Chapter 7: Burnt Love

Guan Xi didn’t go to the company today, nor did she go home.

Later, not knowing where to go, she had her assistant Yang Qing bring her laptop over. She started working on the unfinished travelogue about her trip to France. Her travelogue resembled a guide but included many details about her feelings and cultural observations. 

The Guan family excelled in many industries and had various business branches. After Grandfather Guan Hong stepped back from the front line, the Guan family was run by his sons and grandchildren. Guan Hong had three sons. The eldest son had two children, and the third son had one son and one daughter. Guan Xinghao was the second son and had only one daughter… No, now he had two.

Guan Xinghao excelled in the tourism industry and had taught Guan Xi many things. However, Guan Xi, being spoiled by her father, rarely took work seriously. Laziness was her nature. Nevertheless, despite being lazy, she was genuinely intelligent.

For instance, she was very sensitive to things related to tourism. Initially, she loved traveling around for fun. Eventually, she unintentionally transformed herself into a well-known travel blogger.

A few years ago, when Jiang Suizhou’s family launched “YouTu Travel,” Guan Xi, out of boredom, registered an account in the platform’s travel guide section.

The first content she published was a travelogue about her trip to Turkey. She described her story, criticized the drawbacks of hotels and popular attractions promoted by many internet celebrities, and recommended various feasible ways to explore.

Originally, as the young Miss Guan, she had high demands and was ready to criticize everything. However, her sharp and accurate critiques left people unable to refute or even resonating with her. As a result, her ID stood out among the numerous bloggers, becoming a popular figure in the “YouTu Travel” high-energy gameplay section.

Later, Guan Xi found it amusing and sporadically visited several other countries. Every time she returned, she eagerly wrote travelogues. During that period, she became the most popular blogger in the “YouTu Travel” innovative gameplay section.

However, Guan Xi was lazy. After writing a few times and experiencing the novelty, she found it tiresome and didn’t update as frequently. The travelogue she was working on today was about a trip she took the month before. As she was in the middle of writing, she received a call from Aunt Zhen.

Aunt Zhen asked when she would come home and secretly mentioned that tonight, Guan Ying planned to cook at home. Among the dishes was braised beef with potatoes, her mother’s favorite.

Guan Xi certainly knew that Wei Shaomin’s favorite home-cooked dish was braised beef with potatoes. Once, she had even gone to a private chef, waited for two hours, and tasted the dish supposedly made by the best chef for braised beef with potatoes. She carefully packed the dish to keep it warm, drove for two hours to get back home, and gave it to Wei Shaomin.

At that time, Wei Shaomin was quite pleased, saying that she had gone through a lot of trouble, and it must have been hard for her. Normally afraid of trouble, she didn’t find it troublesome at all back then. She only felt happy that her mother was pleased.

But now… her mother should be even happier.

After all, this time, she made it with her own hands.

After hanging up the phone, Guan Xi thought that maybe she should go home and make her presence felt. However, the scene of them making dumplings together last night suddenly flashed in her mind.

Well, she wouldn’t go home today.

Next time, she thought, she would go back to solidify her position, and next time, she would compete for favor… It’s not a big deal for that newcomer called Guan Ying to take the spotlight for a few days. After self-numbing for a while and forcing herself to appear calm, Guan Xi’s face slowly drooped again.

“Braised beef with potatoes… isn’t it just potatoes and beef? Such a simple dish, who can’t make it?”

**

When Jiang Suizhou received Guan Xi’s message, he was on his way to one of the subsidiary companies, sitting in the back seat of the car, looking at his phone screen.

【Darling, when are you coming back?】

Looking at the conspicuous “Darling,” he called his assistant’s name.

His assistant, Zhou Hao, turned around from the front passenger seat, “Jiang, what’s up?”

Jiang Suizhou asked, “Has Guan Xi called you recently, asking for anything?”

Zhou Hao thought for a moment and shook his head, “Miss Guan hasn’t asked me to contact the brand partners for anything special recently.”

“Nothing recently?”

Zhou Hao nodded affirmatively.

Jiang Suizhou didn’t say anything more, just lowered his head to reply to Guan Xi.

Being clingy but not buying anything, she was probably brewing something big.

Jiang Suizhou: 【Are you still at home?】

Guan Xi: 【Yes, waiting for you. What time will you be back?】

Jiang Suizhou: 【Around 6 PM.】

Guan Xi: 【Okay~ I’ll wait for you to come back for dinner~】

Jiang Suizhou: “…”

It seems to be quite accurate. Jiang Suizhou has a strong sense of time; if he says it’s six o’clock, it won’t deviate much. At six ten, he returned home. Upon entering, he smelled a burnt odor and followed it to the kitchen, where he saw a scene of chaos and smoke. In the midst of the smoke, a woman’s figure was busy with pots and pans clanging.

Jiang Suizhou recognized it as Guan Xi’s silhouette. He paused for a moment, immediately went in, and pulled her out, saying, “What are you doing, Auntie?”

Guan Xi replied, “I gave her a day off, and tonight, I’ll be the chef.”

Jiang Suizhou’s expression momentarily froze, “You can cook? Are you trying to poison someone, me?”

Guan Xi waved her index finger and said, “I won’t poison you, just make you die of deliciousness. Look, it’s done.”

In a cloud of smoke, Jiang Suizhou turned on the exhaust hood and looked at the dish that was hard to identify, asking, “What is this?”

“Potato beef stew,” Guan Xi turned her head to look at him, took off his silver-framed glasses fogged up by the smoke, and said, “It’s foggy; look more clearly this way.”

Her tone was very pleased, as if she was waiting for his praise, but Jiang Suizhou obviously couldn’t feign approval. Seeing he didn’t say anything, Guan Xi took the dish outside to the dining table. She came back, took a pair of chopsticks, and pulled Jiang Suizhou out.

“Give it a try,” she handed the chopsticks to Jiang Suizhou.

Jiang Suizhou said, “…Give me a reason to use the chopsticks.”

“It’s my first time cooking in my life,” Guan Xi thought for a moment and said, “Isn’t it moving enough to cook by myself?”

“I dare not move.”

Guan Xi snorted lightly and sat down beside him.

Staring at the dish in front of her, she muttered, “But I’ve tried my best. If it doesn’t taste good this time, it should be better next time.”

Jiang Suizhou glanced at her. After messing around in the kitchen, there were some stains on her face. The Guan Xi in his eyes was delicate to the point of being irresistible, allowing herself to be oily and dirty was something he had never seen before.

Subconsciously, he reached out to wipe her cheek.

Guan Xi’s thoughts were still on the food; her face was touched, and she turned her head in confusion. Jiang Suizhou’s other hand followed suit; he held her chin, and the fingertips of the other hand wiped her face.

“It’s not something you should do, why bother making an effort?” he asked indifferently.

Guan Xi paused, “But others do.”

“Who?”

“Just… some people,” Guan Xi said, “If someone close to you cooks for you at home, wouldn’t you feel more affectionate towards them?”

Jiang Suizhou replied, “I would only think she’s bored and finding something to do.”

“…”

“Go wash your face,” Jiang Suizhou said.

Guan Xi asked, “You really won’t eat? I put in effort all afternoon for this.”

“No.”

Guan Xi gave him a glare, “You’re missing out.”

She turned and left the dining room to wash her face. Jiang Suizhou sat at the dining table, looking at the peculiar dish in front of him. After a moment of silence, he picked up chopsticks and took a small piece of meat.

All afternoon of effort…

Is this it?

Jiang Suizhou frowned. After looking at it for a while, he put it in his mouth. However, after chewing twice, his expression changed, and he quickly stood up to vomit.

She really wanted to poison him!

**

In the end, Jiang Suizhou had someone bring him a meal. After finishing dinner, Guan Xi sat on the living room carpet, continuing to write her travelogue. Her earnest appearance was quite refreshing for Jiang Suizhou.

“What are you writing?”

“Travel guide, it’s been a while since I last posted.”

Jiang Suizhou knew that Guan Xi had an account on “YouTu Travel” because her account was quite famous. During a meeting before, people even used her account as an example. But if he remembered correctly, she hadn’t updated it for quite some time.

“Why the sudden interest in writing again?” Jiang Suizhou asked.

Guan Xi replied, “Just suddenly wanted to be diligent.”

Diligent, a word unrelated to being a slacker. Jiang Suizhou thought she was just in the mood to write suddenly. Nevertheless, it was good; her unique style attracted a lot of traffic to the “YouTu Travel” strategy section.

“Tomorrow is Song Li’s birthday, come with me,” Jiang Suizhou said.

Guan Xi responded, “As long as the thought is there, help me send a gift to him, and I won’t attend.”

“You come with me,” Jiang Suizhou repeated.

Guan Xi looked back at him, “Will there be a lot of people? Many girls?”

“Maybe.”

Guan Xi snorted, “Well, Song Li, that guy, is never short of beautiful women around him.”

“So come with me and save me the trouble,” Jiang Suizhou said.

Guan Xi understood very well what trouble Jiang Suizhou was referring to. The beautiful girls liked him a lot; if she didn’t go, he would have to deal with many of them.

“What’s in it for me?” Guan Xi habitually asked.

Jiang Suizhou pulled her up from the carpet, making her sit on his lap, “After brewing for so long, what do you really want?”

Guan Xi raised her eyebrows, a bit puzzled at the moment. But quickly, she figured it out; he was probably uncomfortable with her recent unusual behavior. Jiang Suizhou was indeed a peculiar masochistic type; she really had no intention of letting him spend money lately.

“Well… even if there’s nothing in it for me, I would still go. After all, you are my boyfriend,” Guan Xi said.

Jiang Suizhou glanced at her, “Guan Xi, can you be more normal?”

Guan Xi replied, “…”

“This year’s new fashion from the runway, Zhou Hao will send it to you later, according to your size,” Jiang Suizhou added.

Guan Xi’s eyes lit up, “Chanel?”

“Yeah.”

“Awesome!” Guan Xi felt that her pent-up mood for the day was soothed. So, she firmly kissed him on the face and said, “Darling, you’re really great. Love you, love you.”

Jiang Suizhou still preferred the Guan Xi who danced with “luxury goods.” The one in the kitchen cooking, he found a bit intimidating.

He straightened Guan Xi’s face, leaned in, and kissed her, “Don’t cook in the future.”

“…Why?”

“Lives are at stake.”

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