The Stars In Your Eyes

Bai Yutang is glad he managed to pass his mid term exams well. He needs to maintain a good grade for his scholarship. But he didn't think he could manage to do it well if he took more subjects than this semester's load. He calculates in his mind, at this rate he still needs 1,5 years to graduate. He can't shorten his study like he expected.

But he still wants to try, at least maybe he could take his last semester only for his final project and focus on it. His graduated senior said that an excellent final project will be his ultimate weapon when he wants to apply for a job later.

Sometimes Bai Yutang cooks lunch for his friend, and also for his lover. Now he knows that his lover also easily gets jealous, he tried his best not to touch that sensitive part. Especially when Bai Yutang realised that his lover's jealousy is reasonable.

Bai Yutang didn't understand why this Feng Mian was interested in him. Just like Jian Kang Lu predicted, this girl often sends him messages, talking about trivial things.. Bai Yutang also noticed every time he had the same classes with Fei Hong, Feng Mian also showed up to fetch her in the class, and always threw that shy smile at him. Then tried to ignite conversation with him.

That action from Feng Mian invites several envious looks from the boy in their class. There's a lot of guys in his class that look much better than him, but why does Feng Mian only talk to him? Bai Yutang really doesn't understand why.

Today, Bai Yutang brought lunch for his friends. He didn't make full course lunch, only spring rolls and Jianbing, a Chinese pancake. He has been preparing the ingredients since last night and only needs to fry it this morning. It didn't take a lot of time to make it.

Jianbing is one of his lover's favourites. He made his pancakes a savory crisp one. The organic eggs are poured over the organic wheat and mung bean flour. He also added green onion and white radish inside. Instead of sesame oil only, he added virgin coconut oil and it enhanced the enticing smell as a result.

But, this Feng Mian today also followed him into the cafeteria and asked him whether both of them could join Bai Yutang to eat lunch together.

Bai Yutang doesn't have any experience in rejecting a girl's request. He's the one that is usually rejected. And since he knows how it feels, his heart feels heavy to reject his girl's request with her big expecting eyes. So he just nodded. He could imagine his lover's anger if Jian Kang Lu knows that he had lunch together with this girl.

His friends raised their eyebrow to see these two pretty girls join them for lunch. The usual six person now turns into eight person lunch. Bai Yutang could see Mu Xiaoya's face twisted, and shot him with a sharp eye.

He felt like caught cheating.

Bai Yutang introduced Feng Mian to his friends, he doesn't need to introduce Fei Hong. Actually, he expects Fei Hong to introduce her friend. But Fei Hong said nothing and just looked at him calmly. Thus he took that role after an awkward moment between all of them.

Liu Xiang whispered to him, "How do you know this economic Goddess, and manage to invite her here having lunch with us? Her fans club is even bigger than our daddy."

How could Bai Yutang answer that? He also doesn't know why, and really doesn't understand.

After all of them start to eat, Tang Yuxuan asks him, "I thought today you said you would bring us some snacks?"

Bai Yutang silently reached his bag, and took his lunch box from inside, then opened it. Once it opened, the fragrant smell from that golden brown spring roll and Jianbing attacked their olfactory nerve.

Yu Dong is the first to move his chopstick, he learns from his lesson that if he was late for one second, these two scoundrels will clean it in no time. He said while his mouth was full chewing that spring roll, "This one is really good, TangTang. You really can cook well now."

Yu Dong moved his chopstick fast and also secured Mu Xiaoya and Ling Yue's portion. Tang Yuxuan and Liu Xiang fought fiercely and secured their own, directly putting it on their plate. If they didn't secure it in their own plate, the other will just take more than they should and definitely refuse to share. It always turns into a bloody battle every time Bai Yutang brings his home made dish for them.

Liu Xiang also says with full mouth, "Now this wife really envies Jian Ge, he could taste these tasty snacks everyday."

Bai Yutang knows that his cooking skill has improved compared to half a year ago when he started to cook for Jian Kang Lu. The actual victim is his lover, who had to be a guinea pig for his cooking experiment. 

That weird stir-fry tofu, that nasty watery congee, that foul braised beef, and that burnt Jianbing when he tried to make it for the first time. A lot of food that he failed to make, but Jian Kang Lu never allowed him to throw it away.

Jian Kang Lu said, "I'm sure it was delicious, since you're the one who cooks it with your own hands. But if you don't believe me, then let me remind you that it's still food, and edible. And it was not wise to throw out edible food when a lot of people out there could not afford to eat."

With those words, how could Bai Yutang throw the food? Even if he wants to puke when he eats his own failed dishes. At that time, his lover said he doesn't need to eat if he doesn't like it, and just let Jian Kang Lu finish all the dishes. Bai Yutang could order food from outside or cook again.

But how could Bai Yutang do that while he saw his lover happily eating his failure dishes? That's what turned Bai Yutang into a better cook, and reached his level right now. He wants his lover to eat the best food that he made. It increased his own confidence when he saw his lover praise his cook and genuinely like it. That's what makes him feel that he was different from other people. No one has cooked for his lover before.

That six person just realised that the additional two members in that table did not have a chance to taste the snacks Bai Yutang cooked. And the three pigs that fight to secure the snacks into their own plates are embarrassed.

Especially when they heard Feng Mian said with a regret and envious tone. "You cook all this by yourself, Yutang? Ah, i want to taste it also. Seems very delicious."

These snacks already moved into their plate, none left in the lunch box. How could these three pigs offer these snacks to this girl? It's really impolite and they're also just meeting this girl today for the first time.

Bai Yutang can only nod, and doesn't know what else to say. His friend really turns gluttonous every time he brings his culinary creation.

Then he can only nod again when Feng Mian said, "Can I try it next time? Please tell me if you bring it again. I really want to try it."

Fei Hong also said, "It's rare to see a man who can cook. You really surprised me. Is this one of your hobbies?"

Can Bai Yutang answer that he likes to cook now because it was the only unique strait he had to make his lover happy? Or can he say that he cooks to get paid? He didn't even know these two girls well. So he can only nod.

Feng Mian looked at him with brightened eyes, "A man that can cook is really sexy."

She was really happy. The more she knows this shy guy, the more her interest grows. This shy guy's face is not bad, and can belong to the cute category if you look at him closely. This shy guy always looks elegant with his well cut and expensive clothes, this shy guy is also smart according to Fei Hong.

Nice guy, cute, wealthy, smart, and can cook! What a catch! But why until now this shy guy didn't give her responses to all her moves? She was frustrated with this slow development.

Mu Xiaoya's ear perked to hear that sentence, and she was glaring at Bai Yutang. But this dense man didn't even notice her. She wants to remind this pure lamb that this girl has a hidden motive towards him. How could Bai Yutang didn't know that? And how if her favourite CP breaks up because of this vixen? She could not let that happen!

But this pure lamb just smiles awkwardly and tells this vixen that next time he cooks, he will let that vixen know and she can try it. Mu Xiaoya wants to scream and throw this vixen away to the trash can. She wants to scream and slap Bai Yutang, remind him that he had a very high quality gong that adores him so much.

Mu Xiaoya still remembers the branded bag she got from Jian Kang Lu when their new semester began. It was wrapped under the excuse of Mu Xiaoya's birthday gift. 

Who wants to give a birthday gift worth more than 5000 yuan to a girl that he barely knows? When Mu Xiaoya asked Bai Yutang about this overvalue birthday gift, Bai Yutang told her it was a token of gratitude from Jian Kang Lu, since Bai Yutang finally agreed to be his boyfriend due to her advice.

She really pity Jian Kang Lu for having a boyfriend this dense and this pure. And the most frustrating thing was she can't say it out loud. She understands that Bai Yutang didn't announce his relationship with Jian Kang Lu to his friends. Even her boyfriend also didn't know about it.

She plan to text this dumb lamb later, and will teach him again how to avoid a snake, and how to reject a girl firmly. Or else, this vixen will make a brazen move and it will threaten her smooth sailing ship.

———

Last month's anniversary gift was a branded brown leather belt. This month's anniversary gift was a branded brown leather wallet. All of it engraved with number 15 and his initial. Bai Yutang really doesn't know what he will receive for his birthday gift tomorrow.

He was busy with his school project, and his lover agreed just to celebrate his birthday with a simple dinner. His lover already booked Il Mare for his birthday dinner. It was also one of Bai Yutang's favourite restaurants.

They spend his birthday in a romantic way. First his lover says happy birthday to him at midnight, and kisses him softly.

"Happy birthday, my love. I thank you for this day when you were born into this world. Because you were born, thus i can experience what happiness truly means."

His birthday gift was presented in the morning, it was a 3D printer. Bai Yutang can't believe it. It was very expensive. But he's so happy, he can imagine how he printed the things he designed into the 3D model and look at how it will build for real. He could also print many things he wanted, not only buildings.

Bai Yutang was so touched. He planted a deep kiss on his lover's soft lips, hugged him tight, and said his gratitude. This man really thinks about his needs. Know what he needs even if Bai Yutang doesn't know that he needs it.

Unlike him, who can only cook to make this man happy.

His lover took a half day leave and picked him up on the campus. They were going home together to take a bath, and dress themselves up. Bai Yutang wore his only decent black suit, paired with a dark emerald turtleneck. His lover, as usual, was very handsome with a grey V-neck shirt and dark grey suit.

And as happened many times before, his lover hugged him tight, kissed his cheek, and said, "You look so handsome. I was lucky for this handsome man willing to be my boyfriend."

Bai Yutang could never get used to this word. So he just said, "Gege, you're really blind." But his heated face blushed and betrayed those cold words, let his lover know he was happy inside to hear those praises.

They have a wonderful dinner. The lobster is marvellous, the caviar and the scallop was excellent, the truffle pasta's fragrant giving you an otherworldly scent, and the wine is excellent. The waiter and the manager also gave him tiramisu cakes with candles and sang happy birthday to him. The cake is really one of the best cake Bai Yutang ever tasted. They can't finish it so the restaurant wrapped it and let them take it home.

When they're driving home, his lover asks him where he wants to celebrate his birthday with his friend. Jian Kang Lu told him that he could book the karaoke room they used to go with Jian Kang Lu's friends. Last time they're going there for Luo Yan's birthday, and Bai Yutang was almost drunk because Song Lixia, Luo Yan's wife, kept pestering him and sneakily mixed the tequila into his orange juice.

"Gege, I know that you mean well. And I'm happy about that. But let me remind you, i don't have money. I want to use my own money to treat my friend. Not yours. So I'll just treat them with my cooking. That's enough."

His lover frowned to hear that, then sighed. "TangTang, let me ask you something. Let's say one day I'm sick and can't work anymore. I won't have any income if I don't work. At that time, will you support me? Or will you leave me?"

Bai Yutang raised his eyebrow and said in an angry tone, "What do you mean? Of course i'll support you if you can't work, Gege. Who do you think I am? Do you think i will abandon you because you can't work anymore?"

"Then, why do you always refuse when I want to share my income with you? Or if that time comes, should I also be like you? Refuse your money and stubbornly want to use my own? Baby, can you understand how i feel right now?"

Bai Yutang was stunned to hear that analogy. If that time really came, of course he will support his lover with his own money. He believes he will try to work harder in order to let his lover eat what he wants to eat, and buy what he wants to buy. And if his lover refuses, it will… Hurt..

Jian Kang Lu didn't hear his kitten respond to his words. He sighed. "Don't think about it, if you don't want to, then don't do it. I just give you a suggestion, an option. You don't have to do it if you don't want to. But cooking for your friends is also nice. How about this, you can cook at our apartment and invite them to come over?"

Now Bai Yutang thought about it, and seems like it was a better idea. For the ingredients. he can share with Yu Dong and let him help him cook. Bai Yutang remembered Yu Dong said he wanted to cook for Mu Xiaoya too.

Bai Yutang grinned, "That's really a good idea, Gege. Let me talk to them about this tomorrow."

His lover just tousled his hair lightly and smiled.

"Gege, thank you.."

Bai Yutang really felt that he was the luckiest man in this world, for having this man in his life. The man that takes care of him, and always understands him even more than he understands himself.

The man that loved him most for who he really was.