January is here!  So, that means I’m updating on Tuesday/Wednesday and Friday/Sat.u.r.day (N. American/everywhere else time) again.  Well, at least for the next week.  When My Sunshine airs on January 10th, Toupai and Sheng Sheng will be taking a little break and giving the spotlight to Yi Chen and Mo Sheng.

And now, you will all know where the inspiration for the t.i.tle of the novel came from… ❤

Chapter 41 – Salt and Pepper Mushrooms (4)

Gu Sheng and Mo Qingcheng were intensely and pa.s.sionately immersed in their relationship.

However, on the Internet, these two had decided, in an unspoken agreement, to completely go into hiding. Sheng Sheng Man, because she was now dating Qiang Qing Qi, disappeared. There was no fanfare nor flaunting of how in love they were…… More accurately, from beginning to end, Sheng Sheng Man had never flaunted anything about being in love. Ever since that one comment of “I am so happy” had resulted in the ma.s.ses lining up to surround her as spectators, she had disappeared. Besides forwarding the songs of good friends, all she would do was forward her own songs, making her Weibo account seem more like an account used for marketing and publicity…

Keeping a low profile was very good. A low profile meant no mistakes could be made.

If it were anyone else, that person would have been jumping up and down everyday, parading her love out for everyone within a 360o radius to see. Hence, a portion of Toupai’s fan base gradually started to think that their idol’s judgment in choosing a girlfriend was actually pretty good, ah.

Of course, the other part still acted as if she did not exist…

“A mountain may not move, but its waters do.” What if one day they broke up?

Then Toupai would belong to everyone again.

Naturally, where there was an entertainment circle, there was gossip.

It was not known which new member of Wanmei leaked the news that Qiang Qing Ci would be officially announcing his retirement from the entertainment circle at Wanmei’s anniversary celebration event, but straightaway all sorts of rumours started to spread. Although he had faded out of the limelight for a long time now, every year he would at least still partic.i.p.ate in an insignificant role in a radio drama for Wanmei, and while he did not have the time to take on a main role, any drama he took part in was still absolutely one of the big dramas of the year that garnered the most attention.

However, if he really did retire from the online entertainment circle, then they really would only be able to hear him in commercial projects.

As a result, everyone’s emotions started to boil again, believing that Sheng Sheng Man was one who got jealous easily and she had influenced Toupai, telling their DaRen to retire from the online entertainment world. Rumours could be so scary T.T…

Gu Sheng shut down her QQ, deciding in the end not to look at the posts Zou Diao’er and her a.s.sociation president had sent over.

Actually, she really did not care. And Toupai even more so did not care about being badmouthed… The only thing she was nervous about was Ling Long Ti Tou’s invitation to her to compose a song. When the song was actually released, it would definitely bring about a great commotion…

She stuffed her headphones on her head, deciding to compose the song and worry about it later. As for the rest… worry about those later, too.

Her mobile phone had many ancient-style songs in it, and while she was reading through the lyrics that had already been completed by the lyricist, she listened to them to get inspiration for her composing. A gentle breeze blew in through the open bus window. In the blink of an eye, it was early summer already… Because of the busy nature of Toupai DaRen’s work, their dating life had very quickly fallen into a rhythm.

Twice a week, she would go to his home for dinner, otherwise known as “breaking the veggie fast with meat.”

He would then drive her back to the university. Of course, that was when he was not busy. During the times he was busy, she would leisurely catch the bus back to her school. Then, they would wait again until he managed to have half a day of free time, when they would go… um, all over to dig up good eats.

(⊙o⊙)

Such a harmonious dating life…

When she arrived at his apartment, out of habit, she rang the doorbell, but after waiting a long time without the door being opened, she finally remembered that Mo Qingcheng had cut an extra key and given it to her. In that moment of pulling it out of her bag and opening the door, she actually felt like she was being a thief. After all, Jue Mei lived here as well, ah…

Who would have expected that, when she pushed open the door, Jue Mei would already be on the other side, grinning as he handed a gla.s.s of orange juice to her? “Toupai DaRen wouldn’t let me open the door. He said, every time, you don’t use the key, so you need to get into the habit.”

Alright. From the kitchen, the splashing sounds of hot oil could be heard.

She took the orange juice in her hand, smiled at Jue Mei, and then immediately, like a very good girl, ran into the kitchen.

When she stepped in and washed her hands, Toupai was using cool water to rinse and cool down some mushrooms that had already been cooked in hot water. While waiting for the mushrooms to cool, he said, “I’m making salt and pepper mushrooms for you.” His voice was light and relaxed as it wafted into her ear.

Gu Sheng answered with an “mm” and was even more docile.

What was this feeling, where the instant she heard his voice, she would wag her tail? T.T …

Was it going to be like this their entire lives? …

She stood beside him, watching as he took the mushrooms that had been torn into thin strips and squeezed the excess water from them. He then added an egg and some flour into a porcelain dish and mixed these together evenly with the mushrooms. “Would you like it if I add some five-spice powder?”

“Mm.” She continued her tail wagging.

She watched Toupai add the five-spice powder and another egg before continuing to stir and stir, stir and stir…

What was this feeling, where just looking at the mushrooms covered in paste caused her mouth to salivate? T.T …

Was it really going to be like this their entire lives? …

Poof. Burner turned on, oil heated up, mushrooms into the wok.

The mushrooms were quickly fried until they were cooked through, and then they were taken out and placed onto a plate. Mo Qingcheng opened a gla.s.s cabinet, and from a row of more than a dozen bottles of spices and seasonings, he pulled out the bottle of salt and pepper seasoning and sprinkled it evenly over the mushrooms.

Ok, done~

With great approval, Gu Sheng picked up the dish and inhaled deeply. It smelled so good, aah.

She squinted her eyes in satisfaction and turned around. However, when she started to head out of the kitchen, Toupai, who was behind her, pulled her back. In a very low voice, he told her, “You’re allowed to steal a couple bites first. It tastes best when it’s freshly fried.”

That wouldn’t be kind, would it? …

Poor Jue Mei…

She had not finished sighing over this when Toupai stretched out his hand and, not even bothering to use chopsticks, picked up a piece of mushroom between his middle and ring finger. And like that, openly and unabashedly, he brought it up to her lips… Gu Sheng felt guiltily embarra.s.sed and straightaway opened her mouth and ate it.

“Taste good?” he asked softly.

“Very good.” Her eyes narrowed together. She wanted more…

Sure enough, Toupai fed her another piece.

So, so delicious…

Licking her lips, she was about to comment that she had never thought that mushrooms could taste so good when she saw Mo Qingcheng casually bring his fingers to his lips and lick away the salt and pepper seasoning on them. “Not bad.”

She had this same habit of licking her fingers after eating any food that had spices or seasonings on it…

He glanced at the mushrooms but seemed to think that picking up another piece after he had licked his fingers would not be very appropriate.

Gu Sheng felt her heart melt when she saw his gaze and so, she also stealthily picked up a piece and brought it toward him.

Her fingers were up next to his lips.

When the mushroom was eaten, she pulled her fingers back and looked down at the salt and pepper on her hands.

Before she had finished hesitating, he had already caught her hand in his and pulled it up to his lips. Gently, his tongue brushed across the tips of her fingers. “It tastes pretty good. Shouldn’t waste it.” His voice was low and soft. Soooo soul-melting.

Her fingertips felt like they had just had an electric shock. Numb and tingly…

Her heart was also numb and tingly…

“Did you miss me?” Mo Qingcheng continued to ask her in a soft tone.

“Mm…”

His brows furrowed, meaning that was an incorrect answer.

“Mm-hmm. Missed…”

“How much did you miss me?” He continued to guide her words.

Oh no. All the adjectives she knew seemed to have left her brain completely.

“Really, really missed…”

He smiled. “Who did you miss?”

“You…”

“Now put it all together and say it.” He lowered his voice some more and even the last sound of his sentence seemed to rise up slightly in pitch…

“…… Really, really missed you.”

T.T……

That’s just so bad of him…

Who forces someone to say lovey-dovey words? …

Mo Qingcheng appeared to be very satisfied with the results of his instructing and finally started to make the next dish while telling her to bring the salt and pepper mushrooms out of the kitchen. Even when they were well into dinner, she was still deep in pondering over one particular matter:

You say, how come Toupai was a completely different person in front of other people than when there was no one else around? T.T…..

山不轉水轉 “shan bu zhuan shui zhuan.” Things are never all static. Even if a mountain does not move, the streams on it do. Nothing is fixed in stone and unchanging.

開葷 “kai hun.” Compared to the days they cannot see each other or have dinner together (the veggie diet), being able to share a meal is special (like getting to eat meat again).