FLBCP: Chapter 32 Part 1
The car drove all the way to the underground parking lot of a wealthy area in the city center. The agent watched Pei Mingzhan get out of the car and leave, only to remember something. “What did he say he was doing? Is it cooking?”
The assistant Lele thought about it. “No, Brother Pei seems to be here to deliver tickets. The time for the premiere of Jianghu is coming. Maybe he is inviting President Zhao to go?”
“Weren’t the tickets given to Yao Bai?” The agent was stunned. He had told Pei Mingzhan about sending tickets to President Zhao and even gave the ticket to President Zhao’s assistant at Huihua. How could Pei Mingzhan go to the door to send tickets?
This was the first time Pei Mingzhan was coming to Zhao Yao’s residence. He could hear the sound of the television not far from the door.
The temperature in the room was good. Zhao Yao was sitting in the living room and watching the TV, while water and fruit were on the coffee table in front of him.
“Young Master, Mr Pei is here,” Uncle Wang said.
“Yes,” Zhao Yao responded casually while his eyes were still on the TV in front of him.
Pei Mingzhan handed over the ingredients he had bought to Uncle Wang. They exchanged a few words before he walked over to Zhao Yao.
Uncle Wang looked at the content of the TV quite carefully. He remembered that Mr Pei’s TV drama was playing before. Why was it changed to another series now? Could it be that he remembered incorrectly?
“Aren’t you busy with activities during this time? The movie is about to be released. Do you still have time to come to me?’
Zhao Yao said as he pressed pause and turned to look at Pei Mingzhan sitting next to him.
Pei Mingzhan handed an envelope to Zhao Yao. “I just finished an event and wanted to send you the tickets along the way. Jianghu will premiere in a few days. You said you would come and see it.”
It was only then that Zhao Yao noticed the clothes Pei Mingzhan was wearing. It might be simple but the overall look was quite formal. He asked in a confused manner, “Didn’t Yao Bai get the tickets before?”
“Is that so? I didn’t know.”
Zhao Yao shifted his gaze slightly and saw the distant Uncle Wang holding several bags. “Did you bring other things?”
“I didn’t want to come here empty handed and you like to eat the food of H City.” Pei Mingzhan paused slightly. “I just passed by the supermarket and bought some things. Do you want to try it?”
Zhao Yao thought that Pei Mingzhan was just joking but as a result, the two of them talked for a while before Pei Mingzhan went to the kitchen to help Uncle Wang. In the past, Yao Bai would also bring food from home but this was the first time someone brought their own ingredients to cook.
Zhao Yao found it a bit novel. He casually pressed the play button and the sound of the TV drama was heard again, but his thoughts drifted further away.
He always thought of his mother when it came to cooking. She used to leave work early and come home to cook him a snack. She wasn’t like a wealthy lady at all. She didn’t like shopping and she loved embroidery. The things she liked were always very simple.
He used to think that these dishes were made using his mother’s cooking methods. It was only from Pei Mingzhan that he discovered this was the food practices of H City.
He suddenly lost interest in the TV drama in front of him. The sound from the kitchen made Zhao Yao interested instead. He took the crutches from next to him and intended to go to the kitchen to see the situation.
“How has his diet been recently?” Pei Mingzhan took off his coat and put it on a chair. Then he rolled up his shirt sleeves and started to wash the vegetables.
Uncle Wang said, “His appetite is better. It is thanks to Mr Pei. The young master really likes the taste of his hometown dishes.”
He had cooked H City’s dishes before but they were all bg dishes. The simple and appetizing dishes were rarely done. He hadn’t expected them to meet Zhao Yao’s appetite.
“That’s good.” Pei Mingzhan asked, “Is the amount of food okay?”
Uncle Wang sighed. “He occasionally eats more but he often eats half a bowl of rice before stopping.
Pei Mingzhan frowned slightly. He knew that Zhao Yao had insomnia but after listening to Uncle Wang’s explanation in the hospital, he realized that Zhao Yao’s insomnia was more serious than imagined. He heard from Uncle Wang that his problem occurred shortly after Zhao Yao left the Zhao Group but Pei Mingzhan didn’t think so. Short-term insomnia could rely on medication to adjust but long-term insomnia must have a root cause such as a long-term high pressure state.
Some people would have mental health problems but Zhao Yao was like a normal person. His emotional control was even better than others. Normally, it was hard to imagine a person like this having long-term in. From the outside, Zhao Yao was too self-disciplined.
He wanted to understand the reason because if this dragged on, Zhao Yao’s body would collapse sooner or later.
After knowing this, he started to pay attention to Zhao Yao’s eating habits.
During the days at the hospital, Zhao Yao was really interested in the H City cuisine. Yet after his addiction, his eating habits gradually tended toward a fixed indicator.
Zhao Yao’s diet control was extremely strict. The intake of meat and vegetables was balanced and he didn’t eat too much of the things he liked. The intake of undesirable meat was also maintained at the prescribed intake. The temperature of the soup and drinking water, etc…. These signs showed he was maintaining a healthy eating habit.
Normal people had preferences and their appetite changed along with this. Meanwhile, Zhao Yao was different. After discovering this problem, he would quickly return to the standard like it was for his health. He would force himself to eat what he didn’t like to eat and he would choose to eat less or abstain from his favorite foods. He didn’t live like a young man at all.
Even young people who maintained good health wouldn’t be so harsh for their health.
H City’s dishes had a balance of meat and vegetables and the nutritional value was above the medium level. They might have a sweet and salty taste but the overall taste of the dishes was still lighter than that of S City.
Pei Mingzhan thought it was perhaps due to this reason that Zhao Yao preferred to eat H City’s food.
Zhao Yao could be strict with himself for health but he couldn’t do anything about his insomnia.
Living like this was actually very tiring.
Uncle Wang brought over the apron while Pei Mingzhan started to prepare the food.
“What do you need me to do?” Uncle Wang was very surprised by Pei Mingzhan’s knife skills. He thought that a person like Pei Mingzhan wouldn’t be good at cooking. He hadn’t expected Pei Mingzhan to be so skillful. Based on his appearance, he was often in the kitchen.
“Please help me wash some ingredients. The unfinished ones are over there. If you have time, prepare some green onions, ginger and garlic.” Pei Mingzhan simply ordered as he put away his thoughts and prepared dinner.
By the time Zhao Yao came to the kitchen on crutches, he saw Pei Mingzhan standing upright while his knife moved in a fast and invisible manner on the cutting board.
Zhao Yao stopped and couldn’t help thinking of the drama he saw the other day where the male lead came to cook while the female lead was ill. Zhao Yao had thought it would be easier to order takeout than to cook for people with poor cooking skills. He hadn’t understood why the drama review called it the sweetest scene in the drama.
Now that he saw Pei Mingzhan cooking in an apron, his heart suddenly warmed up.
Zhao Yao suddenly realized that he probably knew why it was sweet.
“What is it?” Uncle Wang saw Pei Mingzhan looking back. He turned to look but didn’t see anything.
Pei Mingzhan replied, “It’s nothing. It just sounds like the TV is off.”
The meal was soon ready. Uncle Wang helped Pei Mingzhan bring the food to the dining room. There were two meat dishes and three vegetarian soups. The three people ate a lot. At the dinner table, Pei Mingzhan talked about the interesting things that happened during his activities these days and occasionally mentioned topics that Zhao Yao was interested in. Zhao Yao listened silently and answered with a few words when he heard something of interest.
During the meal, Zhao Yao ate more than usual. It was mainly the new dishes made by Pei Mingzhan. Uncle Wang secretly noted it down and planned to find Pei Mingzhan to learn the dishes. Pei Mingzhan didn’t stay for long after dinner. He left after talking to Zhao Yao about the premiere.
The evening of October 8th soon arrived. Yao Bai took the tickets he got in advance and handed them to his family and two neighbors. He finally distributed all the tickets. Before departing, Zhao Yao received a message from TV. It turned out that after finding the behind the scenes person who caused the accident, the Pei family called the police to deal with it legally. At the same time, the Pei Group was undergoing a shuffle and it made a lot of noise in the local news.
Pei Mingzhan hadn’t mentioned anything about the follow-up to this incident but Zhao Yao knew this was probably handled by the Pei family. Fortunately, nothing happened to Pei Mingzhan this time but the people involved wouldn’t escape from legal sanctions. The rest was only a matter of time for the police to deal with it.
As for the crew, the fans who filmed the video and sold it to others were found. It also included the staff member who improperly checked them. Huihua and the Bewildering Traces crew had completely resolved this matter.
Jianghu had its premiere in S City. Zhao Yao arrived a bit later and found Pei Mingzhan on stage talking to the director. The movie theater was overcrowded but the tickets Pei Mingzhan gave were all excellent places in the middle row. Uncle Wang helped Zhao Yao find his seat. Meanwhile, Yao Bai’s group was a few rows ahead of them so he wasn’t present.
Uncle Wang sat on Zhao Yao’s left while the seat to Zhao Yao’s right was empty.
Zhao Yao looked forward. Those sitting in front of him had come as a group and were exchanging whispers.
“Hey, I always feel that Pei Pei has become more handsome again recently.”
“Uhhh, getting tickets for the premiere almost exhausted half my life.”
“It is a pity that we aren’t allowed to bring our phones in or I would’ve taken more photos.”
It turned out that they were Pei Mingzhan’s fans.
Zhao Yao retracted his gaze only to suddenly notice two people sitting in the front right corner. They were a man and a woman and appeared to be a couple.
The movie hadn’t started yet and the cast members on stage were still interacting with the host. Many fans in the audience occasionally made a few noises so it was a bit loud.
Yet Zhao Yao felt such an atmosphere was just right. It was lively and exciting.
The agent received news that Yao Bai’s group had come from the assistant. He checked the situation and found that President Zhao wasn’t sitting at the original VIP seat in the front row but was sitting in the middle row. He asked with surprise, “Why is President Zhao sitting there?”
Lele had received the information from Pei Mingzhan. “Brother Pei said that he will be photographed sitting in the front row so he chose a back position.”
“Isn’t it fine to just suppress the photos? Is there a need to be so particular?” The agent wondered, “Will he go to the back row too?”
Lele smiled in an awkward manner. “In fact, there is a place for Brother Pei next to President Zhao.”
The interactive session on stage soon ended. The director gave a speech and then the theater darkened.
The audience was waiting excitedly but Zhao Yao’s attention was to the aisle on the right. Someone walked over in a bent over manner and finally sat to Zhao Yao’s right.
Zhao Yao opened his mouth. “Don’t you want to sit in the front row?”
“It isn’t easy to be photographed here. Sitting in the front row is uncomfortable.” Pei Mingzhan pulled down his hat. In order to facilitate wearing a hat, he had changed to a simple hairstyle today. “What about you? Is this position okay?”
Zhao Yao nodded. Sitting here was indeed more comfortable than Yao Bai’s VIP position.
Pei Mingzhan had come here specifically. Wasn’t he afraid of the fans noticing? Zhao Yao cocked his head and saw Pei Mingzhan lifting his hat up and down. In the dark environment, it was really hard to notice the appearance of the people around them.
The movie soon started.Zhao Yao had seen the movie in his last life and he still felt it was a classic. The plot arrangement and post-editing were all very good.
Halfway through the movie, Zhao Yao’s eyes turned to the couple to the front right of him. The girl was leaning her head against the boy’s shoulder while the boy would turn his head and rub his face against the girl’s head from time to time. They were acting very close.
Zhao Yao’s reference book gave him a detailed list of modern young people’s favorite dating places. Among them, the movie theater ranked second. There were many reasons but he remembered one reason was that in the theater environment, the emotions between men and women would be a few degrees higher than usual. This could mobilize the subtle emotions between the two people to promote intimate actions such as kisses. It was suitable for shy or introverted couples to develop further.
He was thinking this when the boy in front raised his hand to squeeze the girl’s face. Then he lowered his head to do something.
The back of the movie theater seat blocked most of the movement. Zhao Yao failed to see clearly so he slightly leaned forward and observed carefully.
Pei Mingzhan noticed Zhao Yao’s movement of going forward. At first, he thought that Zhao Yao accidentally dropped something and didn’t care much. Yet when Zhao Yao maintained this action for some time, Pei Mingzhan’s attention finally shifted away from the content of the movie and he found that Zhao Yao was looking forward diagonally.
What was he looking at?