I am a Chef in the Modern Era

Chapter 65: Tiger Pelt Cake Roll

Translated by Karcessel of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

In high spirits, Shen Fu’s mom hummed a little tune to herself as she prepared to make pudding.

In less high spirits, Shen Fu’s dad bit back resentment as he helped her in the kitchen. Although he did like his son’s “wife,” while watching them, all he could feel was an aching longing in his heart for the day his wife might hold only him in her eyes.

At the same time, in another part of the house, Shen Fu suddenly sneezed.

“Has it gotten colder lately?’ He mumbled to himself.

Lin ShuYi rolled his eyes and responded, “You probably did too many bad things, now someone’s talking about you behind your back.”

Shen Fu, “…”

The Shen family was far from being small, so naturally their family home had to be quite large to accommodate everyone.

Although Shen Fu and Shen Yan had their own houses elsewhere, they knew that even if Grandfather Shen never said it out loud, he actually really liked things to be lively, so they frequently stayed home lest Grandfather Shen get lonely by himself.

Shen Fu’s bedroom was on the second floor, right next to Shen Yan’s study room. Among all of the bedrooms in the house, it was one of the best because of all the natural sunlight that poured through the windows on sunny days. Not only that, it was large and spacious, Shen Fu explained as he opened the door to let Lin ShuYi in.

Even when Shen Fu wasn’t home, his room was still tidied by people everyday, so that when he stepped in after so long away from home, it was still spotlessly clean.

The exterior of the Shen family home was elegantly unified appearance, with an atmosphere of well maintenance. Though one of the more prominent houses in H City, it was tastefully decorated, without any ostentatiously luxurious ornaments.

The interior rooms of the house were all decorated according to the owner of the room’s tastes, resulting in a variety of different looks. Thus, Shen Fu’s room was just like his personality, slightly elegant, but with a hint of a rebellious attitude far departed from his public image. Among all the well kept neatness of the person and room, there were always those little things that didn’t follow the rules. For example, the simple but jarring knife on the bookshelf.

“What’s this?”

Shen Fu turned to look at what Lin ShuYi was referring to. “A knife.”

Lin ShuYi stared Shen Fu down. He had eyes, he could tell it was a knife.

On the receiving end of Lin ShuYi’s glare, Shen Fu grinned. “If you meant where it came from, then I don’t know either, because it was a gift from my brother. I liked it a lot, so I displayed it on the bookshelf. Rumor is, it was made by some famous expert. But it has no cutting edge. If it did, it’d probably be a knife that could slit wrists and cut throats.”

While explaining, Shen Fu mimicked a throat-slitting gesture with his hand against Lin ShuYi’s neck, but then… he accidentally touched Lin ShuYi’s collarbone!

Heart suddenly pounding and thoughts thrown into disarray, Lin ShuYi felt that Shen Fu was really getting bolder and bolder, and then he felt that he really wanted to throw Shen Fu out the window right now. Fortunately, Shen Fu knew how to stop before he went too far, and what things shouldn’t be brought up in middle of the day.

Coughing twice, Shen Fu ironed out his expression and tried to change the topic. “Do you want to see the bathroom in my room?”

Lin ShuYi stared at him.

“The bathtub is very comfortable…”

Lin ShuYi continued to stare at him.

Shen Fu, “…”

Alright, he knew his thoughts had strayed too far away, but he just couldn’t help himself! What could he do? Vexed, Shen Fu ran an idle hand through his hair, then pointed next door. “There isn’t really anything else to see in my room then, let’s go take a look at my brother’s study.”

If he stayed in his room alone with Lin ShuYi, he really wouldn’t be able to control himself.

However, as Shen Fu had half expected, his brother’s study wasn’t the most welcoming place. Shen Yan was in middle of work, flipping through a stack of documents while on a call. When Shen Fu and Lin ShuYi opened the door, he paused and mouthed, “Need something?”

Clearly, Shen Yan’s office couldn’t be toured, so Shen Fu shook his head and left with Lin ShuYi.

On the other end of Shen Yan’s call, a fluent English tongue asked, “Is something wrong?”

The corner of Shen Yan’s lips curved up and he smiled as he replied, “No, it’s just that my younger brother and his wife have come home.”

“Ah, that little brother you spoiled rotten is married now?”

Shen Yan, “…”

Shen Yan’s office couldn’t be toured, and Lin ShuYi had already seen Grandfather Shen’s office, so all that was left were Grandfather Shen, Shen Yan, and Shen Fu’s mom and dad’s bedrooms, but those were private and couldn’t been entered without permission. They walked around aimlessly for a while but, in the end, Shen Fu really felt that the only place he could bring Lin ShuYi was his room.

This time, however, he had a great idea to focus his attention away from Lin ShuYi’s body. “I’ve got a full selection of gaming consoles, you wanna play?”

A natural at mastering games extremely fast, Lin ShuYi’s eyes immediately lit up. He nodded vigorously, and adorably.

Shen Fu took a deep breath. He regretted this decision already, because he still wanted to push Lin ShuYi down and do all kinds of things to him. What on earth was he supposed to do now?!

When Shen Fu’s mom finished making pudding, she went upstairs to knock on Shen Fu’s door. It was a long while before it opened and Shen Fu stepped out, both hands in his pockets and leaning casually against the door. The corner of his lips were just a little red, and his entire face wore an expression of being in a very good mood. Shen Fu’s mom stretched her head out to try and get a look inside the room past Shen Fu’s shoulder. “Where’s Xiao Yi? The pudding is done, and I also baked some tiger pelt cake rolls, he should really like it.”

Inside the room, Lin ShuYi’s muffled voice replied, “Please wait a minute auntie, I’ll be down soon.”

Hearing Lin ShuYi’s reply, Shen Fu’s mom smiled. “Then I’ll wait for the two of you downstairs.”

Shen Fu’s mom turned around and went back downstairs.

Shen Fu closed the door behind her, and as soon as he turned around, he caught Lin ShuYi standing behind him and staring at him. Lin ShuYi’s lips were red, as if someone had bitten and sucked on them, his shirt collar was popped wide open, and his expression looked ravishing.

Looking Lin ShuYi up and down, Shen Fu came to an conclusion as he stepped forward and brushed a finger softly against Lin ShuYi’s lips, murmuring with a hint of laughter in his voice, “Looks like I used too much force, this redness won’t go down for a while. Next time, I’ll be gentler.”

Outraged, Lin ShuYi shot a leg out to kick Shen Fu, only for Shen Fu to catch his ankle and take the opportunity while Lin ShuYi was off balance to pull him against his chest. Shen Fu softly kissed Lin ShuYi’s lower lip, and laughed quietly, “Don’t worry, everyone already knows what’s going on.”

Lin ShuYi grit his teeth. Even cursing Shen Fu out wouldn’t stifle his anger. He should have pushed him away from the beginning!

It took a long while of applying cold water to his lips for some of the redness to fade, and finally Lin ShuYi went downstairs with Shen Fu, only to find everyone already waiting for them. Lin ShuYi felt like he didn’t have the face to look at anyone.

Although Lin ShuYi’s lips were already much better, everyone in the room was an adult and had good eyes. Just as Shen Fu said, with one passing glance, they all understood immediately.

Shen Fu’s mom shot him a scolding glare, before pushing both the cake and the pudding in front of Lin ShuYi. “Xiao Yi, here, eat some pudding before it gets cold.”

“… Thank you, auntie. “Lin ShuYi replied.

Even Shen Yan kept glancing back at Lin ShuYi’s lips, and when his line of sight was blocked by Shen Fu, overflowing with jealousy, he diverted his attention without a care in the world. Taking a cup of pudding, he placed it in front of Shen Fu. “Cool down a bit.”

Shen Fu, “…”

When night fell, Grandfather Shen called Shen Fu and Lin ShuYi into his office, and with heavy emphasis, explained exactly what the two of them should and should not say in the press conference the next day.

Grandfather Shen wanted Shen Fu to rise to the high echelon ranks of the Shen Corporation, so it was necessary to reduce any possible damage this matter might have on Shen Fu’s future to the absolute minimum. In the press conference the next day, not a single mistake could be made.

Then, Grandfather Shen bid the two to sleep early.

Originally, Lin ShuYi was supposed to be located in the guestroom, but Shen Fu insisted Lin ShuYi sleep in his room instead, and that he’ll sleep in the guestroom. He mumbled something about how no one’s stayed in the guestroom for a long time so his room might be more comfortable.

Beside Shen Fu, without an expression on his face, Shen Yan opened his mouth and prepared to tear down Shen Fu’s stage. “You know, a few days ago, Old Man Wen’s grand—”

Shen Fu slapped a hand over Shen Yan’s mouth.

“Grand what?” Lin ShuYi asked as he turned his head back, puzzled.

Shen Fu fake smiled so hard he was about to pull a muscle, saying quickly, “Nothing, it’s nothing, what my brother meant is that Old Man Wen came to stay here a few days back…”

Shen Yan looked at Shen Fu, finally not rebuting him.

Lin ShuYi was still puzzled, and felt that the way Shen Fu was covering his brother’s mouth was very suspicious, but instead he said, “I’m alright with staying in the guestroom.”

Shen Fu’s head was starting to hurt as he glared at his brother, who was always tearing down his stage.

“It’s alright, just sleep in here, goodnight Xiao Yi,” Shen Fu replied, and left quickly, taking his brother with him.

Lin ShuYi was left very confused.

Only after Lin ShuYi was settled and out of sight did Shen Fu stop and glare at his brother, his entire face an annoyed expression. “Old Man Wen’s granddaughter came again?”

Shen Yan nodded.

“If she came than she came, you didn’t need to say it in front of him. Are you really my brother?”

Shen Yan raised an eyebrow at him, and didn’t say anything.

After a moment, Shen Fu gave in. “Yes, alright, fine, you’re really my brother, and this time it was my mistake, I didn’t pay my respects to you the moment I returned, I’ll repay my wrongs after the press conference tomorrow?”

Shen Yan nodded again, satisfied. “She not only returned, but came to our house.”

Truthfully, Shen Fu could already guess the gist of it, “Not only came to our house, but also slept in our guestroom, right?”

The more he said, the more he felt that Shen Yan was intentionally making things hard for him. Although Lin ShuYi had never met Old Man Wen’s granddaughter in person, Shen Fu explained the entire story to him inside and out. If Shen Yan was really his blood and flesh brother, how could he intentionally add fuel to the fire like this?! If Lin ShuYi became jealous, that’ll be the end of him!

Which was why Shen Fu was wondering. Not helping him was fine, but who would sell out their younger brother like this?!

Shen Yan nodded again.

“Then I’m gonna sleep in your room tonight.”

Turning around, Shen Yan began to leave. “Refused.”

With a howl, Shen Fu threw himself against Shen Yan’s back, “Bro, don’t be like this! I don’t want to sleep in a guestroom some strange woman slept in!”

Shen Yan side-eyed him. “So? I want to sleep too. Besides, everything in the room has already been changed.”

Only having found out about Lin ShuYi’s existence after Shen Fu brought him home and was about to marry him, even if Shen Yan didn’t have much of an opinion of his younger brother’s “wife,” he certainly had an opinion of his younger brother. Daring toleavie home for so long, and without even contacting them…

Shen Fu saw through his brother’s thoughts in one glance, and wailed, “Bro, I was wrong! Next time something comes up, I’ll definitely tell you first, I’ll never keep something from you again!”

Shen Yan snorted.

Shen Fu continued to beg for a while, falling just short of abandoning his dignity and rolling on the ground in a tantrum in front of his older brother. Inwardly, Shen Fu was still in middle of rejoicing that Lin ShuYi wasn’t seeing this embarrassing appearance of his, when his brother said cooly, “I lied. Grandpa refused her.”

Shen Fu, “…”

Was he really his fucking brother? Just as he was thinking his skills were pretty good, he played right into Shen Yan’s hand! The truth, however, was that Shen Yan was one hundred percent, inside and out, absolutely an irredeemable bro-con.