Daddy! Come Home for Dinner!

"This is really your first time cooking such a big spread?" Zhao Dingli looked genuinely surprised. "Then you’re seriously talented."

Li Xiaoyun thought to herself that Fourth Uncle Zhao was pretty damn good at giving compliments too!

Feeling a little embarrassed, Li Xiaoyun said, "I’m making a fool of myself. My cooking’s really just so-so. Don’t say a whole table of dishes like this—honestly, I’ve never even properly made a single dish like this before."

She hadn’t even cooked a full table of dishes for her parents yet.

If her parents found out she’d cooked a whole table for another man first, they’d probably be pissed.

"Then this is really amazing of you," Zhao Dingli praised, without the slightest guilt.

But while Zhao Dingli dared to praise, Li Xiaoyun didn’t dare to accept it.

There was no way she’d dare say anything like, "I’ll keep cooking for you in the future."

That left Zhao Dingli quite disappointed.

He’d thought Li Xiaoyun would follow along his words and say it.

Even if she was just saying it to humor him, that’d still be nice.

It’s not like he wanted Li Xiaoyun to be a full-time housewife.

But cooking once in a while—that’s part of the fun, right?

Just preparing dinner had already taken Li Xiaoyun two hours.

And then Zhao Dingli deliberately ate very slowly.

By the time they finished eating, he insisted on doing the dishes.

That really shocked Li Xiaoyun.

She didn’t believe for a second that Zhao Dingli had ever washed dishes before!

"You’re a guest at my place, how can I let you wash the dishes?" Li Xiaoyun said hurriedly.

Her place wasn’t big, and the kitchen was small too. There really wasn’t any space to install a dishwasher.

Ye Fei worked as a food blogger and had advertised appliances for a lot of brands.

Including dishwashers.

They were all brand-new units the brands had gifted to Ye Fei.

Ye Fei couldn’t use that many at home, so she wanted to give one to Li Xiaoyun.

But there was no room in Li Xiaoyun’s place either.

Ye Fei had also thought about giving one to Li Xiaoyun’s parents.

But the older generation was used to being frugal.

The kitchen was already crammed full, leaving aside the lack of space.

Mrs. Li was also worried it would increase the water and electricity bills, so she didn’t want it.

Li Xiaoyun figured she hardly ever cooked for herself anyway and didn’t spend much time washing dishes.

So she really didn’t need a dishwasher.

The bowls she usually used for fruit didn’t get greasy, so they were super easy to wash.

Unlike tonight, when there were tons of bowls and plates.

Moments like this really showed how useful a dishwasher could be.

"You made dinner," Zhao Dingli said. "You already spent so much time and you’re tired. The least I can do is wash the dishes, right?"

Then, without giving her a chance to argue, he started clearing the plates.

Li Xiaoyun had made quite a lot of dishes.

Even though Zhao Dingli tried his best to eat, they still couldn’t finish everything and there was food left.

Li Xiaoyun couldn’t eat that much by herself, and it wouldn’t be good left till tomorrow.

So she could only throw it away.

By the time Zhao Dingli finished cleaning up, it was already past eleven.

"I’ve imposed on you for so long tonight," Zhao Dingli said apologetically after checking the time.

"What are you talking about? Don’t think like that," Li Xiaoyun said.

As soon as he heard that, Zhao Dingli immediately followed up, "So you’re saying you don’t feel awkward spending time with me?"

"Why would I feel awkward?" Li Xiaoyun said in surprise.

If someone else were in her shoes, they’d be over the moon, okay?

Of course, even if it were her, she wouldn’t feel awkward.

It was way more than just not awkward.

Who else would get a chance like her, to spend this much time with someone like Zhao Dingli?

"Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about yourself? Who would ever feel awkward being around you?" Li Xiaoyun said with a smile. "On the contrary, I feel especially happy when I’m with you."

"It just feels like time passes faster," Li Xiaoyun said.

She said that mostly to make it sound nice for him.

She couldn’t exactly say she didn’t enjoy being with him, right?

But of course, she was also telling the truth.

She really did feel especially happy when she was with him.

And time really did slip by without her noticing.

She didn’t find it boring at all to be with him, nor did she feel any pressure.

Maybe at the very beginning she had.

Mostly because she wasn’t familiar with him yet, and there was that gap between their positions.

But after spending some time together, she realized Zhao Dingli was an incredibly charming man.

Without her even noticing, he dissolved all the distance she felt in her heart.

And drew closer to him.

Before she knew it, she’d stopped thinking of him as Changlin’s president or as someone from the Zhao Family.

She just saw him as a friend, plain and simple.

Li Xiaoyun felt that no matter what Zhao Dingli said,

as long as he was the one talking, she’d be more than happy to listen.

Hearing her say that made Zhao Dingli incredibly happy.

Li Xiaoyun walked him downstairs and even wanted to watch him drive away.

But Zhao Dingli wouldn’t agree. He said, "It’s too late. Even if we’re right outside your place, I still won’t feel at ease unless I see you go back upstairs."

"You go up first. Once I see you go in, I’ll leave," Zhao Dingli said.

Li Xiaoyun just felt that he was way too sweet!

Because of the nature of her work, she dealt with all kinds of people on a daily basis.

Plenty of them were men.

Maybe because they only had a work relationship, those men never bothered to show any gentlemanly side.

But outside of that, she really hadn’t met many men like Zhao Dingli.

It was like being a gentleman and being mature were engraved into his very bones.

So, under his watchful gaze, Li Xiaoyun could only go back inside first, then appear on the balcony and look down at him from above.

She didn’t know if he could see her.

Just as she was thinking that, she saw Zhao Dingli raise his hand and wave at her.

Clearly, he could see her.

Li Xiaoyun couldn’t help smiling as she waved back at him.

Once he’d confirmed that she was indeed inside, Zhao Dingli finally got back into his car and drove off.

Li Xiaoyun stayed on the balcony until she could no longer see his car, then left and went back to the living room.

The apartment was small, so even when she was alone, it never felt particularly lonely or empty.

After all, the space was limited. It felt like just her alone was enough to fill it up.

Normally, living by herself, she never felt that home was especially lonely.

But just now, with Zhao Dingli there, and staying for quite a while,

and now with him suddenly gone, the apartment had instantly lost a person.

All of a sudden, it felt especially empty.

How could such a small space feel this empty?

Li Xiaoyun hugged a throw pillow and sat on the sofa.

She glanced at the dining table beside her and felt a kind of indescribable discomfort in her chest.

She shook her head, went to wash up, then climbed onto her bed on the second floor, turned on the projector, and curled up to watch some videos.

But before, this was always when she was most relaxed.

Now, though, Li Xiaoyun just couldn’t focus at all.

She had no idea what the show was even about; her mind kept wandering.

Her thoughts always drifted back to Zhao Dingli.

***

The next day, Li Xiaoyun got up early and went to the office.

She’d already taken the afternoon off yesterday, and that was enough.

It’s not like Manager Tang and President Lin could keep being so polite and let her stay home another day.