Deep and strong vinegar flavor

  He closed the door and leaned against it, feeling a bit down as he slid to the ground. The big house was empty except for him, and it felt really uncomfortable. He didn't know if Chen Ran would come back or not, probably not, maybe he wouldn't see Chen Ran for the next few days.

  There was a faint ache in his heart, and Su Qiao didn't want to admit that he would miss Chen Ran so much. He thought it was probably because he had gotten used to being by Chen Ran's side, and only felt uncomfortable when he couldn't see him.

  It wasn't until his stomach growled in protest that Su Qiao slowly got up and put the dishes on the coffee table. As soon as he opened the lunchbox, the aroma of rice wafted out, but Su Qiao felt no appetite, forcing himself to eat a few mouthfuls before stopping.

  Lying half-reclined on the sofa watching TV, Su Qiao somewhat listlessly changed channels. He was feeling annoyed and couldn't continue watching any of the programs. Listening to the affectionate voices on TV, Su Qiao even felt a little jealous. He didn't know what was wrong with himself.

  She stormed off and turned off the TV, Su Qiao continued to lie back on the sofa, staring at the white ceiling in the room until her eyes felt tired, and she fell asleep unintentionally.

  In his dream, he was holding hands with someone wearing a couple's outfit and strolling down the street in a very sweet manner. Something that didn't feel right was that the person holding his hand was even taller than him, and when that person turned around to look at him gently, he woke up.

  Su Qiao got up and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Why did he keep having such strange dreams, even dreaming of holding hands with a man? He was really going crazy. Unconsciously, he looked out the window, only to find that it was already evening. Ever since meeting Chen Ran, his whole life had been off-kilter. Once he took back control of the Su Group and repaid Chen Ran's kindness, he would definitely have to stay far away from Chen Ran.

  It seemed to have heard the sound of opening the door, Su Qiao was a little vigilant and shrunk his body, could it be a thief? He is alone now, thinking about it, Su Qiao took out a thick stick from the kitchen.

  Leaning against the wall by the door, Su Qiao took a deep breath and was about to strike with his stick as soon as the person opened the door, but instead he heard a familiar voice beside his ear.

  Chen Yan helplessly caught the stick that Su Qiao had swung over, "What, want to murder your master?" His tone seemed to carry a certain pleasure, which made Su Qiao suddenly angry.

  "It's not like you're back so late, I thought there was a thief coming." Su Qiao pouted his mouth somewhat displeased, this time it really was embarrassing to the extreme, he had even forgotten to go see who the person by the door was, and directly went to prepare the wooden stick, Chen Ran must have thought he was very timid.

  Chen Ran stretched out his big hand and patted Su Qiao's head, a refreshing lemon scent filled Su Qiao's nostrils. "Fool, the security equipment here is very good, there are rarely any thieves."

  "You also know it's rare, what if I accidentally bumped into you?" With a forceful flick of her wrist, Su Qiao shook off Chen Ran's hand and turned around in anger, ignoring him.

  Chen Ran's smile at the corner of his mouth couldn't help but expand, Su Qiao was really cute like this, and he couldn't help but hug him from behind. Chen Ran gently leaned into his ear, "Alright, I won't let you face danger alone, I'll always be here."

  "Hmph, is that so? You'll still get married and have kids in the future, and then I'll be left alone." Su Qiao turned his head away, trying to distance himself from the oppressive feeling Chen Ran was giving him. This man really, why did he have to get so close, the lemon scent on him was almost suffocating.

  It turned out that she was jealous, Chen Ran couldn't help but want to laugh, and was afraid that Su Qiao would become proud, so she could only hold back, "It's not possible, as long as you're here, it's enough." She unconsciously tightened her grip on Su Qiao's arm.

  Su Qiao was taken aback, and her hand, which had been about to pull away from Chen Ran's, froze in mid-air. She leaned back into the warmth behind her, closed her eyes, and felt a sense of unreality wash over her. "You... would you deceive me?"

  "No, cheating you doesn't benefit me either." Chen Ran rested his chin on Su Qiao's head, freeing up one hand to scratch Su Qiao's nose, and smiled with some helpless indulgence.

  Feeling the vibration of the person's voice behind him, Su Qiao unexpectedly felt at ease. "En, then I'll reluctantly believe you."

  "Had dinner? I brought some for you." Chen Ran let go of Su Qiao, took a few steps back and walked to the things he had just put down in order to receive Su Qiao's wooden stick.

  Some people stared blankly as Chen Ran opened the unremarkable bag, Su Qiao pouted, "What's that thing?" She tiptoed and looked far ahead expectantly, but still couldn't see what Chen Ran was eating.

  "You'll know soon enough." Chen Ran smiled mysteriously and shortly after, opened the bag on the ground, pulling out a dish that made Su Qiao scream.

  "Red braised cod?" Su Qiao felt his saliva was about to flow out, and he quickly followed Chen Ran's footsteps to the dinner table. It really was red braised cod, and it looked like it might fly away if he wasn't careful.

  Chen Ran turned his head and saw Su Qiao's eager expression, he couldn't help but want to laugh, afraid that Su Qiao would get angry, so the corners of his mouth kept twitching. "En, I had my mom make it especially, she's not very good at spicy boiled fish, so she made a braised one instead."

  Su Qiao glanced at Chen Ran during the interval of watching the red-braised cod, with some speechlessness at the corner of his mouth. For a moment, his gaze was distracted by the cod, "What's that expression? Is your mouth twitching?"

  "No, I'll go take a bath first, you eat." Chen Ran's expression was calm and collected, the smile at the corner of his lips also disappeared, his slender hands adjusted his clothes, and he let out a slightly tired yawn.

  "Are you tired?" Shouldn't going home be about enjoying the warmth of family, or Zhou Ting's care? Su Qiao's eyes dimmed for a moment, and his excitement at seeing the braised cod had completely dissipated. He almost forgot to ask about Chen Ran and Zhou Ting's development, "You and Zhou Ting..."

  Before he could finish, Su Qiao discovered that Chen Ran had already gone upstairs and was sitting in a chair with some weakness, picking up chopsticks and unconsciously poking at the cod fish. When she realized it, a plate of beautiful dishes had been completely destroyed.

  Sneaking a peek at the stairs, Su Qiao thought Chen Ran wouldn't be coming down so soon. She quickly started devouring the dish that didn't look very appetizing, but as she ate, she found herself getting hooked on Xiao Qing's cooking skills, which were indeed top-notch.

  The dishes were washed, Chen Ran had not come down yet, Su Qiao was waiting on the sofa watching TV and was really bored, tidied up things and started going upstairs to take a bath and sleep. To say that he had been living in Chen Ran's house, every day before 10 o'clock he would go to bed.

  As she passed by Chen Ran's room, Su Qiao was a little curious and went over to take a look, but found that Chen Ran was not there. Was he still taking a bath? Just as she was wondering, she heard Chen Ran's voice coming from the study. Su Qiao frowned, why was Chen Ran working so late? Didn't he usually go to bed early and read books?

  She stopped her footsteps towards the study and found that Chen Ran was becoming more and more important in her heart.