Can following the rules be called rebirth?

Chapter 226, Section 224: Genes
As night falls, Optics Valley Square remains bustling and crowded.

"What to eat?"

"Hmm, either way is fine. How about we just pick any store to open blind boxes?"

Gu Caiwei skipped along, a slight smile playing on her lips.

"also."

Today is a completely random day.

Dating activities were random, places to visit were random, and no one even made reservations for restaurants in advance.

Fortunately, there are quite a few delicious foods in the Optics Valley area.

They hadn't walked very far when they reached a consensus on which restaurant to choose.

Hot pot is a must in winter!

A piping hot and spicy hot pot.

Deep within the pedestrian street of Optics Valley World City, there is a hot pot restaurant with a prominent sign called Chaotianmen.

Pushing open the heavy glass door, a pungent aroma, a mixture of butter, chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, and various spices, surged forth as if it were real, instantly enveloping the two of them.

"This way, you two, please!"

A friendly waiter from the Sichuan Conservatory of Music came over to greet them and led Gu Caiwei and Zhou Mingyuan to a semi-open booth.

The hustle and bustle of people, the bubbling of the pot, and the clinking of cups and plates all blend together to create a vibrant and lively atmosphere.

The interior lighting is dim and predominantly warm-toned, with wooden tables and chairs arranged closely together. Orange pendant lights hang above the tables, casting a soft glow on the white steam rising from the hot pot.

"It smells so good~~~"

The two were seated towards the back, next to a red brick wall decorated with Sichuan opera masks and strings of chili peppers.

Zhou Mingyuan naturally took the coat that Gu Caiwei had taken off, folded it together with his own, and hung it on the other side.

"Come and check out the menu!"

Wearing only a cashmere sweater, Gu Caiwei grabbed the menu, crossed her wrists, and the warm light made her skin appear even whiter, her eyes brimming with happiness.

"Hey, would you like a hot pot with two broths, one in each compartment?"

Gu Caiwei pushed the gold-embossed menu in front of the man, her gaze falling on his face.

Who wants a hot pot with two separate broths?

Zhou Mingyuan smiled and waved his hand: "I'll have the spicy hot pot base."

"Little Lychee isn't here again. What, you can't eat spicy food today either?"

"No! I can handle spicy food very well! I was just worried that you might not be able to handle it."

Gu Caiwei puffed out her small chest, and her soft, sweet voice rang in his ear.

"Okay, okay, thank you for considering me~"

Zhou Mingyuan smiled as he flipped through the menu and waved to the waiter.

"One medium-spicy red oil hot pot base, one serving of freshly sliced ​​beef tenderloin, one serving of premium tripe, one serving of duck intestines, one serving of beef aorta, dried bamboo shoots, green bamboo shoots, lotus root slices, frozen tofu, plus one serving of brown sugar glutinous rice cakes, and two bottles of Wei Yi soy milk."

The ordering style is straightforward and efficient, featuring only classic Sichuan hot pot ingredients.

Actually, this was the first time the two of them had eaten hot pot alone.

Eating hot pot may sound simple, but it can actually create a subtle and ambiguous atmosphere when people first meet or are breaking the ice, making it a perfect answer.

First and foremost, the most crucial element is that the two people eat from the same large pot.

Break down boundaries and build intimate connections.

Unlike Western and Japanese cuisine, which features individual servings, and unlike most Chinese restaurants where each person orders their own food, hot pot involves everyone sharing food from the same boiling pot.

This in itself is a form of sharing, which subtly breaks down the boundaries between us and implies a certain degree of intimacy and sharing.

Secondly, eating hot pot is not about passively waiting for the food to be served, but about working together.

Boil pork, scoop out greens, prepare dipping sauce, and savor the cooking time.

This interactive process can naturally generate communication and collaboration, which is more effective in bringing people closer than eating quietly by themselves.

At the same time, hot pot restaurants naturally have a more lively and authentic feel.

This kind of environment makes people feel more relaxed and down-to-earth, unlike in a high-end restaurant where you have to be aloof all the time.

In a relatively relaxed state, people are more likely to show their true selves and are more likely to accept the authenticity of others.

Just like now.

"Come here, come here, sit on my side."

"It's downwind across the street, so it'll be very choking. Be careful, you might start sneezing and getting a runny nose before you even start eating."

While offering a gentle reminder, Zhou Mingyuan picked up the teapot on the table and rinsed the two people's bowls and chopsticks with boiling water, his movements extremely smooth.

Soon, the heavy copper pot was brought out.

The bottom of the pot was solidified, covered with a thick layer of glossy butter, dotted with a dense array of dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns, with a few scallion segments and ginger slices floating among them.

A typical Sichuan and Chongqing hot pot presentation.

The waiter poured in the boiling broth, and with a sizzle, the solidified butter melted instantly, and the bright red broth began to boil and churn. Countless chilies and Sichuan peppercorns floated and swirled in the hot red oil, releasing a domineering and intense aroma.

He's still so thoughtful.

Upon smelling the pungent aroma, Gu Caiwei instinctively squinted, feeling a slight itch in her nasal cavity.

Immediately afterwards, the waiter brought out a variety of neatly arranged dishes.

"Let's get started!"

"one two three"

Zhou Mingyuan picked up his long chopsticks, smiled, and picked up a piece of tripe. In the hottest part of the boiling red oil pot, he lightly flicked his wrist a few times.

The tripe instantly changed color and curled up, covered in a bright red sheen of oil.

What are you muttering to yourself?

Gu Caiwei was reaching for the beef with her chopsticks when she turned her head slightly and looked at Zhou Mingyuan with curiosity.

"I'm counting the number of times. Do you know the formula for tripe? It's seven up and eight down."

He deftly picked it up, without dipping it in the oil dish in front of him, and put it directly into the bowl in front of Gu Caiwei.

"Is it cooked through? What kind of weird way of eating it is this?"

These days, there aren't any short video apps, and there aren't many people from Sichuan and Chongqing making videos to teach how to eat hot pot.

Gu Caiwei giggled. Although she had never heard of this before, she happily accepted the piece of tripe.

"I'll try it!"

The spiciness and aroma stimulated her senses relentlessly.

She picked up the tripe, carefully blew on it, and then put it in her mouth.

"hiss"

A pair of bright, almond-shaped eyes widened instantly.

Medium spicy, medium spicy is actually quite spicy!
A sensation of rich butter and sharp chili peppers explodes on the tongue.

The numbing sensation of Sichuan peppercorns is like a tiny electric current coursing through the entire mouth.

Fresh, fragrant, painful, numb.

All the intense flavors and sensory stimulation came rushing in like a tidal wave.

"It's so spicy!"

She stuck out her tongue, which was red from the spiciness, fanned her mouth with her hand, and looked at Zhou Mingyuan with teary eyes, her voice seemingly changing from soft to fiery.

His bold words were shattered in an instant.

I know I can only handle mild spice, I should have stopped Zhou Mingyuan!

The man looked at her disheveled yet adorable appearance, and a clear smile appeared in his eyes.

He unscrewed the cap of the cool Wei Yi soy milk bottle and held it directly to her lips.

"Drink this quickly, it will relieve the spiciness."

"."

Gu Caiwei didn't care about her image anymore, took the bottle and took a big gulp.

It really is.

The sweet liquid with the aroma of soybeans slowly slid down my burning throat, bringing a comforting sense of salvation.

"Whoo~~~"

The girl rubbed the tears welling up in her eyes and sighed contentedly.

"Isn't medium spicy great?"

Zhou Mingyuan looked at her lips, which were red and full from the spiciness, and her moist eyes, his voice carrying a hint of teasing.

"Mmm," Gu Caiwei protested indistinctly, her mouth full of soy milk, both embarrassed and annoyed.

"When I eat hot pot with Xiaolizhi, we either order a half-and-half pot, where I eat the mild broth and she eats the clear broth; or I accompany her to challenge herself and we eat the mild broth together."

"This is the first time in my life I've ever eaten medium spicy food! Oh my god, who knew it would be this spicy!"

She put down her soy milk and watched as Zhou Mingyuan calmly picked up a piece of tripe, dipped it in the hot oil several times, and then put it into his mouth without changing his expression, chewing it slowly and deliberately.

snort!
Gu Caiwei pouted, staring at the man's effortless demeanor, her heart filled with resentment.

She took a deep breath and picked up her chopsticks again.

This time, however, she learned her lesson.

Instead of eating it directly, I picked up the meat, dipped it in the prepared oil sauce, and let the sesame oil slightly neutralize the spiciness.

Upon taking another bite, the burning sensation was still intense, but with the sesame oil as a buffer and the previous preheating, it seemed slightly more bearable.

The tenderness of the beef and the complex aroma of the broth, combined with the spiciness and numbing sensation, create a unique and exhilarating experience.

"Wow, this is delicious."

"Huhuhu~"

She frowned slightly, taking small bites of her food. Fine beads of sweat appeared on her nose, her cheeks were already flushed, and her starry eyes were misty and dreamy.

The bittersweet experience must be the true essence of eating hot pot!

"Here, this one's cooked, here you go."

"This one is cooked too."

Zhou Mingyuan picked up his long chopsticks and kept putting the blanched tripe, the crisp and tender yellow throat, and the frozen tofu soaked in broth into her bowl.

"Duck intestines! Duck intestines!"

In this kind of interaction, feeding each other quietly became a natural thing.

Zhou Mingyuan picked up a piece of duck intestine that was slightly curled from being hot, but instead of putting it in her bowl, he held it in mid-air, gesturing with his eyes.

"Come here~"

Gu Caiwei was a little dazed from the spiciness, and subconsciously leaned forward and moved closer.

A docile posture waiting to be fed.

Under the warm orange light, the rising white mist blurred the noisy background.

The Shanghai heiress had no idea how lethal her action was in the eyes of men.

She tilted her head slightly, her peach blossom eyes, glistening with anticipation from the spiciness, and her rosy lips parted gently, like a charming rose awaiting the sweet rain.

Zhou Mingyuan's hand holding the chopsticks stopped in mid-air, and with his other hand he pretended to support the bottom, he picked up the duck intestines and fed it to Zhou Mingyuan.

Although it only took a few seconds, it wasn't until Gu Caiwei instinctively took the crisp and tender duck intestines into her mouth that she realized how ambiguous things had just happened.

"Okay, I'll eat it myself!"

"I don't want you to feed me."

Gu Caiwei felt as if her voice was about to melt.

Melted in the bubbling, boiling hot pot bubbles.

Especially the last four words, which made one's cheeks burn with embarrassment.

Fortunately, we ate hot pot; thank goodness we ate hot pot.

Eating hot pot can cover up any blushing, and it doesn't matter if your heart beats fast.

It's all because the air is too hot, the ingredients are too Sichuan and Chongqing style, and the spiciness is too high and too intense!

She could even clearly feel that when Zhou Mingyuan withdrew his chopsticks, he lightly touched the edge of her lower lip.

The tingling sensation left by touching it is like being gently brushed by a feather.

The pot was still boiling, the red oil was bubbling, and the chili peppers were floating, filling the seats with an enticing aroma.

The atmosphere became thick and subtle.

"Medium spicy does taste better than mild spicy!"

Gu Caiwei sipped her iced soy milk and quickly tried to start a conversation.

"You got used to it so quickly?"

Zhou Mingyuan asked with a smile.

"Of course!"

Gu Caiwei nodded: "I'll tell you~"

“When Li Zhi and I were little, her mother and my mother took us to have our gene sequences tested.”

"It is said that I have 5% Sichuan and Chongqing blood in my ancestors, but she has none at all, so I may be better at eating spicy food."

"Pfft, hahaha."

Zhou Mingyuan couldn't help but chuckle and grinned.

"Keep your voice down. Don't say you have this bloodline when you go out, people will laugh at you."

"This is the first time I've realized how cute you are when you're being stubborn."

"I hate you!"

Gu Caiwei rolled her eyes at him.

"But speaking of this, I'm quite curious."

Zhou Mingyuan smiled and focused on cooking the vegetables, his movements seeming to slow down as he served them to Gu Caiwei while talking to her.

He picked up the blanched dried bamboo shoots and placed them over.

"What are you curious about?"

When they were sequencing your genes, did they say that you're full of natural talent?

The man's voice wasn't loud, but it sounded exceptionally clear amidst the noise.

"what?"

Gu Caiwei blinked.

What is a talent gene?

"High crown, head covering the face, dimples, voluminous hair, captivating eyes, and an amazing body proportion that looks fantastic even without much exercise."

Zhou Mingyuan knew everything about her, a smile playing on his lips as he looked Gu Caiwei up and down with a serious expression.

Did the staff tell the auntie that she would grow up to be a super beauty?

"Hahahaha"

Gu Caiwei never expected that the follow-up to those words would be a compliment to her.

She laughed out loud halfway through her meal of dried gongcai (a type of dried vegetable).

"Cough cough."

But such emotional stimulation caused an extremely sharp burning sensation to suddenly descend deep into the throat.

She coughed violently amidst her laughter, and tears streamed down her face without warning.

She covered her mouth, coughing so hard she bent over, her cheeks flushed red, and her shoulders trembling uncontrollably.

"Ahem. You're teasing me again."

She choked so badly she could barely speak, feeling as if her throat was on fire and desperately needing something cool to soothe her.

"Okay, okay, I won't say anything anymore."

A large hand immediately touched her back and patted her gently a few times.

At the same time, the cool mouth of the soy milk bottle was pressed against her lips again.

A dozen seconds later, Gu Caiwei's cough gradually subsided.

The girl's nose was red, her eyes were filled with tears, and her eyelashes fluttered, appearing exceptionally long and thick.

Actually, no.

Gu Caiwei finally caught her breath, let out a long sigh, pulled out a tissue from the side, and wiped her lips.

"We were all very young then, who dared to say that we would definitely become more beautiful in the future?"

"But the small lychee is a little different."

"She looks exactly the same as she did when she was a child. The saying 'a girl changes drastically as she grows up' doesn't apply to her at all."

"real or fake?"

Zhou Mingyuan's eyes lit up: "I don't believe it."

"Wait a minute, let me find you some photos."

(End of this chapter)