Shen Nian disagreed: "The big ones are definitely better, sweeter."
Lu Lingchuan retorted, equally unwilling to back down: "The small ones. More concentrated essence means sweeter."
The two started bickering at the vegetable market, debating whether large or small pumpkins were better.
The vegetable vendor Aunt, having witnessed their lovey-dovey exchange, thought both had a point and quietly suggested: "How about... you hear my opinion?"
Lu Lingchuan and Shen Nian turned to look at her simultaneously.
The Aunt patiently asked, "Are you buying for a large family?"
Shen Nian: "No, just for two."
Aunt: "How many meals?"
Lu Lingchuan: "Just one."
The Aunt decisively picked out a smaller pumpkin, patting it, "There's only two of you, and it's just for one meal. Buying a big one would be wasteful. This small one will do."
After weighing it and quoting a price, she looked up at Shen Nian and paused, lost in thought. Suddenly, her eyes lit up with recognition.
"Oh! Aren't you that young lady from before?"
Shen Nian looked puzzled: "Hm?"
The Aunt was clearly excited: "Don't you remember Aunt? You bought vegetables from me before, and we chatted a bit. Have you forgotten?" (Referring to Chapter 26, for those who need a refresher)
Shen Nian thought for a moment, seeming to recall something, and smiled gently: "Hello, Aunt."
"Good girl." The Aunt beamed, then glanced at Lu Lingchuan beside her, her eyes brightening again: "Is this... your boyfriend?"
"He's..."
Before Shen Nian could finish, Lu Lingchuan naturally put his arm around her waist and nodded to the Aunt: "Hello, Aunt."
This gesture spoke volumes.
The Aunt was delighted: "Wonderful, wonderful! You two look perfect together. What else do you need? I'll give you a discount!"
Shen Nian smiled: "Thank you, Aunt."
Shen Nian had bought from this Aunt before and found her produce to be quite good, so she picked out a few more items.
She grabbed seven or eight potatoes, a lot of lettuce, bean sprouts, mushrooms, baby cabbage...
Seeing the young couple tossing vegetables into their bag as if money were no object, the Aunt hesitated: "It's just the two of you eating, do you need to make so many dishes?"
The vegetables they were buying could each make a separate dish, rather than being combined into one.
Shen Nian stuffed the vermicelli she'd chosen into the bag Lu Lingchuan was holding open, and replied to the Aunt: "Aunt, we're not stir-frying. We're having hotpot."
Hearing this, the Aunt's expression became even more bewildered. She quietly looked down at the pumpkin on her scale: "The pumpkin is also... for hotpot?"
The young couple nodded in unison.
Aunt: "..."
In all her years, this was the first time she'd heard of putting pumpkin in hotpot.
Thinking back to their earlier argument, it was clear they were both clueless about everyday life.
The Aunt sighed helplessly, put the pumpkin back, and pulled over their overstuffed bag. She removed some vegetables, leaving only one portion of each.
"There's only two of you, you can't eat that much. You'll probably want to buy meat too, so you shouldn't buy too many vegetables. They'll go bad. This is enough."
She weighed the vegetables and calculated the price, generously rounding down the total. She even grabbed two packets of hotpot seasoning from her stall – one spicy, one not – and tucked them into the bag as a gift.
Shen Nian pulled out a 50 yuan note from her pocket and handed it to her: "Thank you, Aunt."
"Oh, no need for thanks." The Aunt looked down, counting out change. "You young couple, it's clear you're not very savvy about daily life. You've got a long road ahead, and much to learn. Right now it might seem fine with just the two of you, getting by with irregular meals, but when you have kids, with a little one to care for, you'll have to learn some things whether you want to or not."
She finished and pressed the change into Shen Nian's hand: "Learn well."
Shen Nian smiled: "Thank you, Aunt."
Lu Lingchuan carried the vegetables in one hand and held Shen Nian's hand with the other.
As they left the Aunt's stall and walked through the crowd, Lu Lingchuan suddenly said,
"It seems I really should improve my knowledge in this area."
"What?" Shen Nian looked up at him.
Lu Lingchuan looked at her and said, "I can't let you and our little one live on irregular meals in the future, can I?"
He knew how to cook, but only if someone prepared the ingredients first. When it came to selecting ingredients himself, he didn't know how to choose or how much to buy.
Imagining the three of them – him, her, and their child – holding hands and coming to the market together in the future, Lu Lingchuan's mood brightened, and the corners of his mouth turned up.
He was so absorbed in his fantasy that he didn't notice Shen Nian's expression had become a bit stiff. She quietly lowered her head without saying a word.
...
That evening, after finishing their hotpot meal, Lu Lingchuan volunteered to clean up the table.
With her usual task taken, Shen Nian said she would take a shower first.
After hotpot, they both smelled strongly of the meal.
Lu Lingchuan took the bowls and chopsticks to the kitchen, while Shen Nian went to the bedroom.
Hearing the "bang" of the closing door, Lu Lingchuan paused, then bent down to open the dishwasher and put the dishes inside.
He grabbed a cloth for wiping the table, dampened it, and took it out to clean.
About three minutes later, Lu Lingchuan suddenly stopped wiping. He pulled out some paper towels to dry his hands, then walked towards the bedroom and turned the doorknob.
Shen Nian was in the shower; the sound of running water could be heard from the bathroom.
Lu Lingchuan's steps were light, his slippers making no sound on the carpet.
He gently closed the door behind him and went first to the chest of drawers, searching from the top drawer to the bottom.
Each drawer contained everyday items, nothing unusual.
Not satisfied, he searched through the other cabinets and drawers, again finding nothing.
He turned his head and noticed Shen Nian's bedside table. After a moment's consideration, he strode over to it.
He opened the top drawer – nothing out of the ordinary.
When he tried to open the bottom drawer, he found it was locked.
He paused, his gaze sharpening.
Logically, there should be a spare key hidden nearby in case the main key was misplaced.
He opened the top drawer again and searched through it carefully. Sure enough, he found a key.
Lu Lingchuan used the key to unlock the drawer and opened it...
The first thing he saw was a flash of white. He held his breath.
When he saw a stack of documents inside, he was taken aback.
He took everything out. On top were some important company documents. Underneath were two property deeds, and some graduation certificates and other papers.
Shen Nian owned two houses: the one she currently lived in and the one belonging to the Shen family.
Besides these, she had nothing else.
Lu Lingchuan massaged his aching head.
Could it be... that his suspicions were wrong? That actually, nothing was amiss?
The fact that he hadn't found anything so far seemed to indicate that everything was normal, and all his perceived abnormalities were merely unfounded suspicions lacking evidence or logic.
