The newly bought white porcelain bowl was filled with tomato fish with orange-red soup. Tender fish fillets and diamond-shaped green bamboo shoots floated in the rich soup, and a small handful of fresh green onions were dotted on the top.
Huo Ran placed the bowl mat on the dining table and brought out the tomato fish very carefully.
Then he set the table, served the freshly cooked rice, pulled up a chair, and turned on the TV in the living room again. After waiting for a long time, Tao Zhiyue was still in the kitchen and hadn't come out.
The speed of time flowing tonight is rather abnormal, half a day is approximately equal to one minute.
So Huo Ran leaned against the kitchen door and looked inside quietly, just like he did when he watched him cutting watermelon during the day.
Tao Zhiyue maintained the same posture as ten minutes ago, standing in front of the sink, picking vegetable leaves meticulously.
The light projected his movements onto the wall. He looked just like a robot. He reached out to pinch the leaves, pulled them, let go and threw them away, then reached out again. The amplitude and frequency were kept perfect.
Huo Ran walked closer and saw that the celery in the pond next door had been pulled out and only the stalks were left. Now, what Tao Zhiyue was holding in his hand was the white-stemmed water spinach that he bought specially for him.
Huo Ran quickly stopped him: "This is not celery! No need to pick the leaves."
Tao Zhiyue paused when he heard the voice, then he glanced at the suddenly bald water spinach stalk in his hand and froze.
After a while, he seemed to have found an excuse and whispered, "… Today we have a new method, stir-frying the leaves and the stems."
"I seem to have heard that this way of eating must be very delicious." Huo Ran agreed in a serious tone, "But you don't have to cook it tonight. There is enough tomato fish. Come out and eat."
"..." Tao Zhiyue seemed to be stuck in front of the sink, unable to move, "Then wait for me to collect the leaves."
Then he began to pick up the water spinach leaves scattered in the pool, especially those mixed with celery leaves. He picked them up slowly and sorted them out, which was really a great way to kill time.
Huo Ran looked at his motionless back for a while, the smile on his face could not disappear.
Ever since he tasted the sugar-mixed tomatoes, Tao Zhiyue no longer looked at him directly, and skillfully showed his back from every angle.
He thought about it and took two steps forward: "I'll help you, the tomato fish is getting cold."
Huo Ran decisively took the green mixed leaves from his hand and put them into the vegetable basket beside him without further ado.
"We'll divide it up after we finish it tomorrow."
The back of his hand was rubbed by the burning temperature, and Tao Zhiyue stopped where he was, as if he had been electrocuted.
In this position, the sound of the heartbeat is particularly clear. The back is pressed against another person's heart, and the body temperature through the clothes is still hot, surging towards you endlessly.
Huo Ran quickly gathered all the vegetable leaves in the pond into the vegetable basket, then turned on the faucet, rinsed the hands of the robot in his arms, and looked around.
"Okay, the dishes are ready, the rice is cooked, and I'll wash the pots and pans after dinner, so you don't have to stay in the kitchen."
Huo Ran cleverly blocked all his excuses. Tao Zhiyue was at a loss for words and had to be pushed out of the kitchen reluctantly and sit down on the chair obediently.
You can’t look at the pool anymore, but the rice looks pretty good too.
There is still a burning heat on my back that won't go away.
Tao Zhiyue counted the rice grains for a while, and finally couldn't help asking: "Is the air conditioner turned off? Why is it so hot?"
"Look at me and I'll tell you."
After hesitating for a while, Tao Zhiyue mustered up the courage to raise his head, and saw Huo Ran looking at him intently.
"Good evening, we haven't seen each other for an hour." Huo Ran said, "The air conditioner is not turned off, I even turned it down a bit, otherwise I would feel very hot."
"You're only wearing a short-sleeved shirt, so you can't take off your clothes. I'll go get the fan over here. I didn't bring it over just now because I was afraid the food would get cold."
Hearing this, Tao Zhiyue's mind unconsciously flashed with what Huo Ran said some time ago: I have abdominal muscles!
Fortunately, Huo Ran quickly got up and moved the electric fan. While he was not looking, Tao Zhiyue immediately covered his ears with his hands, trying to use his mind to restore them to their normal color.
Huo Ran brought an electric fan and placed it on a small stool nearby. He adjusted the wind direction and asked, "Is it blowing?"
The TV in the living room began to play tonight's news. The host was reporting the current affairs in a calm tone. The food was steaming softly. Some people were cooking, some were setting the table, and some were concerned about the direction the wind was blowing.
Tao Zhiyue was stunned. What he saw before his eyes was very similar to every ordinary yet precious day that had passed in his memory.
It’s happening right now.
The feeling of embarrassment gradually faded away in the long-lost daily atmosphere.
"It's blowing." Tao Zhiyue nodded, "A little more to the left, otherwise there will be no wind where you are."
Huo Ran adjusted the air conditioner as instructed, sat down again, and looked at him curiously: "Is the cooling effect of the electric fan so good? Your face doesn't seem to be red anymore."
"Yes, that's why I always like electric fans."
Tao Zhiyue picked up some food for him.
Huo Ran was tangled up in confusion, "Besides the electric fan, can I still like other things forever?"
Tao Zhiyue couldn't help but laugh: "There is no forever, liking someone now is the most important thing."
"Except for electric fans."
Huo Ran silently turned his head and glanced at the innocent electric fan.
An idea suddenly occurred to him: "Is it because when you were a kid you would open your mouth wide and make ahhh sounds towards it? So when you see it, you will be reminded of your wonderful childhood."
"I won't tell you. You can tell from this sentence that you must have done this when you were a child." Tao Zhiyue said seriously, "After the nesting dolls and the round small lottery tickets, I have another handle on you. You are so stupid."
"… "
Huo Ran was silent for a moment, his brain started to work rapidly, and suddenly he said: "Then I will continue to eat sugar mixed with tomatoes tomorrow-"
Before he could finish, Tao Zhiyue stepped on his slippers under the table and said quickly, "You can't do that. It's a foul."
Huo Ran started to play dumb: "Why? Then change it to stir-fried tomatoes-"
Bang! Another kick.
Tao Zhiyue stepped on him while staring at the bright red tomato fish in the large white porcelain bowl with pretentious calmness. He couldn't help laughing anymore.
Huo Ran was looking at him the whole time, so he smiled along with him.
The curling white hot air was blown towards the window by the fan and dissipated like a dream in the starry night.
On an ordinary night, countless buildings and countless windows are all lit with similar lights, and the aroma of food quietly wafts through the window cracks.
After dinner, Huo Ran actively ran to the kitchen to wash the dishes. This time it was Tao Zhiyue who stood behind him and looked at him a little worriedly.
"Do you usually wash the dishes?"
"Just wash it. Don't worry, it won't break." Huo Ran said confidently.
"Why do I feel a little scared when you use a confident tone?"
"... You have to believe me!" Huo Ran grabbed the slippery bowl and defended, "Besides, I watched you cook closely today, and I wrote down how many spoonfuls of salt and sugar you added in my memo. When I go back, I'll buy the same amount of tomato fish and a spoon of the same size. I'm sure I can replicate it perfectly."
Tao Zhiyue couldn't help laughing: "Then I wish you success."
As he was speaking, Huo Ran's cell phone, which was placed on the table, beeped several times.
"My cell phone is ringing. Let me wash it."
Tao Zhiyue was about to take the bowl from his hand when he saw his eyes light up.
"Go and help me check it quickly. Is it an email?"
Tao Zhiyue was a little surprised. He picked up his phone and found it was indeed an email with several unread messages.
[Publicity Officer Zhang: Mr. Huo, the photos and videos have been sent to your email. Is there anything else you need?]
Tao Zhiyue followed suit and asked curiously, "What photos and videos?"
Huo Ran was struggling with a bowl covered in detergent and said hurriedly, "You can unlock it by swiping a z. Check your mailbox quickly. This is a small gift for you."
Tao Zhiyue opened his mailbox as he was told and clicked on the top unread email. The attachments were full of photos and videos, and he clicked on two of them at random.
After loading, a familiar screen appeared.
In the brightly lit arcade, in front of a crowded coin pusher, Tao Zhiyue stared intently at the machine in front of him that was dropping coins, while Huo Ran sat beside him, looking at him intently.
Tao Zhiyue stared at the photo in a daze. He was so engrossed in playing that he didn't notice Huo Ran's gaze.
"Are you surprised?" Huo Ran said with a little pride, "That day I found someone taking pictures next to me. It might be because I am more sensitive to the camera."
"Later you said you didn't like your photos being posted on social media. I thought you probably wouldn't want your photos to appear anywhere else."
"So I asked the company's publicity department to keep an eye on it, and found that someone had indeed posted it on Weibo and other websites."
"I asked them to deal with them all, left a message to the bloggers who posted them, reminding them not to circulate them publicly, and then gave them a one-year membership on the website... Some of the photos were particularly good, and I think they should be given a five-year membership."
"Although this is not a selfie, it is our first group photo, and it is very memorable." Huo Ran said, "So I want to save it and choose one for my screen saver. Which one do you like? Or you can help me set it, so that I can be surprised."
Tao Zhiyue looked at the photos on the screen for a long time before he found his voice.
"Is this really your first time in love?"
"Yes. But I have an advantage, and I've been praised before." Huo Ran didn't blush at all when he boasted, "I have a strong learning ability and I accept new things very quickly."
"As fast as when you learned to cook and wash dishes?"
"…except for these two."
Tao Zhiyue leaned against the sliding door of the kitchen, accompanying him to wash dishes and chat, while carefully looking through every photo and video in the attachments.
"Okay, I set it as wallpaper and lock screen."
"Which one did you choose?"
"Guess."
"Let me think, was it you who won the second prize? I remember the expression on that photo was captured very well, and we were both laughing."
"No, it's probably the photo of the two of us standing next to that person like door gods. It's really funny."
"Or maybe there are some new discoveries that I haven't seen yet... Ah, I can't choose, I think every one of them is good, is this a fear of choice?"
After struggling for a while, Huo Ran gave up: "I can't guess, and I'm still wondering how the painter and the model got along after the quarrel..."
"Then I will reluctantly tell you that they hugged and kissed."
The phone screen was still on. Under the white system time was a blurry photo. In the picture, Huo Ran was holding a plastic bowl full of game coins in one hand and holding the person next to him with the other.
The man was very close to him, and was whispering something in his ear with his head tilted to the side, with a smile in his eyes.
The picture is silent and the world is colorful.