Ni Chang's heart beat rapidly, and her thick eyelashes drooped and trembled.
"No."
As she finished speaking, a begonia flower floated down from her head and landed on the top of her hair.
The girl has soft black hair flowing down her shoulders, and the red tips of her ears are as red as the begonias on her temples.
Yan Chi's eyes moved slightly, and he stretched out his hand to twist away the fallen flowers on her head.
His knuckled palms tightened slightly to catch the petals and fragrance.
"You blinked. You lied."
Ni Chang stroked her hair unnaturally, turned around and walked into the room.
"It's time to eat."
Yan Chi curled his lips and followed her into the room.
As the weather gets colder, the Ni family's dining table moves from the courtyard to the house.
Although the family has a small population, the restaurant is not sloppy at all.
There is a large round mahogany table, and the turntable is already filled with dishes.
Yan Chi raised his eyebrows and said softly: "It's so rich."
It seems that the Ni family is very particular about banquets.
Cold dishes and hot dishes, both meat and vegetables, soups, porridge and rice are all available.
Ni Chang motioned for the man to take a seat and sat down beside him.
"Grandma's specialty dish."
She pointed to the agate-colored Dongpo Pork in front of her, her eyes bright, "It's delicious!"
"This Vermicelli Shrimp Burger is also delicious...and this kidney bean, the neighbor grows it himself. Yes, I just picked it in the morning, it's very fresh."
Ni Chang introduced them one by one to the man, her whole little face became lively, Yan Chi looked at her, his dark eyes and the smile on his lips deepened.
"This is too solemn."
He looked sideways at her, and began to say unceremoniously: "Don't be so polite, we are all a family from now on."
Ni Chang glanced sideways at the man and warned him in a low voice: "You are not allowed to be in grandma's house for a while. You're talking nonsense in front of me."
"What?"
Yan Chi looked at her with a playful look, "You think Brother Chi can't do anything about it?"
Ni Chang poked the man with her elbow and scolded him: "Anyway, you are not allowed to-"
She glanced out of the corner of her eye .
When grandma arrived at the door of the restaurant, she quickly sat upright and kept silent.
Ni Hong Xing walked in and sat opposite Yan Chi.
"The hairy crabs you brought are not ordinary hairy crabs. Each one costs six to seven taels."
She was a little panicked.
"This is too expensive."
Yan Chi shook his head and looked down at the dining table: "I'm asking you to take the trouble to buy this. Table competition is nothing."
Ni Hong Xing smiled and made a polite "please" gesture: "It's almost cold, use your chopsticks."
Ni Chang picked up the rice spoon and filled the rice.
Ni Hong Xing turned the wooden plate lightly and said to Yan Chi: "I don't know what you like, so I made more. Our taste is light, but we have Aunt Fang who helps us at home, and the spicy dishes are delicious."
She prepared a dish The cold dish of chicken with saliva stopped in front of the man: "This is what she made this morning, try it?"
Ni Chang looked at Yan Chi picking up a chopstick of chicken wrapped in red oil, but hesitated to speak.
After Yan Chi finished eating, he nodded and praised: "This tastes very good."
Ni Hong Xing smiled: "Then eat more."
She got up and went to the kitchen to look at the crabs again.
Ni Chang watched the man scoop two spoonfuls of Mapo Tofu, and realized later: "...can you eat spicy food?"
Yan Chi glanced at her: "Did I say I can't?"
He didn't like spicy food.
"Then why didn't you eat before?" Ni Chang asked again.
She clearly remembered that when they had a barbecue, the man didn't put any chili pepper in it.
"You're asking questions knowingly."
Yan Chi hugged her, but without stopping his chopsticks, "I won't let you go."
He was so squeamish even after eating.
If you don’t eat ginger or garlic, even if you dip two millet peppers into it, your eyes will turn red.
He didn't cure it either.
Besides being spoiled, what the hell else can he do?
Ni Chang looked at the man steadily for a moment, and her eyes moved slightly.
She didn't say anything, picked up the serving chopsticks and gave him another piece of chicken: "It's all yours, eat slowly."
Yan Chi stopped his chopsticks and glanced at the table: "Is there anything you made here?"
Ni Chang pointed to the plate of salted egg yolk baked chicken wings: "That one."
She was a little embarrassed when she saw the man turning the plate to pick up the chicken wings: "I'm actually not very good at cooking."
"I usually have a busy schedule, and Aunt Fang comes over to cook a lot. Grandma said before that I should do more if I have nothing to do..."
"No, you can't."
Yan Chi directly pulled out the bones from the chicken wings and said nonchalantly, "I can do it."
He looked sideways.
The girl glanced at him and smiled mischievously: "If you don't obey me in the future, the whole table will cry for you."
Ni Chang curled her lips and made a sound, secretly rubbing her hand under the dining table to pinch the man.
Without looking where she was grabbing, she felt Yan Chi's back suddenly stiffen and she let out a soft "hiss".
The man pinched her wrist, and his dark eyes slowly focused on her face, his eyes deep and playful.
"You're so brave, bastard."
His voice was low and hoarse, with a warning tone, but also seemed to be restraining him: "Dare you touch a man's lower back?"
Ni Chang's heart skipped a beat, as if she had been burned. Generally, the hand seems to be withdrawn with a whoosh.
She stood up as if running away: "I'm going to help grandma in the kitchen!"
Yan Chi's dark eyes followed the girl's fleeing back.
It wasn't until the soft shadow swayed behind the door that he pulled the corner of his lower lip with a half-smile.
Before entering the kitchen, Ni Chang stood at the door for another two seconds, raised her hand and put it on the side of her feverish face.
Ni Hong Xing was making ginger-vinegar sauce and didn't notice her granddaughter's blushing face.
Ni Chang went over to open the steamer and couldn't help but let out a soft "Wow" in surprise.
What the man brought was giant hairy crabs, two of which would fit on a plate.
There were eight hairy crabs in total, including four pairs of male and female.
Grandma only steamed half of them, which was enough to fit on two plates.
Ni Chang went out with the plate first, and then Ni Hong Xing put the ginger vinegar sauce and warm rice wine cups on the table, and took out three sets of small wooden boxes from the chest of drawers next to them.
Yan Chi watched the girl beside him open the wooden box and take out a shiny small square table, round hammer, round scissors, tweezers, drill and other exquisite tools.
——A set of eight brass crabs.
Ni Hong Xing smiled at Yan Chi and said, "We are used to this. You can do whatever you want, and there is no problem with martial arts."
Yan Chi only took out the brass round scissors and said with a smile, "Then I won't be particular about it."
Ni Chang finished a few crab legs carefully, and when she turned around, she saw that the man next to her had already eaten a crab.
Although he ate quickly, he was not rude at all.
He opened the crabs skillfully and neatly.
After eating, he put the crab shells back together into whole crabs and placed them in a bone dish.
Ni Hong Xing picked up the last hairy crab and put it next to Yan Chi, signaling him to continue eating.
She said to Ni Chang again: "Nanny, drink some rice wine. Crabs are cold in nature."
Ni Chang nodded obediently: "Okay."
When she put down the wine cup, she glanced at him side calmly.
He had almost finished the last hairy crab...
As soon as Ni Hong Xing finished eating the crab in her hand, a regular customer who lived nearby suddenly came to the door.
She took the guest to the studio, apologized to Yan Chi, and asked Ni Chang to continue greeting him.
The old man closed the door of the studio, and the man took the crab shell at hand and handed it to Ni Chang: "Here."
Ni Chang turned her head and looked at it, stunned.
The crab shell is filled with crab meat.
It turns out he didn't eat just now.
The last whole crab turned out to be dismantled by the man and hidden in the shell. The crab meat is fresh and tender, the crab roe is plump, and the filling is full.
Seeing that the girl had not moved for a long time, Yan Chi said with his eyes: "Eat."
Ni Chang was a little embarrassed: "My grandma said girls can only eat one a day..."
"Brother Chi said you can eat as much as you want."
He sneered, "You think I didn't see it just now?"
He raised his lips and tapped the tip of Ni Chang's nose, teasing with a wicked smile: "Who is as greedy as a kitten?"
Ni Chang touched the tip of her nose and denied in a low voice: "I didn't..."
Yan Chi looked at her and chuckled, his tone was unconsciously doting: "Like a cat."
"Eat it quickly."
He put the crab shell in front of Ni Chang and poured it for her.
A spoonful of ginger and vinegar sauce was served on it: "I've been cooking for a long time."
Looking at the crab roe that was almost overflowing, Ni Chang swallowed, pursed her lips and took the spoon from the man's hand.
She felt a little panicked for no reason.
She had never eaten crab like this before.
She doesn't have to peel it herself, just scoop it up as much as she likes.
The ready-made food seems to taste more delicious - maybe because there is a feeling of being pampered and pampered in it...
Ni Chang finished the mouthful of glycerin and picked up the wine cup.
As soon as the man put the empty crab shell back into his plate, Ni Hong Xing came out of the studio.
She asked Ni Chang to contact the maintenance worker and ask when he would arrive in the afternoon.
Yan Chi asked her: "What's broken at home?"
Ni Chang put down the rice wine: "The window lock in my room."
"I'll take a look."
"No, someone -"
Before Ni Chang could finish speaking, the man had already picked up the lock.
The coat on the back of the chair stood up.
She had no choice but to follow him quickly.
Going upstairs to the door of the girl's room, Yan Chi suddenly stopped and looked back at Ni Chang, as if asking for instructions.
Ni Chang reacted, stepped forward and opened the door of her room: "Please come in."
When the man strode into her living room, Ni Chang's heart still fluctuated slightly.
This was the first time a man, other than her family, had entered her room...
Yan Chi walked in and stood still in the room.
Her living room and bedroom are connected, separated by an exquisite double-sided embroidered screen.
Behind the thin gauze, the girl's soft bed in a fragrant boudoir cannot be seen clearly, but it is more imaginative...
The man turned away his eyes and landed on the huanghuali dressing table in front of the window.
He suddenly remembered the scene in Ni Chang's cheongsam video:
Xiaoxuan window, dressing up.
The girl took off her cheongsam and put it aside, wearing only a thin petticoat and sitting in front of the dressing table.
Under the extremely thin suspenders, the girl's white and tender skin seemed to be covered with a layer of pearl shimmer.
The fragrant shoulders are crispy, the jade neck is tingling, and the two straight collarbones are lonely and huddled, as if they were filled with two handfuls of white snow...
Yan Chi lightly closed his eyelids, cutting off the charming pictures in his mind, and the voice line behind the tip of his throat was deflected.
He said: "Which window is broken?"
Ni Chang pointed to the corner of the room: "That one, the lock can't be locked."
The man walked over, reached out and fiddled with the window bolt, and asked her: "Do you have a toolbox?"
"Yes. .Wait a moment."
Ni Chang finished speaking and hurried downstairs.
She and her grandma usually hire workers to repair them now, and the toolbox has long been thrown into the storage room.
Ni Chang also forgot where to put it, and even searched two cabinets but couldn't find it.
She took off the rubber band on her wrist, tied the long hair scattered around her shoulders behind her head, squatted down and rummaged in the drawer.
After rummaging through two more drawers, Ni Chang found the dusty toolbox.
After wiping it clean, she carried it upstairs, where Yan Chi was lazily leaning against the window with his hands in his pocket.
She looked through the door and could only see the man's angular profile hidden in the light and shadow - the bridge of his nose was particularly steep.
When he turned his head and saw her coming back, Yan Chi raised his thick eyebrows: "You are so carefree on the second floor, with good lighting and views."
He stretched his hand out the window again, and his long fingers with clear joints were only a few inches away from the branches of Begonia flowers. .
"You can pick flowers when you open the window."
"Yes."
Ni Chang answered lightly, putting down the tool box in her hand, turning her back and whispering in a low voice, "If no one gives it to me, I will pick it myself."
Yan Chi heard it.
His eyebrows moved slightly, his black eyes narrowed with interest, and he looked at the girl's slender back with a half-smile.
For a moment, the man raised his lips and chuckled: "I'm so damn worried."
Ni Chang deliberately didn't turn around or answer.
The next moment, she heard the man click his tongue again: "There is a woman at home who is jealous every minute. I will coax her from now on. I guess there are still many days left."
Ni Chang raised the corner of her mouth and murmured softly: "Stop being so sentimental."
Yan Chi chuckled and asked her from behind: "Do you know the meaning of the gladiolus I gave grandma? "?"
Ni Chang turned around: "What?"
"Longevity and health."
Yan Chi replied.
Ni Chang nodded slowly: "It's quite suitable for grandma..."
"That's right."
The man said quietly, walking forward with two long legs and walking slowly in front of her, "As soon as the flower shop owner said this meaning, I will take it. A bouquet."
"I asked again, what kind of flowers should I give to a woman? The boss said that for my girlfriend, it must be roses. But when I thought about it -"
He looked straight at her, his narrow black eyes deeply seductive: "This is not my girlfriend, isn't it appropriate?"
It came again and again.
Ni Chang lowered the corner of her mouth, tilted her head and said, "Then don't give it away."
Yan Chi raised his eyebrows: "No?"
Ni Chang looked up at the man, with a faint expectation in his light-colored pupils. : "You...really?"
The man was noncommittal.
He leaned over and stared at her, coaxingly: "Call me, brother, and I'll give it to you."
Ni Chang: "..."
Ni Chang looked at the man angrily and curled her lips: "I don't care about it."
Yan Chi smacked his lips: "Isn't that rare?"
He smiled again, straightened up, and put one hand into his coat pocket -
Ni Chang raised her eyebrows curiously, following the man's movements closely with her eyes.
Can there be flowers in your pocket?
Yan Chi slowly took out his hand, and his hand with distinct metacarpal bones was slightly clenched -
nothing.
Keenly catching the disappointment flashing across the girl's eyes, Yan Chi curled his lips, put his hand under her eyes, and suddenly gave a gentle push with his thumb.
Ni Chang's eyes widened suddenly and she held her breath unconsciously.
——A hosta slipped out of the man's cuff.
The white walls of the hosta are flawless and the whole body is shiny.
The carving on the hairpin is full and delicate - in the shape of a small rose.
Yan Chi's lips curled up, and he raised his hand to put the hairpin into the low bun on the back of Ni Chang's head.
He gently tucked the broken hair behind her ears, his dark eyes deep:
"He brought an undefeated rose to our Zai Zai."