"Eggs, pork ribs, asparagus..." Chen Jinyue pointed at the items in her shopping cart, wondering if she had forgotten anything. She felt like there was something else, but she just couldn't recall it.
*Next time, I absolutely must make a shopping list in my notes,* she reminded herself.
She checked her watch. Three-thirty—still early. She decided to push the cart through the aisles a few more times, hoping to jog her memory.
Today was the first weekend since she had finished moving. Her mother and Lin Yunsheng were coming over for dinner. She had spent days scouring the internet for cooking videos; she couldn't afford to mess this up.
"Oh! Right! Vinegar!" Finally, she remembered the missing piece. She instinctively punched her left palm with her right fist, the gesture of a final decision. Everything was finally in place.
Chen Jinyue checked out with light steps. Carrying the two bags, which weren't particularly heavy, she considered skipping a taxi and just walking back.
It was early June, and the summer solstice was fast approaching. Soon, Haicheng would welcome its hottest months.
How hot would it get? It was the kind of heat where the sunlight pierced through your skin and burned into your nostrils, making every breath feel scalded. It was the kind of heat where you’d look at the air conditioner tirelessly pumping out cold air and feel an involuntary urge to say, *Thank you for your hard work.*
And then there were the crowded buses where, even when it was standing room only, no one would sit on the plastic seats that had been baking in the sun.
Chen Jinyue gave her shoulders a small shrug. Even though she hadn't experienced a summer like that in six years, the mere memory made her feel warm. She tentatively stretched her leg out from the shadow of a building's eaves; the sunlight hit her calf—it was gentle. Not yet terrifying.
*I'll walk, then,* she thought, stepping into the sunlight.
She remembered her high school days when the bus from school to home took nine stops and twenty-one traffic lights to reach its destination. The carriage was always noisy, always packed to the brim.
Now, she lived in the eastern part of Haicheng. From the supermarket to her home, it was less than two kilometers. The trees were lush, allowing her to spend most of the walk tucked away in the shade, feeling the breeze. The somewhat piercing chirps of cicadas were hidden within the heat waves, making her brow furrow slightly.
She counted as she walked: twenty-six minutes, five traffic lights. The roads were wide, though some of the paving stones were loose; she’d have to avoid them on rainy days, or she’d surely step on one and get splashed with water.
She passed a bun shop that smelled delicious and made a mental note to trick Lin Yunsheng into coming over to try it sometime.
Chen Jinyue entered the elevator of her building and pressed the button for the ninth floor, calculating which dish she should start first.
When the elevator doors opened, she saw Lin Yunsheng standing alone in the hallway on a phone call, cradling a bouquet of flowers.
Jinyue froze for two seconds—she hadn't expected her to arrive so early—before stepping out of the elevator. She set the two bags on the floor and took the flowers first. This time, it was a bunch of lilies.
She mimicked her sister’s posture, leaning against the wall to face her. Lin Yunsheng was in that familiar stance: her left leg supporting her weight, her right foot resting lightly.
Lin Yunsheng held the phone in her right hand. Seeing Jinyue, she quickened the pace of her conversation. She watched as her sister's gaze shifted from the bouquet to her face, finally settling with amusement on her right foot.
*Oh.* Lin Yunsheng understood immediately and adjusted her posture—*avoiding scoliosis,* she remembered.
"Alright, let's discuss the rest on Monday." As soon as she finished the sentence, Lin Yunsheng hung up.
Chen Jinyue looked at her with a smile and asked, "Are these flowers for me?"
She truly loved playing this game of asking questions she already knew the answer to.
She had already taken them of her own accord, yet she still had to ask. Even though she received flowers every single week now, she still feigned ignorance.
But it didn't matter; Lin Yunsheng would always play along.
"Mhm."
"Then you're two days late this time," Jinyue said, pushing her luck.
When she had received her first bouquet of roses over a month ago, she had grumbled about her sister being too "cunning." Now, she was brazenly tracking the expiration dates.
Lin Yunsheng only looked at her and smiled, saying nothing.
"Have you been here long?"
"Just arrived."
"Why didn't you go in?"
"Hmm? Did you record my fingerprint last time?"
"Don't you have the passcode?"
Lin Yunsheng tilted her head and asked, "I don't think you ever told me the passcode."
"Really?" Jinyue blinked, led her sister to the door, and woke up the keypad. "Then try it now," she said, picking up the two bags again.
Lin Yunsheng thought for a moment and then keyed in Jinyue's birthday. The lock flashed red against the backlight; the code was wrong.
"Try yours, silly—" Jinyue teased. Then she heard her sister give a soft laugh. Before entering the code a second time, Lin Yunsheng reached out and pinched Jinyue's smug cheek.
*Click—* The lock opened, and the two stepped into the small, thirty-square-meter apartment that was still somewhat unfamiliar.
Compared to Lin Yunsheng's last visit, the place was much cleaner and more organized. During the move, it had been piled high with cardboard boxes, making it nearly impossible to walk around. She had stayed with Jinyue, helping her unpack piece by piece, and through those objects, she had slowly filled in the gaps of her imagination regarding Jinyue's six years abroad.
Coming back after a week, the place finally looked like a home.
"I feel like this apartment is a bit smaller than the one I recommended to you before?"
"It is a bit smaller, but I like it here. Come." She led Lin Yunsheng toward the balcony.
It was nearly sunset. She pointed toward the river below. "Is it pretty? Look at the river—the water is clean and shimmering."
"Mhm."
She continued to show off, as if she were personally responsible for the river's flow. "And if you follow this river further down, it joins the Siliu River, and the Siliu River flows into the Pu River. And the Pu River..."
She looked at her sister with smiling eyes. "The Pu River goes through the estuary and reaches the seaside where we watched the sunrise. Isn't that great?"
"That connection is a bit of a stretch..."
"Oh, the distance doesn't matter. It'll get there eventually."
"Most importantly, you'll see it in an hour. The sun will sink right between those two buildings and reflect in the river. It turns all red—it's incredibly romantic."
"Do you prefer sunsets now?" Lin Yunsheng swallowed the second half of the question—*What about the sunrise?*—feeling it was a bit childish to ask.
"I do."
As she spoke, Chen Jinyue kissed her sister's cheek. "Why didn't Mom come with you?"
"She said she'd come over after her card game, probably around seven."
"Oh, then I need to hurry up and cook."
"Are you sure you can handle it? Let me help."
"No, not yet. I think I can... mostly..." Jinyue rubbed the tip of her nose with her finger, her tone softening.
Lin Yunsheng remained skeptical but said nothing more. She went into the bathroom to wash her hands and then did a quick inspection of the place to see what Jinyue was missing.
For instance, the glass in the shower would accumulate limescale over time; she needed to get some descaler. She checked if the anti-shatter film on the glass was applied correctly. Oh, and she needed a squeegee.
Then she walked into Jinyue's bedroom. The bed was a mess—the quilt wasn't folded, her pajamas were strewn about, and the desk chair was completely buried under clothes.
*Hasn't she been here a week already?* she thought helplessly.
Lin Yunsheng went over and tidied everything for her. Seeing there was nowhere to put the dirty laundry, she made another mental note—a laundry basket.
By the time she finished, over half an hour had passed. She sat in the chair, preparing to add the items she’d noted to her shopping cart.
Jinyue's room didn't have a view of the sunset, but the sky outside was already painted orange, as if by a palette.
In the warm light, Lin Yunsheng looked up and saw a triple picture frame on the desk. One was a photo of them on the plane to Beicheng; the middle one was a selfie of the three of them on the beach in Nancheng. The last one—she squinted—was a photo Jinyue had taken of her through a hotel window when she left Wencheng.
*How silly.*
She took a wet wipe, cleaned the frame, and gently placed it back. As she left, she tapped the face of the smiling Jinyue in the airplane photo.
*She's grown up,* she thought.
The twilight glow outside grew more brilliant. The moment the sun would hit the Tropic of Cancer was drawing closer; summer was coming. And she would have a long-awaited summer with Chen Jinyue, just as Jinyue had hoped.
Lin Yunsheng softly closed the bedroom door. Turning the small corner, she could see the kitchen.
As she rounded that bend, it felt like she had returned to seven years ago—
*"When we have our own place in the future, we'll renovate a big kitchen, and I'll cook for you, okay?"*
She had the house now.
The second half of that promise, made in a rented room back then, was about to be fulfilled in another rented room today.
She walked over and, just as Chen Jinyue used to hold her, wrapped her arms around her sister from behind. "How's it going?"
"I don't know... it's stewing." In the pot was a "life-or-death" yam and pork rib stew.
"Cooking is really not easy. Yesterday I was hungry and wanted to make a bowl of tomato and egg noodles, but I didn't have any eggs. Then I saw potatoes in the fridge and thought I'd make spicy and sour potato shreds, but once the potatoes were in the pan, I realized I didn't have any vinegar. Sigh..."
Lin Yunsheng stifled a laugh behind her, her breath brushing against Jinyue's neck, making her want to squirm.
Eventually, she released her embrace, gathered Jinyue's loose hair, and produced a hair tie from her pocket, gently tying it back for her.
Chen Jinyue lifted the lid, and a cloud of fragrant steam rose. She looked at the ribs in the pot and felt something was off. She poked one with a chopstick; the meat was still tough. She took a taste—it didn't taste like the ones she had at home.
She turned to look at Lin Yunsheng, saying nothing, just blinking innocently.
"The heat isn't right..."
Lin Yunsheng reached out to turn the flame down. "The heat needs to be low. You have to take it... slow..." She spoke the words with a lingering, meaningful tone.
Chen Jinyue didn't know why, but hearing her say *take it slow* sparked a contrary impulse in her heart, making her speech a bit faltering. "It... it's still not very flavorful."
"Do you have sugar? White granulated sugar," her sister asked with a smile.
"Mhm." She reached into the cabinet above her head, pulled out an unopened jar of sugar, unscrewed it, and handed it over.
There was no small spoon inside, so Lin Yunsheng simply pinched a bit with her fingers and sprinkled it into the pot. "You need to add a little sugar, understand?"
It felt just like when they were younger.
The times when her sister taught her how to do her homework seemed to return to this tiny kitchen, becoming full and vivid within the rising steam.
Jinyue pursed her lips, her mouth glistening with moisture. "Mhm..." she murmured softly.
Lin Yunsheng looked at her, noticing a few grains of sugar still clinging to her index finger. She raised her hand and pressed them, one by one, onto the corner of Jinyue's lips.
Outside the window, the sunset was in full swing. The orange-red sky and gold-rimmed clouds were overflowing without end.
"Jinyue..."
"...Mhm?"
Had the sun sunk into that river yet? The heat from the air climbed over the ninth-floor balcony railing and slipped into the home.
"Do you really prefer the sunset over the sunrise?" It was incredibly childish, but she couldn't help asking.
Chen Jinyue took a few seconds to process the question in the fading light, then broke into a wide grin. A grain of sugar fell from the corner of her mouth to the floor.
*So childish.*
She pulled her sister into her arms, pressing her against the kitchen counter to kiss her, licking away the sugar she had placed there bit by bit, letting the sweetness spread between their lips and teeth.
Sunrise or sunset—which did she prefer?
Now that their relationship was stable, instead of competing with other people, she was getting jealous of the same sun.
Chen Jinyue deepened the kiss, which felt especially cloying, perhaps because of the sugar.
Neither of them cared about the yam and pork rib stew anymore.
The "heat" and the sugar were being put to a different use by a "bad student."
In this second, the keyword for Haicheng was: *so sweet.*
As for the choice between sunrise and sunset, she already had the answer in her heart—love before sunrise, kisses after dusk.
We'll take it... slow.
***
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Moonlight Doesn't Reach | Chapter 55 | A Recipe for Sweetness | Novela.app | Novela.app
