RPAGF Chapter 38 Family Dinner at 5 PM
Chapter 38 Family Dinner at 5 PM
Jiang Yan watched the two girls disappear at the end of the corridor before turning and entering the elevator.
Upon reaching the fifth floor, he pushed open the door to his small recording studio and hung his coat on the back of the chair.
Then I sat down at the mixing console, inserted the USB drive, put on my monitoring headphones, and began my work for the day.
The screen displayed a dense array of waveforms. He placed his fingers on the pusher, took a deep breath, and let his melancholy emotions slowly subside with each breath, once again focusing all his attention on the flowing world of colorful light.
For the next period of time, Jiang Yan completely immersed himself in those audio tracks.
Each adjustment is extremely subtle, a difference that ordinary people can't hear even with the best headphones. This is the dividing line between professional and amateur.
Jiang Yan's advantage lies in the fact that he is faster and more accurate than professionals.
When it was noon, Jiang Yan took off his headphones and rubbed his aching ears.
The phone screen lit up briefly; it was a message from Kim Minjung.
A cute little dog emoji followed by the message: "Oppa, I'm having lunch. Remember to eat too, don't forget."
Jiang Yan rubbed his temples and replied with an "okay," his gaze inadvertently sweeping over the light pink gift bag in the corner.
He paused for a moment, then raised his hand and patted his forehead.
Yesterday afternoon, after finishing my work, I went straight to see Choi Sulli. I stayed up so late last night, and when I got home, all I could think about was that gray fog and Kim Minjung's knees. I had completely forgotten about the gift Tiffany had prepared for Minjung.
He placed the gift bag on the table and then checked the time on his phone.
After thinking it over, I realized that the task assigned by Professor Kenzie could be completed before the 26th, based on the current progress. All that was left was the recording for Tiffany's group tomorrow, Monday.
There is plenty of time.
Jiang Yan's gaze slowly fell on the name tag on his chest, then he took a deep breath, flipped to the number he had just spoken to last night, and pressed the dial button.
The dial tone rang three times before the other end answered.
"Oh, not stuffy?"
Choi Sulli's voice came through the receiver, much clearer than last night, sounding like she had just woken up, with a slightly lazy nasal tone.
"It's me." Jiang Yan picked up the pen on the table and twirled it in his hand. "Do you have any plans this afternoon?"
"Afternoon?" There was a rustling sound coming from Sulli's end, like someone was rummaging through something. "Wait a minute... It's Sunday today, and my manager oppa said I could take a day off. What's up? Want to ask me out?"
Hearing her tone, so different from yesterday, Jiang Yan couldn't help but smile: "You could say that, I'm inviting you to my house for dinner. I'll send you the address later."
"Morako? To your house?" Choi Sulli's voice rose half a tone, then fell back down, saying seriously, "Hey, Kang Yeon, what do you take me for, Choi Jin-ri? Someone you can just call anytime?"
"Stop nagging, I'll cook myself." Jiang Yan tossed the pen back onto the table. "Minzheng is going back to Liangshan after practice this afternoon. Since you're free today, I'd like you two to meet first and get to know each other."
"Tch... No wonder you're being so nice. You said you'd treat me to dinner yesterday, but all we did was drink a bottle of wine. I thought you were inviting me this time to make up for yesterday, but it turns out it's to let me meet your precious little sister and then have a meal together."
Jiang Yan's eyelids twitched: "Oh, Cui Zhenli, it was you yesterday..."
"Hey, who are you talking to? I'm your noona!" Choi Sulli interrupted him, suppressing a laugh, then coughed lightly and said, "Fine, I can't be bothered with you. Let's meet then. What time this afternoon?"
Jiang Yan exhaled the breath he had been holding in, pinched the bridge of his nose, and said, "Around 4:30, I'll pick her up after she finishes practicing, and then we'll go home together. Just be there before 5:00. I'll send you the address."
"Okay, I'm looking forward to your cooking. If it's not good, I'll flip the table."
"Okay, I'm hanging up."
After hanging up the phone, Jiang Yan sent his home address to Cui Xueli, then stared blankly at the ceiling.
Today's Choi Jin-ri is a completely different person from yesterday.
Last night in the studio, she spoke very softly, her smile was faint, and every word she uttered was carefully considered. Every expression was restrained, and she seemed to be wrapped in an invisible film.
But in that phone call just now, she would deliberately drag out the last syllable to tease him, she would argue with him with a straight face, she would pretend to dislike him, and she would tease him with a smile.
Jiang Yan ran his fingertips over the cool phone screen, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly.
He certainly knew why Choi Jin-ri had changed so much. One reason was that she finally had a relative she could see often, and the other was that she had absorbed some gray fog last night.
To be honest, he never wanted to experience that suffocating feeling, or watching the light slowly dim, again in his life.
But Jiang Yan was even more afraid that she would turn back into her old self.
Take your time, this can't be rushed. Jiang Yan rubbed his face, picked up his coat, and went out to buy groceries.
Since we're going to cook ourselves, we can't make it too shabby.
There's a high-end supermarket near Apgujeong where things are ridiculously expensive; a small box of Korean beef can cost him three or four days' worth of food.
But Jiang Yan still has a considerable balance in his card, so he is much more confident than before.
He pushed his shopping cart around the shelves, picked out two boxes of Korean beef tenderloin with evenly distributed fat, and also took a bag of sausages and luncheon meat for making army stew.
Several kinds of fresh vegetables, a bag of rice cakes, a bag of ramen, and after searching for a long time in the condiment section, I finally found the brand of chili sauce that Kim Minjung likes.
He paused as he passed the snack section.
What did Choi Jin-ri like to eat when she was a child?
He stood in front of the shelf for a long time, thinking.
Back then at the orphanage, the nannies would occasionally give the children some snacks. Choi Jin-ri would hide her share of snacks and save them to eat slowly, but there was one thing she never hid.
chocolate.
Every time she got a piece of chocolate, she would run to him immediately, break off half and put it in his hand, then eat the other half herself, mumbling "delicious."
Jiang Yan reached out and grabbed two boxes of the most classic chocolates, put them in the shopping cart, and then gave Kim Minjung a bag of cheese potato chips.
After paying, Jiang Yan carried two large bags of groceries out of the supermarket, pondering tonight's menu in his mind.
Army stew is the main dish, along with a plate of grilled Korean beef, spicy stir-fried rice cakes as a side dish, and a cold spinach salad.
When he passed by a fruit stand, he bought some strawberries and mangoes, washed them, and ate them as dessert.
I got home at 1:30.
Jiang Yan sorted the ingredients and put them into the refrigerator. He tied on his apron, rolled up his sleeves, and started simmering the broth for the army stew.
Soybean paste, chili sauce, minced garlic, chili powder, and a little rice water are simmered over low heat until the whole kitchen is filled with a rich aroma of soy sauce.
Next, slice the Korean beef into palatable thin slices and marinate it with pear juice and soy sauce.
Then soak the rice cakes in warm water to soften them, blanch the spinach, cool it, squeeze out the excess water, and mix it with minced garlic, sesame oil, and a little salt.
He performed each step of the process with unhurried pace, focused and meticulous attention to detail.