There must be something wrong with her.

Yu Zi shook her head. She smiled in embarrassment as she caught Yan Huaian looking at her curiously.

She had intended not to invite him for a meal at her house. It felt much too intimate.

However, he had helped her out today and it did not seem right for her to not show her appreciation.

As Yan Huaian continued looking at her, Yu Zi forced out the words, “Didn’t you say it yesterday? If I don’t need to work overtime, we can have dinner together. You would be eating alone anyway and it’s a little difficult to portion for a single person. If there are too few dishes, it would be less appetizing. If there are too many dishes, you wouldn’t be able to finish it.”

Yan Huaian smiled and nodded calmly. “Okay.”

Yu Zi had wanted to further explain and inform Yan Huaian that she did not have any other intentions, but Yan Huaian had accepted her invitation so quickly that she did not have the opportunity.

She could only hold back on whatever explanation she wanted to give him.

They returned to Autumn Garden and went back to their respective houses. They wanted to change into more comfortable household clothes and freshen themselves up.

They said a quick goodbye to one another at the door.

Yu Zi stood in front of her house and watched as Yan Huaian took out his keys to open the door. She suddenly burst out laughing.

Yan Huaian heard her laughter and turned back to look at her questioningly. He saw her face brighten up from the laugh. It sparked a twinkle in his eyes as well. “What are you laughing about?”

Yu Zi shook her head. She did not know how to explain this. She gave it a thought and wondered if she could tell him about it in a way he could understand. So, she tried by saying, “Well, we just said our goodbyes at the entrance and go back to our own homes, but at the same time, we are neighbors. We still have to walk to the front of our houses and say goodbye to each other again. It’s pretty funny.”

After Yu Zi finished her explanation, she realized that the joke did not seem as funny when she put it into words. For a moment, she just stood where she was, looking awkward.

She gave a wave. “Forget it, it’s really nothing.”

Yan Huaian’s eyes narrowed into a smile. “It’s actually pretty funny.”

Yu Zi was slightly stunned as Yan Huaian looked at her. He pointed at her house, then back at his house which was directly opposite to hers. “I can understand why it’s pretty…. Amusing.”

He laughed a bit after saying it.

He was not patronizing her; it was a burst of light laughter that came from being sincerely amused by it. It made Yu Zi feel less embarrassed about the joke.

She lowered her head as she laughed shyly. Then, she lifted her head and said, “Well… See you later.”

Yu Zi did not know why Yan Huaian seemed to cheer up tremendously over her words. There was a huge, wide smile on his face.

His stern-looking face seemed to turn gentle as he looked bright and cheerful.

“I’ll come over in a while,” Yan Huaian said. He held on to the feeling in his heart. It felt really good.

Staying so close to each other had its benefits. He could go over to her house anytime he wanted. They did not feel like outsiders to one another, but rather, they were much more intimate than that.

If only there was a way to connect both their houses. It would only make the situation even better.

Yan Huaian made sure that Yu Zi had gotten into her house, but he still stood where he was in front of his house as he continued to fantasize about this beautiful dream.

Not long after, he snapped out of his dream and realized he was still standing at the front door. He gave an embarrassed laugh as he watched the closed door in front of Yu Zi’s house. He quickly closed his mouth and stopped smiling and unlocked his front door.

Yu Zi got home and immediately changed her clothes. She placed her working clothes into her washing machine and turned it on for an automatic wash. After that, she went to her fridge to check for any ingredients that could be used for dinner tonight.

She had to admit that cooking for two gave her extra motivation.

When she was living alone and had a date with Yue Jingchen, they would always dine outside. Yu Zi had never invited Yue Jingchen back to her house.

She was the only one at home and there were no other people. What would happen after having dinner with Yue Jingchen?

They were a couple and the only ones in the house. It was highly possible that they would cross the line and sleep together. However, Yu Zi had never really given it thought despite being with Yue Jingchen for so many years.

Yu Zi had no idea why she had never given this any deeper thought. Her motion of washing the vegetables slowed down as she began to ponder on this. It could be because of Yue Jingchen’s parents. She really did like Yue Jingchen but there was something about him that did not feel reliable.

She knew what Pan Yunfeng and Yue Xingan were like. If she and Yue Jingchen had actually crossed that line in their relationship, Pan Yunfeng would point fingers at Yu Zi’s for being shameless and corrupting her son. She would have more reason to treat Yu Zi as the daughter-in-law of the Yue family. If Yu Zi had given herself to Yue Jingchen, she should not do anything to betray him which would include getting together with another man.

The thought of it made Yu Zi feel like throwing up. This was why she had never really allowed anything to happen between her and Yue Jingchen. She had always been cautious about it. She was worried that if Yue Jingchen were to come over to her house, they would not be able to stop themselves from going at each other if the atmosphere was right.

It was lucky for her not to have invited Yue Jingchen over to her house at all.

Yu Zi breathed a sigh of relief.

As Yue Jingchen had a modest income, they would never dine anywhere too fancy. Most of the time, they would have their dinner at inexpensive food courts.

Yue Jingchen’s character was more or less sculpted by his parents, although not entirely. There was one trait of his that he had inherited from them, which was his chauvinism. He would never allow Yu Zi to pay when they went out on dates.

Even if he did not have the means to give Yu Zi a better, more relaxing life, his pride would never allow him to use any of Yu Zi’s money.

With Yu Zi’s financial status, she could very well dine at high-end restaurants, but because Yue Jingchen did not have the same economic power and yet still insisted on paying for their dinners, she would always find herself dining at cheaper restaurants.

Thankfully the food was always hygienic, which is why Yu Zi was always fine after dining at those restaurants.

However, both their jobs took up a lot of their time and they were always busy.

If Yue Jingchen was not working overtime, it would be Yu Zi who had to stay back at the law firm for work. That was why they started seeing each other less after graduating and getting jobs than when they were still in university.

Whenever Yue Jingchen would be working overtime and she did not need to stay back at work, Yu Zi would come home to cook for herself. Sometimes, she would head home and have dinner with her parents.

She was always unmotivated to cook meals at home. There were so many dishes she wanted to have but they were not suitable for just one person. If she made too much and the food could not be finished, she would be forced to throw it out as it was not healthy to have leftovers the next day.

After a while, she started to lose her appetite whenever she was forced to have dinner alone.

Today was such a rare occasion that she was able to cook with such gusto.

Yu Zi smiled as her hands started to work quickly again.

After cleaning all the vegetables, she started to chop them up when the doorbell rang.

She knew it was Yan Huaian. Yu Zi put down the knife and turned on the tap beside her to quickly wash her hands. She wiped them dry and went out to open the door for him.

Yan Huaian had changed into a light grey hoodie with matching cotton sweatpants. It was obvious that his clothes came in a set.

The clothes on him looked especially comfortable from the way he moved. One could tell from a single look that the material was especially soft.

“I’m in the middle of preparing the food. Take a seat first,” Yu Zi smiled as she said.

“Do you need my help?” Yan Huaian asked warmly.

“It’s okay. There’s only the two of us. There aren’t many dishes to make and the kitchen isn’t that spacious. It would be too cramped if you came in,” said Yu Zi.

Yan Huaian really wanted to get cramped in the kitchen with her, but he did not dare to express this so explicitly. He could only comply and sit in the living room.

Yu Zi was really quick with the dishes. Yan Huaian was laughing as he ate dinner, “I never expected you to know how to cook. I always thought that with your family background, there would be no need for you to do much.”

Yu Zi smiled as she said, “I will need to start a family in the future. If I have my own family, it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t know any household skills.”

In fact, she never did know how to do housework or cook previously. This was all because she had a boyfriend like Yue Jingchen. Based on Yue Jingchen’s personality, he would never accept money from the Yu family. He would only allow household expenses to be covered using Yu Zi and his salaries.

This meant that they would be unable to afford a housekeeper to help out with household chores. Yu Zi had to plan for the future.

Since she knew that she would be with Yue Jingchen, the only thing she could do was to work hard and make changes to try to adapt to life with Yue Jingchen.

She learned how to cook and handle all forms of housework in order to take better care of her family after she got married.

Yu Zi’s explanation reminded her of why she had learned to cook in the first place. She became silent and did not continue the conversation any further.

Yan Huaian understood why Yu Zi had suddenly stopped talking. He felt upset about the reason behind it all. She changed herself and learnt things that were not actually necessary, and it was all because of Yue Jingchen. He was not happy about it at all.

However, Yan Huaian cheered up a few seconds later.

It was because it suddenly got through to him that Yue Jingchen was the one who did not know how to appreciate his blessings. He had broken up with Yu Zi and did not keep hold of such a good woman. It was Yue Jingchen’s own undoing. Now, the person that stood to gain, was Yan Huaian.

Yu Zi got capable of carrying out household chores because of Yue Jingchen, but he would not be able to enjoy it. Yan Huaian was the one that would take advantage of this in the future.

He was enjoying the shade from the tree Yue Jingchen had planted!

There really was nothing better than this.

After thinking it through, Yan Huaian’s smile got brighter as he said, “I’ve got an idea. What do you think about this: dinner is prepared by you and it’s not right for me to enjoy this without any contribution. Let me take care of breakfast and you can come over to my place for it when you wake up in the morning.”