"The one walking in front, all prim and proper, with a pleasant expression, is my dad's colleague's son, named Mo Wenyang. The one behind him is his friend he brought along, named Jiang Yan," Wen Haoxue provided a live commentary for the sisters.
Since Jiang Yan was more handsome than Mo Wenyang, everyone swarmed around him.
An hour later, everyone came back grinding their teeth, pouting, with long faces.
"What's there to be proud of? He's just a has-been!"
"The outfit he's wearing today was even borrowed from his friend."
"No money, just a pretty face, that's useless."
"Forget a house or a car, with his unstable job and salary, not even a civil servant, supporting a family is tough."
Wen Man later thought that if Jiang Yan hadn't been down and out, she probably wouldn't have given him a second glance. Mainly because he managed to irritate all her sisters, aunts, and mom to this extent, which made her see him in a different light.
Leaving the page she was on, stretching her neck out from the shadows, Wen Man carefully watched the fallen prince through her large glasses.
He must have been over six feet tall, wearing a silver-striped dress shirt, blue-black trousers, and shiny leather shoes. The top button of his shirt was undone, revealing a small, graceful section of his collarbone.
His features were delicate and handsome, with a straight nose, a hint of arrogance in his brow, and a touch of austerity at the corners of his lips.
Accidentally, their eyes met for a moment.
Wen Man quickly lowered her head, her eyes returning to the book splayed on her legs. Due to the growing noise in the living room, she had moved her chair onto the balcony for some quiet.
Unexpectedly, the balcony's sliding door whooshed open, and a figure flashed beside her.
With delicate brows furrowed and eyes slightly upturned, Wen Man saw the down and out man leaning against the balcony railing, sighing as if on cue with the breeze, "The view is beautiful indeed, but the wind is a bit too strong, and I'm starving."
A growling, hungry sound came from the handsome man.
Down and out indeed, as the Wen Family had said, all looks and no utility.
The problem was, as Wen Man heard this sound, she herself hadn't eaten dinner in a rush to comply with her mother's urgent summons, and was now also barely holding on to her hunger.
She peeked cautiously back into the living room, where every member of the Wen Family was trying their best to secure this marriage alliance. If she were to admit her hunger now, it would not only kill the mood but would certainly earn her another scolding from Xu Yu'e for losing face. Forget it, she quietly set the book aside and stood up, preparing to sneak out to find something to eat.
However, the down and out man unexpectedly turned his head, staring at her. His eyes, a mix of various colors, made Wen Man's spine tingle: clearly, he was ravenous too, even holding some resentment, probably brought to the Wen Family's place with the hope of a free meal, only to end up with an empty stomach.
"If you don't mind eating instant noodles," Wen Man ventured carefully, still mindful of the situation in the living room.
But this down and out man, with all his pride, could he really accept the suggestion of eating instant noodles?
The tall figure flashed quickly and grabbed one of her hands, nodding rapidly as if pounding garlic, "No problem. As long as it's edible."
This poor person, can't even afford instant noodles, can they?
Wen Man didn't know how to describe the complex feelings that suddenly flooded her heart: empathy due to shared suffering?
Taking advantage of the fact that everyone in the living room had moved to the study to see Mo Wenyang's calligraphy performance, Wen Man stealthily led the destitute man to the door, opened it, and the two of them slipped out smoothly.
Outside the house, as he said, the night was beautiful, with the moonlight shining on the pathway of the district, casting their shadows. The wind was a bit strong, and the rustling sound of the district's greenery could be heard, giving off a sense of tranquility.
At the corner of the road, there was a small convenience store.
Wen Man felt in the pocket of her jeans, just having the change from buying Wen Yuan's paintbrushes, and she negotiated with the store owner, "I want two Kang Master beef noodle bowls. Can you pour hot water for us? We'll add the ingredients ourselves. Oh, and I also want a packet of pickled mustard plant."
The store owner took the money and, as she instructed, prepared everything for her. So Wen Man began to unpack the noodle bowls and add the ingredients. To others, her way of adding the seasoning was a little odd, not just following the instructions to put all the ingredients together and then soak them in hot water. Both the store owner and Jiang Yan were surprised to see her busy little hands frantically preparing both noodle bowls: was eating instant noodles this troublesome?
"All done." A few minutes later, Wen Man's crescent moon-shaped eyes opened wide with satisfaction and she smiled.
As Jiang Yan took the noodle bowl she handed him, his gaze lingered for a moment on her eyes that resembled crescents when she smiled, and his handsome face seemed to flash a moment of shock.
"Let's sit over there to eat, so we don't get in the way of the business." Wen Man kept her head down and took her own bowl of noodles to sit on the stone benches on either side of the street.
Jiang Yan's long legs stepped over and he quickly sat down beside her, mimicking her by lifting the lid on the noodle bowl. The fragrance hit him full in the face—it smelled like the usual instant noodles but mixed with a more appetizing shade. Looking down at the floating noodles and dried vegetables in the bowl, they appeared to be soaked just right, without any floating oil. He stirred the noodles with the plastic fork, sucked them into his mouth, and his eyes widened in surprise: delicious!
Noodles and dried vegetables soaked just right like this couldn't be achieved by a novice.
Wen Man ate hers slowly and gracefully, without making a single sound typical of slurping noodles.
Jiang Yan was very hungry, and the noodles really tasted good. He lifted his bowl and gulp down the soup until he saw the bottom. After finishing clean, he felt somewhat surprised: he had never known instant noodles could taste so good.
Wen Man had only eaten half her bowl when she took out a tissue from her jacket pocket and offered one to him.
Jiang Yan folded the tissue and started to wipe the corners of his mouth, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Do you, eat instant noodles often?"
Her skill in preparing and consuming instant noodles was first-rate, likely the result of much practice. That's what most people would probably think.
Wen Man froze for a moment, then smiled as if amused, "How could that be?"
When Jiang Yan saw her smile, he didn't pause this time but looked into her eyes where a complex depth emerged, "You—you're very kind."
Wen Man was even more startled, "Huh?"
"Your family knows about my situation, yet you are the only one willing to treat me to food." Jiang Yan said this without a trace of shame about his impoverished state on his handsome face.
Wen Man blinked her slightly upturned eyelashes: This down-and-out fellow really did have an unusual pride about him.