We’re All Especially Sympathizing With That Man

Chapter 6 – A Sumptuous Dinner

Edited by CxZ

In the novel 《My Ten Ex-Fiances and Me》, Yan Jingxi’s character setting was a considerate and protective president who always maintained a tolerant attitude towards the protagonist. For the protagonist, Bai Yueguang, he spared no effort to achieve everything possible and worked hard in maxing out his skills. Even his terrible temper was restrained, in short, this was how his character was set up.

Back then, before Yuan Zhan even played the game, he had seen the poll published by the game’s author on which character is the best gong. Not surprisingly, when the results came out, Yan Jingxi ranked first. He was handsome and well built, and more importantly, he is not like other presidents who were all overbearing and brainless. Rather, he was a considerate character who would show tolerance towards the protagonist, dotes on the protagonist, and completely devoted to him.

Thus, Yuan Zhan thought that his cooking skills must be really great, and so he asked him to cook without much thought.

Yan Jingxi was about to lose his temper, but Yuan Zhan curled his lips indifferently and reminded him: “At noon, you promised. One month.”

Yan Jingxi was unable to refute: “……” So, it turns out he was waiting for it.

The supermarket was not unfamiliar to both of them. When Yuan Zhan lived alone, he often went out to buy instant noodles and daily necessities. The things that can be purchased online, he bought them online, and the remaining goods he needed were all in the supermarket.

As for the Yan Jingxi in the book, he went to the supermarket for two purposes. One was to accompany Bai Yueguang, who moved out of the Bai family, to shop. The other was when he would cook for Bai Yueguang and would buy some items in the vegetables and fruits section of the supermarket. It’s definitely not an exaggeration to say that he was a considerate man; he was able to take care of all of his affairs every day and also find the time to cook for Bai Yueguang. The reason was simple, he was afraid that Bai Yueguang would not have enough to eat or that he would starve himself to death.

He was either foolish or truly in love.

Yuan Zhan didn’t care whether Yan Jingxi was comfortable or not, he only cared about his own comfort. The original owner’s soul has yet to obtain peace, thus as long as it’s unfavorable to the other party, it was entirely pleasurable for him.

Naturally, the fresh produce and meat sections were the most populated within the supermarket.

After entering the supermarket, Yuan Zhan said to Yan Jingxi: “Auntie won’t be preparing our dinner tonight. You take a look at what we should eat tonight.”

Yan Jingxi was full of cold air: “You’re making me come and buy food. When we go back later, you still want me to cook?”

Rather than answering, Yuan Zhan shamelessly threw more questions back at him: “What’s wrong with making you cook me a meal? Haven’t you eaten what I cooked before? Or is it that you don’t want to?” Who also doesn’t have a bad temper!

Yan Jingxi stopped talking, turned around, and pushed the shopping cart. Tolerating the quietness for a while, he knew that Yuan Zhan was forced by the matter of his divorce, and it was a fair and reasonable deal.

At this time, the flow of people in the supermarket has begun to increase. Aunties would be taking their grandchildren along to the supermarket to cool off in the shade. Office workers would also buy some groceries and return home to cook after work. In addition, some items were still on sale so the flow of people increased even more. Yuan Zhan and Yan Jingxi had no choice but to squeeze themselves inside.

Yan Jingxi rolled up his sleeves and casually threw the items into the shopping cart. He didn’t intend to choose the items carefully. He also couldn’t choose any others and most of the vegetables had to be grabbed.

It was already forty minutes later after they finished shopping, and it was another hour before they returned to the deserted villa.

Yan Jingxi didn’t intend to take the initiative to carry in shopping bags. Of course, neither did Yuan Zhan.

The two looked at each other, Yuan Zhan turned around and walked in, leaving Yan Jingxi just standing there.

The driver couldn’t stand by idly and watch so he quickly helped carry things.

Unwillingly, Yan Jingxi quickly picked up two large bags of fruits and vegetables, suppressing his anger, and said: “You can leave now.” 　

The driver promptly slipped away.

There are people who would come and clean up the house every day, so it was not messy at all, but there was no sentiment within the villa.

Yan Jingxi took the two shopping bags directly into the kitchen on his own initiative and sorted the items into categories.

Next, he should start preparing the meal.

Yuan Zhan was about to go upstairs after changing his shoes but was stopped by Yan Jingxi who came out of the kitchen.

Yan Jingxi: “Yuan Zhanqi, you don’t plan to help me cook?”

Yuan Zhan looked straight at him for two seconds: “Sorry, I don’t have a habit of helping people. During the period of when I was the one cooking, you also didn’t put out your hand to help me. Call me when you’re done, I will go up and shower in the meantime.”

Yan Jingxi: “……”

He thought Yuan Zhanqi wanted to experience the intimacy of cooking with his husband.

Yuan Zhan is not Yuan Zhanqi. His original intention was to let Yan Jingxi experience the original owner’s feeling of cooking alone at the time. He did not feel like helping and was too lazy to care.

Gritting his teeth, Yan Jingxi still decided to scoop out rice to cook, thinking that if he was cooking for Xiaoguang, the other party would stand by his side and encourage him. That he would help him peel the garlic, chop the green onions, and peel the fruits.

It takes more than two hours to make a meal that you would want to eat, but it only takes one hour to make a casual meal. Yan Jingxi was just about to call for Yuan Zhanqi when he came down after taking his shower and fully dried his hair.

There were three types of stir-fried dishes and a bowl of hot soup.

It was very simple.

Yuan Zhan was not a picky eater, nor was Yuan Zhanqi.

However, Yuan Zhan has already decided how he is going to carry out this meal today.

Yuan Zhan packed his bowl with rice while Yan Jingxi had already taken off his apron, and the two sat down face to face.

Yuan Zhan picked up his chopsticks and prepared to eat.

After taking the first bite, Yuan Zhan stopped moving.

Yan Jingxi’s cooking level is at the level of a highly rated restaurant chef and it’s comparable to a top-class kitchen?

That’s all nonsense. Obviously, this was only at the level of home cooking, and it was not as exaggerated as described in the novel.

Yuan Zhan put down his chopsticks, and spoke harshly: “It’s unpalatable, are you doing this for me just for show?”

Yan Jingxi also set down his chopsticks: “Would you like to eat or not, I have already made the food.” He then turned around to go upstairs, wanting to look for Xiaoguang to console him. Yuan Zhan truly does not know how to differentiate good from bad!

Before Yan Jingxi even moved two meters, Yuan Zhan, who was brewing for two seconds, waved his hand and swept the table full of food down onto the floor. Causing the pot full of soup to spill out all over the floor and sending out loud clattering sounds from the broken dishes.

There was silence inside the room, Yan Jingxi held his head suddenly and turned around.

Yuan Zhanqi, who just swept all the food off the table, looked at him calmly.

Yan Jingxi clutched his forehead tightly, “Yuan Zhanqi, have you lost your mind!?”

Yuan Zhan said: “I lost my mind? No, I haven’t. Are you distressed that you spent an hour making dinner?” He sneered and stayed in his place as he nonchalantly swept the remaining chopsticks onto the floor.

“How many times have I cooked for you, have you ever remembered how you treated me? You disliked my cooking. Telling me it’s unpalatable, that the rice is too hard and the dishes don’t look good. Today I am just returning all those comments back to you. Only just a sentence and you can’t stand it anymore? Then what about me? One year, two years, three years? You cooked the meal with a perfunctory attitude but I have always done so with hope and sincerity. However, it was tossed away like a pair of worn-out shoes by you, what am I supposed to say!?”

In just one day, Yuan Zhan sent out fire at Yan Jingxi three times. After he finished roaring this paragraph of his, he closed his eyes and got up to rush upstairs.

Today, he employed two big moves.

The first one was a preemptive strike.

The second was to give the opponent a taste of his own medicine.

How were the results? He knew very well that he had succeeded when Yan Jingxi dared to be angry but did not dare to speak.

However, after Yuan Zhan returned to his room, his stomach, which has been empty all afternoon, rumbled in hunger.

He lives in the master bedroom and there was a refrigerator in the small drawing room outside.

Within the refrigerator, were wine, cola, and half a pack of dried pork made by the auntie while he was playing on the computer two days ago. Back then, he threw it into the refrigerator just after eating half of it. He didn’t expect that he would rely on it to get through the long night, with this, his stomach can be satisfied.

Yuan Zhan gnawed on the dried pork as he turned on his computer on the side, attempting to try this world’s hottest game. Yan Jingxi, who was left in the living room, was staring at the soup on the dining room floor. He was a little obsessed with cleanliness so after struggling with his thoughts for a moment, he went to find the broom and mop to clean up broken dishes and food on the floor.

After all of that was done, Yan Jingxi entered the living room and sat down in a daze as he face the TV, unaware of what show was even playing. Even when Bai Yueguang sent him a WeChat message, he still has not recovered from his thoughts at all.

Yan Jingxi was stirred up by the words Yuan Zhan roared out tonight and he was reflecting.

Yuan Zhanqi was not like this before.

He doesn’t speak loudly, always walks behind him, and constantly inquires about his well-being. As long as he put up a cold face, then Yuan Zhanqi would have an appearance of a doormat. If he speaks more fiercely, the rim of his eyes would turn red and would tear up a lot. Yan Jingxi would then feel troubled and annoyed. As time passes, he only got fed up whenever he sees Yuan Zhanqi and he had no patience to deal with him anymore.

When they went to the law firm to sign the divorce document, they had not seen each other for nearly two months.

When they met again, Yuan Zhanqi no longer inquired solicitously about his well-being, and he did not have a bitter face of accepting a compromise.

Yan Jingxi felt his changes in just one day.

He calmed down and contemplated, indeed reflecting on his way of handling things so far.

In order to obtain Yuan Zhanqi’s signature for the divorce agreement, he should be more careful.

Who made Yuan Zhanqi like him, it was his own mistake to like him.

He once thought about what Yuan Zhanqi liked about him, as long as he said it, he would be willing to change it.

At any rate, he has to continue doing his work and keep up his image as a hardworking boss. Yan Jingxi only spent ten minutes thinking about his affairs with Yuan Zhanqi and then he devoted himself to work. Once he finishes, he would then chat with Bai Yueguang on WeChat.

He didn’t eat much for dinner but it was enough to heat up a glass of milk for himself. Before going to sleep, he glanced at the master bedroom.

Three years of marriage and the two of them have practically never shared the same bed.

Thinking of this, Yan Jingxi returned to the second bedroom to lie down and chatted with Bai Yueguang without much care.

Yuan Zhanqi was so angry, can he still sleep?

Yuan Zhan, who was next door, without a doubt slept very soundly and well. In his sleep, he dreamed that the original owner praised him for doing a good job. The original owner said that he truly has never dared to get angry with Yan Jingxi. He was almost always cautious and was usually afraid that the other party would get angry.

Later, the original owner unknowingly thought of something sad which brought up his old, sorrowful wounds and left.

Yuan Zhan slept well throughout the night.

Early in the morning, Yuan Zhan was woken up by his hunger.

After washing and going downstairs, the first thing he did was walk directly to the kitchen. Smelling the breakfast, Yuan Zhan quickly grabs a steamed bun from the table and ate two mouthfuls.

The taste was pretty good, it should be Auntie who steamed them.

Just as Yuan Zhan guessed, he saw the auntie leave the kitchen with two bowls of minced meat congee.

He hoped that Yan Jingxi would change his attitude immediately. Yuan Zhan does not want to constantly lose his temper for it to have an effect on Yan Jingxi.

The auntie quietly said to him: “Mr. Yan just went out for a run. Do you want to wait for him to have breakfast together?”

Yuan Zhan responded without any hesitation: “No.”

He was starving to death.

As luck would have it, their conversation was heard by Yan Jingxi who had just entered the house: “……”

Originally he wanted to head directly into the dining room, but Yan Jingxi changed his mind, stiffly turned around, and went upstairs to take a shower.

By the time Yan Jingxi came down once again, Yuan Zhan had just eaten his fruits after finishing his meal and was ready to go to the company.

Before leaving, Yuan Zhan glanced at Yan Jingxi and reminded: “Don’t forget tonight’s dinner.”

Yan Jingxi recalled his furious appearance last night, but did not agree nor did he refuse.

Seeing the other party leaving without looking back, Yan Jingxi felt an indescribable strangeness on the inside.

As the car disappeared from the doorway, he turned to see the auntie smiling at him: “Mr. Yan, I saw a bag full of kitchen waste at the doorway this morning. Surely, Mr. Yuan must have made a sumptuous dinner for you last night.”

Truly, mentioning the pot that does not boil1.

1Idiom for touching a sore spot, mentioning something that shouldn’t be mentioned.