Ah, ah, ah, ah!!… Who could possibly resist this Toupai DaRen?  He certainly knows how to set the mood. ❤

Chapter 21 – Yan Du Xian [Salted Pork Soup] (6)

Yan du xian. Toupai. Toupai. Yan du xian…

Even after the dish was brought out and served up onto the table, Gu Sheng was still feeling like she was in a fantasy. She, here alone, and Toupai, also alone, sitting face to face, having yan du xian soup…… T T. She wanted to be calm and dignified and not allow her mind to wander, but this was simply, totally their first meeting, ah… Obviously, that night in the grocery store when she had been holding her dog and watching him pay definitely could not be counted as a “real” encounter.

Yan du xian was her favourite dish, and she had to wait every year for the cold weather to come before she could have it. Positively one of the most wonderful things Gu Sheng looked forward to.

And then…

Well. The most wonderful food coupled with the most beautiful voice. Sitting together…

She used her chopsticks to stab at a bamboo shoot in front of her. Her first time having dinner with a boy that was neither a schoolmate nor a relative. What should she say? T T

She lifted her gaze.

At the same moment, Toupai happened to be reaching for food with his chopsticks and glanced at her. “What’s the matter?”

Nothing. T T  Just that, Toupai, do you really think that such a peaceful, harmonious atmosphere without any speaking is a good thing for the first time having dinner together? You’re honestly not feeling awkward at all?…… Gu Sheng blurted out, “The food is delicious here.”

Mo Qingcheng chuckled, “It is indeed delicious here.”

It was a simple and clean place and was also near the recording studio, less than a ten minute walk away … It must be a place that Mo Qingcheng and the others frequented?

“I really like yan du xian,” Mo Qingcheng suddenly told her.

“Me too,” Gu Sheng echoed. “But most of the time, my dad and mom just make it at home for me to eat. We rarely go out to have it.”

“My parents are very busy with their work,” he said casually. “It seems I’ve always cooked for myself. After I graduated and lived with Jue Mei, when I was too lazy to cook, we would go out together to eat.”

Poor guy. T T

But he’s so much taller than you, even when he’s sitting… Gu Sheng, what’s up with this mood of yours, like you’re looking at a stray, unwanted cat? … She lowered her head. Keep eating, keep eating.

“Have you tried to make it before?” Mo Qingcheng’s voice was warm and gentle, as if he was having a casual conversation at the dinner table with an old friend… Wait, no, it really was a casual conversation at the dinner table. Just unfortunately, not with an old friend.

Gu Sheng shook her head in reply.

“It’s really simple.” He very naturally started to go over the recipe with her, and Gu Sheng also very naturally listened to him. “First, you blanch fresh bamboo shoot slices in hot water. Then you use cold water and briefly soak salted pork meat and cured bamboo shoots in it to remove some of the saltiness.”

Nodding, she listened carefully to him, for the recipe itself but also for his ridiculously beautiful voice.

Mo Qingcheng picked out some of the more tender bamboo shoot tips and placed them in her bowl. Unhurriedly, he continued, “Next, put some scallions and ginger in cold water and bring it to a boil. Then add the salt-cured meat and some spare ribs. I also like to add salted pigs feet. When everything comes to a boil over high heat, skim off the foamy sc.u.m on top, and then cook it for twenty minutes to half an hour.” He was recalling the recipe in his mind while saying, “After, you add both the cured and fresh bamboo shoots. When the soup becomes a milky white, you turn the heat down to low and stew it for about an hour or so.”

“What about the dried bean curd knots?” Gu Sheng asked.

He laughed, “Don’t be so anxious.”

I’m not anxious…

Mo Qingcheng carried on, “Lastly, add the bean curd knots. Simmer it on low for about fifteen minutes before you sprinkle some chopped scallions on top. Then it can come out of the pot.”

She gave an “mm” in response.

She spooned some soup to drink. Delicious food paired with a beautiful voice. Such an indulgence…

When she was full and her entire body felt warm, Mo Qingcheng waved down the server for the bill. The server came over with a smile and handed the bill to him while asking, “Is she a voice actor as well, like you? She looks so young.”

Pulling out some money and placing it into the folder she was holding, Mo Qingcheng answered, “No, she is still a student.”

Gu Sheng smiled at the server.

From the looks of it, he was such a frequent customer that he and the restaurant staff could not get any more familiar than this. Probably the takeout that Toupai ordered when he was doing dubbing came from this restaurant, too?

“Oh,” the server said knowingly, like she understood something.

Mo Qingcheng smiled, tacitly affirming what the server had implied.

Amid this silent exchange, Gu Sheng felt genuinely embarra.s.sed.

“Get dressed.” Mo Qingcheng had already risen to his feet and was holding his jacket as he explained, “It’s still quite a ways to your school. We might need to hurry up a bit.” When he was finished speaking, he once again picked up her heavy and bulging backpack as if it was perfectly normal and expected.

Gu Sheng quickly stood up, wanting to tell him that she could carry it herself.

Her words had reached the tip of her tongue and she was just about to say them when a burst of gleeful laughter was heard coming from the doorway…

Without even needing to turn around to look, she broke out in cold sweat. Such a familiar sound, you know? T T

All you DaRens, do you really need to treat this like the local cafeteria? You know, you can occasionally have a change in tastes, k?…

“MO! QING! CHENG!” Fei Shao chortled loudly, “Weren’t you accompanying someone back to school? How come you’ve been ‘accompanying’ for 45 minutes now, and you’re still hanging around the recording studio, huh?”

“Don’t expose our Unrivalled Allure Toupai DaRen.” Dou Dou Dou Bing pulled off her scarf with a grin. “Was it tasty, Sheng Sheng? The food here is not bad, is it?”

Gu Sheng did not even dare open her mouth to speak, so she simply squeaked out an “mm” in reply.

“Yan du xian?” Wwwwk sauntered over, his eyes sweeping over the table. “Toupai, you are such a disloyal friend… I’ve been saying for the last two days now that I wanted to have yan du xian, but you refused to go eat it with me …”

J

With a show of seriousness, Jue Mei placed a hand on his shoulder and told him, “There’s Sheng Sheng now. Who’d still want to eat with you?”

Everyone was chattering away delightedly.

Even the server was beaming like a blooming flower as she listened in.

Gu Sheng was dying from embarra.s.sment. Quietly, she looked over at Toupai and said softly, “Let’s go?”

He smiled, “Okay.” Glancing over at Jue Mei, he stated, “Going now.”

Jue Mei gave him a look that was meant to say, “Bro, you are free to come and go as you want; I’m not stopping you.” Casually pulling out a chair, he sat down at a large, round table and instructed everyone, “Sit down, sit down. We’ll just pretend we never saw Mo Qingcheng, eh. Don’t make Sheng Sheng feel awkward. Then she won’t want to come next time…”

T T  You can pretend for something like that?

And anyways, Jue Mei DaRen… you guys are done with your jokes already. Now that you’ve had your fun, you’ve finally noticed I feel awkward?…

In a rather resigned fashion, Toupai patted Jue Mei on the shoulder and then departed from there with Sheng Sheng, leaving the group behind them to their own delighted chortles and chatters as they continued to order their dishes for dinner.

The two of them caught the bus without any issues. It was already past eight o’clock at night so there were not many people, and the back half of the bus was empty. Together, they sat in the very last row. The two of them were the only people occupying that entire row of six seats.

“You sing so well. Why have you never gone into singing and only stuck with voice acting?” Gu Sheng had wanted to ask this question for quite some time now.

He, on the other hand, did not seem to place much regard on the issue. “Singing requires more effort.”

Alright.

The bus turned a corner. Their trip had only just begun.

She did not know what to say to Mo Qingcheng. They couldn’t keep talking about vocal recording the whole time, right?….

But, besides singing and voice acting, she really did not know what she could talk to Toupai about.

After all, she couldn’t go telling him that the lecturer for her two cla.s.ses tomorrow morning was going to be that old teacher who could put people to sleep the instant he started his lessons, right?…

However, the good thing was, Toupai finally did not need to help her carry that heavy bag of hers any longer and had placed it on the empty seat next to him. At least… she did not need to feel guilty about that anymore.

Gu Sheng’s thoughts were starting to wander. She began to contemplate how she could get to her bag first when it was time to get off the bus so that he would not actually have to carry it for her all the way back to her dormitory…

All of a sudden, she heard a quiet voice.

Very light, very relaxed. He was singing in a deep, pleasant voice.

She looked at him in surprise.

He, too, was looking at her, those deep black eyes with the upward-turned outer corners carrying the hint of a smile in them, as he casually sang.

The empty, s.p.a.cious interior of the bus did not easily allow sound to transmit to the front, and therefore, in this moment, only she could hear Qiang Qing Ci singing “Ge Wei Yang” [Song Has not Ended]. It was a song very suitable for singing at night. Listening quietly to it, there was a sense of old Shanghai’s languid, lavish atmosphere.

The bus came to a stop at a red light.

His singing, however, did not stop.

As she listened, Gu Sheng felt as if she would not be able to breathe. It was too beautiful a voice …

She quickly turned her head away and continued to fix her gaze on the view outside the window.

“Who is still nostalgically singing?

That familiar song has still not come to an end

The lights have been extinguished

The people have all left

But the longing continues to entangle

I am a wave, continuously drifting and pursuing

Occasionally coming to rest in your heart

I cannot slow my pace

Can only hurry along

Then suddenly, I have already crossed the ocean

……”

As she listened to him, she thought, this was such a wonderful night.

Such a beautiful voice singing such a beautiful song.

T T  If she could only record it, it would be even better…

百葉結. Orig ‘bai ye jie.’ Literally meaning “a knot through a hundred sheets.” When hot soy milk is exposed to the cooler air, a skin forms on the surface. This skin can be lifted off and dried to created a sheet of soy/tofu/bean curd skin. Dried bean curd knots, or tofu skin knots, are made by slicing the slightly moist bean curd skin into strips, tying a knot in each strip, and allowing to dry.

Dried bean curd knots ()

Additional Comments:

Those who watched Shanghai Bund 2007 with Huang Xiao Ming should be familiar with the original female version (sung by Echo) of the song, 歌未央 [Song Has Not Ended], in this chapter. This particular male cover sung by 柯暮卿 was recommended by MBFB herself, although I didn’t realize that until after I spent an afternoon listening to all the male covers out there and finally deciding this one was the best.  If you visit the for this song, the comments below are all screaming, “Toupai DaRen!” “Qiang Qing Ci!!” “I came after reading the novel.” “Hahaha.  Everyone is here because of Toupai!”

Anyways, here’s the translated lyrics.

[0:29] 是誰還留戀的吟唱

Who still is nostalgically singing?

[0:36]那首熟悉的歌未央

That familiar song has still not come to an end

[0:43] 燈光已熄滅

The lights have been extinguished

[0:46] 人已散場

The people have all left

[0:50] 思念繼續糾纏

But the longing continues to entangle

[0:57] 我是隨波逐的浪

I am a wave, continuously drifting and pursuing

[1:04] 偶爾停泊在你心房

Occasionally coming to rest in your heart

[1:11] 放不慢腳步

I cannot slow my pace

[1:14] 只能匆忙

Can only hurry along

[1:17] 轉瞬間已越過海洋

Then suddenly, I have already crossed the ocean

[1:26] 那些被淡忘的時光

Those times that have faded from memory

[1:32] 是否別來無恙

Are they still well since our parting?

[1:39] 他日若還能活過往

Perhaps in the future, I will still be alive, and what’s left of the past

[1:45] 也許只剩一句輕嘆

may only be a single sigh

[2:32] 我是隨波逐的浪

I am a wave, continuously drifting and pursuing

[2:39] 偶爾停泊在你心房

Occasionally coming to rest in your heart

[2:46] 放不慢腳步

I cannot slow my pace

[2:49] 只能匆忙

Can only hurry along

[2:53] 轉瞬間已越過海洋

Then suddenly, I have already crossed the ocean

[3:01] 那些被淡忘的時光

Those times that have faded from memory

[3:07] 是否別來無恙

Are they still well since our parting?

[3:14] 他日若還能活過往

Perhaps in the future, I will still be alive, and what’s left of the past

[3:20] 也許只剩一句

may only be a single sentence

[3:28] 那些被淡忘的時光

Those times that have faded from memory

[3:35] 能否再來一段

May we relive them just once more

[3:42] 而我是不是還依然

And am I still

[3:48] 你曾經眷戀的模樣

The same person you once yearned for?