Pandora’s Box

“Come on, let’s eat.”

Cheng Yichen brought out a pot of winter melon and white shellfish soup, while Lu Feng held a plate of fermented cabbage in one hand and an entire rice cooker in the other.

“…..”

Although it was common for Lu Feng to carry out these tasks at home, it was still difficult for me to maintain a neutral facial expression at this scene.

Without Zhuo Wenyang saying a word from his mouth, I could figure out that Lu Feng and him were not on good terms. Despite of that, the dinner table was relatively calm without any troubling indications. Lu Feng and he did not directly talk to each other the entire time, tacitly avoiding all possible conversations and finishing their meals peacefully. It was as if a lion and tiger were putting away their claws to coexist peacefully under the same roof on behalf of someone.

Cheng Yichen was very happy. He even allowed Lu Feng to drink two additional cans of beer, and drank some himself.

There was a faint sound of thunder outside the window, and soon, the sound of rain hitting the window could be heard.

“It’s raining,” Cheng Yichen looked outside, and casually suggested, “The weather isn’t very good. Why don’t you spend the night here?”

I peaked at Zhuo Wenyang’s reaction and he nodded, “Okay.”

Cheng Yichen’s entire body brightened up as he said, “Then I’ll go and make your bed first!”

Affected by his excitement, I went to help.

It turned out that Zhuo Wenyang had his own room here right next to my bedroom. It had been some time since he last stayed but the desks and cabinets were wiped cleans and the bed was covered with a dust cover to prevent dust from accumulating.

Cheng Yichen removed the dust cover and I helped carry over the bed sheets and pillows to the small sofa next to him. He climbed onto the chair to open the storage cabinet at the top, taking out two rolls of cushions and quilts. I continued helping below. Then, the two of us spread out the mattress cotton topper on the bed, laid out the bed sheets, and tucked all four corners in tightly. We finally pulled the quilt into the new quilt cover with one person holding down the two corners and shaking it vigorously until the quilt was secured.

After arranging the room, a faint smell of moth balls floated in the air. I really liked this smell; I felt clean and relaxed.

Cheng Yichen smiled and commented, “Ah so Xiao Jing, you’re pretty good at putting on the quilt.”

“Of course.”

Although I was not adept at working hard and there was always someone else feeding me, there wasn’t anyone to make my bed for me.

After tidying up, Cheng Yichen was still excited, “Anyone wants to play a round with me in the kitchen game?”

I was surprised, “Ah you have a Switch at home?”

“Yes,” Cheng Yichen opened the drawer under the TV cabinet and inside laid a few fitness rings, controllers, and stack of game cards.

“Does Xiao Jing want to play?”

I had never seen them play with these things ever since I moved in.

After dinner on weekdays, I generally would return to my room and play with myself like an autistic child. Meanwhile, they quietly watched TV before returning to their own bedroom at some point without making any noise.

I had never heard them laugh either.

I thought they always had the same, boring routine at home, but it turned out that it was not the case.

Why was that? Was it because of me? It was as if they were too embarrassed to enjoy themselves.

Today, it seemed that he took out the game console because he felt relaxed and was able to drink again.

“Huh? I haven’t played this before.”

I could not even cook much less play cooking games? A real man was about slashing and killing with a machine gun. It was too embarrassing to slash around in the kitchen.

“It’s okay,” he said enthusiastically, “just play.”

I took over the gaming control begrudgingly. However, I did not expect that the little prince of overturning people, like me, would get overturned instead in this kitchen game.

Cutting vegetables, cooking vegetables, serving vegetables, and washing dishes caused me to run around in panic. I accidentally pressed the wrong button, and tomatoes flew all over the sky. I was also tripped by Cheng Yichen at the corner of the stove.

I was dumbfounded when I was suddenly ran over by a car while crossing the road with a plated dish. Wasn’t this a cooking game? Why did I need to rush onto the streets?

Cheng Yichen comforted me, “It’s alright. Although the person is gone, luckily, the food is still there.”

” = = ???”

I could barely pass the test at the frontline, while the team in the back was busy cooking and I didn’t know why the fire kept turning off. Cheng Yichen ran along several stoves with the pot. I was only occupied with chopping up vegetables and forgot to wash dishes. He looked at both areas, and the pot suddenly bursted into flames.

Great, before I could react to the fire, half of the kitchen submerged in the blazing fire.

After finally locating the fire extinguisher, Cheng Yichen lifted it up and sprayed it all over my face. The scene became chaotic for a while. Watching the fire helplessly as it quickly filled the entire screen, I yelled, “It’s on fire! It’s on fire! It’s on fire!!!”

This was not supposed to be a firefighting game!

Lu Feng cautioned, “…. you will cause your neighbors to call the police if you keep screaming like this.”

At the end of the gaming level, our income score was in the negatives.

What a talented guy, I did not even earn a penny. I could not resist in placing down the controller, and doubted life.

Lu Feng took the initiative and invited, “I’ll play with you.”

Cheng Yichen responded, “I won’t play this with you, you’re too extreme at it.”

“……”

I felt consoled by that, “Is he good too?”

Cheng Yichen said, “I waited for him to pass the cooked meat to me, but after waiting for a long time, a fire extinguisher appeared on the conveyer belt!

Lu Feng said, “A fire extinguisher looks similar to meat.”

Cheng Yichen angrily said, “He threw the pot on the ground, served rice before it was cooked, served plateless, and he even threw the cut French fries into the trash can!”

Lu Feng very innocently explained, “I wanted to throw it onto the table but it was difficult to aim.”

The disgraced Lu Feng was not allowed to join the battle so Zhuo Wenyang picked up the controller. Because they were father and son, there was already a tacit understanding between them in this round.

Truthfully, Cheng Yichen was not skilled at gaming. Most likely due to his injuries, his coordination was not very good and he would make mistakes whenever he was nervous. However, Zhuo Wenyang was able to react efficiently and productively. While cutting fish and steaming vegetables, he directed his father, “You go over there, and I’ll throw flour.”

Cheng Yichen panicked and yelled, “Ahhhhhh it’s too late to wash dishes! The steamer is full! I have no place to steam the siu mai (steamed meat dumplings)!”

Zhuo Wenyang remained calm as always, “Don’t panic. I’ll wash it and it’ll be fine right away.”

After one game, it was easier to get three stars.

Lu Feng watched for a while and said sullenly, “I can do it too.”

Anyway, with Cheng Yichen’s permission, Lu Feng finally had a chance to play. To be fair, I did not think he was that bad of a player. At least he was able to move nimbly and swiftly, running around wildly. Merely looking at his infinite amount of strength, I was a little afraid that he would break the joystick off of the controller.

Without warning, he hurriedly toss the ingredients over and caused a bag of flour to smash into Cheng Yichen, who happened to be standing on the edge of the bamboo raft, into the river.

I almost died laughing.

Lu Feng immediately dropped the controller and raised his hands, “….I really didn’t mean to.”

Cheng Yichen was so angry that he stopped caring about the food. When he came back from resurrection, he took the fire extinguisher and beat him with it before throwing him into the river before giving up.

Lu Feng seemed to enjoy the beating, “Hey, it’s on fire again. Why don’t you use the fire extinguisher to put out the fire first and hit me after you’re done?”

Cheng Yichen was usually gentle and very patient, rarely aggravated. This time, he was fiery and took his frustration out on Lu Feng in various ways, like an angry cat at a giant beast.

I was quite content to watch him beat and scold Lu Feng.

After failing this chaotic round, Cheng Yichen suggested, “Ah, this can be played by up to four people. We happen to be four. Shall we play together?”

I asked, “Are there enough controllers?”

“There are enough,” Cheng Yichen said, “I have a few spares, so not all ended up broken by Lu Feng.”

“….”

Initially, it was already difficult to control the situation, but the four of us created greater chaos. Lu Feng served a few dishes in a hurry and because he couldn’t control his speed, he collided with Cheng Yichen who was about to wash dishes. He was already busy enough but it seemed like he was afraid the world was not chaotic enough. The two ran in opposite directions twisting away from each other. Neither could move forward and could only fight as if they were boxing in a kitchen.

Cheng Yichen exclaimed, “What are you doing! Causing trouble! Get away from me!”

I never imagined that Lu Feng would act like a school kid bullying the girl he liked here; it was shameful.

Zhuo Wenyang ignored the two laggards and said to me, “You’re responsible for washing dishes, and if there are no dishes to wash, help service the dishes. I will come with the rest and I’ll call you if needed.”

Although the sofa was spacious, there wasn’t enough room for four tall adults to sit side by side. Zhuo Wenyang sat by me and each time he operated the controller, I could touch him from time to time. I felt his body temperature from under his shirt, strength of his arm muscles, and sweet orange scent either from his body wash or cologne.

I felt like I was a little drunk too.

But no matter how drunk I was, I was not as drunk as Lu Feng. Lu Feng threw the fish over the deck again, Lu Feng threw the cooked noodles into the trash can again, and Lu Feng fell down and died.

Cheng Yichen shouted angrily and kept hitting him. Lu Feng innocently said, “You will be angry if you fall, and you will be angry if I fall.”

Then, Lu Feng forgot to take out the food and plate them properly. He rushed to serve the dishes with the whole pot.

Cheng Yichen yelled out, “Put down the pot! You put down the pot for me!”

The living room was filled with the sound of my laughter and Cheng Yichen scolding Lu Feng. This seemed to be the happiest night since I came here. I always thought, in this world, that pure happiness needed to be bought with a lot of money.

However, it did not seem to be necessary.