What Are Your Tastes? chapter 12
Scallions, Spring Onion, Thick Omelette
The next day was Sunday, and Zhou Yanchuan didn’t have the habit of sleeping in. He got up early, intending to return the sugar he borrowed from Lu Yunchu the day before, but worried that the other might still be sleeping, so he sent a WeChat message first.
“Are you up? I want to return the sugar.”
The reply came quickly: “I’m up.”
Not delaying any further, Zhou Yanchuan grabbed the jar and headed out. The door opposite was open, perhaps because Lu Yunchu knew he was coming and opened it in advance.
“Mr. Lu—” He had just pushed the door open to a thirty-degree angle when a white fluffy creature darted out, almost making him drop the glass jar.
A dog? He hadn’t noticed a dog at Lu Yunchu’s place the day before. After calming down, Zhou Yanchuan made eye contact with the little guy. The dog didn’t seem shy and stared back with bright black eyes, making a low, unclear sound from its throat.
“You’re here?” Lu Yunchu’s apartment was small, with no entrance hall; the door opened directly into the living room. He had just set the table and was about to have breakfast.
After Lu Yunchu spoke, the little dog turned and ran back to the sofa. Zhou Yanchuan handed him back the sugar jar, his gaze following the dog, “Is this your dog?”
“No,” Lu Yunchu glanced under the sofa, “I picked it up last night.”
“Picked it up?” But it didn’t look like a stray at all.
“I’m not sure if it got lost or was abandoned,” Lu Yunchu noticed Zhou Yanchuan kept staring at the dog, seeming very interested, “Do you want to come in and have a look? It’s not too shy.”
“Oh,” Zhou Yanchuan indeed liked it a bit, as he had never owned a dog and found it novel. Moreover, this one looked very pretty, “Sure, thanks.”
He changed into slippers and walked to the edge of the sofa, squatting directly in front of the little dog.
“Have you lived here long?” Lu Yunchu also squatted beside him.
“This neighborhood?” Zhou Yanchuan silently calculated, “Yeah, five or six years.”
“Have you seen this dog in the yard before?”
Zhou Yanchuan realized what he was asking, “You suspect it’s from Blue Bay? Unlikely, I’ve seen most of the dogs here, none as good-looking as this.”
“Oh.” But just in case, Lu Yunchu still planned to go to the property management office later to post a notice.
Zhou Yanchuan’s hand hovered above Sabrina’s head, as if he wanted to pet it but was unsure if it would be welcomed. Lu Yunchu said to him, “It’s okay to pet it.”
Sabrina was gentle-natured, her white fur curly and soft. Lu Yunchu had petted her quite a bit last night. This dog seemed to enjoy being petted by others.
It was strange. Usually, when encountering neighbors walking their dogs, Zhou Yanchuan didn’t feel the urge to approach, much less pet or hug them; only this one particularly caught his eye. He carefully placed his palm on the little dog’s head, slowly stroking it towards its back, “Does it have a name?”
“Yes, Sabrina.”
“What?”
“Sabrina,” Lu Yunchu explained, “It’s a girl.”
A girl? So it’s female…. Zhou Yanchuan thought to himself. The name was also rather strange.
“Did you name it?”
“It was on the collar, probably named by the previous owner.”
“Why give it a foreign name?” Zhou Yanchuan rubbed Sabrina comfortably, almost squinting his eyes, “I think ‘Spring Onion’ sounds better.”
“What ‘Spring Onion’?” Liu Yunchu didn’t catch on, was he talking about the dog’s name?
Zhou Yanchuan excitedly asked, “Don’t you think its curly fur looks like chopped spring onions?”
Curly fur like spring onions? That’s quite an imaginative comparison… Liu Yunchu subconsciously touched his own curly hair.
Zhou Yanchuan noticed his action and said without looking up, “Yours doesn’t look like spring onions; it looks like spring grass.”
Lu Yunchu was slightly stunned, then realized he was talking about his hair. He had never heard of such a plant, thinking Zhou Yanchuan made it up. However, he still stood up, moved to the dining table, picked up his phone, and out of curiosity, typed “spring grass” into the browser.
The first result was from Baidu Encyclopedia, and it turned out to be a real thing. Looking at the corresponding picture, Lu Yunchu’s eyes widened in disbelief. His hair wasn’t that exaggeratedly curly, was it?
He glared fiercely at Zhou Yanchuan, who was still squatting there, oblivious to his anger, joking with Sabrina, “Don’t you think ‘Spring Onion’ sounds better?”
“No,” regardless of whether it was a joke, Lu Yunchu stopped him in time, “‘Sabrina’ was named by her owner. When we find her owner, we have to return her; we can’t change her name.”
“Return her?” Zhou Yanchuan looked disappointed, “If she was abandoned, they probably won’t want her back. You might as well adopt her; it’s fate.”
“It’s inconvenient for me, the place is small, and I don’t have much time,” raising a pet shouldn’t be an impulsive decision. Without adequate preparation, he didn’t plan to make such a decision, “My lifestyle isn’t suitable.”
“What’s wrong with your lifestyle?”
“I smoke a lot.”
“You smoke?” Zhou Yanchuan turned his head, previously unaware. Now that it was mentioned, he noticed a faint tobacco scent on Lu Yunchu, almost negligible, “What if no one claims her?”
“If no one claims her in a month or two,” Lu Yunchu leaned against the table, “I’ll find a good home for her.”
Zhou Yanchuan opened his mouth but said nothing. After a while, he stood up. From the moment he entered, he had smelled a scent of eggs in the room. He sniffed, “Did you make breakfast yourself?”
“Yes,” Lu Yunchu pointed to the square dining table diagonally opposite the sofa, “Do you want to join me?”
“Um, wouldn’t that be awkward?” Zhou Yanchuan was just surprised he cooked, so he asked casually, but it seemed to be taken as interest, “I actually—”
“It’s okay, it’s nothing fancy.”
On the table was a golden dish, containing several segments of what looked like egg rolls.
From his tone, it seemed like a common home-cooked dish, but Zhou Yanchuan had never seen it made this way before, “Is this an egg roll?”
“Tamagoyaki.”
“Tamagoyaki?” He had heard of that, “Isn’t that a Japanese dish?”
“Yes,” whole wheat bread was given to Sabrina. Lu Yunchu had made another breakfast; having a kitchen was much more convenient, “It’s just made of eggs. I added some scallions and spring onions.” Thinking of Zhou Yanchuan wanting to rename Sabina to “Spring Onion,” the word sounded odd to him now.
Both of them had petted the dog, so Lu Yunchu instructed Zhou Yanchuan to wash his hands first.
After yesterday’s events, the intimidating aura Zhou Yanchuan had in Lu Yunchu’s mind had finally diminished. Their business cooperation was over, and now he saw him more as an ordinary neighbor. Having a neighbor over for a meal at home wasn’t awkward.
However, when Zhou Yanchuan came out of the bathroom and sat back at the table, he keenly noticed Lu Yunchu’s phone screen was still on, displaying the “spring grass” encyclopedia entry.
He was momentarily stunned, then burst into uncontrollable laughter. “So, it really exists?”
“You didn’t know?” Lu Yunchu felt embarrassed.
“I didn’t know! I made it up,” he laughed even harder. “And you actually went to check? Hahaha, you’re too funny!”
Lu Yunchu: “…”
“And it actually looks like your hair.” Zhou Yanchuan commented casually.
Lu Yunchu cursed silently. What was he thinking inviting such a guy to breakfast at his place?
He slammed the chopsticks on the table. “Still eating?”
“Yes!” Zhou Yanchuan replied bluntly. It wasn’t so much about wanting a meal from the other person, but mainly curiosity about Lu Yunchu’s cooking style.
Just as they were about to start eating, Sabrina trotted over, obediently squatting under the table, her expression not much different from last night when she begged for bread.
“Does she want to eat too?” Zhou Yanchuan asked.
“Here,” Lu Yunchu handed over the last piece of bread, “You eat this.”
Sabrina must have been really hungry last night, eating whatever was offered, but this morning her interest in bread seemed to have waned. She didn’t immediately start eating, still staring at Lu Yunchu, silently protesting.
Intentionally ignoring her, Lu Yunchu thought he should remember to buy dog food later.