Chapter 64

"Wait, come over and get three plates. You're not planning to eat alone, are you?" Li Jingming had never seen Jessica run so fast before. Was she afraid he would stop her or something?

"None of us mind, right, Pani, Taeyeon?" Jessica hurriedly opened the box, gave each of them a spoon, and was ready to start eating. It was the classic vanilla flavor, which most girls liked.

"Wow, this is definitely expensive." Tiffany recognized Häagen-Dazs. Although Kim Taeyeon didn't usually care about expensive things, since Jessica was sharing it with her, why not enjoy it?

Li Jingming was still cooking in the kitchen. He wasn't wearing an apron, and if it weren't for the fear of being splashed by hot oil, he probably wouldn't even wear a T-shirt. Standing in front of the stove in the hot summer was really uncomfortable. Men have various charms, and seriousness is one of the most attractive. Li Jingming was now cooking with great focus, his movements rhythmic, as if he were dancing to his own beat. He would occasionally toss the pan, stir a few times, and then turn to add something to the pot. It was truly a pleasure to watch.

Jessica knelt on the carpet beside the coffee table, spoon in mouth, staring at Li Jingming in the kitchen, feeling sweet both in her mouth and in her heart.

"Seokka, isn't it a bit unfair to let the birthday boy cook?" Tiffany, eating the ice cream, suddenly felt a bit embarrassed and asked Jessica if they should do something first. But she didn't get a response. Looking up, she saw Jessica eating the ice cream and zoning out, but upon closer inspection, she was actually staring at Li Jingming in the kitchen. Tiffany nudged Kim Taeyeon and whispered, "Taeyeon, it's not just me who gets starry-eyed. Look at Seokka."

Kim Taeyeon glanced over and secretly rubbed her arm, indicating that she was getting goosebumps. Jessica was being too sappy. Tiffany often laughed at handsome guys on TV, which Kim Taeyeon categorized as "starry-eyed" behavior, especially since she had been looking at Li Jingming's posters a lot lately, which Kim Taeyeon found hard to tolerate. Now Li Jingming was standing not far away, and Tiffany wasn't starry-eyed, but Jessica was.

Jessica suddenly felt the room go quiet and looked at the two girls beside her. They were both staring at her with strange looks. Realizing the reason, Jessica felt embarrassed and lowered her head, pretending to eat the ice cream to hide her awkwardness.

A box of ice cream, though not small, was quickly finished by the three girls. After cleaning up, Jessica took the box to the kitchen and threw it in the trash. If Mrs. Zheng saw this, she would be shocked. She had watched Jessica grow up, and Jessica always left things lying around for others to clean up, never washing a dish. Even when she had requests, Jessica would use her charm to get what she wanted, never helping out, let alone taking the initiative to clean up.

In front of Tiffany and Kim Taeyeon, Jessica unconsciously took on the role of "hostess," without even realizing it. Both were women, especially Kim Taeyeon, whom Jessica always kept a close eye on. This petite girl kept everything to herself, and no one could see through her. After throwing away the trash, Jessica walked over to Li Jingming, "OPPA, what are you still doing? How much longer?"

The trainees had a high activity level, and after dancing all afternoon, they hadn't eaten yet. It was almost eight o'clock, and Jessica's stomach was growling.

"Just let your friends play around for a bit. It'll be ready in about twenty minutes." Today was a celebration, so Li Jingming made a couple of extra dishes. "Go ahead."

Jessica saluted playfully, "As you wish, my captain."

"My captain?" Li Jingming thought of the legendary "My Captain" when he heard this. That was the "My Captain" of all Americans, Abraham Lincoln, whose name was inscribed on the Brotherhood's sword, with the initials A.L. (This is the author's speculation, as Blizzard has never revealed this Easter egg.)

Jessica had only been here once before, and she hadn't had a chance to look around. This time, she decided to take a closer look. "Come with me for a tour." She led Tiffany and Kim Taeyeon on a tour of Li Jingming's little nest.

In the first-floor gym, only Jessica was really interested, trying and touching everything. Many things she couldn't even move, making her stick out her tongue. Jessica, though a fitness enthusiast, was actually quite weak, even weaker than the 14-year-old Krystal, which was why she often couldn't resist Kim Taeyeon's advances.

Seeing that Tiffany and Kim Taeyeon weren't very interested, Jessica lost her enthusiasm and led them into the music room, where they both exclaimed, "Wow, amazing!"

In the center of the music room were two grand pianos, one large and one small, with their lids closed and facing each other. The pure black piano lacquer reflected their images, and the golden harp logo embodied the phrase "high-end, luxurious, and elegant." These were two Steinway pianos. The larger one, a D-series grand piano, was about 274 cm long, while the smaller one, a 300th-anniversary edition, was designed by the master piano designer Jackson.

Tiffany and Kim Taeyeon were stunned by the two pianos and couldn't recover for a while. They weren't unfamiliar with pianos, as the practice rooms of the seniors at S.M. Entertainment almost all had pianos. However, the name Steinway was well-known in the music world, and the two pianos in front of them were equivalent to several billion won. In fact, they had underestimated the value, as the total was already far more than ten billion won.

On the wall, there were many boxes of various sizes, some large enough to fit a person, others as small as a palm. Tiffany and Kim Taeyeon were very curious about what was inside but didn't dare to ask Jessica to open them. They could only guess based on the shapes of the boxes. Kim Taeyeon, being very curious, even went over to sniff some of the boxes, as if that would reveal their contents.

"OPPA Jingming must be very talented to have so many instruments." Tiffany roughly counted about ten different types of instruments, with many different sizes of the same type.

"Do you think he can play all of them? I bet they're just for show," Jessica said dismissively, but her proud expression couldn't be hidden. She was a bit annoyed that Tiffany had changed her address from "senior" to "OPPA Jingming" after just one meeting.

The music room was soundproofed and very quiet, with no windows and poor ventilation, but there was an air exchanger to refresh the air when needed. They didn't play any instruments, but Jessica, who could play the piano, was itching to try.

Next, they visited Li Jingming's study, living room, wardrobe, and the small garden on the terrace. Although Jessica had stayed in the bedroom for one night, she didn't take the two girls inside after considering it. When they came down, Li Jingming was already setting the table. The small table he usually used for two people couldn't hold many dishes, so he brought out a folding table from the corner of the food storage and unfolded it. Koreans usually ate on the living room coffee table, kneeling, but Li Jingming found this uncomfortable and always used a high-legged table and chairs, believing that kneeling would compress his stomach.

The dishes were laid out, and the aroma filled the air. The high summer temperature kept the dishes warm, and their colors were much more varied than the typical Korean dishes, which were mostly brown and red, the colors of the sauces. Korean cuisine, with its focus on boiling and stewing, naturally had a uniform appearance. Chinese cuisine, on the other hand, was diverse, with stir-frying, frying, steaming, and braising, making it visually rich.

A plate of green pepper and meat strips, a plate of mapo tofu, a plate of stir-fried squid, a plate of pepper-salt chicken wings, a plate of twice-cooked pork, and a plate of sweet and sour mandarin fish were the meat dishes. A plate of stir-fried green beans and a plate of cold mixed radish strips were the vegetarian dishes. A large bowl of minced meat and tofu soup and a bowl of seaweed and egg soup made up the ten dishes. Li Jingming estimated that the four of them wouldn't finish all of it, so he didn't make more.

For the three girls, this was a grand feast. Korean dishes might look abundant on a table, but they were mostly kimchi and dried fish, which, though good for eating with rice, were quite salty. Koreans called these "rice thieves." Li Jingming's table, though not as grand as Korean cuisine, was more diverse and mouth-watering. As soon as the rice was served, Jessica picked up her bowl, as she was very hungry, and the green pepper and meat strips were the most appealing to her.

Tiffany stood up with a glass of drink in hand, "Happy 23rd birthday, OPPA Jingming." Although her Korean became strange when she was nervous, Tiffany was actually very articulate and had a good personality, which is why she would later become the spokesperson for Girls' Generation.

Tiffany's toast made Jessica, who was holding her chopsticks, blush. Even the usually quiet Kim Taeyeon was standing with a glass, making Jessica feel like a glutton. Was she like a more extreme version of Krystal? Jessica was speechless, feeling her image was ruined.

Li Jingming smiled at the three young, beautiful girls, "This is my 23rd birthday, after all." He shook his head, uttering a sentiment that the other three didn't understand, "Long live youth!"

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