"I’ll come to pick you up."
In the video, only Pedro Langley’s coat and a bit of his chin appeared.
He was wearing a black coat, with a rugged and smooth chin line, and a faintly visible Adam’s apple.
The Adam’s apple is quite sexy...
Lost in thought, Nora Scott realized what she was thinking, cleared her throat lightly, and returned to the topic, "The snow is heavy."
"Four-wheel drive, it’s suitable for snowy roads."
Nora didn’t say anything else.
The signal in the underground parking lot wasn’t great, cutting in and out, but Nora had almost finished choosing, so it didn’t matter much.
She put the phone in her pocket, told Pedro Langley to focus on driving, and wandered around the supermarket with her cart.
From the first floor to the second, then back to the first floor, the plethora of products dazzled Nora, who habitually stocked up on some convenience foods, finally stopping in front of a row of freezers.
"Trying to pull another stunt?"
Out of nowhere, a voice came from both her earphones and reality, and with that unique, rich voice, it felt like a surround-sound experience.
Nora, whose gaze was still on the freezers, paused at the voice and looked up in the direction it came from.
In came Pedro Langley, dressed in black, naturally taking over her shopping cart.
Raising her eyebrows, Nora took off her earphones, "Pretty quick."
"Rushed over as fast as I could." Pedro replied in a serious tone, deliberately glancing over the row of freezers before adding unhurriedly, "Managed to catch you in time."
Damn, she only glanced at the freezers and he turned it into a scene of "caught in the act of about to commit a crime and stopped by him, narrowly avoiding disaster".
"Got everything you need?" Seeing the pile of goods, Pedro gave a rather curious look.
"Then let’s go check out."
Pedro pushed the cart and walked ahead.
Nora followed closely, looking left and right, but didn’t add anything more.
As they walked out of the elevator, Nora asked again.
Pedro, who was carrying two shopping bags in front, paused slightly and looked back at her.
"When will he be back?"
"I don’t know," Pedro finished, then added, "He didn’t bring his phone."
Unable to reach anyone, there was nothing she could do.
The last time she asked Loxley, he wasn’t at Cloudwater Haven, just simply told her the steps, then gave her a list, instructing her to buy the ingredients at the supermarket and contact him once she was back.
... There should be tutorials online, right?
Pedro’s sudden words interrupted Nora’s thoughts.
Just about to press the code, Nora looked sideways at him leisurely, and as she took one of the shopping bags from his hand, she patted his shoulder.
Nora said, "Alright, don’t brag."
She entered the code and pushed open the door.
Just about to ask Pedro for the other shopping bag, but as she turned her head, she saw Pedro sidestep into the door.
Nora stood in the doorway.
Pedro took out slippers from the shoe rack with familiar ease.
Unaware of the few pairs of shoes at home, Nora didn’t notice anything amiss, only asked, "Don’t you have to go to work?"
"It’s snowing, so the company gave us a holiday."
"Pretty good benefits."
After changing his shoes, Pedro turned his head slightly, his expression ambiguous, and asked, "Are you going?"
"Stop trying to trap me."
Nora walked into the house.
Pedro: "..." Can’t she think positively for once?
When Nora opened the fridge, she remembered she hadn’t gotten around to eating the instant food she bought last time, and the fridge was still well-stocked with ingredients.
These days, she had been mooching meals from next door.
She took out the expired ones and threw them away, then put the newly bought ones inside, filling up the fridge’s cold storage almost completely.
After closing the fridge door, Nora stepped back two steps, cocked her head, and saw Pedro had already taken out various ingredients and was preparing to make "Longevity Noodles".
Calm and methodical, as he had been when he made Yangchun Noodles before.
But, remembering the indescribable taste back then, Nora’s stomach churned, like it was in knots.
Hesitating for two seconds, she asked, "Should I help?"
Glancing at her sideways, Pedro said bluntly, "You sitting down and resting would be a big help."
Seeing his good intentions, Nora thought it over and let it go, then asked, "When will it be ready?"
"I’ll call you when it’s done."
With deep skepticism, Nora took out an apple, washed it under the faucet while watching Pedro’s actions from the sidelines.
After taking a bite of the apple and watching Pedro for a couple of seconds, she emphasized, "One single noodle."
"It can’t break," Nora slowly added.
Pausing his action of pouring flour, Pedro eyed her and raised an eyebrow, "You want to do it?"
Nora bit into the apple and walked out of the kitchen.
Pedro: "..." Feeling like a full stomach with energy to spare.
Nora found a blanket and threw it over herself, feeling somewhat drowsy sitting on the sofa watching TV.
The sleepy variety show slowly piled the drowsiness, and as it reached a tipping point—
The phone in her pocket suddenly rang.
Opening her eyes, Nora frowned in annoyance and took out her phone.
It was Miguel Smith’s video call.
Once connected, the scene on the other end came into view, and Nora froze for two seconds.
Handsome and charming Miguel Smith, at this moment, squatted on the outdoor steps, in the icy and snowy weather, wearing a familiar uniform, his nose red from the cold, looking quite pitiful.
And, in the video frame, besides his handsome, embarrassed face covered in frost, there was also... what seemed like a trash bin.
Green, very conspicuous. Right next to him.
"Not easy, you’ve finally fallen to blend in with a trash bin?"
Nora couldn’t help it, a smile tugging at her lips, her eyes and brows full of joy.
Miguel was shocked, "Do you have any conscience? I’m earning money for your birthday gift."
"The wealth gap is quite big here." Nora smiled more broadly, turned down the TV volume a bit, and said, "Come back, you can mooch off my heating."
"I, the great—" Miguel was about to boast when a cold wind blew him into a shiver, so he gritted his teeth, "Aren’t you going to ask what I’m doing here?"
"Isn’t it obvious, delivering food."
Miguel looked down at his delivery uniform, plain and ugly, entirely relying on his figure and face to carry it, feeling a bit down.
The next moment, he wasn’t quite reconciled, "With my status, even if I wore this uniform, it should be for being invited to a food delivery company’s event, right?"
Nora scoffed, "If you were really a guest, would they let you freeze like an idiot?"
With numb legs from squatting, Miguel simply sat on the steps, tidied up his wind-blown short hair.
He said speechlessly, "My dad, got me a food delivery job through connections, can you believe it?"