Chapter 65

To capture a man's heart, you must first capture his stomach. This is advice countless mothers, who have been through it all, give to their daughters. In fact, to capture a woman's heart, you must also capture her stomach. Now, the stomachs of these three young girls are firmly in Li Jingming's hands.

It was truly delicious. No wonder Hyo-yun always boasted about the food she had eaten in City B. The taste of the food from the Heavenly Kingdom was like this. Jessica, who had lived for nearly twenty years, had only eaten the Heavenly Kingdom's dishes like炸酱面 (zhájiàngmiàn, a type of noodle dish with soybean paste) and sweet and sour pork. According to Hyo-yun, the Korean versions were not very authentic. As for the Peking duck and other dishes she had heard of, they only existed in legends.

Today, Jessica and the other two girls were treated to a feast. Li Jingming had a little trick up his sleeve; half of the dishes he made were spicy, but not overly so. The spiciness just stimulated their taste buds and increased their appetite, making the food very palatable. After eating a lot, the girls started to sweat. At first, it was a light sweat, then a heavy sweat, followed by a waterfall of sweat, and finally, they were drenched. Especially the Mapo Tofu, which was both numbing and spicy, with diced meat that made it very fragrant. The more they ate, the more they wanted to eat. As an advertisement would say, "You can't stop!"

The makeup was washed away by the sweat and then smeared by the paper towels. Jessica went to the bathroom several times during the meal, first to touch up her makeup, and secondly, to drink water after eating so much spicy food, which led to her tragic situation. Tiffany had come with makeup, while only Kim Tae-yeon had come without any. She looked like a child, and if she had put on makeup, it would have looked like a child using their mother's cosmetics, which would have been inappropriate. This made her look naturally innocent and cute.

While Li Jingming was serving more rice, Kim Tae-yeon showed her bold side as a "tough girl." She picked up the large bottle of orange juice and drank from it directly, her eyes following the water level inside, forming a cross-eyed look, which made Tiffany laugh uncontrollably. She ended up choking on the spiciness. Kim Tae-yeon had intentionally made this funny face to amuse Tiffany. She often did this in the dorm, and she had held back for over two hours at Li Jingming's place, waiting for him to leave before letting loose.

When Li Jingming returned with a bowl of rice, he found Kim Tae-yeon grinning triumphantly, Jessica glaring at her, and Tiffany clutching her mouth in pain, tears streaming down her face. Li Jingming was shocked. Had a love triangle erupted at the dinner table? Had the three girls just confessed to each other? Was Tiffany in the middle, torn and crying? It seemed that Jessica had lost in this love game. Should he comfort her?

"OPPA, Tiffany was choked by the spiciness." Jessica patted Tiffany's back, but it didn't help, so she turned to Li Jingming for help.

Just being choked by the spiciness, why did you three make such rich expressions? Li Jingming thought resentfully. He had thought a tragic drama had unfolded while he was serving the rice.

Li Jingming's refrigerator contained exactly what Tiffany needed at that moment: a magic prop with universal effects—a glass of ice water! He took out a glass water pitcher from the fridge, poured a glass, and handed it to Tiffany. After drinking it, she felt immediate relief within three minutes. Her throat no longer hurt, her tears stopped, and she had more energy to go upstairs... The meal took a long time, as girls tend to eat more delicately. If Li Jingming had known about Lin Yoon-ah, he wouldn't have thought so. She described a World of Warcraft fishing task as "big mouth swallowing," and the name "Crocodile Yoon" was no joke.

By the time they finished dinner, Jessica struggled to bring the cake to the table, placing it there. The difficulty was naturally due to overeating; her small belly was visibly bulging. Jessica personally inserted two number candles and looked at Li Jingming expectantly.

After the lights were turned off, the two candle flames only illuminated a small area around the table. The surroundings were pitch black, and the three girls instinctively huddled together. The fear of darkness is deeply rooted in our genes, but it also highlights the dependence on each other.

Under the intense gaze of the three young girls, Li Jingming made a wish and gently blew out the candles, celebrating his 23rd birthday.

"OPPA, what did you wish for?" Tiffany asked curiously after the lights were turned back on, having seen Li Jingming's serious expression.

Li Jingming smiled, "I made three wishes."

"Who makes three wishes on their birthday? You really got your money's worth," Jessica said with a tone that only she could.

Li Jingming ignored her and continued, "First, world peace. Second, everyone has enough to eat and wear. Third, all lovers will be together."

"OPPA, are you really that great? Why are all your wishes like that?" Tiffany looked at Li Jingming, skeptical of these unique wishes.

"Since the wishes won't come true anyway, why not make them as grand as possible? You don't have to pay taxes for them," Li Jingming shrugged, not believing in making wishes. He believed in himself.

Next came the gift-opening time. Tiffany had bought her gift early and originally wanted Jessica to deliver it for her, but she decided to come along, as celebrating a birthday with her favorite idol was very exciting. Jessica and Kim Tae-yeon had bought their gifts on the street just now. Jessica's lack of preparation for a gift surprised the other two girls, but they thought it was typical of her.

Tiffany's gift box was small. When Li Jingming opened it, he found a lighter, with a pure gold appearance, looking simple and elegant. Tiffany had searched online for gift ideas for men and decided on a lighter. The color of the lighter was gold, matching Li Jingming's fan color, and the English word for lighter, "Lighter," was also the name his fans used, though it was a metaphor for "light." Li Jingming held the lighter, thinking it could only be a collector's item. He practiced health-preserving exercises and was now a singer, so he would never smoke. Would he carry a lighter to start a barbecue?

"Thank you, I really like this gift." Li Jingming expressed his gratitude, and Tiffany's eyes turned into crescent moons, her smile truly beautiful.

Kim Tae-yeon's gift was the opposite, a large box that could cover her entire upper body. When Li Jingming opened it, he was speechless. Inside was a "bean pod." While Tiffany's lighter, though useless to him, was at least a man's item, this bean pod was a toy for little girls. Was he supposed to sit on the sofa with this thing, watch TV, and cry? How girly.

"Tae-yeon, you can't just buy what you like for others," Tiffany said, laughing at Li Jingming's expression.

"Mom always told me to share what I like with my friends. Is that wrong?" Kim Tae-yeon said confidently.

Li Jingming's lips twitched. He couldn't say Kim Tae-yeon was wrong; her mother's advice was indeed reasonable. "Thank you, I like it too."

"OPPA, look at your face in the mirror. Is that really liking it? If you don't want it, give it back to me." Kim Tae-yeon had made a big decision to buy this, spending a lot of money, and it was even bigger than her own.

"Of course, I like it." Li Jingming quickly adjusted his expression. He had never played with such a thing before. He unzipped it and laughed when he saw the three beans inside. Holding this, he felt like a Paladin, a Paladin with full holy power (students who are unsure can search "Paladin's beans" on Baidu).

Finally, it was Jessica's turn. Tiffany and Kim Tae-yeon looked at Jessica expectantly. She had bought the gift separately on the street, so they didn't know what was in the box.

Four pairs of eyes focused on the medium-sized box. When Li Jingming opened it, he wondered if golden light would shoot out, as if a precious treasure was being revealed. When he opened it, the three girls looked inside, especially Jessica, whose hands were tightly clenched into fists.

Inside was a white mug. Li Jingming picked it up, and there was nothing on the side facing him. However, Tiffany and Kim Tae-yeon, sitting opposite him, were not calm. The side facing them had a half-body image of Jessica. Li Jingming, being left-handed, held the mug in his left hand. Jessica had not specifically requested the image to be on the right side, so the shop had printed it on the right side by default. Li Jingming only saw the image after looking at Tiffany and Kim Tae-yeon's expressions and turning the mug around.

Li Jingming's first reaction was that Jessica was too narcissistic. "You haven't even debuted and you're already selling merchandise?" Jessica, surprisingly, did not retort but remained silent.

Under Jessica's fierce glare, Tiffany and Kim Tae-yeon did not react too strongly. Jessica had probably expected them to start cheering.

When a woman gives a cup, it has a meaning, indicating a willingness to give her whole life to the recipient. A cup with such an image is a special item for a woman to confess her love. If one drinks from it normally, they would kiss the forehead of the image on the cup each time. Jessica's gift was essentially a confession. Kim Tae-yeon, who had initially doubted Tiffany's claims about Jessica's love life, now had to believe it. Jessica was showing off her love.

Ps: Today I went to my grandmother's house for dinner (the real grandmother's house, not the chain restaurant). I came back late and almost forgot to update. Fortunately, I remembered before going to bed.

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