On the way home, Lin Bei kept fiddling with her new phone.

The sales assistant helped her transfer her contacts and some data, but the bubble tea coupons were truly gone. With a pang of regret, she realized that out of the seventeen coupons, six offered “buy one get one free,” three were “50% off the second cup,” and one was “a free drink on your birthday.”

“My birthday is next month,” she said, holding up the phone for Su Chen to see. “Look, it says ‘Present any drink for free on your birthday with this coupon.’ Now it’s gone.”

Su Chen glanced at the screen. “Your birthday is next month?”

“Yeah, on the fifth.”

“How old are you?”

“Don’t you know a woman’s age is a secret?”

“You said twenty-four before.”

“…Then why are you still asking?”

Su Chen’s lips curled into a slight smile, but he didn’t say anything.

The car pulled into the Jade Bay underground garage. Su Chen parked—this time it took two minutes, because a Highlander was parked in the adjacent space, and he double-checked the angle at which the other car’s door would open.

Lin Bei sat in the passenger seat, watching his meticulous parking routine, and couldn’t help but ask, “Su Chen, don’t you ever feel like life is too exhausting?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… everything has to be perfectly neat and tidy, every detail has to be calculated precisely, even parking has to be accurate down to the centimeter. Aren’t you tired?”

Su Chen turned off the engine and remained silent for a couple of seconds.

“Just used to it.”

“Being used to something doesn’t mean it’s not tiring.”

“What about you?” Su Chen turned to look at her. “You just make do with everything, always putting things off until ‘tomorrow’—aren’t you tired?”

Lin Bei thought for a moment. “Not really. That’s my energy-saving mode.”

“That’s just avoidance.”

“So what if it’s avoidance? Avoidance may be shameful, but it’s useful.”

Su Chen shook his head and opened the door to get out.

Lin Bei followed behind, suddenly finding the conversation rather interesting—this was the first time she’d discussed a serious topic with Su Chen, instead of bickering, haggling, or debating bath towels.

Back home, Lin Bei headed straight for the kitchen.

“Tonight I’m making sweet-and-sour pork ribs! This time there’s absolutely no chance of an accident!”

Su Chen leaned against the kitchen doorway. “Need any help?”

“Nope! Just go stand outside and wait!”

“I’m afraid you’ll blow up the kitchen.”

“I’ve been cooking for ten years, and I’ve never blown up the kitchen!”

“But you’ve wiped the floor with my bath towel, washed socks with my facial cleanser, and even boiled my phone until it tasted like sweet-and-sour sauce.”

Lin Bei took a deep breath. “Can you please let me rebuild our trust?”

Su Chen thought for a moment. “No.”

“Then just stand by the door and watch! Don’t say a word!”

Sure enough, Su Chen didn’t say a thing—he just leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, watching her work.

Lin Bei blanched the ribs, caramelized the sugar base, added the ribs, and tossed in the seasonings, her movements flowing smoothly. But this time she added one extra step—placing her phone on the living room coffee table, three meters away from the kitchen.

Su Chen noticed. “Why put your phone so far away?”

“Just in case. If the phone is more than three meters from the pot, it won’t have a chance to jump in.”

“The phone won’t jump.”

“It jumped last time.”

“That was your own fault—you dropped it.”

“The phone has a mind of its own,” Lin Bei said without turning around. “You don’t know, these days electronics all have a spirit. Treat them well, and they’ll treat you well. Let them fall into the pot, and they’ll just lie there.”

“That’s made up.”

“It’s based on experience.”

Forty minutes later, a rich sweet-and-sour aroma filled the kitchen.

Lin Bei plated the ribs, sprinkled white sesame seeds on top, and carried them to the dining table.

This batch sold even better than the last one. The ribs had a bright red sheen, the sauce was thick and glossy, and the sesame seeds added a lovely touch—just looking at them made your mouth water.

Su Chen sat at the table, picked up his chopsticks, and grabbed a piece.

After chewing twice, he stopped.

End of Chapter 9: The Revenge of Sweet-and-Sour Pork Ribs