Chapter 38: Possessiveness

Chapter 38: Possessiveness

"Does Gu Hansheng like broccoli?" Zhao Yu crouched down to look at the lower shelf, picking up a big green spiky "flower."

Gu Hansheng raised an eyebrow. "That's broccoli?"

Zhao Yu glanced at the label. "Romanesco broccoli. My mentor calls it the green pagoda. It tastes pretty good, but I've never cooked it before."

"Then let's grab one."

Zhao Yu picked a nice-looking one and put it in the basket. Several kinds of vegetables were already in the cart. Zhao Yu glanced around, and Gu Hansheng asked, "What are you looking for?"

"Somewhere to weigh them."

"Weigh them?"

"These are sold by weight. We need to weigh them and stick on a price tag before checking out."

Zhao Yu gave Gu Hansheng a suspicious look. This man had said he cooked for himself while studying abroad, but clearly he didn't do everything himself.

Gu Hansheng immediately caught his doubtful look. Zhao Yu quickly turned his head away, but the man pressed a hand on his head and turned it back, asking with a knowing smile, "What's with that look?"

"Just surprised you don't know everything."

"You're lying."

Zhao Yu didn't dare tell the truth, so he changed the subject. "Oh, they've got artichokes."

Gu Hansheng grabbed a few and tossed them into the cart.

Zhao Yu quickly said, "These aren't good to eat."

"You're the chef. You handle it."

Of course he knew artichokes didn't taste great—that's why he deliberately gave them to Zhao Yu to deal with.

Zhao Yu scratched his head, wanting to sneak the artichokes back onto the shelf when Gu Hansheng wasn't looking, but he never found the chance. They'd picked up a bunch of strange vegetables, none of which he'd ever cooked before, and he had no idea what he was going to do with them tonight.

The seafood section had huge glass tanks filled with all kinds of fish, shrimp, and crabs. Oxygen pumps bubbled in the water, and all sorts of strange sea creatures were almost too much to take in.

Zhao Yu stared at a monkfish in a pressurized tank and said in surprise, "It's actually alive. I read that monkfish almost always die as soon as they're caught."

Gu Hansheng bent down too, looking at the ugly fish beside him. "Does it taste good?"

"I've heard it's pretty good. I've never tried it, but I can learn to cook it. Want to give it a shot?"

"Let's give it a try."

"We'll grab it on the way back."

Zhao Yu turned his head and nearly kissed Gu Hansheng. Startled, he acted like it was nothing and stepped back to look at another tank. "Oh, there are barnacles. I've learned how to cook those. Do you want to eat them?"

"Sure, I'll eat them."

They also picked out blue lobsters and sea anemones and had the store deliver them later in the evening.

Pushing the cart past aisle after aisle of shelves, Zhao Yu finally spotted familiar ingredients in the chilled section. Gu Hansheng wasn't picky about food, so Zhao Yu just needed to pick things he wanted to try cooking.

Besides ingredients, he also threw a bunch of seasonings and sauces into the cart.

A couple pushed their cart past them, chatting about where to go eat.

It seemed only people in close relationships shopped together like this—a married couple, or the boyfriend and girlfriend who'd passed by earlier, or at the very least, close friends.

Zhao Yu and Gu Hansheng's relationship wasn't any of those. They both knew it but neither acknowledged it, keeping up this harmonious atmosphere.

Sometimes Zhao Yu took a while to pick ingredients and worried Gu Hansheng might get impatient, but surprisingly, Gu Hansheng was very patient, pushing the cart the whole time, until it was full.

At checkout, Zhao Yu wanted to pay, but Gu Hansheng pulled out a card. "Save your salary to pay back Zhou Lan."

"How did you know I owe Zhou Lan money?" Zhao Yu asked in surprise, then added, "Zhou Lan hasn't been hassling me for it."

"Just pay him back."

In truth, Gu Hansheng had wanted for a long time to help Zhao Yu clear his debt, to completely cut ties with Zhou Lan. But he also didn't want to become another creditor. Zhao Yu was already cautious around him; another debt would only make him more respectful. That wasn't what he wanted.

After checking out and loading several large bags of ingredients into the car, Zhao Yu searched for recipes on his phone—especially for that monkfish, which was a pain to prepare. As they passed through the city center, he said, "Gu Hansheng, can we stop at a cookware store? The knives at home are a bit dull. I want to buy a new set."

Gu Hansheng checked the map and turned at the intersection toward a nearby cookware store.

The car pulled over to the side of the road. Zhao Yu got out to buy the knives, and when he came back, Gu Hansheng wasn't in the car, so he leaned against the car to wait.

The red Ferrari Portofino was eye-catching, its body lines sharp and elegant, the twin round taillights in the rear like a pair of demon eyes. Zhao Yu wore a T-shirt and jeans, with the striped shirt he'd worn that morning tied around his waist. His hair was a bit messed up by the wind, and he'd pushed his sunglasses up onto his head because he couldn't see the recipes on his phone clearly.

He'd built some muscle working hard in the kitchen at Yatai, but his face was still lean, with a clearly defined jawline and sharp, good-looking features. Though he didn't have a penny in his pocket, he didn't look out of place standing next to the Ferrari at all.

Zhao Yu was focused on reading the recipes and didn't notice that most passersby were stealing glances at him.

A man walked up. "Hey, can I get your number?"

Zhao Yu looked up, startled. He was 180 cm tall and rarely met people taller than him, and this guy was almost as tall as Gu Hansheng.

In the two seconds he was stunned, the man mistook his reaction for interest and stepped closer.

"He doesn't need any insurance." Gu Hansheng's voice suddenly interjected. He gave the man a single glance, then opened the door and told Zhao Yu, "Get in the car."

The man turned red at his dismissive attitude and mumbled, "You're the one selling insurance," before walking off.

Gu Hansheng had bought two cups of coffee and came back to confront Zhao Yu for not rejecting the man's advances earlier. "Were you actually going to give him your number?"

Zhao Yu said, "No, I just didn't get a chance to refuse yet."

People were still glancing their way. Gu Hansheng set down the coffee, suddenly lifted Zhao Yu's chin, and leaned in to plant a kiss on his lips—a kiss that claimed him. Then he took the sunglasses from Zhao Yu's head and put them on his own nose, sending all those envious glances fading away.

The low roar of the Ferrari's twin-turbo V8 engine rumbled down the street as the car crossed the intersection and disappeared down the road.

Zhao Yu adjusted the sunglasses that were about to slip off his face, totally confused in the wind. Gu Hansheng hadn't been drinking today, so why had he kissed him?

He touched his lips to make sure the sensation wasn't an illusion.

Back home, the housekeeper had already prepared lunch. Zhao Yu was still thinking about that kiss, but Gu Hansheng said nothing, as if everything was perfectly normal.

Gu Hansheng looked at the food on the table and asked Zhao Yu, "What are you planning to cook this afternoon?"

They'd bought a ton of ingredients—there was no way to finish them in one or two meals. Zhao Yu thought for a moment. "Let's cook the monkfish. It's still fresh today; if we freeze it and save it for tomorrow, it might not taste as good."

Gu Hansheng asked again, "Has Cao Xu let you run the kitchen yet?"

"Not yet. I need to get my chef's certificate first."

"When are you taking it?"

"Second half of the year, probably around August."

"So, another two or three months?"

"Yeah. But my mentor lets me get hands-on sometimes and teaches me some dishes."

Gu Hansheng got a call about work, said a few quick words, and put the phone down. Zhao Yu thought he'd head back to the office, but he didn't.

That afternoon, the grocery delivery guy dropped off the seafood. Once out of the pressurized tank, the monkfish died immediately. Zhao Yu quickly changed into a waterproof apron, dragged the massive fish out—its slime giving off a strong, fishy stench.

He regretted getting curious about weird ingredients on sight—now he had no idea where to start.

After pondering for a while, he grabbed a drying pole from the backyard, cleaned it, set it up, hung the monkfish from it, then opened his new knife set. He picked a sharp one, slit the belly, gutted it, trimmed the fins, and skinned it...

Every cut was clean and precise as he broke the fish down. Using a smaller knife, he removed the eyes, then sliced the fillets with a willow-blade knife, throwing in a little flair with a decorative cut.

Zhao Yu was getting into the groove with his knife work, starting to have a little fun with it. Gu Hansheng sat in the yard, looking up from his phone to watch him play with the knife.

Somewhere along the line, Gu Hansheng had gotten used to having this extra person around. Even though they rarely spoke, they shared the same table every morning. A water glass or jacket Zhao Yu had left lying around would sit in the living room, and the light in the first-floor bedroom stayed on every night. Zhao Yu came and went freely, leaving traces of life throughout the villa.

He'd originally kept Zhao Yu around purely for revenge—to make the liar who'd played with his feelings suffer and pay.

He'd always been utterly ruthless; ruining someone he hated was easier than squashing an ant. He had intended to ruin Zhao Yu, but through the daily grind of living together, he'd long forgotten why he'd started this.

To him, Zhao Yu staying here meant staying under his thumb—that was just how it should be, and nothing could shake his control. He had no intention of letting go easily.

All that was left of the hanging fish was the head. Zhao Yu detached it, cleaned the counter and floor, then sprayed odor remover all over the place. It was a fresh citrus scent the housekeeper had bought. After spraying a full circle, he was drenched in the citrus scent too.

Taking in the smell, he turned and found Gu Hansheng looking right at him. Unsure how long he'd been watched, his heart gave a sudden thump under that gaze. He quickly turned and carried the sliced fish into the kitchen.

The whole day had been too unusual... no, actually, it had been off for a long time—he was just noticing it now. As he marinated the fish with deodorizing spices, he absentmindedly mulled over everything that had happened these past days.

Whatever Gu Hansheng's attitude toward him, he had already given him so much, especially this job.

Since joining Yatai, all of Zhao Yu's empty hours had been filled. He could stay disciplined without someone controlling him, and he could fall asleep without a drink.

His life's goal had once been right there, but he never had time to pursue it—it was all castles in the air. Now a path toward that goal lay at his feet, and the unbelievable part was that Gu Hansheng was the one who had pushed him forward.

The blade slid across his bent knuckles, slicing ginger into even pieces. Zhao Yu dropped the ginger into the marinade and looked at the ugly, eyeless fish head.

In the deep sea, monkfish have very poor vision, but through evolution, they've learned to sense water currents with their bodies, dodging predators and hunting prey.

Animals' survival strategies always shift with their environment, but what never changes is the instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm.

If people were as simple as animals, they'd never go falling for the wrong person.