Chen Shuo seemed to be fascinated by capturing the image of Su Xiyan's head and couldn't help himself,
until he met Su Xiyan's cold gaze, and quickly stopped his actions.
His hand awkwardly hovered in mid-air, and Chen Shuo forced a smile, "This way, no one will keep staring at you."
Su Xiyan raised an eyebrow, "Do you mind?"
Chen Shuo replied, "Of course I mind!"
"I'm also a handsome guy, but now all the attention is on you. It makes me feel unbalanced."
Su Xiyan remained silent.
For some reason, she felt a little disappointed by Chen Shuo's answer.
She turned around and walked towards the direction of the Qinhuai Night Market under the streetlights.
Chen Shuo followed behind Su Xiyan, looking at her long legs under the short jeans and comparing them to the legs of other girls at the night market.
Although each girl had her own beauty, in front of Su Xiyan's long legs, the legs of the other girls instantly paled in comparison.
Chen Shuo thought to himself, when did he become so obsessed with legs?
The Qinhuai Night Market was built along the Qinhuai River. It was surrounded by major universities, such as Nanli University, as well as vocational colleges.
Therefore, it became a popular place for college students to hang out and find food at night.
As night fell, the symphony of the night market had already begun.
The vendors' shouts, the clattering of pots and pans, the conversations of people, and the music playing from the speakers at the roadside stalls blended together to create a symphony unique to the night market. It might not be sophisticated, but it had a lively and comforting atmosphere.
"This is spicy wolf's tooth potato. Want to give it a try?" Chen Shuo introduced to Su Xiyan, "Or maybe you can have a plate of iron plate tofu with less spice?"
Su Xiyan's baseball cap was pulled down low, and her beautiful eyes looked at the night market delicacies she had never tasted before, wrinkling her brow.
The owner of the stall was very enthusiastic, "Little girl, your boyfriend is so considerate, remembering that you can't eat spicy food. How about I make a slightly spicy one for you? This iron plate tofu won't taste good if it doesn't have any chili!"
Su Xiyan didn't refuse, which meant she agreed.
The owner, wearing disposable gloves, took out two pieces of tender tofu soaked in clear water from the transparent plastic container covered with cling film.
Placing the tofu in the palm of her hand, the owner held a knife in the other hand. With a few swift motions, the tofu in her palm was neatly cut into equal-sized cubes.
She sprayed oil on the iron plate and then placed the cut tofu on it.
The moment the tofu touched the sizzling hot iron plate, it sizzled and splattered oil.
Su Xiyan instinctively took two steps back but found that Chen Shuo had already stood in front of her, she didn't know when.
He was a thoughtful guy, but a vampire at that.
Su Xiyan was slightly touched, but not too much.
Chen Shuo turned around and looked at Su Xiyan with a concerned gaze. Seeing that her light-colored shirt was free of any oil stains, he let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, the oil didn't splatter on you. Next time, don't get so close to the hot oil."
Chen Shuo's rambling warmed Su Xiyan's heart.
But this warmth only lasted for two seconds.
Then, Chen Shuo relieved himself of the burden. "If oil stains got on your clothes, they would be really hard to clean!"
Su Xiyan: "..."
So, he was worried about the clothes being difficult to clean?
Su Xiyan had a cleanliness obsession, and whenever the washing machine couldn't clean her light-colored clothes properly, Chen Shuo would hand-wash them.
Under Su Xiyan's intimidation, Chen Shuo dared not complain and had already helped her wash several pieces of outerwear.
When Su Xiyan initially mentioned asking him to help with laundry, insisting on hand-washing, Chen Shuo thought it was about intimate undergarments! His mind immediately conjured up images of pink lace-edged intimate apparel, but unfortunately, Su Xiyan shattered that fantasy by throwing him the outerwear to wash.
The shop owner praised while packing the finished iron plate tofu into disposable bowls, "Young lady, you're so fortunate. I've never seen such a considerate and caring boyfriend!"
Chen Shuo took the iron plate tofu and handed it to Su Xiyan, teasingly saying, "She's too fierce; besides me, no one can handle her."
"Shop owner, how much is it?"
The shop owner grinned and extended a hand, "Five yuan."
Su Xiyan took out her phone to scan the QR code for payment and then left the iron plate tofu stall with Chen Shuo, under the smiling gaze of the shop owner.
Chen Shuo playfully teased Su Xiyan, "Just now, the shop owner said I'm your boyfriend. Why didn't you deny it?"
Su Xiyan gave Chen Shuo an annoyed look, "It's an obvious impossibility. Why should I deny it?"
Chen Shuo remarked, "Such a pretty mouth, but why do you say such hurtful things?"
"Forget it, I never intended to be your boyfriend. I want to live a few more years."
Su Xiyan glared fiercely at Chen Shuo, about to explode, but he interrupted her.
"Let's eat quickly; iron plate tofu tastes best when it's hot."
The white tofu wrapped in scallions and seasoning indeed looked appetizing.
Su Xiyan took a bite with a bamboo skewer and immediately started coughing. "So spicy!"
"Chen Shuo, you call this mildly spicy?"
Chen Shuo took the bamboo skewer Su Xiyan had eaten from and poked a piece of tofu into his mouth. "It's a bit spicy, but the night market's flavors have always been like this, on the heavier side. This is already considered mild."
"I'll go buy you a cup of freshly squeezed fruit juice!"
Watching Chen Shuo quickly walk away, Su Xiyan hesitated for a moment, then went back to the stall owner and got two new bamboo skewers.
By the time Chen Shuo returned with the fruit juice, Su Xiyan had already eaten more than half of the iron plate tofu.
The sensation of spiciness is truly miraculous. The more you eat, the spicier it gets, and the spicier it gets, the more you crave it.
"Have you seen an emoji?" Chen Shuo handed Su Xiyan a glass of juice and took the bowl of mapo tofu for her, freeing her hand to drink the juice.
The juice was freshly squeezed at the night market, a blend of various fruits without a drop of water or any additives. It was freshly squeezed right before the customers' eyes, more natural compared to the so-called fruit juices in the bubble tea shops outside.
Su Xiyan took several sips of the refreshing juice, relieving the spiciness, and asked, "What emoji?"
At that moment, her phone chimed with a WeChat notification.
Su Xiyan picked up her phone and saw a WeChat emoji sent by Chen Shuo: a wild-looking boy who appeared rebellious, claiming not to eat even if he starved one second, and then holding a steaming hot meal the next second, exclaiming, "It's so delicious!"
Su Xiyan: "..."
"Chen Shuo, are you trying to kill me?!"
A few seconds later, Chen Shuo fled with his head down.
The entire night market was filled with a joyful atmosphere of life.
Su Xiyan didn't have a big appetite, perhaps because she was very conscious of her calorie intake.
After eating the mapo tofu, she had a serving of sweet tofu pudding and declared that she was full.
Chen Shuo disposed of the food packaging for Su Xiyan.
"You like eating tofu so much? There's another plate of tofu in front of you that is flavorful and aromatic. Do you want to try it?"
Su Xiyan looked at Chen Shuo as if appreciating a delicacy and calmly replied, "I prefer tearing it apart with my hands."
Chen Shuo recalled the scene where Su Xiyan tore apart a vampire with her hands and quickly restrained his playful expression.