What Should I Do If I Crave My Ex’s Red-Braised Pork in the Middle of the Night?

[Signed for publication. Follow progress on Weibo: @JinjiangYiqiwu] [Pirated versions are incomplete. Please support the official edition.] [The text may be revised from time to time. You can ignore any notifications you receive~] Surgeon vs. food developer Cool, detached, herbivore-type man vs. sunny, practical, straightforward woman Rekindled romance | face-slapping and falling hard | a balanced mix of steamy and wholesome | happy ending and one true pairing Blurb: Six years after their breakup, Xu Chengyi rarely thinks about Zhou Yang, but every now and then she remembers his red-braised pork. Tender and flavorful, rich without being greasy, its deliciousness deepened with every bite. Back then, she could eat three bowls of rice with that dish alone. Xu Chengyi has tried making it herself. As a food developer, she’s tested more than twenty recipes and tried every popular cooking tutorial online. But her taste buds don’t lie. Compared with Zhou Yang’s, hers just doesn’t measure up. One late night, Xu Chengyi thinks of that red-braised pork again. She tosses and turns, unable to sleep, as if a hungry bug is wriggling around in her head. At last, her craving beats her common sense. They broke up decisively all those years ago, and the only thing she hadn’t gotten around to deleting was his contact on a payment app. Xu Chengyi sends him a very polite message. [Hi there! Sorry to bother you out of the blue. I don’t mean anything by it, I just wanted to ask if you could send me your red-braised pork recipe? Don’t worry, I’m not trying to get back together or pester you. I’m just genuinely after the recipe! No worries if you’d rather not. Thanks.] Naturally, he doesn’t reply. A month later, Xu Chengyi suddenly gets a text from an unknown number. “Family recipe. Not for sharing.” At once, she remembers that incident, the one that makes her want to kick the covers in embarrassment whenever she thinks of it late at night. Before she can figure out how to reply, he calls her. Xu Chengyi answers with a trembling hand. The man’s voice is cool and faint, cutting straight to the point. “Are you home?” “...Huh?” “Didn’t you say you wanted red-braised pork? If you do, open the door.” One night after his shift, Zhou Yang takes his phone from his locker after coming out of surgery. To his surprise, he sees a message from the ex who disappeared from his life six years ago. What? The recipe for red-braised pork? Zhou Yang tosses the phone back into the metal locker and laughs in disbelief. Suddenly, he remembers a night six years ago. He had just come out of the bathroom when the girl, lying on the bed with shining eyes, asked him, “Zhou Yang, don’t you think your name sounds a little heartless?” Zhou Yang frowned and bent to kiss her. “Was I not good enough just now? What are you picking a fight about?” “Your name sounds like a boat gliding along, sailing wherever the wind takes it. Light and carefree, ready to leave without a trace.” Only later did Zhou Yang understand which of them had been heartless “Xu Chengyi. Follow your heart, and everything goes your way.” Holding a bottle of beer, Zhou Yang slowly tips his head back and takes a drink, his eyes utterly hollow. He corners the person who has been accused, forcing her back against the wall. “So your path was laid out from the moment you were born. Naturally cold-hearted, coming and going as you please, tossing people aside whenever you feel like it. Must be nice.” Zhou Yang feels as though he and Xu Chengyi are standing at opposite points on the globe. He stands in the far eastern night, while her world is bright with daylight. When he welcomes the height of summer, she plunges into the bitter cold of winter. His limited knowledge of geography tells him to stay away from Xu Chengyi. Once a mirror is broken, it’s hard to put back together. However the earth turns, the two of them are fixed at opposite ends of its axis. But his boundless love and pain tell him to get closer to Xu Chengyi. Getting back together is the start of a beautiful life, because on Earth, only antipodes have one uniquely defined opposite point. You’ve always known you can’t live without her, haven’t you, Zhou Yang? Upcoming youthful ensemble rom-com "Day After Day on Jiaotai Lane", drafting at lightning speed. Please add it to your favorites! Straight-A girl vs. swimming prodigy Slow-witted, spirited sweetheart vs. cool, sharp-tongued heartthrob Unrequited love from the guy | childhood friends | school to city life | youthful ensemble | healing coming-of-age story set in the 2000s Blurb: On the day Cheng Che wins gold in the 800-meter freestyle, the national flag rises and the anthem plays as reporters swarm him for interviews. The questions are routine. He answers them one by one as he walks down from the podium. Just as he’s about to leave, a reporter from a sports website suddenly asks, “You said on Weibo that if you won gold, there was one thing you most wanted to do. Could you tell us what it is?” The coach tries to stop the reporter, saying it’s a personal matter and there’s no need to answer. Cheng Che doesn’t mind. He wipes the water off his face and says, “It’s nothing big. I just want to go back to Jiaotai Lane and have a bowl of noodles.” Chen Zhiliu and her friends are gathered in front of the TV. When they hear his answer, they point at his enlarged face on the screen and laugh until they’re bent over. Friend A: “Could Cheng Che be any more pathetic? He wins a gold medal and all he wants is a bowl of noodles. How tough is training with the national team? Hahahaha!” Friend B: “Actually, I think Uncle Chen’s noodles have been a little soft lately.” Friend C: “Mm, I’m hungry. I’m going home to eat.” After laughing, Chen Zhiliu bites down on her watermelon spoon and jiggles her leg on the bamboo mat. Wait a minute. The last bowl of noodles was made by her. They were so salty! Why does he miss them? Does he have such a strong taste for salt? On the day Cheng Che confesses, Chen Zhiliu is so frightened that she runs away, losing a high heel in the swimming pool. It’s a messy, ridiculous escape. She doesn’t even finish the orange-flavored bubble tea she loves most. She’s convinced it’s a dream, an absurd, ridiculous, impossible dream. How could Cheng Che like her? They grew up together. She even knows how the seven moles on his butt are arranged. How could he possibly like her? Cheng Che thinks Chen Zhiliu is such an idiot. What’s so surprising or unbelievable? They were born and raised together. She watched him swim, listened to his troubles, took photos just for him, and helped him get rid of people he couldn’t stand. To him, falling for her is as natural and blissful as breathing, drinking water, eating, taking a walk, or watching the sunset. Cheng Che just doesn’t know that in Chen Zhiliu’s mind, those things mean: admiring a handsome guy’s abs, looking after the autistic boy next door, posting pictures on a forum to level up, and ridding the world of evil. If you asked Cheng Che when exactly he first fell for her, he couldn’t tell you. Maybe it was when his fingertips brushed her hair, when he surfaced from the pool and saw her laughing so hard she was rolling on the ground, when he waited for her at the lane entrance until the early hours and his phone ran out of battery, or when she was sad and he was completely helpless. There was no exact moment, and no need for any grand declaration. Cheng Che never held back from showing his love. He’d done those things for her again and again for more than a decade. If she weren’t such an idiot, how could she still doubt him? Much later, Chen Zhiliu finds someone’s elementary school diary. The last line is written in pencil: Chen Zhiliu, you can have the snack-box toy card, the new MP3, and the out-of-print cassette. You can even have the world’s best trophy. And me, too. Do you want me? She laughs so hard she can barely write, then adds three big words: I want everything. The person beside her scoops her up with one arm and holds her tightly. His voice is husky with sleep. “Stop fooling around. Training lasted until midnight yesterday. Come sleep with me a little longer.” #A happy family of origin #The beauty of an era of economic growth #The male lead is a genius, but not based on anyone real #Slow burn #Jiaotai Lane is utterly ordinary, and each passing day shines in its own way Theme: Always believe in beautiful, pure love