Jiang Jingyu had figured out Tong An'an's work schedule.
She always liked to leave after everyone else had gone, so he waited about ten minutes after the official quitting time to send her a WeChat message.
"Do you remember what you're supposed to do tomorrow?"
Tong An'an certainly remembered.
How could she forget what her boss had asked?
"Go and cook for you."
Jiang Jingyu was happy she remembered: "What do you want to make? I'll go buy the ingredients."
Tong An'an hadn't decided yet. She had many signature dishes, but she wasn't sure how many would be novel enough for Jiang Jingyu to find them unique and unfamiliar.
"How about I send you a list once I've thought about it?"
"Sure. But don't make me wait too long."
Tong An'an quickly grabbed her phone and started searching. A few minutes later, she sent Jiang Jingyu a request for Stewed Duck with Ginger and Longjing Shrimp.
"Two meat dishes and one vegetable dish should be enough. More would be a waste, so let's just buy these for now."
Jiang Jingyu agreed. Although they left separately, with him heading to the supermarket alone, he was very happy.
The next morning, Tong An'an got up around eight o'clock to get ready. She changed several outfits before she was satisfied, put on some light makeup, and set off around nine.
Following the address Jiang Jingyu had given her, she arrived outside the residential compound. Jiang Jingyu personally came to meet her.
He was wearing a smoky grey loungewear set with a matching knitted cardigan and slippers.
Though thin, his good physique was clearly visible.
Seeing him like this for the first time made Tong An'an feel a little shy.
They entered the apartment one after another, with Jiang Jingyu deliberately walking slightly behind and to the side of Tong An'an, observing her.
The girl was fair-skinned and tall, with a head of glossy black hair. She wore a black knitted maxi dress, a mist-blue cardigan, and a pair of black combat boots.
She looked both refreshing and decent, as well as gentle and lovely. The more he looked, the more he couldn't take his eyes off her.
It was almost 11 o'clock. After entering and having a few sips of water, Jiang Jingyu took her on a tour of the apartment.
The decoration was very high-end, luxurious, and grand, a level of sophistication Tong An'an had never seen before.
As she looked around, she sighed inwardly, wondering when she would be able to live in such a nice house.
She was so reserved that she dared not touch anything.
Jiang Jingyu noticed her timidity and knew it was unavoidable the first time, so he deliberately tried to help her relax by showing her the uses of various pieces of furniture and encouraging her to try them out.
After they chatted for a while, Tong An'an relaxed a bit and went into the kitchen.
Jiang Jingyu followed behind her, asking if there was anything he could do.
"There's nothing for you to do. You go and be busy with your own things. I'll call you when it's ready."
Jiang Jingyu didn't leave. He never thought the kitchen was exclusively a woman's domain, nor that men had no obligation to enter it.
"There's nothing for me to be busy with. Today's mission is to have a great meal. It wouldn't be right to let you do all the work alone. There's always something I can do, just tell me."
Tong An'an then instructed him to steam the rice. "Can you cook rice?"
Jiang Jingyu wasn't very good at cooking, but as a creator of smart products, he knew how to use such things. He quickly got the rice cooking and then leaned against the kitchen doorway to watch her work.
Not tying up her hair was a bit troublesome for cooking. The two strands of hair by her ears kept falling forward, blocking her vision and preventing Jiang Jingyu from seeing her face.
So, after watching for a while, Jiang Jingyu couldn't help but ask if she needed him to tie her hair up.
Tong An'an wanted to, but to maintain a refined appearance, she had deliberately left her hair down and forgotten to bring a hair tie.
She assumed a single man like Jiang Jingyu wouldn't have one either.
"Can't you just find something to tie it up with? Something you might have available?"
He went back to the wardrobe and pulled out a tie, a navy blue striped tie.
"Will this do?"
Tong An'an was cutting duck at the time, and her hands were greasy.
"Yes, that would be fine. Let me wash my hands first."
"I'll tie it for you."
Jiang Jingyu took the tie, walked behind her, gently gathered her hair, and, with considerable awkwardness, wrapped it around twice, tied it, and then gently held her hair.
"Is that okay? Does it feel uncomfortable?"
The warmth of his fingers faintly brushed against the skin of her neck, sending shivers down Tong An'an's spine.
In such a large house, with just the two of them, and so close together, it was truly awkward.
"It's fine, thank you, Mr. Jiang."
Jiang Jingyu stepped back and leaned there, continuing to watch her.
They started chatting about movies and literature. On these topics, they found they had quite a lot in common.
Tong An'an was quite a homebody; when she had nothing else to do, she liked to read books and watch films. They had both seen many of the same things.
After exchanging opinions for a while, Jiang Jingyu suddenly asked her, "Do you like small animals?"
"Yes, I do," Tong An'an replied.
"I'm a typical example of feminine thinking; I really love those small, soft little animals."
"When I was little, we had a rabbit at home. My greatest joy after school was to go and watch it eat grass. But we didn't have it for long before my parents turned it into a dish."
It was a sad story, but Jiang Jingyu couldn't help but smile.
"What about kittens and puppies? Didn't you ever think about getting one?"
"Of course, I thought about it, but my mother didn't allow it because she was afraid of the trouble. One year, a stray cat came to our village, and I felt sorry for it and wanted to take it home, but my mother disagreed."
"Now I have more freedom, but I have to work every day and don't have time to look after one."
Speaking of this, Jiang Jingyu remembered her house, took out his phone, and started playing with it idly.
As he was playing, his phone suddenly rang. He put it to his ear, said "mmm-hmm" a few times, hung up, and then let out a long sigh.
Tong An'an, thinking something might have gone wrong, instinctively asked him.
"Is something the matter?"
Jiang Jingyu said, "It's nothing major. A friend of mine called. He's a foreigner and has to go back for a while due to some matters, so his place will be vacant."
"He really believes in our local feng shui theories. I don't know which master he consulted, but he thinks an empty house for too long is bad for his luck. So he wants me to help him find a reliable person to stay there and look after the place."
"I know many people, but who would be willing to help him look after the house? Isn't that putting me in a difficult position? And most importantly, he also has a cat. Who has the leisure time to help him look after a cat?"
Tong An'an listened and, without thinking much, instinctively asked.
"Is he going to be away for a long time?"
Jiang Jingyu replied, "He came to China for work, and now he's being transferred back due to work. It'll be at least a year or two. Where am I supposed to find a suitable person for him for such a long time?"
"Where is his house?"
"It's in this very compound, two floors below mine. Living in the same compound as me, it's probably even less likely that anyone will be willing."
Tong An'an thought to herself: I'd be quite willing. And taking care of a cat isn't a difficult task for me. It's just a pity that your compound is too high-end; I can't afford such high rent.
Jiang Jingyu started typing rapidly on his keyboard, pretending to call and text people for help.