Pampered By All In Different Planes

Their expectations were quite high, but obviously, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

Su Zhiruan watched the female lead's belated audition and felt indifferent again. She clutched her phone, "Never mind, I'll just see what we can have for lunch."

"Do you have anything in mind you'd like to eat? I'll cook," Wen Qingyu said, still enduring the first episode, finding the female lead still as plain as a chrysanthemum in the harem. He thought cooking was a good idea.

Su Zhiruan browsed some recipes online and finally pointed out, "Let's make this, garlic pork ribs, and a cold kelp and tofu skin salad!"

"Let's go!"

The two of them just went for it.

As for what's being awarded in the drama, it was now just background music, having a bit of noise at home was quite lively after all.

Wen Qingyu took out the pork ribs from the fridge, already pre-cut by the market, rinsed them, and according to the recipe, added salt, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and starch along with minced garlic. He put on gloves and mixed until each rib was evenly seasoned, letting it sit for ten minutes.

Su Zhiruan prepared the dried kelp and dried tofu skin to soak, washing them several times after they softened.

The pair had clear tasks, both busy in the kitchen.

After frying the ribs in oil until golden brown, he scooped them out, continued with minced garlic, poured the ribs back in to stir fry until fragrant, added some chopped green and red peppers, and it was ready to serve.

Prepping Su Zhiruan's salad was easy, just mixing the presoaked and scalded ingredients with the sauce until evenly coated.

The pot simmered with rice porridge; steamy and full of rice aroma, neither too thick nor too thin, the milky-white rice soup was rich and fragrant, and the rice was soft and melted in the mouth.

After finishing, Wen Qingyu swiftly made a seaweed and egg soup, with floating egg flowers and seaweed, along with some tiny shrimps, creating an aroma that filled the air.

With the house cold, two dishes and a soup just placed on the table instantly warmed up the entire living room.

"Eating this well every day is truly blissful," Su Zhiruan scooped up some porridge, the warmth unlocking her taste buds, sliding between her lips and teeth as she swallowed it looking at Wen Qingyu, suddenly bringing up a topic, "You know, do we seem like an old married couple?"

"You're only a year younger than me, at most we're like a young married couple," Wen Qingyu retorted.

His words flowed smoothly and naturally, and it was only after speaking that he realized what he had just said.

Su Zhiruan nodded in agreement, "It does feel that way, but these days really seem like retiring to live a carefree life in the mountains, day by day eating, drinking, and playing."

"Then we're like an elderly couple," Wen Qingyu conceded, took a sip of porridge, but his gaze stayed on her.

Su Zhiruan raised her eyebrows at Wen Qingyu, thinking to herself that he wouldn't understand because he had never experienced it.

She had experienced many "Small Worlds," died peacefully in each after completing her tasks, and her latter years were always similar to now, with grown children and no lack of money, spending days just enjoying life.

If too tired to play, they stayed home and enjoyed the quiet blessings.

"Is this what day-to-day life looks like between a couple?" Wen Qingyu seemed to think of something, looked up at her, then his tone became cautious, "Have you ever been in love with someone before?"

That question made Su Zhiruan truly need to think it over, as she wasn't the original host.

Seeing her actually contemplating, the young man's heart fluctuated, continually pondering those possibilities.

The more he thought, the faster his heartbeat seemed to pound, part anticipation and part fear.

"Probably not," Su Zhiruan recounted the original host's tragic life experiences. From childhood, if not for compulsory education, she probably couldn't have even finished elementary school. After middle school graduation, her grades were actually quite good, but the Su family vultures made her, a minor, go out to work. Living in a shabby place, she had to hand in all the money she earned from her job, always looked down upon by everyone.

Even during the apocalypse, she was the first to be sacrificed to find supplies. When she didn't find anything, the four members of the Su family just decided to sell her body instead; one night, even several men at once, a security guard, property owner, and even a seventy-year-old man. The original host was tortured to the brink for the family's sustenance. In the end, when there was nothing left to exchange, the four of them killed her and cannibalized her.

Throughout this process, the original host had no time for romance, and any man seeing her family situation would run as far away as possible to avoid being drained themselves.

"I've never been in a relationship, perhaps because the life I have now is like a dream come true for me, so I feel like we naturally resemble an old married couple," Su Zhiruan concluded, emphatically shaking her head in denial.