ALL NOVEL Chapter 42: I Can Eat Spicy Food, Don't Cry
Chapter 42: I Can Eat Spicy Food, Don’t Cry
He remembered what happened in his past life.
After learning Su Ning had used his competition qualification, he became depressed.
Seeing him like this, Chu Hanting didn’t know how to console him. After all, even when asked, Su Mu wouldn’t tell him anything.
So he offered to take him for barbecue, though not at a cheap stand like today.
That day, Su Mu was taken to a five-star hotel, with a world-class chef grilling meat specially for them.
He was troubled then, feeling only resentment toward Chu Hanting, hating him for forcing their marriage, for cutting off his path to education.
He blamed all his life’s misfortunes on Chu Hanting’s appearance.
Now thinking back, it was laughable – it was clearly the Su family’s fault, it was Su Ning who had replaced him, what did it have to do with Chu Hanting?
As for being forced into marriage, now it seemed suspicious too. Perhaps it was all the Su family’s plot. After his recent conversation with Old Master Chu, he felt someone of Old Chu’s status had no reason to lie.
In other words, all his circumstances in his past life were caused by the Su family.
How ridiculous his past self had been, not confronting the true culprits but instead making things difficult for Chu Hanting, always opposing him.
Su Mu wanted to scold his past self: “You can’t talk sense into someone bent on destruction.”
He clearly remembered that day, defiantly sprinkling chili powder everywhere as if venting his anger. When he came to his senses, the grilled meat was completely covered in chili powder, making him frown.
Then he rudely pushed the skewer toward Chu Hanting, saying coldly: “You eat it.”
He couldn’t understand now how he could have been so cruel then, treating Chu Hanting like his punching bag, as if he deserved to be tormented, as if he owed him something.
Chu Hanting watched silently as Su Mu sprinkled the powder, not stopping him, knowing he was in a bad mood, letting him vent like a child.
He was willing to indulge him.
Looking at what was pushed in front of him, it could hardly be called grilled meat anymore – just a red skewer with a thick layer of chili powder, looking terrifyingly spicy.
“Why aren’t you eating? If you won’t eat it, forget it, I’m leaving.” Su Mu frowned, being completely unreasonable and extremely impatient.
Sensing Su Mu’s abnormal mood, Chu Hanting silently sighed, took the skewer, and ate it all in one go.
The massive amount of chili powder burned his throat, his esophagus felt like it was on fire, and even his stomach began to cramp.
But he endured it without showing any discomfort.
When Su Mu saw him actually eat it, a flash of guilt crossed his mind, but was quickly overwhelmed by anger again.
If he likes eating it, let him eat. What’s it to me? Maybe he just likes spicy food!
“Su Mu, you shouldn’t feel sorry for someone who hurt you.”
Even more excessive was that he kept stringing together more and more skewers, each time coating them fully with chili powder, and forcing them on Chu Hanting. The other party not only didn’t refuse, but would eat one skewer for every one Su Mu ate, until the man quietly suppressed his cough, only then did he show mercy.
Thinking of this, tears suddenly dropped down his face. Su Mu hung his head dejectedly, wiping his tears with the back of his hand.
Sitting across from him, Chu Hanting had been watching Su Mu closely. After Su Mu asked his question and suddenly became dejected, after a while, he broke down crying. His heart tightened – what was wrong?
Remembering Su Mu’s question, he quickly answered, “I can handle spicy food, don’t cry.”
However, this response only made things worse – Su Mu cried even harder.
When Chu Hanting said he could handle spicy food, it pushed Su Mu’s guilt to its peak. His tears wouldn’t stop. He didn’t want to cry, but thinking about his Ah Ting made his heart ache, like someone was gripping his chest until he couldn’t breathe.
More memories flooded Su Mu’s mind. He had specially learned to cook for that unfaithful man, burning his fingers countless times until he mastered it. That man loved spicy food, so he made spicy dishes for him. But all his efforts were just a joke in that unfaithful man’s eyes.
Whenever he suffered grievances and anger from that unfaithful man, he would come back in a rage, and somehow, all the dishes he made would end up in Chu Hanting’s stomach. Only after watching Chu Hanting finish eating would his anger seem to subside.
But later, he once overheard Liu Yu talking to Chu Hanting, advising him to stop eating spicy food, saying that long-term consumption of overly spicy food had already damaged his stomach lining.
He saw Chu Hanting give a bitter smile and reply, “If I don’t eat it, the little one will be sad. He put his heart into making these dishes, how could I throw them away?”
“Disgusting,” he had thought after hearing this, and walked away feeling only revulsion.
Liu Yu glanced at the door crack, “Is it necessary? To torture yourself like this, for a heart that won’t warm up to you?”
Chu Hanting’s eyes deepened as he replied to Liu Yu with just one sentence: “That’s because you haven’t met someone you’d be willing to give everything for.”
Even though Su Mu had heard that conversation, he acted as if he never knew, and continued giving Chu Hanting the spicy dishes that the unfaithful man had rejected. Moreover, watching him finish eating gave him a sense of vengeful satisfaction.
Now at the barbecue stall’s small table
“Tap tap tap”
Su Mu’s tears made a wet spot on the table.
He remembered how in his previous life, Chu Hanting had willingly eaten these stomach-damaging foods just to avoid making him sad and to satisfy his need for vengeance. His heart felt like it was being twisted by a knife.
Chu Hanting didn’t understand why Su Mu was crying so sorrowfully, but he felt his own heart aching in response. He pulled out some tissues from the box and handed them to Su Mu, saying, “Don’t cry. Tell me what’s wrong.”
Su Mu sniffled softly, reaching for the tissues, and while wiping his tears said, “No more spicy food. We won’t eat spicy food anymore.”
“Alright, alright, whatever you say. We’ll eat it if you want to, and we won’t if you don’t. I’ll do anything as long as you stop being sad.”
The gentle, deep voice soothed Su Mu. Hearing these words, Su Mu felt that the current Chu Hanting overlapped for a moment with the Chu Hanting from his previous life – both equally foolish.
He lifted his tear-stained face, laughing through his tears, “Why are you so obedient! What if I poisoned you?”
Hearing this, Chu Hanting knew Su Mu was finally emerging from his sadness, and patiently coaxed, “I’d eat it even if it was poisoned. Besides, you wouldn’t poison me.”
Su Mu laughed at his words and playfully scolded, “Fool.”
Chu Hanting just smiled without speaking – if being called a fool meant the other would stop crying, then so be it.
Finally, after composing himself, Su Mu ordered lots of grilled meat, some grilled vegetables, and circled two bottles of beer on the menu.
Though he’d finished crying, his eyes were still red, and with Chu Hanting constantly watching him, Su Mu suddenly felt embarrassed. Having shown such an embarrassing scene, he lowered his head even more.
On this spring evening, sitting outside was comfortable with the cool breeze that perfectly dispersed the heat from the barbecue. While waiting, they could hear the sizzling sound of grilling meat mixed with the voices of other customers.
Whether it was from the heat of the barbecue stall or from embarrassment, Su Mu’s cheeks were flushed red. He kept his head down, nervously fidgeting with his hands under the table.