The Healing Sunshine (一厘米的阳光)

Chapter 17.1 - Beneath the Same Roof (1)

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Jǐ Yi had thought that once they were home, he would immediately have the talk with her. However, Jì Chengyang merely motioned to her with his hand that she should first take a shower. She therefore could only swiftly shower, change into her homewear clothing, and come back out again, where she was right on time to see Jì Chengyang stooped over and pulling out ingredients for dinner from the refrigerator.

When Jǐ Yi stepped closer, she smelled the faint scent of Dettol disinfectant all around.

During this period, Jì Chengyang had been paying very careful attention to disinfecting the home. When he returned home, he would immediately give it a round of cleansing and scrubbing. This also included, every day, putting the clothes that they had worn on that particular day into the washing machine and washing them. It was a little better with clothing, since the garments were mixed with laundry detergent and, in the end, no disinfectant smells would be left behind.

It was a different matter for the rooms, though.

In the beginning, she had not liked this type of smell, but gradually she had grown accustomed to it. Now, this sense of familiarity actually allowed her heart to feel more secure.

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Jì Chengyang readied the wok and began making dinner.

The kitchen range hood whirred loudly. Heating the oil, he poured the whole plate of peanuts in. As a result of Jǐ Yi's one remark of "I love peanuts," this dish was soon going to switch over to become Kung Pao peanuts, and the diced chicken was about to turn into merely an accompanying ingredient.

He picked one up with his chopsticks and fed it to her. "Have a taste."

This was the first sentence he had spoken to her since coming home, only three words.

Opening her mouth slightly, Jǐ Yi bit down on that peanut that was already stir-fried until crispy. Her eyes were fixed on him. Jì Chengyang was still angry and was not at all covering up the icy expression that was in his eyes and extended all the way to his face. It was as if his single glance had penetrated straight into the atriums of her heart, and he could see her blood flowing and her heart beating. This made her become so uneasy.

"Taste good?"

"Mm-hmm..."

"You don't think it's a bit over-fried?" he asked.

"It does seem a bit." It had indeed been stir-fried a bit too much.

Jì Chengyang picked one up for himself with his chopsticks and tasted it. "It's not too bad. Still edible."

She made a sound in agreement.

He, though, turned off the stove. "Forget it. We'll have hot pot. I bought lots of stuff this afternoon."

Jǐ Yi made another affirmative sound. Hot pot was actually pretty good, too.

While she was thinking this, Jì Chengyang had already placed both his hands on her arms and bent down into a half-crouch. "Is it, whatever I want to eat, you'll just follow suit and have it, too? How come you don't have your own opinions?"

Jǐ Yi was slightly taken aback. "I quite like hot pot, too. If you want to have it, then let's have it. It's no big deal."

Jì Chengyang gazed directly into her eyes. After a moment of silence, he said, "Xixi, do you know what your biggest shortcoming is?"