His Honey Chapter 7

Chapter 7

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When Yu Zhinian returned to his office after the meeting, Nan Jing had already neatly stacked the deliveries sent to him on his desktop.

It was just that these deliveries didn't include the kraft paper bags with photos that used to be delivered on time.

He didn't know what was going on with that English beauty, and he didn't know if he still tended to tease the cats every night.

Yu Zhinian waved away the boring thoughts that arose in the moment, sat back in his chair, and resumed his work.

Arriving at Auntie Pan's house, Yu Zhinian locked eyes with Xiao Yichi and looked at the other party's bright smile that carried a hint of provocation, and there was only one thought in Yu Zhinian's head: the ghost is still lingering.

Jumping around in his minefield again, the little devil was so happy.

Now that he had Auntie Pan as his immunity idol, Xiao Yichi was openly playing mischievously.

Yu Zhinian came down from upstairs and changed into light blue home clothes.

Auntie Pan, who was chatting with Xiao Yichi, was puzzled, "Zhinian, aren't you going to wear that Snoopy outfit? You just wore them yesterday."

Yu Zhinian's footsteps faltered. The smile at the corner of Xiao Yichi's mouth could no longer be concealed, he made a weak fist and pressed it against his lips, his shoulders shaking.

"... This set is more comfortable to wear." Yu Zhinian replied with style.

"Oh." Auntie Pan saw him head straight for the kitchen, and turned her head to look at Xiao Yichi, generously exposing the child's shortcomings, "You're here today, he's probably trying to maintain his image in front of you, that kid loved Snoopy when he was a child."

"Is that so?" Xiao Yichi raised his eyebrows and laughed, "What else does he have..."

"Xiao Yichi," the kitchen was semi-open, Yu Zhinian stood in the doorway and called out with his name, "come and help in the kitchen."

Xiao Yichi smiled apologetically at Auntie Pan, "Auntie, I'll go over first haha."

"Okay, go ahead."

Xiao Yichi walked over to Yu Zhinian and asked knowingly, "Lawyer Yu, what is it?"

Yu Zhinian lowered his voice a little, "Auntie is very hospitable and is keeping you for dinner at home, so I hope that you, the guest, will put yourself in the right mindset."

"But" Xiao Yichi looked aggrieved, "it's not my fault that you like Snoopy..."

"..." Yu Zhinian's eyes hovered over the row of knives.

Seeing this, Xiao Yichi immediately changed his tone, "I didn't hear anything just now, I'm just a tool for cooking food!"

Yu Zhinian glanced at him unfavourably, "Do you have any food that you avoid?"

The tool shook his head, "No!"

"Auntie is old, if she's not trying something fresh, she usually eats lighter at night." Saying this, Yu Zhinian opened the fridge, took out the fish and asked Xiao Yichi, "Would this meat be alright?"

Xiao Yichi gestured, "Okay."

Then, Yu Zhinian took Xiao Yichi to the vegetable garden, pointing to one side, "The vegetables over here are growing well, which ones do you want to eat?"

Xiao Yichi took a look, he couldn't name some of the vegetables, so he said, "They're all okay."

Yu Zhinian didn't say much, he put on his rubber boots and labour gloves, and picked several kinds of vegetables from the field and put them into the basket.

Xiao Yichi watched from the side and suddenly felt that Lawyer Yu had a lofty image.

When Yu Zhinian returned to the house, Xiao Yichi was smart enough to carry the basket for him.

When handing over the basket, Yu Zhinian asked, "Do you know what kinds of vegetables these are?"

Xiao Yichi was humbled, "I don't know." He wanted to wait for Yu Zhinian to reveal the answer, but the other party scoffed, "Primary school students know more than you."

Heh, heh, it turns out he was waiting for him here.

Xiao Yichi wasn't annoyed at all and laughed, "Lawyer Yu, you still have to cook for me who is 'inferior to a primary school student', I don't even know how to thank you!"

Yu Zhinian's eyes darkened.

Xiao Yichi immediately turned around, "Auntie, I'll show you what vegetables we're eating tonight!" He ran over to her pleasingly.

Xiao Yichi went back to the kitchen with the basket of vegetables, and Yu Zhinian was already busy in front of the counter. He was seen holding an egg in one hand, hitting it on the edge of the bowl and pulling his thumb back, and the yolk and protein flowed into the bowl with a splash. He cracked three eggs in a row, the action was done in one motion and was very skillful.

"Wash the vegetables." Yu Zhinian stirred the egg mixture, giving a direct order without even looking at Xiao Yichi.

After all, when you take advantage of others, you will deliberately give in to others, so Xiao Yichi shut up and worked.

After he finished washing the vegetables, Yu Zhinian inspected it, took a green leafy vegetable, selected one of the kitchen knives, washed it, and chopped the vegetable into small pieces. The leaves of the vegetable were cut neatly, definitely conforming to the aesthetics of an obsessive-compulsive person.

It wasn't as if he had never seen anyone cook before, but when this task fell on Yu Zhinian, there was a huge contrast, almost tinged with dramatic colours, causing Xiao Yichi to look on in awe.

Only then did Yu Zhinian take a proper look at Xiao Yichi, the other party's eyes were bright, staring at his hand movements, like watching a magic show, "You're in the way, go out and wait."

It's better if he doesn't need to work. Xiao Yichi walked out of the room while he was slandering internally.

When Auntie Pan saw him come out, she smiled and waved at him, like she wanted to share a secret.

Xiao Yichi walked over and fixed his eyes on Auntie Pan's hands, which held a photo album of Yu Zhinian, "Let me show you Zhinian's childhood photos."

Auntie Pan, what an absolutely wonderful person you are, finger heart!

The first thing that caught his eye was a photo of a baby that was a few months old. The baby in the photo was chubby and lying on his back, with a soft tuft of hair on top of his head. He was smiling with his mouth wide open yet had no teeth, and his eyes were squinting like curved crescent moons – The cuteness of a human baby was all gathered in one body, which made one's heart melt when they looked at it.

"This is... Lawyer Yu?"

"Yes ah. Whenever I'm angry with him, I just think about this photo and think about how this kid still has cute moments, and I become less angry." Auntie Pan smiled and explained.

The sound of stir-frying could already be heard from the kitchen, and with that, the aroma of food wafted in. Xiao Yichi turned his head to look at the tall figure that was busy in the kitchen and wondered what kind of magical reality this was.

At the dinner table. Yu Zhinian glanced at Xiao Yichi out of the corner of his eye. The other party sent a chopstick of vegetables into his mouth, chewed a few times, and his eyes blinked and instantly filled with light, "Delicious!"

"That's right! Zhinian's craftsmanship is very good, eat more!" Auntie Pan was very happy.

Xiao Yichi looked at Yu Zhinian and repeated, "Delicious!"

Only then did Yu Zhinian see that Xiao Yichi had stars in his eyes. Obviously, his eyes were average in size, but they could hold a river of stars. It was not a reflection of the bright light, but rather the emotion that overflowed from the window of the heart.

The infectiousness was particularly strong.

Auntie Pan smiled and gave Xiao Yichi a large piece of fish, "Come and try this!"

"Okay!" Xiao Yichi took a bite, "It tastes so good!" It was clear that Yu Zhinian hadn't produced any secret seasonings, just ordinary oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar, so how could he make a home-cooked meal so delicious?

Xiao Yichi looked up and met Yu Zhinian's gaze. There wasn't much expression on the other party's face, but he could just feel that he was smug.

Xiao Yichi decided to restrain his praise.

But it was delicious, and he was very satisfied inside.

"Zhinian, give Yichi some food and be a good host."

When Auntie Pan said this, Yu Zhinian could only give him some scrambled eggs with vegetables with his chopsticks.

"Thank you, Lawyer Yu!" Xiao Yichi received it in his bowl and brought it to his mouth, both cheeks bulging and his eyes narrowing.

He didn't say anything this time, but his expression was instantly obvious.

After enjoying her meal, Auntie Pan brought out another green glass wine bottle with half-soaked plums inside, "Yichi, try the plum wine we brewed ourselves."

What kind of divine treatment is this?

"Thank you Auntie!"

The lid of the wine was opened and the liquid was poured into the glass, the plum wine aroma was refreshing.

Xiao Yichi picked up the glass, sniffed it, and took a sip.

It was sweet with a little bit of green astringency, not strong, with a lingering aftertaste that stayed on the tip of the teeth, as if he had drunk his way into a summer's day. Xiao Yichi put down the glass of wine, listening to the insects in the yard, and slowly exhaled a long breath.

Three meals, four seasons, five senses in abundance. This was the fireworks he was seeking.

He turned his eyes to look at Yu Zhinian, "Lawyer Yu, I didn't expect you to be so grounded, I thought you had to eat high-end gourmet food with just the right precision and a napkin on your lap every meal."

His memory locked onto the high-end gourmet food.

Yu Zhinian sat in the rattan chair with his eyes closed, too lazy to bother with him.

Xiao Yichi suddenly felt that Yu Zhinian's other half would be very happy, right?

He smiled with an unclear meaning and finished the wine in his cup.

Before leaving, Xiao Yichi asked Auntie Pan for the fish scraps to take away.

"Do you have any small animals at home?" Auntie Pan asked.

Xiao Yichi shook his head, just as Yu Zhinian changed his clothes and came downstairs "There's a little wild cat in the small park near my house, I'll take it and feed her."

"If you don't intend to keep it, feeding it will make it dependent and it will be hard for it to forage for food in the future." Yu Zhinian reminded.

"I know." Xiao Yichi had only teased her before, without giving her food. But two days ago, during the day, he met her and found that her belly, which was originally close to her bones, had fallen and her gait was a bit clumsy.

"She's pregnant, she needs to replenish her nutrients or the babies won't grow well." When he spoke, there was gentleness in his tone.

Yu Zhinian didn't say anything else.

"Let me send you home." Yu Zhinian changed her shoes.

"I'll just book a car."

Auntie Pan spoke, "Silly child, getting a car on Puyuan Road is a lot more expensive than other places, so let Zhinian give you a ride."

Yu Zhinian took the car keys and headed out.

No wonder he didn't drink just now. Xiao Yichi turned back to say goodbye to Auntie Pan, "Auntie, I'm leaving first, I enjoyed this meal tonight."

"That's good, come often in the future and try Auntie's handiwork when you have the chance as well."

"Okay."

Under the night, the flowers in the small garden still exhaled their fragrance. Especially in the not-so-bright hours, the aroma became more and more ethereal, sweet and silky.

Xiao Yichi had the illusion that he had brought a floral fragrance with him to the car, and this charming thought made his slightly drunken mind even more pleased.

As the car was moving, he leaned his head against the window and unconsciously hummed a tune.

Yu Zhinian, who was driving, did not bother with him, keeping silent as the male voice hummed in a low tone, the melody was not out of tune and carried distinctive ethnic characteristics. That was the muqam of the western region, originally equipped with the lyrics, "I know, God knows, no one else knows... My face is like an apple, and lovesickness makes it yellow; left is an infatuation like burning, and the right is a dream of the soul."

The car stopped at a red light, and Xiao Yichi returned to his senses and stopped humming the tune. He looked at Yu Zhinian apologetically, "Sorry, I hummed it without realising."

"It's a little bit better than the rap that was broadcast the other day."

"Hahaha!" Xiao Yichi stopped laughing, "Thank you."

Finally, the car stopped in front of the small park.

"Lawyer Yu, goodbye."

Yu Zhinian waited for him to tease him about his love for Snoopy, but unexpectedly the other party simply left. He looked in the rearview mirror as the other party's figure gradually disappeared into the darkness.

Xiao Yichi crouched on the ground, watching the kitten ferociously eat.

"Hungry, huh?" Xiao Yichi muttered to himself, "Which wild man made your stomach bigger? Bring them to me one of these days."

The kitten couldn't care less about him, burying her head and eating furiously.

Xiao Yichi smiled crookedly, "Even if Yu Zhinian's cooking is good, could it be that his fish is also exceptionally good?"

"Ahem." This deliberate alert made Xiao Yichi turn around. Who was the person standing under the lamp post if not Yu Zhinian?

Xiao Yichi stood up, "Lawyer Yu?"

"I forgot to tell you," Yu Zhinian took a step closer, "Ye Zhaolin would like to invite you to his yacht party, the time has not been set yet, but it is likely to be in the next few days. See if you can find the time to attend."

"Oh." Xiao Yichi answered.

"I think it's better to attend, the Ye family has many connections in this city, so it's convenient to know more people in order to get things done."

"Okay, I'll take a look then."

"That's it." Yu Zhinian glanced at the kitten, nodded towards Xiao Yichi and turned to leave.

"Then be careful on your way."

This Yu Zhinian comes and goes like a gust of wind. Xiao Yichi rubbed the back of his neck and thought, he walks without a sound, so if he curses him in the background in the future, he has to be careful.

The next day, Xiao Yichi went to the fitness centre.

After training, Da Shan chatted with him, "You're in great shape today, you're not in love, are you?"

Xiao Yichi laughed, "If I were in love, I would definitely tell the world." Such a good thing, how can you not celebrate with the world.

"If you and that Lawyer Yu do not have a chance, I have an introduction here, what do you think?"

Xiao Yichi was interested, and stopped drinking water, "Tell me about it?"

"The other party is also a lawyer, but not as famous as Lawyer Yu is. He is my old client and we get along well. He is very good, in the last two months he opened a small law firm on his own. He and his boyfriend broke up, I heard that the other cheated on him. He calmed down for a while and now he's feeling pretty good, so I thought I'd introduce him to you."

Da Shan added, "He has a gentle personality, is a person who is considerate of others and has a strong sense of justice. Of course, I'm also a bit worried, I don't know if he's completely stepped out of his ex's shadow yet, otherwise, introducing you to him now would be the same as using you as a sacrificial lamb. What do you think? If you're okay with it, then I'll also talk to him and see if he's willing to come out and meet."

Fate between people is inherently subtle, A's honey, B's arsenic. Whether it's honey or arsenic, one still has to take the first step.

Xiao Yichi nodded, "I'm okay."

Fangda received an invitation from the British Embassy, hoping that the law firm would send a representative to participate in a business networking event organised by them.

In the past, these events hadn't required Yu Zhinian to be dispatched, so Nan Jing went through the process and mentioned it in the schedule.

"I'll claim this event. Can't let people have an excuse to say that the partners always pick the fattest jobs." Yu Zhinian flipped through the documents while explaining to Nan Jing.

Nan Jing pushed up his glasses, "Understood, I'll arrange it immediately. I'll send you the updated schedule later."

Yu Zhinian closed the documents and leaned back in his chair, his eyes looking at the ceiling for a moment to relax. Then he pulled open the drawer and took out a pile of information, flipping to the page on the English beauty.

On the day of the event, Yu Zhinian brought Xiao He from Fangda's public relations department along with him. Xiao He is the daughter of a major city official, she is responsible for the external liaison at Fangda, and is familiar with the information of the organisations that deal with Fangda.

Yu Zhinian held the champagne in his hand, his eyes roaming around the venue. He wasn't specifically looking for anything, he was just in the mood to buy a lottery ticket.

"Lawyer Yu, the person in charge of this event is over there, shall we take the initiative to go over and say hello?" Xiao He did her job.

"Okay." Yu Zhinian looked in the direction of Xiao He's gaze, it was that English beauty.

On the way, Xiao He informed in a small voice, "Derek Middleton, out of Harrow Public School, and a graduate of Oxford's Political Science, Economics and Philosophy programme. He used to work in South Africa, speaks Chinese, and is very interested in Chinese culture. His term in office is drawing to a close, and he'll be going back at the end of this month."

Hearing this, Yu Zhinian stopped, "Are you sure?"

Xiao He, not knowing why, stopped and nodded, "The information is correct."

Then Xiao Yichi and he... are over?

"Lawyer Yu?" Xiao He called out.

"Let's go over." Yu Zhinian took another step.

Xiao He had dealt with this Mr. Middleton before, and warmly introduced Yu Zhinian to him after a bit of courtesy.

The English beauty spoke in an authentic London accent, not too fast and not too slow, and was courteous. During this time, he also took the initiative to talk to them in Chinese, and complimented Xiao He and Yu Zhinian one by one.

In the end, the beauty regretted, "It's a pity that I'm going to leave here, I'm really reluctant to leave."

Xiao He teased, "Don't want to let go of the delicious food here?"

"That's for sure," the beauty said in a joking tone, "can't bear to part with the people here either."

They just came over to say hello, and their courtesy ended with Yu Zhinian's toast, "I hope I'll have another chance to meet you in this city in the future."

"Cheers."

After walking away, Xiao He sighed, "Derek is very nice and good at his job, the few times I've dealt with him have been pleasant. I wonder what his successor will be like..."

Yu Zhinian glanced back, the beauty was already talking and laughing with someone else.

It was hard to connect him with Xiao Yichi at the moment, and it was also hard to imagine that the beauty who offered a kiss in that photo and the gentleman in front of him were the same person.

Yu Zhinian suddenly understood the psychology of the audience in front of the TV watching the main characters' relationship develop.

I know what you don't know, and you have more I don't know that will have to wait for the next episode to be revealed; there is a sense of pleasure in knowing, but also the anxiety of the unknown, you want to peep at the whole picture, but you can't.

Xiao Yichi, what is it about you that makes a beauty like this never forget you?

After the failure of the first blind date, Xiao Yichi was on guard this time, and even put on the expensive shirt and trousers that Yu Zhinian bought for him.

The person Da Shan introduced to him was named Wei Boheng. The other party arranged to meet at a high-end restaurant in the city that required a reservation, expressing his degree of seriousness.

With such seriousness, Xiao Yichi naturally couldn't be rude.

Arriving at the restaurant, Xiao Yichi looked at the time, five minutes earlier than the reservation; however, the receptionist at the door told him that Mr. Wei had already arrived.

Wei Boheng wore a pair of rimless glasses and was refined and elegant. He looked at Xiao Yichi, smiled and stood up, "Mr. Xiao? Hello! Please take a seat."

Xiao Yichi took his seat, "Mr. Wei, hello! Have you been waiting for a long time?"

Wei Boheng shook his head, "You came not long after I arrived."

Saying this, he presented a small bag, "This is a meeting gift, I hope you like it."

Xiao Yichi took it in surprise, "Thank you!" He thought to himself that he was impolite and didn't even think to prepare a gift.

"Will you open it and take a look?"

Xiao Yichi opened the package, and inside the rectangular velvet box lay a designer fountain pen.

"I heard from Da Shan that you're about to become a university professor, here's a little something for you, I hope you like it."

"I like it very much, thank you!" Xiao Yichi collected the gift, "Sorry, I neglected to prepare a gift."

Wei Boheng didn't mind and laughed, "Then, Mr. Xiao will replace the gift with a glass of wine later and toast me more?"

"Okay!"

A certain tycoon in the city was going to set up a family office. After having a serious business chat, Yu Zhinian and his party dined at a famous Japanese restaurant.

When it was over, all parties said their goodbyes.

Nan Jing had something to do at home tonight, so Yu Zhinian asked him to drive back on his own and grabbed a taxi at the lobby entrance himself.

When he got out of the elevator, Yu Zhinian looked down to check the work email that had just come in.

Ding, the elevator next to him opened its doors.

Yu Zhinian consciously moved out of the way, not expecting someone to call him, "Lawyer Yu?"

Yu Zhinian raised his head and glanced sideways. The person who called him was good-looking and somewhat familiar, but he couldn't remember his name for a moment; however, the person standing next to him, he was able to name.

Xiao Yichi.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: December 25, 2023