I Want to Be Your Mrs. Jiang - Chapter 21
Chapter 21
Su Xiaomi spent a week straight cooking for Jiang Yi.
She slowly evolved from making simple tomato and egg noodles to being able to boil various types of porridge.
Finally, the day arrived for Jiang Yi’s follow up appointment at the hospital.
Su Xiaomi had work that day, so she didn’t accompany him.
She originally thought that a week of recovery for a common stomach ailment would have been enough to fix him right up.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Yi returned from the hospital with a solemn expression.
Looking at his face, Su Xiaomi’s heart skipped a beat.
…Could it be that her cooking had caused some kind of problem?
Jiang Yi said, “I went for my checkup today. As soon as the doctor saw me, he said…”
Su Xiaomi was dying of anxiety.
“What did the doctor say? Oh, stop keeping me in suspense and just tell me!”
Jiang Yi said gloomily, “The doctor said I got fat.”
Su Xiaomi: “…!!!”
Jiang Yi rested his chin on his hand and looked at Su Xiaomi with a look of disbelief.
It was as if he were asking both her and himself, “With your level of culinary skill, you actually managed to fatten me up. Just how terrible was the food I was eating before?”
Su Xiaomi replied, “…Don’t ask me, I’m confused too! But are you sure you really got fat? Could the doctor have seen it wrong?”
Jiang Yi insisted, “I really did. I gained two pounds! I specifically confirmed it with the electronic scale when I got back. Exactly two pounds, not an ounce more or less.”
Hearing this, Su Xiaomi also got nervous.
She scurried into Jiang Yi’s room, took out the scale, and quietly stepped onto it.
A few seconds later, she let out a scream.
“Oh my god, I gained two pounds too! It looks like starting tonight, dinner needs to be even lighter.”
Jiang Yi felt a flash of joy followed by a wave of worry.
He was happy because Su Xiaomi seemed willing to stay and keep making dinner for him.
He was worried because they were already eating quite light food before.
Now that she was saying it needed to be even lighter, was life even worth living?
Furthermore, Jiang Yi had realized over the past few days that Su Xiaomi truly had no talent for cooking.
If a household required one person to be good in the kitchen, he clearly couldn’t count on her.
So, Jiang Yi carefully composed his words and spoke hesitantly, “How about this? For the next week, I’ll do the cooking.”
Su Xiaomi looked at him skeptically.
“Do you even know how?”
Jiang Yi replied, “Whether I can or not, won’t you know once you do a taste test tonight?”
Su Xiaomi thought about it and finally caught the key issue.
“Wait, if you can cook for yourself, doesn’t that mean your body has fully recovered? Since you’re all better, there’s no need for me to stay, right?”
Jiang Yi said calmly, “It’s hard to manage portions for just one person. If I make too little, it’s not enough, and if I make too much, it’s a waste. Since you’re eating out anyway, you might as well eat here. Just think of it as being my dining partner.”
Su Xiaomi argued, “That’s different. I have to pay when I eat out.”
Jiang Yi countered, “Did you think eating at my place was free?”
Su Xiaomi: “…”
Jiang Yi continued, “You’re responsible for the cost of ingredients. You don’t have to worry about any other messy details. Do we have a deal?”
Su Xiaomi: “…I’m… in!”
Jiang Yi was the one who cooked dinner that night.
Although it was just a few simple home cooked dishes, it was truly the most decent dinner Su Xiaomi had eaten since the last time she had spicy hot pot.
Jiang Yi made a dish of griddle cooked potato slices, scrambled eggs with cucumber, and a large pot of vegetable soup.
It looked light yet very appetizing. As Su Xiaomi happily sipped the soup, she couldn’t help but think that agreeing to Jiang Yi’s proposal was definitely the best decision she had made all year, bar none.
After the meal, Jiang Yi kept his promise and didn’t let Su Xiaomi lift a finger.
He cleared the table himself and carried the dirty dishes into the kitchen to start washing them.
Watching Jiang Yi’s busy figure in the kitchen, Su Xiaomi felt that this deal was very unfavorable for him.
Logically, a successful entrepreneur and bloodsucking capitalist like Jiang Yi shouldn’t be making such a losing bargain.
Yet, not only did he do it, he seemed quite happy doing it.
Su Xiaomi couldn’t help but wonder: Could Jiang Yi actually like her a little bit?
This thought swirled in her mind even after she left his place.
It just so happened that her former colleague Shanshan called to ask how she was doing at her new company.
After introducing her new job, Su Xiaomi shared the situation regarding Jiang Yi.
To keep Shanshan from identifying the real person, Su Xiaomi intentionally left out key details.
She simply said there was someone she liked a lot back in school, she had confessed and been rejected, then they met again recently by chance.
She still had feelings for him but couldn’t quite read his attitude.
To help Shanshan judge the situation, Su Xiaomi mentioned a few things he had done, such as insisting on driving back to Ying City with her instead of taking a plane, and insisting she cook for him instead of hiring a private chef, only for the roles to flip so that he ended up cooking for her.
After hearing this, Shanshan was so excited she almost jumped off her bed. “There’s no need to even think about it. He definitely likes you!”
Even though Su Xiaomi had her own suspicions, hearing Shanshan say it so certainly made her doubt it instead.
“…Really?”
Shanshan said, “Of course it’s true! Otherwise, how do you explain his behavior? Is he just bored and looking for trouble?”
Su Xiaomi: “…”
“And think about it. Under what circumstances would a normal person give up first class or a private jet to squeeze into a small car with someone? Under what circumstances would someone give up the care of a private chef to let a kitchen disaster area cook for them? I think he’s making it very obvious. As the saying goes, ‘unwarranted kindness hides a sinister motive.’ Since you’re penniless, the chance of him trying to rob you is very low. So what other possibility is left?”
Su Xiaomi replied, “I think we shouldn’t be blindly optimistic. Maybe he really is just bored and looking for trouble.”
Shanshan teased, “…Fair point. If he weren’t bored out of his mind, how could he have fallen for you?”
Su Xiaomi: “…”
—
The next morning, Su Xiaomi was woken up by a text from Jiang Yi.
She saw that he had messaged asking if she needed him to bring her breakfast.
Su Xiaomi was still in a daze, so she instinctively replied, “Wasn’t it only dinner included? Why are you including breakfast now too?”
Jiang Yi’s reply came quickly, just three words and a punctuation mark: [Cooked too much.]
Su Xiaomi wrapped herself tight in her blanket and typed back word by word: “Then let’s meet at the side gate of the community in half an hour. Be discreet, don’t let anyone see us.”
Jiang Yi: […Being so mysterious. Do I need to give you a secret code too? Like, ‘Are you sick? I have the medicine.’]
Su Xiaomi: “…”
She hadn’t realized before that Jiang Yi actually had a sense of humor!
Half an hour later, Su Xiaomi strolled over to the west gate of the community.
Sure enough, a car was already parked there.
Perhaps because Su Xiaomi had told him to be low key, Jiang Yi hadn’t driven his usual Maserati.
Instead, he had switched to a relatively modest white Audi.
Seeing Su Xiaomi approach, Jiang Yi rolled down the window and handed the breakfast out.
As she took it, Su Xiaomi asked tentatively, “President Jiang, would you mind if I hitched a ride?”
Jiang Yi looked at her with amusement.
“Don’t you want to keep a low profile? If you take my car to the company, wouldn’t that go against your original intention?”
Su Xiaomi smiled flatteringly.
“You can drop me off a block away!”
Jiang Yi said with a fake smile, “I’m very busy and have no interest in playing workplace spy games with you. Either get in the car and go to the office with me, or take a taxi yourself. I’ll give you three seconds to decide. 1, 3.”
Su Xiaomi waved her breakfast at him.
“Then I’ll just take a taxi. Bye, President Jiang!”
Jiang Yi watched as Su Xiaomi hailed a cab and drove away.
For some reason, he suddenly felt very annoyed.
Didn’t they say she liked him? Why was she so socially inept?
Normally, if someone had a chance to sit in a car with the person they liked, they would find any way to seize the opportunity, right? Why did it turn into “I’ll just take a taxi, bye” when it came to Su Xiaomi?
It was simply unscientific!
Something even more unscientific happened after Jiang Yi arrived at the company.
While Jiang Yi was waiting for the elevator, Su Xiaomi suddenly sent a message asking for his WeChat ID.
Although Jiang Yi looked reluctant on the surface, he was thinking: So you finally couldn’t resist making a move, huh?
As soon as they added each other, Su Xiaomi sent a WeChat red envelope.
Jiang Yi: [????]
Su Xiaomi: [Money for the food.]
Jiang Yi opened it and found that she had sent him 500 yuan.
It was a precise number, clearly the result of careful calculation.
Before he could reply, Su Xiaomi sent another red envelope.
This time, without waiting for him to ask, she explained herself.
“This is for today’s breakfast. I gave you a little extra as a tip.”
A tip!
Jiang Yi raised a hand to his forehead and typed back resentfully: […Then may I ask if this customer is satisfied with my service?]
Su Xiaomi was secretly messaging him during a meeting.
Everyone in the social news department saw her with her head down, typing calmly one second, and then the next second when she looked up, her face was completely flushed red.
Everyone thought: “…Could it be that the spicy webcomic has a new update? It must be a wild one if even a veteran like Su Xiaomi can’t handle it!”
