spoon.

"Haha, there was still a bit of cilantro in the fridge, but some people don’t like eating it, so I didn’t dare to add it."

Looking at Wen Qianyi’s smiling face and the cilantro mixed in the noodles, Li Yan was amused. He coughed slightly: "Cough... Actually, you rushed a bit without letting me finish."

"Hmm?"

"What I meant to say was that my mom added cilantro to the noodles, but I don’t like cilantro and always pick it out to throw away."

"..." Wen Qianyi felt a bit embarrassed.

Seeing her awkward expression, Li Yan laughed: "No worries, although I still don’t quite like cilantro now, I’m not particularly against it. Just the thought that you immediately went to wash, chop, and add it when you heard me mention it... that distracted thought, is more fragrant than anything."

"So cheesy..." Wen Qianyi rolled her eyes at him and then looked at the noodles: "It’s chopped up, but you can just eat the noodles; leaving it in the soup is okay."

"I eat the noodles, you drink the soup?"

"As if!"

"I can’t eat that much by myself. Having you just watch me eat makes me uncomfortable." Li Yan laughed, picked up some noodles with the chopsticks, and lifted them on a spoon towards Wen Qianyi.

"Stop being gross..." Wen Qianyi turned her head aside.

"Come on, otherwise, it’ll fall and attract the cat over." Li Yan continued to offer the noodles near her mouth. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Afraid he’d drop it and make a mess with the soup, Wen Qianyi had no choice but to open her mouth to catch the noodles. When he took away the spoon and chopsticks, she chewed while glaring at him: "You’re not hygienic at all!"

"During such intimate and romantic moments, you talk about hygiene..." Li Yan shook his head and offered more noodles: "We just kissed, and you didn’t say it was unhygienic then."

"You keep talking! I didn’t even have a chance to resist. You just went for a forceful kiss!" Wen Qianyi replied irritably, but since she’d already taken the first bite, she couldn’t reject strongly, except she still felt odd sharing chopsticks and eating from the same bowl with him. Geez, it’s not like there’s a food shortage...

As they talked and bickered, the two finished the bowl of noodles. While Wen Qianyi was clearing the dishes, he comfortably said: "I’ll come to you when I want to eat, you said it, and I remembered!"

"Hmph, that depends on my mood!"

(The author is still working hard, there should be a third Chapter tonight.) (To be continued, to know what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com, more Chapters are available, support the author, support legitimate reading!)