Simon had thought it would be a simple meal, but in the end, the table was laden with dishes.
Nine dishes and one soup. Besides everyday dishes, there were also some classic local dishes: Stir-fried River Shrimp with Oil, Braised Chicken with Chestnuts, Chicken Slices with Egg White, Crystal Shrimp, and Hairy Crab with Oil and Soy Sauce. Some time-consuming dishes were prepared in advance and kept in warming covers, ready to be served.
While being a Social Credit Level One had many inconveniences, it offered one advantage: not having to be too formal. Whether in speech or behavior, those things that made modern people tremble were not reasons to bother Social Credit Level One individuals. They could use foul language, as long as it wasn't recorded by machines as malicious psychological attacks, and they could waste food, as long as they had the means to obtain raw materials and properly dispose of the swill.
During the many days she stayed at Great-Grandfather's house, Su Xiangli looked forward to meals the most, and her favorite piece of furniture was the refrigerator.
Great-Grandfather's refrigerator was like a four-dimensional pocket; he could continuously pull out desserts from it to feed Su Xiangli.
In fact, both Simon and Su Xiangli knew that the old man spent four or five hours every night preparing these desserts. Lu Xuefeng never said anything, maintaining a peculiar elder's reserve. He enjoyed the greedy expressions that appeared on the children's faces when he took out the delicacies. Their youthful vigor could revitalize his decaying body. Speaking of which, doesn't that sound like a Black Mountain Old Demon sucking Yang energy?
...
Today is January 26, 2090, the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month.
Outdoor temperature: 1 ℃
Night had already fallen, consuming the sunlit world. On the clear sky, after the clouds had dispersed and the snow had cleared, one could barely see a few sparse stars. Many of them, however, were not real stars at all, but spacecraft flying in low Earth orbit.
It wasn't any special holiday, nor would there be any grand performances. It was just a rare clear day after continuous snow. Su Xiangli came to knock on Simon's bedroom door.
"What's wrong?" Simon was wearing a short-sleeved shirt. He was rushing a product modeling project for a clothing store and hadn't slept.
"I'm a little hungry."
"Great-Grandfather should be making desserts. Why don't we go ask him for some?"
"But isn't eating sweets at night bad for your teeth?"
"Oh, then we'll eat secretly. If we don't get caught, no one will say that eating sweets at night causes cavities."
"Mm! Good idea."
The two little ones went back to their rooms to change into down jackets. Simon thought for a moment and also hung the headphones Great-Grandfather had given him around his neck. Ever since he had earned money, he had immediately redeemed them from You Tou Guai Zheng Qilu.
"Why are you still wearing headphones?"
"Never mind that, let's go."
The two little thieves quietly snuck to the outside of the kitchen.
On the dark earth, scattered lights were even sparser than the stars in the sky. One of these was the kitchen light, where Great-Grandfather's silhouette swayed in front of the chopping board, humming a cheerful tune.
Su Xiangli took out her phone to check the time. The screen's light illuminated her cheek, and Simon, using this faint glow, carefully gazed at Su Xiangli's face.
Her cheeks still had soft baby fat, which always made him recall how, in previous years, he would rub Su Xiangli's cheeks like a cold water balloon, and she would show a silly expression, truly as if her brain had filled with water, hahaha. Simon unconsciously smiled.
[Lu: You're truly childish.]
Su Xiangli turned her head and glared fiercely at Simon. Her black eyes, illuminated by the phone's light, actually resembled cold stars. "What are you thinking?"
Simon was startled. "No, nothing." He felt quite ashamed. Men always let their minds wander at night. Come to think of it, he was already of age now. His future words and actions should be more careful, and even his thoughts should be cautious. He shouldn't be lazy anymore.
[Lu: Yes, look at yourself carefully.]
Su Xiangli tilted her head, the bright light in her eyes flickering. She was increasingly like a feline, but Simon didn't want to use such a common word to describe the girl he liked. She was his eternal swan in his heart. A swan was not a common farm goose, and though both were white, winged creatures, a protected animal was simply different from poultry.
Specifically, how were they different? He couldn't say, but he just didn't want to lump her in with the common crowd.
[Lu: Ha, is this love? You just lust after her body, you lecher!]
The night wind was not gentle. The two little ones waited quietly until their limbs were numb. It was precisely because they endured the bitter of this wind that their hearts held an extra measure of anticipation. Great-Grandfather finally finished making the sweets for the children's feeding tomorrow. After carefully placing his creations into the refrigerator, the old man gracefully went upstairs to sleep. Simon and Su Xiangli then excitedly snuck into the kitchen.
"Wow, it's matcha milk squares and red bean vanilla milkshakes!" Su Xiangli's eyes lit up.
Simon preferred the box of osmanthus jelly, but since they were sneaking food, they couldn't take too much, nor could they damage the integrity of the osmanthus jelly, otherwise, they'd be found out.
Su Xiangli took a small porcelain bowl, laid some milkshake on the bottom, then added two milk squares. In the reddish milkshake, crimson red bean crumbs sparkled, and pale green milk jelly cubes floated and sank. Upon closer inspection, it somehow evoked the poetic image of a boat drifting through a sea of fallen blossoms on shallow grass.
"Here, this bowl is for you. Go get two small spoons."
Su Xiangli held the bowl with both hands and offered it. Simon also received it with both hands. This was common table etiquette, but what Simon was thinking about was... a scene of mutual respect, like a husband and wife. What would they be like when they grew up?
"Don't space out. Go get the spoons quickly. We still have to wash the dishes after we eat."
Simon gently tugged Su Xiangli's sleeve. "Let's eat in the attic. There's a skylight, we can look at the stars."
Su Xiangli tilted her head. "You're inviting me to look at the stars?"
"The stars are right there. Wouldn't it be a shame not to look?"
Holding their small porcelain bowls, with one thumb hooked over the rim and the other thumb pressing the metal spoon to prevent it from clattering, they tiptoed slowly upstairs. A bright yellow light streamed from the crack under Great-Grandfather's bedroom door, casting a slanted bright area on the floor. The footsteps of the boy and girl left fleeting shadows, like two agile monkeys, as they swiftly ascended to the attic.
In the slanted attic, Simon pushed open the skylight, letting the daylight, night sky, and cold wind pour in. He found the record player he had given Great-Grandfather in the storage room. He had prepared for this; he took off the headphones hanging around his neck and pulled out the headphone cable from his pocket to connect it.
Su Xiangli suddenly understood. "Oh, not bad, you really know how to enjoy yourself."
Simon grinned. "I prepared it for you." He placed the headphones over Su Xiangli's head, covering her soft, beautiful, slightly reddened ears.
He took out a CD by Wan Neng Qing Nian Lü Dian and started playing it.
"The Fisher King still wants to be the Fisher King,"
"But the harbor has, disappeared,"
"Now he's drunk, in the bath, center,"
"A dream without tides, dusk has fallen on his chest..."
Su Xiangli was pleased and started humming along. "Rock music! I really want to listen to rock right now. What's this song called?"
Simon regretted choosing a song by Wan Neng Qing Nian Lü Dian. He said softly, "It should be 'Boulder Crushes Chest'."
Enveloped by the earmuffs, she didn't hear clearly and tilted her head, looking confused.
Traces of milkshake clung to her lips.
Simon opened his mouth but made no sound.
[Lu: Come, I'll say it for you. Su, you are my beloved in this world, but as I think about it, where exactly does my feeling for you come from? Your wonderful personality, both mature and innocent, it is precisely because of this that you must forgive a despicable adult like me, with despicable thoughts. Perhaps I don't like you, but only the feeling of possessing you.]
So, yes, I lust after your body, I am despicable.
So, are humans just such low-level animals? Or is it just me?
An indescribable bitterness and irritation suddenly surged into Simon's heart. It was really cold tonight. He poured the milkshake and milk cubes from his bowl into his mouth. His oral cavity was numbed by the low temperature. He stood up and looked up at the sky. As he stood in the light beam from the skylight, his face flushed, and his veins bulged. Su Xiangli was immersed in the mellow rock music. Beyond the silhouette of the young man in front of her, a fleeting meteor streaked across the Skyrim.
"Pfft." She laughed. "Hahahaha! A shooting star, I made a wish."
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