HMPS: Chapter 44

If there was to be a definition for eternity, He Qiao thought that it might be this moment.

Chi Xueyan smiled and said to him, ‘That day was a beautiful moment.’

Strangely, He Qiao thought of the word ‘eternity’ at almost the same time.

It was because he seemed to see something in the other person’s eyes that he had been looking forward to for a long time.

It was a dream-like response.

However, He Qiao wasn’t sure.

At such times, people were always uncertain.

It was the most beautiful type of uncertainty.

In the light-filled master bedroom, the person standing across from him quickly looked away after talking about his distraction. Perhaps it was because the daylight was too dazzling.

He Qiao’s mind returned and he found that Chi Xueyan seemed to like the ceramic candy box on his bedside table.

He walked to the window to close the curtain and heard the soft sound of the candy box opening behind him.

There was also the sound of a candy wrapper.

He Qiao imagined a possible scene, so he subconsciously slowed down the action of pulling the curtain.

The snow-white gauze curtain gradually covered the glass window. It was meticulously closed and there wasn’t a single glare of light leaking through.

He Qiao looked back again and found that the candy box on the bedside table was quietly closed. It kept its initial distance from the glass water cup next to it, as if it hadn’t been touched.

Chi Xueyan finished arranging the master bedroom and walked briskly toward the door while saying casually, “The living room’s coffee table should also be cleaned up.”

His tone was ordinary but his voice sounded different from usual.

The hard and sweet candy swirled between his teeth and gave it a vague and moist feeling.

It was just like He Qiao guessed.

Chi Xueyan stole a candy.

Moreover, he should like the taste of that candy very much.

It was because his beautiful eyes were full of a brilliant light.

He Qiao obviously didn’t like sweets but the crystal candy that existed in his imagination gave this supposed ordinary weekend a different taste.

After lunch, Han Zhenzhen came to this warm and happy home on time.

The moment she entered through the door, her hearty and bright voice was heard. At the same time, she brought an aroma that was really familiar to Chi Xueyan.

“You haven’t started cleaning yet, have you? You must usually clean it well because it is quite clean now. No matter how many times I look at it, this house is really beautiful. Xiaoyue is really good at designing.”

As she said this, Han Zhenzhen shook the paper bag in his hand toward Chi Xueyan. There was a sound from inside.

“Do you eat sugar-fried chestnuts?”

This was Chi Xueyan’s favorite snack.

Every time Han Zhenzhen came home, she would buy a bag as long as she saw a fried chestnut stall on the road.

Today she might’ve come to a new home where his parents didn’t live, but she still habitually bought it.

Chi Xueyan nodded and habitually took on the task of peeling the chestnuts.

In the past, he peeled it for himself and his mother to eat. Today, he would add extra for He Qiao.

Only Old Chi, who loved sweets, didn’t receive this treatment. After all, the father and son took pleasure in teasing each other.

Sugar-fried chestnuts were a snack that Chi Xueyan had grown up with.

In fact, later on, he couldn’t tell whether it was because he liked to eat sugar-fried chestnuts that his mother often bought them or because his mother often bought sugar-fried chestnuts that he loved to eat the most.

As time passed, his love for the person and his preference for food became one and became a habit that was hard to give up, gradually blurring cause and effect.

Han Zhenzhen greeted her son’s other half in a warm manner. “He Qiao, do you like to eat this?”

He Qiao poured her a cup of warm water and shook his head with a smile, “Xiao Chi likes to eat it. I should go do some cleaning.”

This was Chi Xueyan’s post-marital pampering script that Chi Xueyan made up a few months ago. All housework was done by He Qiao, including preparing the bath water in advance for him.

At that time, Chi Xueyan thought about how he might have to fulfill this nonsense in the future and felt it was too troublesome for He Qiao.

Now he guessed that He Qiao wouldn’t find it troublesome.

He also didn’t want to let He Qiao do it alone.

Once He Qiao, who was about to clean alone, walked past Chi Xueyan, Chi Xueyan took the initiative to say, “I’ll come and help after sitting with my mother for a while.”

His lover looked sideways and there was a type of gentleness in his eyes. “Okay.”

He Qiao walked away and Han Zhenzhen immediately came over and teased in a low voice, “Hey, our Yan Yan also has a day when you are willing to do housework.”

Chi Xueyan had just peeled a chestnut and wanted to hand it to her. He heard this and paused in his actions. Then he immediately changed his original trajectory and was ready to eat it himself.

Han Zhenzhen snatched it away quickly. “I won’t say it, I won’t say it. Don’t be so stingy.”

The two of them nestled together on the comfortable sofa. The warm fireplace in front of them made the mood very soft.

Han Zhenzhen stopped teasing her son. The house was obviously well-maintained and there was nothing to teach He Qiao.

Therefore, she started asking about what she cared most about as a mother.

These details could prove that her son had always been loved.

“Will He Qiao buy you sugar-fried chestnuts every day after work?”

“I didn’t tell him that my favorite thing to eat is sugar-fried chestnuts, but he will bring me strawberries every day.”

Han Zhenzhen knew his taste very well. “I remember that you don’t particularly like strawberries.”

“But these strawberries are special,” Chi Xueyan said. “So it tastes better than ordinary strawberries.”

“The shape doesn’t affect the taste.” Han Zhenzhen couldn’t stand it. “It is obviously ‘love me, love my dog.’ Your mother is also someone who has experienced this before. It isn’t like I haven’t been in love.”

“……” Chi Xueyan thought for a while. He had no way to refute it, but he had to admit it. “Probably.”

She finished complaining and couldn’t help being curious. She asked her son, “How special are those strawberries?”

“One looks like a tooth, another is jellyfish-like… it is hard to describe. Do you want to see the photos?”

“It sounds weird and cute. I want to see it.”

The moment he finished speaking, Han Zhenzhen suddenly reacted and raised her voice in shock. “You actually took photos of each strawberry?”

Her son, who had a bold and flamboyant personality, as if he would never fall in love in his life, looked at her silently.

Thus, Han Zhenzhen decisively lowered her head and ate chestnut kernels while looking at the photos. She made a nonchalant-sounding, insincere evaluation, “The shape is so cute. You aren’t a person if you don’t take photos.”

He only took it because the strawberries were cute.

It had absolutely nothing to do with the person who delivered the strawberry.

She thought of his son who was showing this side for the first time. She sat in the warm wedding house and her eyes were filled with a smile.

At first, she was deeply worried about this hasty marriage. However, she knew Chi Xueyan’s temper too well so she didn’t object.

Now that she thought about it, this was the right decision. It was the best marriage she could imagine.

Just as the two families envisioned when preparing for the wedding, everything was only about love.

Han Zhenzhen, who hadn’t cooked for a long time, suddenly wanted to cook again.

It was just like many years ago when the house was full of relatives and friends who came to the party. She and her husband couldn’t contain the excitement in their hearts and ran to the kitchen in their wedding clothes to cook dishes. It was because they really wanted to share the joy that couldn’t be described in words.

Love was too abstract a term. Once it rushed from the heart to the mind, it was hard to find the appropriate way to express it. It was carried by the most accessible and indispensable food in life.

For example, the three meals a day and the sugar-fried chestnuts.

Han Zhenzhen withdrew from her thoughts and couldn’t wait to ask her son, “What are you going to eat tonight? Is there any arrangement?”

“There is no arrangement. He will be tired from cleaning today so I won’t make him clean.” Chi Xueyan asked her by the way, “Do you want to go out to eat together?”

Han Zhenzhen saw that there was a chance and immediately became motivated. “Eat at home. I’ll cook for the two of you!”

Immediately afterward, there was a series of questions.

“What do you want to eat? What does He Qiao like to eat?”

“By the way, I remember that you said the two of you have very compatible tastes. That is better. I don’t have to worry about him not being used to it. Go and ask him what type of dish he wants to eat.”

Chi Xueyan saw Han Zhenzhen’s confident look and hesitated to speak.

The three of them were so accustomed to Aunt Ling that they seldom cooked themselves. He had even almost forgotten that his parents used to cook.

Except for Chi Zhongyuan, who occasionally got up to make a late-night snack for his wife in the middle of the night, his and Han Zhenzhen’s cooking skills should be equally haphazard.

Thus, he pondered on it and directly reported the names of unusually simple dishes. “Tomato scrambled eggs, egg fried rice and green vegetables soup?”

Han Zhenzhen raised an eyebrow after hearing this and was quite dissatisfied. “Do you think I can’t cook?”

Chi Xueyan nodded without the slightest hesitation.

His mother argued with him. “That’s because you didn’t attend my wedding. All our relatives were full of praise that day. They praised the two of us for having the style of chefs.”

“I would love to participate,” her son said calmly. “It is a pity that the order is reversed and I wasn’t born for a few more years.”

Han Zhenzhen: “……”

She couldn’t find anything to say for a while. She looked at her son who had doubts written all over his face and sharply got up to find He Qiao, who was cleaning.

In front of the person who wasn’t familiar with her details, Han Zhenzhen’s tone was as confident as a first-class chef. “He Qiao, do you want to eat Buddha Jumping Over the Wall tonight?”

Chi Xueyan: “……”

Forget it, there was at least one person in the family who could really cook so there wouldn’t be any accidents.

Han Zhenzhen was determined to show off her skills and started to buy vegetables on her phone. The sugar-fried chestnuts she had just brought with her had been peeled. Chi Xueyan took the chestnut kernels left for He Qiao, silently left the sofa and went to clean.

The room was indeed very clean and there wasn’t much to tidy. It was mainly regular cleaning to get rid of the dust that accumulated.

The task assigned to him by He Qiao was also simple.

Wiping the glass.

It was more like playing than doing housework.

The glass was clear and bright. There was only a thin layer of dust on it and it could still reflect the good scenery outside the house.

It was very suitable for Chi Xueyan to wipe it while being distracted.

He stood by the window lazily wiping the glass while He Qiao was beside him sweeping the floor.

On the shelf to the side was a smooth porcelain plate containing pale yellow chestnut kernels.

Today, all the scenery was on the same side of the window.

Chi Xueyan raised his hand to wipe the glass. His fingertips flicked across the reflection of He Qiao in the window at the same time.

The afternoon was silent and peaceful.

He Qiao asked him, “Why are we eating Buddha Jumping Over the Wall at night?”

Han Zhenzhen’s sudden proposal confused him for a while.

Chi Xueyan felt that this question was difficult to explain and just laughed. “Don’t care about it. It shouldn’t be a real Buddha Jumping Over the Wall. My mother can’t cook complicated dishes. Her level is similar to mine.”

“Do you need me to help in the kitchen?”

“You won’t be able to help. She will definitely say that she can do it alone.”

Chi Xueyan knew his mother very well, just like his mother knew him well.

He Qiao tried to sort out the logic behind this.

Han Zhenzhen’s cooking skills were similar to her son’s, but she volunteered to cook dinner for the two of them. She probably wanted to try complex and advanced dishes and didn’t allow anyone to help.

He thought about it clearly and couldn’t help asking, “Can I still eat at night?”

Then came a realistic and cruel answer.

“I think we can eat it but it isn’t necessarily edible.”

Chi Xueyan finished speaking and deliberately looked back at the other person’s expression.

He saw He Qiao staring at the chestnut kernels on the plate.

It was as if imagining a convenient dinner that could be saved without revealing it.

“Do chestnuts taste good in a sandwich?”

He Qiao’s tone sounded serious.

Chi Xueyan smiled again.

He hadn’t eaten it like this but he suddenly wanted to try it.

No matter whether it was today’s rescue dinner or tomorrow’s regular breakfast.

At this moment, Chi Xueyan gradually became unable to distinguish between cause and effect.

Did he like He Qiao because he liked the unusual chestnut sandwich or was it because he liked He Qiao that he liked the unusual chestnut sandwiches?

It seemed to be the same.

Chi Xueyan didn’t want to wipe the glass so he dropped his tools, leaned casually against the windowsill and told He Qiao more about the secret behind dinner.

“I guess there will be four people eating tonight. My dad will come too.”

Under his gaze and companionship, He Qiao continued to fulfill his post-marriage duties.

“It is because my mother won’t be able to figure it out on her own and she will make a mess. She doesn’t want the two of us to help so she can only secretly ask my father for help.”

The delivery man knocked on the door. The moment Han Zhenzhen got the vegetables and meat, she rolled up her sleeves and went into the kitchen.

Soon, there was the violent jumping sound of a live fish jumping in the sink and a short exclamation.

“My father will teach her on the phone first but he definitely won’t be able to teach her in this way because he isn’t very good at cooking himself.”

There was no food in the pot but the sound of the range hood roared, vaguely covering the sound of the phone call.

“After talking on the phone, my father must be so desperate that he wants to smash the phone. Then he will come over directly. In any case, it isn’t far away.”

This time, no one knocked on the door. The door quietly opened from the inside and the tall figure followed his wife to creep into the kitchen.

The two people in the room who were absentmindedly cleaning pretended not to notice. They just exchanged looks silently.

Once the two pairs of eyes met, they were full of smiles.

Finally, Chi Xueyan made a concluding statement, “In short, today’s dinner is made by my mother and my father specifically came here for dinner.”

He Qiao nodded. “I will remember.”

He would carefully remember the secrets that Chi Xueyan shared with him.

Time passed and the aroma of food gradually wafted out of the kitchen. The relaxed and pleasant cleaning was over and left only the finishing touches.

When He Qiao was about to tie the garbage bag, Chi Xueyan suddenly remembered something and stopped him. “Wait a minute.”

He took something out of his pocket and handed it to the person beside him.

In the white palm that he held out to He Qiao, there was a crystal clear, wrinkled candy wrapper.

Chi Xueyan’s tone was calm. “I stole a candy from your candy box in the morning.”

He immediately took out a lost memory and compared the taste seriously. “It tastes better than the candy from the bar.”

A summer night bachelor’s party, the fictional love relationships and the drunken heartbeat and temptations.

In the dim and misty light, he asked for a candy from He Qiao, who seemed to have moved his heart.

Now it was no longer ‘seemed’ and it wasn’t a candy found temporarily.

Thus, it tasted better than that candy.

Chi Xueyan started to miss the taste of candy again.

This time, he didn’t just miss it.

There was love.