NOVEL NEXT 111: Domesticity Time: Cooking!
Hobbling her way to the kitchen, Lin Songmei pulled out the groceries she had bought and dropped them onto the counter. With Yan Mingqing right behind her doing the same thing, Songmei turned, asking, “Are you sure you want to make that right now? It’ll take a long time for the dough to actually rise so there’s no need if you don’t want to...”
“Nahhh,” Mingqing shook her head, “There’s a specific garlic cheese bread recipe I saw one night while laying in bed with you, and I just felt like making it. It’s been a while since I’ve made any type of bread, after all. I thought it might be fun.”
Feeling a saliva pool in her mouth, Songmei looked away, swallowing it back down before she drooled. “Wait, I don’t remember seeing that though... But we were in bed together?”
“You were asleep,” Mingqing clarified, with a laugh, pulling out the various groceries she had bought from the bag. “You know, I think I fall asleep later than you four nights out of five...”
“Well, that seems like a you problem,” Songmei nodded with a grin and an additional “mhm,” before unpinning her hair, “Do you have a hair tie I can use though?”
Prying a hair tie off her wrist, Mingqing tossed it over. “Here you go, no worries. But, yeah, it really is a me problem, I envy your ability to pass out like a light within moments.”
Tying up her hair, Songmei laughed and shrugged, “Just sleep better! Very easy solution if you ask me.”
Staring at each other for a moment, Songmei wiggled her eyebrows as if saying “What are you going to do about it” as Mingqing just squinted before sighing and shaking her head.
With Mingqing’s sleeping troubles solved after receiving Songmei’s brilliant advice, the two of them continued on, talking about whatever came to mind. Mingqing, making a recipe that required her to let the dough rise for a couple hours, made what she could before putting it into the oven at a low heat to let it rise.
Done, Mingqing walked over and hugged Songmei from behind, wrapping her arms around Songmei’s waist as Songmei continued to cook the pasta sauce. “How is it going, love?”
As Songmei froze for a second, Mingqing laughed, “Would you prefer it if I didn’t call you that?”
“No... It’s fine... It’s quite nice,” Songmei whispered, the corners of her lips twitching upwards as her hands began to move again, “I was just surprised, that’s all. Also, I just need to add a couple more ingredients, so I’ll be done in a couple of minutes, just sit tight.”
“Well, I’ll try and use the names every once in a while then,” Mingqing squeezed Songmei, letting her go and walking out of the kitchen. “And take your time with the food, I’ll go set up the table now then.”
Turning halfway to give Mingqing a nod, Songmei paused for a second before murmuring a “Thank you... l-love.”
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Five minutes later, Songmei transferred her pasta to a larger central plate. Instead of the usual distribution across two plates, Songmei felt a plate in the middle might suit the occasion a little better.
She and Mingqing could then transfer pasta onto their own plates—a system that worked better anyway because Mingqing always ate more than Songmei after all. This way, the two of them could avoid the classic “hey could you finish this for me” situation.
Plating some of her other side dishes she made, Songmei transferred them onto the tray Mingqing had left for her.
“I’m coming over!” Songmei called out, letting out a quiet “umph” while picking up the food-laden tray with both hands. “Want me to bring over some utensils and or plates?”
“No, I got it all!” Mingqing called back, rushing over to help Songmei, “Want me to take the tray?”
“Ahhh, I’m fine,” Songmei reassured, “This five-meridian cultivator, qi-unassisted base strength makes it easy as cake.”
With Mingqing raising a dubious eyebrow, Songmei stuck out her tongue as Mingqing guided her over to the table by the windows. Having dragged over two tables, Mingqing explained to Songmei to just set the tray down on the bare table farther from the window. Once the tray was set down, the two of them transferred the plates over to the small table beside the window.
Then returning the tray to the kitchen, the two of them returned to the window-side date table they created for themselves.
With a snow-white tablecloth, array of plates, and gleaming utensils, the small table beside the window overlooked the street below where vehicles sped around. The small headlights below created a web of yellow-orange dots, illuminating the sunset city.
Sitting down across from Mingqing, Songmei fell quiet as the food sat between them.
Songmei swore she'd burn this scene into her memory. She was in love. She, shamelessly, loved Mingqing. Songmei loved Mingqing’s smile. Songmei loved the way Mingqing’s eyes danced along every time her mouth laughed. Songmei loved the small squeeze and sigh they exchanged every time they embraced.
Reaching out to readjust the plates after seeing there was an empty space in the center of the table, Songmei’s hand was stopped by Mingqing.
“Wait, I have something to put there,” Mingqing explained, pulling out a lighter from her ring.
Tilting her head as Mingqing twirled the lighter in her hand, Songmei raised a dubious eyebrow, trying her best to copy Mingqing’s from earlier. “I assume it’s not a lighter you’re putting in the center because I feel like that’d be... awkward. Candles?”
“You guessed it~” Mingqing sang with a grin, pulling out a pair of twin candles, “I had these from a long time back. I think they were just laying around our rooms when we first moved in?”
“Moved in here?” Songmei asked, not remembering any candles from when she and Mingqing had moved into the apartment they lived in now.
“Xueli’s place actually,” Mingqing shrugged, setting the two, short candles down in the center of their table. “They were just rolling around on the desk in my room so I just, you know, took them.”
“Well, I hope Xueli isn’t in dire need of candles right now or sorta soon from now,” Songmei chuckled, admiring the pair of flames dancing atop the candles. “They’re so beautiful though, what a nice touch, good job.”
“No, no, it was the least I could do,” Mingqing clasped Songmei’s hand with a smile and laugh, “You did so much cooking, I gotta make myself useful somehow.”
“Well, you’re always useful,” Songmei squeezed Mingqing’s hand. Letting go of Mingqing’s hand, Songmei clapped with a twinkling smile, “Let’s eat!”
