SYLM Chapter 129
by VolareChapter 129: Why should she care if she’s hurt?
Chapter 129 Why should she care if she’s hurt?
Time rewinds a few hours.
Los Angeles, 3 PM, which is 6 AM Beijing time.
Gu Wan Jun, far away in China, received a call from Tang Ying on her way to work.
At this hour? An international call?
Gu Wan Jun raised her eyebrows, put on her Bluetooth headset, and pressed the answer button:
“What instructions do you have, Teacher Tang?”
“Are you free now?”
“Driving, almost at school. Just say what’s up.”
“Teach me how to cook.”
“What?” Gu Wan Jun slammed on the brakes at a red light, almost sending herself and her phone flying. “What did you say?”
“I said, teach, me, how, to, cook.” Tang Ying repeated, enunciating each word, with the clanging of metal in the background, like she was rummaging through cabinets.
It was early spring in China, and the morning mist hadn’t dissipated outside the car window, a hazy blur. Gu Wan Jun took the phone away from her ear to double-check the caller ID, confirming it was indeed Tang Ying.
To win back Fu Yi Wen, she decisively divorced, resigned, went abroad to find her, tutored Fu Yi Wen for the TOEFL, moved across from Fu Yi Wen, enrolled as a visiting scholar at the University of Southern California… So many unexpected things had already happened, yet Gu Wan Jun was still shocked that Tang Ying would make an international call just to learn how to cook, wondering if she was hallucinating.
She put the phone back to her ear, staring at the red light countdown, shaking her head with a smile:
“What’s going on? Did Fu Yi Wen cast a spell on you?”
A loud crash came from the other end of the line, but Tang Ying didn’t reply.
Realizing that something might be wrong, Gu Wan Jun quickly composed herself and asked, “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Gu Wan Jun.” This time Tang Ying spoke, her voice suddenly turning cold: “Have you been on Douyin lately?”
“Huh?”
The topic changed too quickly, and Gu Wan Jun didn’t react for a moment. She didn’t know what Tang Ying meant, then she heard her say:
“Do you know about that trending meme on Douyin lately, the one about ‘I even cooked for you’?”
Tang Ying couldn’t bring herself to say the word “Mom,” only saying the beginning, which confused Gu Wan Jun.
“I even cooked for you?” What meme?
Driving into the school gate, parking in a space, Gu Wan Jun unbuckled her seatbelt, keeping the call going while switching screens to check the meme Tang Ying mentioned. After browsing a few videos, she switched back to the call, teasing:
“You watch these things?”
“Young people love to watch them.” Tang Ying’s tone was frigid, adding insult to injury: “Don’t you know?”
“…” Gu Wan Jun was momentarily speechless.
For two people who were almost eighty years old combined, this move was a classic case of hurting oneself as much as hurting the enemy.
“What’s up? Did Fu Yi Wen use this video to say you’re old?”
Gu Wan Jun hit the nail on the head. Tang Ying’s face instantly changed, and she instinctively retorted, “You’re not exactly young either.”
The collateral damage hit Gu Wan Jun: “? I’m not the one who thinks you’re old.”
The words “old” floated above Tang Ying’s head. Her face was quite unpleasant, and her voice was filled with a kind of anxiety:
“Stop talking nonsense. Are you going to teach me or not?”
Gu Wan Jun: “…”
Could she say no?
For the sake of her own safety, probably not.
Fortunately, she didn’t have any classes for the first two periods; she just needed to check in at the office.
To do a good job, one must first sharpen one’s tools. To teach someone how to cook, she had to first see what kind of kitchen equipment was available.
When Gu Wan Jun’s WeChat video call popped up, Tang Ying was staring blankly at the pots on the stove.
After the video connected, Gu Wan Jun, who had just found an empty classroom to sit in, almost dropped her jaw at the sight on the screen.
Tang Ying’s apartment kitchen was spacious and bright, the countertops filled with all sorts of brand-new kitchen utensils, the labels still on. The most outrageous thing was the six different-sized enameled pots neatly arranged on the stove, gleaming in the warm light of the setting sun.
“Are you opening a cookware store?” Gu Wan Jun stared wide-eyed.
Tang Ying awkwardly tossed her hair: “The salesperson said these are all essential.”
“…”
What salesperson was so reckless that they dared to fool Tang Ying? It was a good thing this person was a novice in cooking, or else…
Gu Wan Jun sighed, rubbing her forehead: “Forget it. First, tell me, what can you do?”
Tang Ying thought for two seconds: “I can boil water.”
“…”
“I can also use the microwave.”
“…”
“And,” Tang Ying raised her eyebrows: “I can tell the difference between salt and sugar.”
“…”
To have her teach someone who can only distinguish between salt and sugar to cook in a few hours?
Was that reasonable?
Gu Wan Jun was overwhelmed, taking a deep breath: “Okay, let’s take it slow. What ingredients do you have on hand? What dish do you want to make?”
Hearing this, Tang Ying turned around and opened the refrigerator. The four shelves were filled with neatly stacked containers like an armory:
“Cordyceps, American ginseng, deer antler, wild iron dendrobium, wild lingzhi, saffron, black goji berries, bird’s nest, snow lotus—”
“Wait, stop!”
Gu Wan Jun stopped Tang Ying, her mouth twitching: “Are you trying to make elixirs? Don’t you have anything normal people can eat?”
Tang Ying was stunned, her tone cold: “Studying abroad is hard work. These are all for nourishing the body.”
In fact, these ingredients were all prepared for when Fu Yi Wen might need them for cooking, but Tang Ying never expected that she would end up cooking herself.
Seeing Tang Ying treating precious medicinal herbs like cabbages, Gu Wan Jun’s tone was helpless:
“You can’t nourish the body like that. Fu Yi Wen doesn’t have enough blood to lose. Besides, you—”
Before she could finish speaking, Tang Ying, annoyed by the nagging, slammed a knife onto the cutting board, interrupting coldly:
“Enough. You’re giving me a headache with all your nagging. Just tell me what I need to do next, and how to do it.”
Gu Wan Jun, nearly scared to death by the cleaver: “…”
Based on the available ingredients and kitchen equipment, the two discussed and finally decided to make sweet and sour pork ribs.
Tang Ying was a bit dissatisfied: “Just one dish?”
Gu Wan Jun said helplessly: “Grandma, you should burn incense if you can even make this one dish well.”
Unsurprisingly, she received a glare.
As Gu Wan Jun had predicted, Tang Ying officially starting to cook meant that a real disaster was about to begin.
The way someone tied on the apron looked like they were heading for a heroic sacrifice, and the way she held the knife made Gu Wan Jun tremble with fear.
“Wait! You’re not holding the knife right! This is cooking, not dissecting someone!”
Tang Ying asked, puzzled, “Like this?”
Gu Wan Jun anxiously demonstrated to the camera: “You have to curve your fingers like this to protect your knuckles.”
Tang Ying changed her grip, holding the knife with both hands as if she was going to dismember the ribs: “Like this?”
“…” Gu Wan Jun rubbed her forehead, giving up on trying to correct her: “Fine, just chop it however you want, just chop it small.”
After finally cutting the ribs, the next step was marinating.
Tang Ying stared at a pile of seasonings she couldn’t name, lost in thought.
“Two spoons of light soy sauce, one spoon of dark soy sauce, cooking wine…”
Before Gu Wan Jun could finish speaking, she saw Tang Ying raise her hand:
“Which one is light soy sauce, and which one is dark soy sauce?”
“…”
After finally distinguishing between light and dark soy sauce, our Teacher Tang still had many questions:
“Also, what’s the standard volume for two spoons? Is the spoon a tablespoon or a teaspoon? Is it okay to use this brand of light and dark soy sauce? Will it affect the taste?”
“It doesn’t matter, anything will do…”
Gu Wan Jun closed her eyes in despair: “Tang Ying, cooking isn’t conducting an experiment.”
“Then how much should I use?”
“…Just pour it in however much you want, just about right!”
“Gu Wan Jun, you better not be fooling me.”
“…”
During the marinating process, Tang Ying mistook sugar for salt five times, and vinegar for soy sauce three times. Gu Wan Jun was collapsing, silently saying a prayer for Fu Yi Wen’s stomach in advance.
After busying themselves for nearly two hours, under Gu Wan Jun’s careful guidance and Tang Ying’s meticulous work, a plate of “sweet and sour pork ribs” that was as black as charcoal and as hard as a rock was finally ready.
The kitchen was filled with a bizarre, slightly choking burnt smell. Tang Ying’s face was even uglier than the “sweet and sour pork ribs.” She poked the fossil-like substance with her chopsticks, which made a hard, dull sound.
Inside and outside the video, the two stared at each other, and finally came to the conclusion that the pots in Los Angeles were no good.
Gu Wan Jun nodded thoughtfully: “Yeah, the stove’s fire is also a problem.”
Tang Ying rolled her eyes impatiently: “The soy sauce color is wrong.”
Gu Wan Jun clapped her hands in agreement: “The vinegar must not be authentic.”
“…”
The two looked at each other and couldn’t help but laugh at the same time. Tang Ying’s eyes crinkled with fine lines as she laughed, and Gu Wan Jun laughed so hard that she trembled, slapping the table.
“Seriously,” Gu Wan Jun wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes, her tone becoming more serious: “Why are you suddenly doing this? Just because of that Douyin meme?”
Tang Ying’s smile froze. She looked down at the disastrous masterpiece, a hint of self-deprecation flashing in her eyes:
“I’m so much older than her. Why should she love me?”
“…”
Proud as Tang Ying was, she would never have said these words before. Gu Wan Jun felt a pang in her heart and immediately comforted her:
“She loves you, not because you can cook.”
“But she doesn’t want to love me anymore.”
“…”
Tang Ying tugged at the corners of her mouth, and the faint shimmering in her eyes stunned Gu Wan Jun.
Stripped of her arrogant, cold, and aloof aura and disguise, she was just an ordinary woman clumsily trying all sorts of ways to win back her lover.
“In the past, I never knew that cooking was such a troublesome and difficult thing. I always took it for granted that Fu Yi Wen would cook this and that for me, and didn’t think much of it.”
Tang Ying chuckled. She sighed and rolled her eyes, not wanting her emotions to spill out:
“I always thought money could buy everything. As long as I had money, I would never worry about not being able to eat what I wanted. But I haven’t had what I wanted to eat for a long time.”
“No one has ever treated me like Fu Yi Wen, or rather, I’ve never allowed anyone other than her to enter my heart.”
“In the past, I always said Fu Yi Wen was silly, but the really silly person was me, scheming and planning, but in the end, unable to love the person I wanted to love.”
Not being able to eat what she wanted, not being able to love the person she wanted to love, wasn’t this the retribution that fate had given Tang Ying?
One shouldn’t be too greedy, she understood it too late.
The pain of a lover being close at hand but out of reach, Gu Wan Jun had also experienced, so much so that at this moment she couldn’t say to Tang Ying whether or not to try to give up on Fu Yi Wen.
She couldn’t even convince herself in the past, so how could she convince Tang Ying to give up on Fu Yi Wen?
From the primordial chaos came yin and yang, hate is the extreme of love.
But if there was no hate, what would be left between the two of them?
Ultimately not used to showing weakness, Tang Ying regained her clear-headed look as she turned her head and tossed her hair. She threw the burnt ribs into the trash can and said coldly:
“Let’s try again.”
“…”
Staring at the trash can behind Tang Ying, which was puffing out hot air, Gu Wan Jun pursed her lips and sincerely suggested:
“Tang Ying, why don’t you just use your special skill and just give Fu Yi Wen money?”
Tang Ying silently raised the cleaver. Gu Wan Jun’s eyebrows twitched, and she swallowed: “If giving money doesn’t work, you can actually order takeout and then plate it—”
Before she could finish speaking, a cold light flashed in the camera, and *thud!* The cleaver was firmly embedded in the cutting board.
“I said, let’s try again.”
“…”
Gu Wan Jun glanced at the time and helplessly tugged at the corners of her mouth.
What could she do? Leave her to die?
Of course not.
She’d just have to find another teacher to cover her class later.
—-
The timeline returns to the present.
Tang Ying stood in front of Fu Yi Wen’s apartment door for several hours, holding the heavy enameled pot. The sweet and sour pork ribs inside had been reheated for the third time. She looked down at her watch. It was 9:45 PM, and Fu Yi Wen hadn’t returned yet.
The corridor lights were a bit dim, not as bright as Tang Ying’s slightly pale face. For cooking, she had specially changed out of her favorite dress, wearing a loose beige knit sweater and jeans. Her carefully maintained hair was casually tied behind her head, with a few strands of hair falling beside her ears, making her look much softer than usual. The faint dark circles under her eyes revealed her exhaustion during this period.
Nearly forty years old, she had to get up early every day like young people. She’d never been so active in going to school as she used to be in going to work. Wasn’t she tired?
After yawning several times, Tang Ying’s eyes were a little red, but she still told herself to wait a little longer.
She didn’t know how much longer had passed. Tang Ying was almost asleep leaning against the apartment door when the elevator suddenly *dinged*, startling her awake.
Fu Yi Wen walked out with her head down, quickly swiping her fingers on her phone, apparently editing a video. The girl was wearing a simple hoodie and jeans, her long hair tied in a ponytail, revealing her smooth forehead. Her round eyes were still bright and captivating.
When their eyes met, Fu Yi Wen was clearly stunned to see Tang Ying at her door.
The words she said during the day about having a generation gap with Tang Ying still echoed in her ears. Was this person here to hit her with the pot?
Looking at the not-so-small enameled pot in Tang Ying’s arms, Fu Yi Wen felt her head start to ache. She thought to herself that she would let Tang Ying hit her three times at most, and then she would have to fight back.
What she didn’t expect was that Tang Ying didn’t use the pot to hit her head, but instead took a step forward with the pot in her arms, staring at her and asking:
“Have you had dinner yet?”
“…”
She didn’t know what was stewing in the pot, but the familiar fragrance went straight into Fu Yi Wen’s nose. She was stunned for a moment, and her stomach grumbled unconvincingly, instinctively saying, “Not yet…”
“I made you sweet and sour pork ribs.”
“? You made it?!”
Fu Yi Wen’s eyes widened uncontrollably.
Tang Ying knew how to cook? Who did she learn from? Was it edible?
Wait, what did it matter to her who Tang Ying learned to cook from and whether it was edible? Fu Yi Wen, wake up!
Someone cursed herself in her heart, but her mouth reacted faster than her brain, suddenly saying, “I’ve already had dinner.”
As if hearing something funny, Tang Ying raised her eyebrows with a smile: “You just said you hadn’t eaten.”
“…”
Her mouth flew ahead while her brain chased after. Realizing what she had just said, Fu Yi Wen’s mouth twitched, wishing she could slap herself in the face.
“I ordered takeout.”
Fu Yi Wen continued to lie without changing her expression. Tang Ying could almost see her brain working so fast it was about to smoke, so she simply saw through her without saying anything:
“Then eat it with the takeout.”
“Do you think I’m a pig? Eating so much.”
Hearing this, Tang Ying went along with her: “It just so happens that I haven’t had dinner either. Let’s eat together.”
“???”
When they were together before, Fu Yi Wen thought Tang Ying was particularly smart, her brain working so fast. She didn’t expect that now that they were separated, she was still being led around in circles by this person, so much so that her brain had already crashed after a few words.
“Aren’t you going to open the door?”
Tang Ying asked her, her beautiful eyes only showing the tenderness beneath the cold exterior when facing her.
Fu Yi Wen regained some rationality, frowning and avoiding her gaze: “Why should I eat with you?”
“Because I want to be with you.”
“You want to, but I don’t!”
“You said you can’t finish it all. Isn’t it shameful to waste food?”
“I’ll eat my takeout, and you eat your ribs. We won’t bother each other!”
“But I made too many ribs, and I can’t finish them all by myself.”
“That’s your business, it has nothing to do with me!!”
Back and forth, someone got a little agitated. After saying this, she ignored Tang Ying and opened the door with a huff.
The key turned in the lock with a clicking sound. Tang Ying didn’t stop her or leave.
“Aren’t you leaving yet? Do you want me to call security?”
“Fu Yi Wen, this is the first time I’ve cooked myself.”
“…”
Her hand on the doorknob froze. Tang Ying’s voice was a little low, her eyes faintly filled with a few drops of tears:
“You used to cook for me all the time. Today I want to cook for you once. Is that too much to ask?”
“…”
The palm of her hand clutching the doorknob was sore. Fu Yi Wen couldn’t say a word.
Tang Ying could be strong, could be bossy, could be arrogant, could be unreasonable, could be sarcastic, and could do whatever she wanted in her own way. That way, Fu Yi Wen could harden her heart and have a big fight with her, ending this unnecessary conversation with a slam of the door.
But Tang Ying was so humble, so careful, that the high wall she had painstakingly built instantly cracked. Fu Yi Wen suddenly felt particularly cruel.
But she wasn’t the one who had cruelly drawn and quartered people’s hearts in the first place.
Ten minutes later, the pot of sweet and sour pork ribs was still placed on the table in Fu Yi Wen’s apartment.
Fu Yi Wen’s apartment was as neat as ever. The sofa cover in the living room was a newly replaced khaki color, and a few self-media magazines and a laptop were neatly placed on the coffee table. Several landscape photos she had taken herself were hanging on the wall, each with the shooting date and location marked on it. The kitchen countertops were wiped clean and shiny, and the seasoning bottles were arranged in order of height. There were a few sticky notes on the refrigerator with a shopping list written in delicate handwriting.
Tang Ying looked around, and her eyes unconsciously showed a bit of tenderness. In the past, her home was also cleaned and organized according to this standard. The knives in the back kitchen were always arranged according to size, and even the rags had to be folded into neat squares. It was clear that this was Fu Yi Wen’s style.
“Have you looked enough?”
A cold voice interrupted Tang Ying’s memories. Fu Yi Wen had already taken out two sets of bowls and chopsticks and placed them on the small dining table.
Tang Ying came back to her senses, glanced at the enameled pot on the trivet, and deliberately asked with a smile, “Don’t need to wait for the takeout?”
“…”
Fu Yi Wen was choked for a moment, not looking at her and not answering, but instead directly lifted the lid of the pot.
The sweet and sour pork ribs didn’t look very good. Some were burnt, some were too light, and the consistency of the sauce was uneven, but they smelled surprisingly tempting, a mixture of the sourness of vinegar and the sweetness of sugar, arousing the most primal human appetite.
Fu Yi Wen, who hadn’t had dinner yet, cursed herself in her heart for being really hungry, and couldn’t help but swallow.
Tang Ying didn’t miss this little action. She saw a hint of desire flashing in those round, bright eyes, but it was quickly concealed.
“Want to try it?” Tang Ying raised her eyebrows casually, her voice carrying a plea and tension that she herself didn’t notice.
Fu Yi Wen hesitated, but finally picked up a rib that looked the most normal. Under Tang Ying’s gaze, she put the rib in her mouth.
Tang Ying was both nervous and expectant. After all, this was the first time she had cooked. She was just about to ask, “How does it taste?” when she saw Fu Yi Wen’s expression suddenly distort. The person bent over and looked for the trash can, spitting out the rib cleanly!
“It’s so bad!”
Leaving these words behind, Fu Yi Wen, with a crumpled, bitter face, immediately rushed to the kitchen sink. The sound of rushing water came, and what fell into Tang Ying’s ears was the sound of repeated rinsing.
Tang Ying stood in place, feeling a wave of dizziness. She unconsciously touched the back of her hand, which had been scalded. It still hurt, but she still pretended to be relaxed and asked the back figure who was frantically rinsing her mouth:
“Is it really that bad?”
“It’s especially bad.”
Fu Yi Wen’s disgusted voice came with the sound of rushing water, even mixed with a hint of real impatience. Every word stabbed into Tang Ying’s heart:
“White people’s food is already bad enough. Your ribs are even worse than white people’s food. Too much sugar, too little vinegar, the meat is too tough. It’s quite a genius to be able to make sweet and sour pork ribs like this. Take it away quickly, I can’t enjoy it.”
“…”
After about two minutes, oh no, maybe not even a minute, the moment the door was slammed shut, there was finally only Fu Yi Wen left in the house.
The faucet was still running, and the little bit of sweetness on the tip of her tongue was washed away.
The ribs weren’t actually that bad. They were moderately sweet and sour, and although the meat was a bit tough, it was still acceptable. The person who made it must have put in a lot of effort and thought.
Fu Yi Wen knew that what she had just said must have hurt Tang Ying’s heart.
But who was she to her? Why should she care if she was hurt or sad?
Her head was hanging low, almost buried in the sink. Tears couldn’t be stopped from falling, dripping down into the sewer with the water.
She saw it.
She saw the blisters on the back of Tang Ying’s hand.
But she couldn’t.
People’s courage will be exhausted. She couldn’t go back to the kind of life she had before.
There is no “what if” in life, only results.
The current result was pretty good, she had already resigned herself to fate.
What Fu Yi Wen didn’t know was that Tang Ying, who had stormed out, hadn’t left.
Holding the pot of rejected ribs in her arms, her forehead pressed against the cold door panel, listening to the constant sound of rushing water in the room, the blisters on the back of her hand hurt so much that Tang Ying’s vision gradually blurred, finally dripping onto the pot lid, making a slight thud.