Rose Manor: Tycoon's Relentless Chase-Chapter 287 - 269: Love at First Sight

After Shen Jianian recovered, she couldn’t sit still. She is currently on a break and isn’t considering work for the rest of the year. So, she’s putting her grand plan of learning to cook into practice.

She dug out the recipe book she bought earlier, planning to personally make a few dishes and send them to her neighbor, Aunt Cheng, to taste. That would express her gratitude better than just buying a few boxes of stuff.

The first dish she made was Kung Pao Chicken. Allegedly, this recipe book was documented to national banquet standards.

The first step was to open her phone and order the ingredients online.

Half an hour later, the ingredients Shen Jianian ordered arrived at her door. She brought in two large bags and started with the chicken thighs; the recipe said to debone and dice the thighs.

Shen Jianian held the knife and made a few lines across and down the chicken thighs, totally clueless about how to debone them, so she had to open her phone again and search for a video on deboning chicken thighs.

No choice; her cooking skills were stuck at making cold dishes.

Shen Jianian busied herself from around four in the afternoon until seven in the evening and finally made several decent dishes: Kung Pao Chicken, Mapo Tofu, Salt and Pepper Spare Ribs, and Garlic Stir-fried Kale – all classic home-cooked dishes.

Feeling quite accomplished, she snapped a photo of the dishes, then portioned each dish and brought them to the neighbor’s, knocking on the door and placing the tray outside before returning home.

Shen Jianian remembered that during the days she was sick, her neighbor, Aunt Cheng, generally brought her meals around seven in the evening. She wasn’t sure if Aunt Cheng was home, but if she was, that would be great. If not, Aunt Cheng could heat the food up when she got home, which would save a lot of trouble.

Fu Jichen happened to be home. Since Shen Jianian recovered, he didn’t ask Aunt Cheng to deliver her meals any longer. Although he was concerned about how she managed three meals a day, he was more worried she’d find out the truth.

He heard the knock on the door from inside, resisted the impulse to open the door right away, deliberately waited a moment, checked the door viewer to ensure no one was outside, then opened the door.

On the mat laid a wooden tray, on which were three small clay pots – the same method of delivering food.

Fu Jichen raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Has Shen Jianian switched from delivering fruits and local products to feeding ’Aunt Cheng’ now?

He bent down to pick up the tray and bring it inside. Under one of the clay pots was a yellow sticky note with neat handwriting: Thank you for taking care of me the past few days. After much thought, fruits and local products were inadequate to express my gratitude. I specially made a few dishes today. They might not taste good, please don’t mind.

A smiley face was drawn at the bottom.

Fu Jichen’s eyebrows shot up high, not just surprised, but absolutely shocked.

He remembered Shen Jianian’s cooking skills as mediocre. She once impulsively learned to cook from Aunt Cheng, but she lost that memory, probably long ago forgetting any cooking experience.

Fu Jichen unveiled one clay pot, inside was Kung Pao Chicken and Salt and Pepper Spare Ribs. The second pot contained Mapo Tofu, and the last one had stir-fried kale with added garlic.

The aroma was unexpectedly nice. Fu Jichen went to the kitchen to wash a pair of chopsticks, then tasted a piece of chicken. His expression quickly shifted from anticipation to numbness; the chicken was sweet.

He chewed for a while, swallowed hard, and sighed, indeed, he shouldn’t have high expectations for her cooking.

Fu Jichen tested the remaining dishes with a poisoned mindset; too much cooking wine was used in the Salt and Pepper Spare Ribs, making it taste predominantly like wine instead of salt and pepper. The Mapo Tofu was fried into shreds, resembling pulp from a blender. The stir-fried kale had a detectable taste of the food itself, but he felt it wasn’t cooked thoroughly...

Since their reunion, this was the first time Shen Jianian cooked for him. Fu Jichen, while grumbling, kept stuffing chopsticks full of food into his mouth, without even adding rice.

After finishing all the dishes, Fu Jichen drank an entire pot of tea and felt he could work overtime until late tonight.

*

The next morning, Shen Jianian received her cleaned utensils outside her door.

She tasted the dishes she made yesterday; to be honest, the flavor was very average. Perhaps she had a filter for her own cooking, despite its mediocrity, she ate it all without any stomach issues.

Shen Jianian put away the utensils and saw the note left by her neighbor, Aunt Cheng.

[Tastes good.]

Shen Jianian’s eyes lit up; Aunt Cheng thought her cooking was delicious?

She quickly came to her senses, realizing Aunt Cheng was too kind-hearted and wouldn’t want to discourage her. It’s just polite talk, not to be taken seriously.

The phone rang. Shen Jianian glanced at it; a message from Bai Changxia.

"Dear, your birthday is coming up. Any plans?"

Shen Jianian’s birthday is December 31st, the last day of the month. Were it not for Bai Changxia reminding her, she would have almost forgotten her birthday. Things have been a bit chaotic lately, and she hasn’t paid attention to the date.

She replied, "Haven’t thought about it yet."

Bai Changxia sent a voice message, "If you have no other plans, I’ll come over to your place then. I haven’t visited your new home yet, it’s just the right occasion to warm the house during your birthday and also celebrate New Year’s! We’ll make a big table of dishes, prepare a cake, a bottle of red wine, and celebrate well. How about that?"

Shen Jianian asked, "Won’t you spend New Year’s with your husband?"

Bai Changxia replied, "Their company has taken on a cross-national project, he’s busy flying around with no time for New Year’s." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Shen Jianian had no objections; she was quite interested in cooking these days.

"No problem!" she replied to Bai Changxia with excitement.

After finalizing the birthday arrangements, Shen Jianian looked around, considering whether to buy some decorations. Since they decided to celebrate New Year’s together, the house should be decorated festively.

Getting down to it, Shen Jianian curled up on the sofa with her phone, searched for New Year’s decorations on the shopping app, found many delicate and pretty trinkets, bought a bunch, and sent screenshots over to Bai Changxia.

Bai Changxia replied with a thumbs-up emoji.

Shen Jianian laughed and opened her social feed; she doesn’t have many friends, so browsing through it was quick. Just as she was about to exit, Zhao Shunyi had just posted a new status.

[Lounging at home.]

Accompanied by a photo of her wearing Disney-themed pajamas sprawled on the sofa, a pillow covering her head.

Shen Jianian suddenly remembered she still owed Zhao Shunyi a meal. She tapped Zhao Shunyi’s profile picture and messaged, "Got time to grab a meal together?"

Judging by Zhao Shunyi’s status lounging at home, she probably had time.

Sure enough, Zhao Shunyi replied instantly, "Yes!"

Shen Jianian chuckled and typed a few words back, "Lunch or dinner?"

Zhao Shunyi replied, "Dinner, my agent is coming over soon to talk business."

Shen Jianian sent an OK gesture emoji with a little pig.

The two agreed to have hotpot together at seven in the evening. Around six, Shen Jianian tidied herself up, slung a furry bag over her shoulder, locked the door, and instinctively glanced at the neighbor’s door.

Wondering when she could finally meet Aunt Cheng.

Shen Jianian pressed the elevator button, tucked both hands into the pockets of her down jacket, and tapped her toes out of boredom while waiting.

The elevator arrived, the doors opened, and just as she was about to step inside, an elegant woman holding a platter of pastries walked out.

The woman looked to be around thirty, with thick hair cascading down to her waist, fair skin, wearing a black long dress with a crossover neckline, a diamond necklace around her neck, the pendant nestled just at the cleavage, revealing legs wrapped in flesh-colored stockings, finished with high heels, passing by with a hint of bergamot perfume.

Shen Jianian fixated her gaze on her. Was she Aunt Cheng?

So young, calling her Aunt seemed inappropriate.

Shen Jianian hesitated a moment, about to ask her question when the woman spoke first, her voice soft and smiling, "Hello, may I ask which unit you live in?"

The woman had a straightforward plan, with only two units per floor, knowing which one this girl lived in would reveal which was the man’s unit.

"Unit 2602," Shen Jianian responded, momentarily caught off guard.

The woman got the answer she wanted and smiled wider, "Thank you."

Shen Jianian hesitated, asking, "Do you live next door to me?"

The woman’s eyes widened a bit, not understanding why she thought that, "No, I don’t." Raising the platter in her hands, she showed it to Shen Jianian, "I’m from the 20th floor and brought some pastries for your neighbor. I made them personally this afternoon, took over two hours. By the way, is your neighbor home?"

Turns out she wasn’t Aunt Cheng. Shen Jianian shook her head, "Not sure, I haven’t met her."

Aunt Cheng seemed like a helpful soul, probably she’s kind not only to Shen Jianian but to other residents too, prompting this lady to bring pastries for her.

"Oh, I see. Then I’ll go knock and see." The woman wasn’t certain she’d meet the man she’d been captivated by, even after dressing up meticulously.