I am a Chef in the Modern Era

Chapter 51: Salmon Salad Deviled Eggs

Translated by Yan of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Lin ShuYi didn’t know how to use a knife or fork, nor did he know the proper etiquette for eating with them.

After the waiter pressed the doorbell for 106 and pushed the dining cart in the room, placing dishes covered by round lids onto the dining table that was underneath the enormous crystal chandelier, Lin ShuYi finally noticed that it was a fork and knife that was on the table, not the chopsticks he was familiar with.

The knife wasn’t like a paring knife either; there were fine ridges along the edge, and there were quite a few knives. There was also a soup spoon placed to his right, beside the knives.

The front part of the knife was fairly sharp, and it wasn’t the typical fork either. There were also quite a few of them, placed on his left.

There was a round silver lid between the forks and knives, covering the object underneath. There was a smaller plate to the upper left corner, and there was another fork and knife set on the large plate that was noticeably a few dimensions smaller, along with a tiny soup spoon. Above that were a few cups of varying sizes.

Lin ShuYi felt dizzy just looking at it, but he still couldn’t find his familiar chopsticks.

Could he even eat anymore?!

Shen Fu had already finished his hurried shower and come out, wearing a casual sweater. His slippers flopped as he rubbed his hair while walking over. When he saw Lin ShuYi standing dazed next to the table, he laughed. “Why aren’t you sitting down?”

Lin ShuYi turned to ask him seriously, “Did you really invite me to dinner because you had something to tell me?”

Shen Fu nodded, puzzled. Why was he asking this?

Lin ShuYi’s mouth twitched. “I feel like I must have offended you somehow, so that’s why you invited me to eat.”

Shen Fu: …

Shen Fu circled around Lin ShuYi and walked behind him, glancing at the tableware on the table. He muttered to himself, “It is a little much.”

He originally wanted to take Lin ShuYi to eat a traditional French banquet, and this place’s French dishes were known for being the most authentic. However, the French dishes were troublesome because of the eating etiquette, as well as the tableware; it was all too much.

But it was just him and Lin ShuYi here. They didn’t really have to follow too many rules, but Lin ShuYi didn’t understand anything. Shen Fu was more than happy to teach from the beginning.

“These are all dinner knives. Even though there’s a lot, they’re all used to cut appetizers or the main course. The forks over here are to be paired with the dinner knives. The small fork and knife above are used for dessert. These cups are used either for water or red wine or champagne, very troublesome. However, it’s just the two of us here, so we don’t need to comply with all this.” Shen Fu crooked the corner of his mouth, pointing to each one by one as he stood behind Lin ShuYi, explaining.

Lin ShuYi felt stunned as he listened. He hadn’t expected there to be so many details for just eating a meal. He thought that eating a meal at Da Yan’s imperial palace was already very detailed and particular.

As one of them spoke and the other listened, neither noticed that the distance between them had already decreased to the point that it was ambiguous.

It was only when a drop of water fell from Shen Fu’s dripping wet hair into Lin ShuYi’s collar that he recovered from his daze from the icy shock.

“I get it now.” Lin ShuYi pulled a long face and solemnly nodded.

Shen Fu didn’t know what happened, and he found Lin ShuYi’s serious expression a little amusing. “What do you get?”

“I know what these are used for, so… hurry and sit over there.”

Only then did Shen Fu realize he was just a tiny bit away from Lin ShuYi, to the point that if he lowered his head just a bit he would be able to see Lin ShuYi’s fair and delicate collar bone from inside his slightly opened collar.

Shen Fu’s pupils dilated for a moment, and he acted before he could think, reaching out and pressing Lin ShuYi against the table.

Lin ShuYi: …

“Tell me, the one you like is Chen Fang, correct?” Lin ShuYi’s back was to Shen Fu, his voice a bit cold.

Shen Fu’s face screamed ‘holy shit’.

The situation was already like this, yet he was still thinking about how thin Lin ShuYi’s waist was! There wasn’t any bit of extra fat!

Finally he realized afterwards: did Lin ShuYi’s awareness actually increase to a certain extent?

Lin ShuYi turned his head slowly, fuming between gritted teeth, “You were tricking me when you said you liked Chen Fang, right?!!”

Shen Fu was intending to say it from the start. Even though it wasn’t a good time now, if he had to do it all over again he probably still wouldn’t have been able to control himself, so he didn’t move aside. Instead, he used this position to laugh quietly next to Lin ShuYi’s ear. “Not bad, you aren’t too slow.”

Lin ShuYi got angry, and he finally realized the truth behind all those areas that he thought weren’t quite right.

No matter how much Lin ShuYi didn’t understand what ‘like’ was, that didn’t mean he didn’t know what Shen Fu being propped up against him meant! If it wasn’t that Shen Fu was such a slag that he went into heat whenever he saw anybody, then that could only mean that he had guessed wrong from the very start. The one Shen Fu liked wasn’t Chen Fang at all, but rather…

Lin ShuYi flew into a rage from the humiliation.

Shen Fu was still recklessly fanning the flames. “Say, how exactly should I let him know that I like him? When that person is so slow…”

These were all the things he told Shen Fu the other day! Lin ShuYi was so mad that he just wanted to toss this person out right here.

“And you know, right, the day my grandpa came? He actually came to see you. I told him that I didn’t want anybody besides you.” Shen Fu’s deep voice, concealing a smile, and his heat that was pouring directly into Lin ShuYi’s ear made Lin ShuYi’s entire body shake.

Was this person confessing to him?!! Earnestly confessing to him?!!

His anger and all the words he wanted to fling at Shen Fu were swallowed again. It had to be said that in Lin ShuYi’s two lifetimes, this was his first time being confessed to, even if it was a man.

Back in Da Yan, there were people who liked that young and promising, handsome and charming Ministry of Appointments government official, but at the time the nation was in peril, and Lin ShuYi was wholeheartedly dedicated to the imperial palace. Quite a few officials who wanted to entice him used the excuse of wanting to marry him, resulting in him never having much interest towards this kind of thing. What’s more, there were no maidens in Da Yan like Shen Fu who would say such things, and even if they liked him, they would just secretly like him. At the most, they would just go to the government official quarters and take a stroll, to catch a few more glimpses. For someone as slow as Lin ShuYi concerning emotions, he didn’t notice at all.

So he was rendered a little dumb now. Even though he thought of that, by the time those words came out of Shen Fu’s mouth, Lin ShuYi was still in disbelief.

Shen Fu liked him? Shen Fu liked him! Shen Fu actually liked him!!!

Shen Fu was still saying something softly next to his ear, but Lin ShuYi didn’t hear any of it. His brain was now repeating the same simple line over and over, automatically disconnecting him from any noise from outside.

He looked a little endearingly silly in Shen Fu’s eyes.

But… his reaction didn’t seem to be quite right, ah?

To Shen Fu’s understanding, either Lin ShuYi would push him roughly away, allowing him to unrelentingly pester him, or else Lin ShuYi would coldly mock and ridicule him in a rage, allowing him to softly whisper in his ear and dissect his feelings.

But Shen Fu hadn’t expected this ending.

Sure enough, Shen Fu couldn’t easily guess what Lin ShuYi was thinking.

Shen Fu tilted his head and asked, “Why do I feel like you aren’t surprised at all?!!”

So what if he prepared for this moment for so long, Lin ShuYi didn’t seem pleasantly surprised in the slightest!

After a long pause, Lin ShuYi looked back. “Didn’t you say that you liked Chen Fang?”

Great, this incredibly long reaction time.

Shen Fu could only explain again. “I’m friends with Chen Fang. He knew that I liked you long before you came here. The reason I didn’t make it clear when you misunderstood was because I wanted to see your reaction…” But, inevitably, there hadn’t been a reaction, and instead Lin ShuYi had earnestly cheered for him.

Shen Fu was quite defeated. It seemed like back then, not only was there not a reaction, there wasn’t much of a reaction now either. Shen Fu finally let both of his arms relax from encircling Lin ShuYi, allowing him to turn around. “Then, do you believe me now?”

Lin ShuYi’s eyes remained vacant, before he finally nodded.

Shen Fu laughed before he reached past Lin ShuYi and flicked the light switch. The lighting then dimmed, and the ulterior motive for using this dining room was revealed. The candle holder with uneven heights, the slightly warm candle light. Originally, he just wanted to explain and eat a candlelit dinner, but who would’ve expected Lin ShuYi’s typically dense consciousness to suddenly become sensitive today. He hadn’t been able to stop himself from being lured in, and he could only reveal everything. As for what the result was, Shen Fu was also still waiting for the final verdict.

Shen Fu could tell that Lin ShuYi didn’t detest him, nor did he detest homosexuality. But that didn’t mean Lin ShuYi would like him, that Shen Fu also knew. But knowing was one thing; Shen Fu didn’t actually care if Lin ShuYi rejected him, since he would still devote the rest of his life’s efforts to turning Lin ShuYi gay. What was the difference? In any case, he was just this shameless.

Shen Fu blinked and said, “Then, do you accept?”

“Accept?” Lin ShuYi was bewildered, and it was as if he only reacted after a long pause. “No!”

Shen Fu was a man, and he was also a man. He wasn’t against male-male relationships, but that didn’t mean he wanted to get into one, so how could he accept?!

The light in Shen Fu’s eyes dimmed for a moment, before he fixed his jet-black eyes onto Lin ShuYi, unmoving. “You detest me?”

Lin ShuYi shook his head. “No, I don’t.”

Even though he didn’t really like him at the beginning, once he understood him more deeply, he felt like Shen Fu was someone who was very hard to dislike. What’s more, if he were to dislike him, wouldn’t he have done so from the moment Shen Fu said that he was gay?

It was just as Shen Fu imagined. After, he continued to coax and entice him. “Then, you like me?”

Lin ShuYi: …

Shen Fu smiled and changed the question. “What did my grandpa say when you saw him?”

Lin ShuYi thought a bit before he answered, “He said that even though he couldn’t regard it as approval, for the time being he would hold back his objections.”

Shen Fu beamed and his eyes started to glitter. “What about you then? What did you say?”

Lin ShuYi thought a bit again. “I said, thank you grandpa for your generosity…”

Lin ShuYi went rigid halfway through his sentence. What disastrous thing did he agree to exactly when he wasn’t familiar with the situation?!

Shen Fu burst out laughing. So that was how he managed to settle his grandpa? Natural villain was sure enough a fitting reputation.

Lin ShuYi grew unhappy, and he looked ominously at Shen Fu. “As if it wasn’t all because of you!! If it wasn’t because you said you liked Chen Fang, why would I say that in front of Grandpa Shen?!”

Shen Fu stopped laughing and took another step forward, lowering his head so that the tip of his nose almost brushed Lin ShuYi. Lin ShuYi actually felt a slightly oppressive aura!

“You cheered me on when I liked Chen Fang. Now that I like you, you’re telling me to give up?”

… Lin ShuYi was rendered speechless. So why did he have to feel like Shen Fu liked Chen Fang back then? Why did he have to comfort Shen Fu and cheer him on? It wasn’t as if he could now say that he was just talking nonsense back then, don’t take it seriously, that was too half-hearted.

Lin ShuYi seriously considered it, summing up his own thoughts and viewpoints, before he looked into Shen Fu’s eyes and enunciated his answer. “I’m still going to maintain my viewpoint for now. There’s nothing wrong with liking someone, nor is there any need to feel inferior or give up because of what someone else has said. Liking someone has never been something petty or low, but…”

“Then you agree to me liking you?” Shen Fu cut off Lin ShuYi. Before Lin ShuYi could respond, he sat at the other end of the table. “That’s good. In any case, I’m prepared to fight hard for the long term.”

Lin ShuYi: … why don’t you wait for someone to finish speaking…

But Shen Fu had already opened the lid in front of him, and the exquisite appetizer appeared in front of Lin ShuYi. Shen Fu lifted his head. “Try it, salmon salad deviled eggs.”

“Salmon?” He remembered, he had eaten it before.

Lin ShuYi grew irritated at being defeated by his foodie nature in two seconds. He was clearly talking about something else very seriously!! But Shen Fu looked like he didn’t want to talk more. Even though Lin ShuYi couldn’t help but continue doubting whether everything just then was a figment of his imagination. Did Shen Fu really say that he liked him?

Shen Fu seemed to guess what he was thinking, and he reached out and lifted the lid in front of Lin ShuYi as well. He then grinned and looked at him. “It’s not important, there’s still lots of time.” He had lots and lots of time, enough to chase him until he accepted. Not only did he not think that being rejected by Lin ShuYi was something hard to take, he felt like he could act openly now that he had said it out loud. In any case, Lin ShuYi had already agreed to Shen Fu liking him…

It was the so-called ‘those who feel shame shall never fall’.

Sure enough, Shen Fu didn’t mention it anymore. Lin ShuYi still wanted to say a few words, but he couldn’t, so he felt as if he was keeping a breath of air suppressed in his chest, extremely uncomfortably.

But that only persisted till the second before the salmon entered his mouth. After he awkwardly used the fork to send the salmon into his mouth under Shen Fu’s guidance, Lin ShuYi felt like there wasn’t anything to be worried about in this world anymore.

The fresh and silky soft salmon melted the moment it entered his mouth, paired with crisp vegetables and a rich salad dressing. Lin ShuYi fell deeply in love with salmon after eating it for the second time.

After that was steak and dessert. The two of them ate until Chen Fang pressed the doorbell. When Chen Fang saw the current situation, he found it completely unbelievable. He was alone for just two hours, right? Why did he feel as if some huge thing had happened that couldn’t even be explained in a month?

Lin ShuYi was facing him, and his entire body evaded him, not daring to look directly into his eyes at all. This totally gave Chen Fang a ‘nothing happened? I don’t believe you’ feeling.

Actually, Lin ShuYi didn’t know why, but he felt a bit awkward. Even though he was the only one misunderstanding from the beginning to end, he had a subtle sense of guilt, as if he had stolen something from Chen Fang.

Moreover, the important point was that he hadn’t agreed to anything with Shen Fu, so why did he feel guilty?!

After dinner, the three of them went to the horse races together. There was a very wide racing ground that occupied the area, impressively famous throughout the city. So if they didn’t go experience the races, how could he have the nerve to tell someone that they came to You Jian, such a high-end, elegant, and classy place?

Taking into consideration that this was Lin ShuYi’s first time riding a horse, Shen Fu ensured the entire place would be adequately prepared. As a result, there was nowhere to expel Chen Fang’s raging urge for gossip, and he could only silently suppress it in his heart to the point that he felt like he was going to get internal injuries.

When Lin ShuYi heard that he could ride a horse, he rolled up his sleeves and prepared to attack. It had been a long time since he had ridden a horse. Even though it had only been a year in his memories, if he converted the time… it had to be about a thousand years ago.

The racing grounds were different from before now. There were many rules, and in particular Lin ShuYi couldn’t understand why you had to change into riding clothes when riding a horse. Even though Lin ShuYi thought it was very much not worth the time, he still did as instructed and took the clothes Shen Fu handed him to change into. When he came out, it wasn’t just Shen Fu, but Chen Fang’s eyes also lit up.

For some reason, Shen Fu could only think of a heroic youth in bright clothes conquering an angry horse. Then, he felt as if the clothes were simply tailored just for Lin ShuYi. How could riding clothes that were one hundred percent modern actually make Lin ShuYi seem as if he was a noble from the past?

“Handsomeness off the charts.” Shen Fu curved his mouth as he praised Lin ShuYi while he ousted Chen Fang, who was staring dazedly at Lin ShuYi, to the side. He was fiercely proud of his own foresight.

Lin ShuYi rolled his eyes at him and told Shen Fu to hurry up and change.

The horses were all in one place. Originally, someone was supposed to pick a docile horse for them and lead them along, but Lin ShuYi got bored waiting outside and went to look himself.

The monotone horses were all resting in the stable, and they were a little agitated when they saw someone they didn’t know enter.

Lin ShuYi walked in front of the horses, hands in his pockets, before he narrowed his eyes and pointed at one in the middle. “You, then.”

The person accompanying Lin ShuYi almost fainted when he saw the horse that he picked. Any horse would do, but Lin ShuYi actually picked the one with the fiercest temper! And the one hardest to train! And a novice at that!

The young man following him slunk a step forward, trying to think of a way to tactfully express that ‘you aren’t this horse’s type’.

Then he saw Lin ShuYi walk over to the railing next to the horse, before he reached out and opened the gate.

The young man following him was so scared that his face went dark.

Sure enough, the horse lived up to expectations and let out a long whinny. It scuffed its hoof and ran, the reins on its neck still in Lin ShuYi’s hand, shooting rapidly towards the racing grounds.

The young man’s face was only dark for a bit before it went extremely pale.

Shen Fu and Chen Fang went to change together. Chen Fang wanted to fish out what Shen Fu knew, but Shen Fu didn’t say a single thing to him. In any case, nothing had happened, so there was nothing to say.

After he suffered Chen Fang’s bombardment, Shen Fu finished changing first and went out. He walked over to where Lin ShuYi just was, only to discover that nobody was there. He was about to ask where Lin ShuYi went when a horse shot out from the stables.

Without rhyme or reason, was this horse mad? Shen Fu was baffled. Two seconds later, his face went pale when he discovered that there was still a person on the horse. That person wasn’t anybody else except the Lin ShuYi he was currently looking for.

Shen Fu was only stunned for a second before he let out a ‘fuck’ and sprinted over. His heart was already in his throat. He didn’t know how Lin ShuYi was on a horse, but he knew that if he was thrown off by this wild horse, it wasn’t just joking around.

Moreover, Lin ShuYi had never ridden a horse before.

Shen Fu ran over in a few strides, catching up to the horse on the side before he suddenly reached out and grabbed the reins, leaping up onto the horse. He immediately forcefully tightened the reins and brought it to a stop, as it let out a long neigh and slowed down. Afterwards, he let out a deep sigh of relief before he leaned down and said, next to Lin ShuYi’s ear, “Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”

No matter where he said that, Lin ShuYi would probably be moved, but right now, Lin ShuYi turned to look at him, extremely resentful. “I was just feeling refreshed riding, why did you tell him to stop?!!” With an alarmed, heart-in-his-mouth expression telling him to stop, at that.

Shen Fu was about to get a heart attack. “This horse…”

Lin ShuYi glared at him, dissatisfied. He felt like Shen Fu was definitely messing with him today on purpose, including whatever about liking or not liking him, it was all purposefully messing with him. “I picked this horse, what’s wrong with it?”

The horses in the stable had all turned to look at him obediently, not joyful at all, he liked the ones that didn’t listen, like this one. The ones that could gallop and run wildly.

Shen Fu swayed as he flipped off the horse. “I thought that you…” He thought that Lin ShuYi was terribly frightened, but… he was overthinking it.

Not only could this Lin ShuYi cook, he could also ride a horse. Could he be a little more well-rounded?

Reality revealed that he really could. After Lin ShuYi placed his elegant fingers next to his lips and blew a resounding whistle, that fierce, unobedient horse slowly, slowly kneeled in front of Lin ShuYi, inviting him to get on.

After that, Lin ShuYi patted the horse’s shaggy head in front of the petrified Shen Fu, and he curved his eyes in a smile. “Good.”

Where were his quick-acting heart pills? Where were they?!