Lan Lan stayed with Jiang Wan at the sanatorium for an afternoon, but received a call to go back to work overtime in the evening. Her business trip to Runcheng lasted until Saturday. The consecutive days of work left Lan Lan exhausted, and she fell asleep as soon as she got home, not contacting Liang Yufeng. On Sunday, Liang Yufeng knocked on her apartment door. Lan Lan had just woken up and was brushing her teeth; it was already past noon.
"Why are you here?" Lan Lan's voice was muffled as she brushed her teeth.
Liang Yufeng already knew she would sleep this late. "We're having sweet and sour pork ribs for lunch today."
Lan Lan immediately understood. Oh, Liang Yufeng was specially here to cook for her?
This treatment felt rather special, and she couldn't help but show a smug expression. Liang Yufeng seemed to see it and poured cold water on her, "Consider it thanks for visiting my mom."
Lan Lan took a relaxing bath. When she came out, Liang Yufeng was already busy in the kitchen. She went over, "Do you need any help?"
"You helping is not getting in the way," Liang Yufeng had no expectations of Lan Lan's cooking skills, not even letting her do small tasks like washing vegetables.
"Alright, then I won't be polite," Lan Lan took out ice water from the refrigerator and sat down lazily, eating the fruit on the table.
Afterward, she chatted with Liang Yufeng about Jiang Wan's situation. "Auntie is doing quite well. The caregiver said her appetite has been good recently, and she's eating more than before."
Liang Yufeng: "Mm."
"When you have time, go see her more. She misses you quite a bit," Lan Lan said this in a way that sounded like a wife reminding her husband, but she didn't realize anything was amiss herself.
Liang Yufeng, however, heard it. His chopping motion paused slightly, and where she couldn't see, the corners of his mouth curved upwards. After a while, he said, "I'll go next week."
"If Auntie continues to do this well, you can consider bringing her back," Lan Lan regretted saying half of it. What was their relationship? She had no right to interfere in Liang Yufeng's affairs. "Forget it, forget it. It's your family's business, I won't interfere."
"She likes Runcheng," Liang Yufeng didn't mind her talking about it and even explained the reason. For Jiang Wan, Nanjiang was mostly filled with bad memories, which easily affected her mood. She had always liked Runcheng, so he arranged for her to go there.
After understanding the reason, Lan Lan could also understand. As they chatted, before they knew it, lunch was ready.
During the meal, Lan Lan remembered Liang Yufeng's birthday again. She heard from Jiang Wan that when it was Liang Yufeng's birthday in the past, she would always cook him a bowl of longevity noodles...
Why not try learning it herself?
Last time it was her birthday, Liang Yufeng had been so generous. She should also show some sincerity. Cooking noodles wasn't difficult.
After careful consideration, Lan Lan added longevity noodles to her list, but she hadn't prepared Liang Yufeng's birthday gift yet.
It seemed she didn't know what Liang Yufeng liked. When they were dating, Liang Yufeng revolved around her. He knew her preferences like the back of his hand, but she had never taken the time to understand him, to the point where she didn't even know what gift to give him now.
In the following days, whenever she had free time, Lan Lan would ponder the gift. One day, she suddenly saw some old photos from club activities posted in the university department's WeChat group. Among them was Liang Yufeng. Upon zooming in, she saw Liang Yufeng in the photo... playing bass guitar?
Lan Lan didn't know much about musical instruments, but she could vaguely recognize it as a bass guitar.
There was a date in the bottom right corner of the photo. This was after they broke up, but during their relationship, she never knew Liang Yufeng could play the bass guitar, and he looked so engrossed.
She also had to thank the old classmate who posted these photos for giving Lan Lan a new idea for a birthday gift. As a person of action, Lan Lan immediately started researching various musical instrument brands and finally chose a bass guitar priced close to six figures as Liang Yufeng's birthday gift.
The bass guitar needed to be ordered. Fortunately, she discovered it early enough to receive it before Liang Yufeng's birthday, solving this major problem. Lan Lan slept much more comfortably that night.
As for cooking longevity noodles, Lan Lan had already learned quite a bit. She tried cooking it twice, and both times the taste was quite good, even feeling that she had a talent for cooking.
On May 20th, Lan Lan received the express delivery from the brand. She placed the bass guitar in the apartment, wrapped it with the prepared ribbon, and tied a bow.
May 23rd was a Friday. Lan Lan put the bass guitar in the trunk and drove to Liang Yufeng's apartment after work.
She didn't mention his birthday at all, and Liang Yufeng didn't say anything either. As usual, he was cooking in the kitchen. They chatted about random things, and after dinner, they showered together, went to bed, which had almost become their weekly routine.
Liang Yufeng was like a hungry wolf. Every time they finished, it was past midnight. Lan Lan would usually be too tired to even stay awake and would fall asleep directly. However, this time, she didn't fall asleep.
She closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep. After Liang Yufeng finished showering and returned to bed, she suddenly pounced on him.
Liang Yufeng was startled and was about to ask her why she wasn't asleep when her lips suddenly moved closer to his ear, and she blew a breath, "Happy birthday, Feng Feng."
Liang Yufeng's body suddenly stiffened, and his mind went blank for a long time, unsure if it was because of her "Happy birthday" or that nickname.
"How did you know?" He seemed to have never mentioned his birthday to her.
"There's always a way to know if you want to know," Lan Lan said. "Another year older, I hope Mr. Liang's skills can improve a bit."
She disliked sentimental atmospheres, so she steered the conversation in a more casual direction.
Liang Yufeng didn't "prove" himself to her as he usually did. Instead, he held her tightly in his arms with such force that Lan Lan found it difficult to breathe. But she didn't push him away and leaned quietly in his embrace.
After offering her blessings, she was also tired, and sleepiness washed over her. In a daze, she heard Liang Yufeng's sincere voice, "Thank you."
She wanted to say "You're welcome," but she was too sleepy to muster the strength.
The longevity noodles were eaten in the morning. Lan Lan, in order to cook this bowl of noodles for Liang Yufeng, got up at six o'clock for the first time. There was no other way; Liang Yufeng woke up at seven, and if she wanted to cook the noodles before he woke up, she had to get up this early.
Waking up early ruins the day. Lan Lan yawned and tiptoed out of bed. Although Liang Yufeng heard her movements, he didn't pay much attention, thinking she was going to the restroom.
It wasn't until he woke up naturally at seven o'clock and found Lan Lan's side of the bed empty that he realized something was wrong.
Liang Yufeng rushed downstairs. The living room was empty. He checked a few more rooms and finally found Lan Lan in the kitchen.
Even more unbelievable was that he saw her in front of the stove... cooking noodles?
Liang Yufeng reflexively raised his hand to rub his eyes. It wasn't an illusion.
"What are you doing?" Liang Yufeng asked.
"You're up? Have you washed up? The noodles will be ready soon," Lan Lan said.
"Noodles?" Liang Yufeng was even more confused. "What noodles?"
"Longevity noodles!" Lan Lan asked him, "Don't people eat longevity noodles on their birthdays?"
Liang Yufeng seemed to be struck by something. "You made them for me?"