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The sun had just risen, its light passing through the grey clouds and reflecting on the stony sidewalk and entering through the big glass windows of the chocolate shop and illuminating the interior, the wooden floor and the shelves full of different types of chocolates, making the shop seem cosy and warm. The sweet scent of hot chocolate made its way through the shop and outside, tempting whoever that passed on the streets, to come in and have a taste.
Inside the shop, a smiling young man hummed as he carried a tray full of chocolate cups, filled with melted mint chocolate and sprinkled cinnamon on top. He put down the tray on the balcony and started to place the chocolate cups inside small transparent boxes. After finishing it, he went over and placed some of them behind one of the glass windows, drawing the curtain open then walking over to the other window and doing the same before going to the glass door and turning the plaque that hung there to the other side.
And just like that, with the sweet smell of fresh mint chocolate, the day started at ‘Peppermint Chocolaterie.’
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Wei Ying absentmindedly hummed as he sipped his hot chocolate and flipped over the page of the book he’s currently reading. So far, it had been a quiet morning, and it was pleasant. The weather was nice too, the sky was clouded but the sunlight still found its way through the gaps, creating a nice and pretty hue inside the shop.
Other than the elderly woman who often comes by, there were no customers, Wen Yuan was probably with Lan Jingyi, since it was the end of the week and Wei Ying had given him the day off, Jiang Cheng was busy at the studio and Lan Zhan had gone to another city for an important meeting, which meant... loneliness.
With a sigh, Wei Ying closed the book without bothering to put on a bookmark, he wasn’t paying attention to it anyway. He felt bored. No Wen Yuan and Lan Jingyi to talk to, no Jiang Cheng to annoy and no Lan Zhan to hug. Sigh.
He thought about inventing a new chocolate recipe, but no ideas came to mind. He had already arranged and re-arranged the shelves, started reading a book, but still, time didn’t seem to pass. Ah, and to think that was his life before. He had gotten so used to always having people around him that now that he was all by himself, he couldn’t help but find it strange.
He took Pepper in his arms and started playing with her on his lap.
‘Maybe I could call Lan Zhan...? No, no, he must be too busy right now.’
“Hey, Pepper, not my sleeves,” Wei Ying giggled, “ah, such a naughty bunny.”
Just then, the door was opened and a man entered the shop smiling.
“Welcome –ah! Huan-gege!” Wei Ying beamed.
“Hello, A-Ying,” Lan Huan smiled, approaching the balcony, “and Pepper.”
“Huan-gege, what are you doing here? I thought you were with Lan Zhan?” Wei Ying put Pepper down on her cage, “Is the meeting already over? Is Lan Zhan back?”
“No, A-Zhan is still busy. I had some work to do here so I stayed this time.”
Wei Ying pouted, barely managing to conceal his disappointment.
“Then, how can I be of help?”
“This, erm...” Lan Huan hesitated a bit before continuing, “are you busy?”
“Huh?” Wei Ying was confused, “well, there are no customers right now...”
“Then, please help me.”
For a second Wei Ying was surprised. Lan Huan, the chairman of Gusu Lan Company, coming to him because he needed help? But his astonishment faded just as it came upon seeing the look of almost despair on his brother-in-law's face. It wasn’t that strange, people coming for him to help, he was a very good advice-giver after all!
“I need a lemon pie!”
He giggled inwards, Jiang Cheng once came to his shop just like this, blankly stating that he ‘needed chocolate.’
“Well, I can cook one for you.”
“No, I meant I needed help to make it.”
Wei Ying was speechless. “Okay, I can teach you, but, Huan-gege, isn’t it easier to just buy one?”
“Well, I actually promised A-Cheng I'd make one for him, but the truth is, I'm terrible at making desserts and sweet things,” he sighed, embarrassed, “I actually tried to make it at home, but when Jingyi tasted it he said ‘Do you want to have Cheng-gege's heart or hate?’ Ah, can you believe it?”
Wei Ying chuckled, “All right! All right! I’ll help Huan-gege make the best, most delicious lemon pie ever!”
“Thank you.”
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“Okay! Let’s see if we have all the ingredients!” Wei Ying exclaimed, handing one apron to Lan Huan, “Lemon juice?”
“We have.”
“Condensed milk?”
“Yes.”
“Butter?”
“Just a little.”
“Sour cream?”
“No.”
“Enough flour?”
“No.”
Wei Ying pouted, “Seems like we’ll have to make a small trip to the market!”
Just as he finished speaking, a loud thunder sounded and heavy rain instantly started pouring down, tapping on the window of the kitchen.
“Or maybe not!!” Wei Ying lifted both his hands up.
Lan Huan sighed, “What are we to do now?”
“No worries, Huan-gege! You’re in the presence of the best chocolate maker! I can guarantee you; you will not go home without your lemon pie.”
“But do we have enough ingredients?”
Wei Ying sheepishly smiled. He forgot to check his ingredients and buy them. Again. Ah, this bad memory of his.
“Let’s do another recipe then! I’ll see what we have and what we can do!”
“Do you have another lemon pie recipe?” Lan Huan asked.
“No! I’ll just create one! Let’s see...”
Ah, Lan Huan had a complicated expression. He looked at the rain falling outside the window and sighed. At this bad weather, there was no way they could go out. A-Cheng, see what you’re doing to me...
Jiang Cheng giggled, “I’ll keep it in mind then, Lan Huan. Though... I'm still not sure you’ve proven yourself enough...”
“What is it A-Cheng? I’ll do anything!” Lan Huan looked up.
“Anything?” Jiang Cheng grinned at him again, but this time Lan Huan was a little afraid of what would leave that pretty mouth.
Still, he gulped, “Anything, A-Cheng.”
“Then, I want the lemon pie we had today. I don’t like sweets, but it was delicious. Such a shame, Wei Ying managed to smash it before I could eat more of it.”
“One condition, though,” Jiang Cheng continued, a mischievous glint in his eyes, “I want it to be homemade by my beautiful lover!”
Lan Huan didn’t know how to react other just accept his fate. The task seemed easier in his mind at the time. Ah, A-Cheng.
“Okay, I know!” Wei Ying beamed, putting lots of different ingredients on the countertop. “I’ll teach you how to make Wei Ying’s newest recipe; Chocolate Lemon Blueberry spicy pie!”
“Chocolate lemon, blueberry... spicy? Pie?”
Wei Ying nodded, a big smile gracing his lips. “I just came up with the name. Good right?” he giggled.
Lan Huan nodded. He just hopped Wei Ying’s new recipe to be better than the name, but, ah, who was he judging? The situation called for drastic measures.
“Okay!” Wei Ying clapped both his hands together, “Let’s begin! Huan-gege, you start by doing the crust.”
“Right!” Lan Huan nodded, then paused. “How to?”
Wei Ying giggled, “Come, I'll teach you.”
After turning on the oven to preheat, Wei Ying gave Lan Huan a bowl and a hand mixer before started picking the needed ingredients.
“Half a cup of sugar, two and a half cups of flour and a quarter tablespoon of baking powder. Mix them well, then we can add the eggs, butter and the sour cream.”
Since they didn’t have enough flour nor butter and the sour cream was missing, Wei Ying had to find substitutes for them while Lan Huan whisked the dry ingredients first.
For the flour, they could use rice flour. Wei Ying had bought it weeks ago to try a recipe of cornmeal scones but never actually used it. Well, this came in hand now. They could use all the butter left, should be enough. As for the sour cream, that would be a little more difficult. Wei Ying tried to think over what he could use to replace the sour cream. It had to be something that had a similar taste so as not to alter the taste of the pie after finished. He couldn’t leave the pie without it either, a lemon pie without sour cream wasn’t a lemon pie at all!
Wei Ying hummed. Maybe... he rummaged through all the shelves and cabinets, searching for something that could equal the sour cream. Ah, buttermilk!
“Huan-gege, here!” Wei Ying swiftly turned around and threw the package at him.
“Buttermilk?”
“Yes! You see, we don’t have sour cream, so buttermilk should do just fine!”
“Have you used it instead of sour cream before?”
“No. This will be the first time! Cool, right?”
“I guess.”
Lan Huan poured the buttermilk together with the mixture of sugar, flour, butter and eggs. After mixing everything and letting it chill, Lan Huan placed it on the pie pan, letting some of the crust overhang per Wei Ying’s instructions, then he started to crimp the side with a fork. He saw Wei Ying putting in a bit of pepper but decided against mentioning it. Then he came over and put on a parchment paper on it and then put it to bake.
“Well done, Huan-gege!” Wei Ying smiled and gave him a thumbs up.
“Thanks, A-Ying,” Lan Huan smiled back.
“It should take about forty to forty-five minutes to bake, but remember to keep watch of it.”
“Right,” Lan Huan nodded.
“Now let’s start with the filling! I have a few ideas on how to make it unique! But we have to double the ingredients.”
‘Unique’ apparently meant mixing whipping cream and sugar with cream cheese and lemon juice and zest and... pepper?! Again?
“Ah-Ying, do lemon pies usually use pepper?” Lan Huan carefully watched as Wei Ying put in the pepper into the bowl he was holding.
“They don’t, but Huan-gege, remember,” Wei Ying looked up and winked at him, “this isn’t any lemon pie. This is Wei Ying’s Chocolate Lemon Blueberry Spicy Pie! Jiang Cheng likes spicy food anyway.”
“So according to the logic, there’s still the chocolate and blueberry to go?”
Wei Ying giggled, “Ah Huan-gege see! You already got the hang of it! Ha-ha!”
“Yeah...” Lan Huan just hopped it would taste good.
“Okay. While I do the chocolate part, Huan-gege will do the blueberry part.”
Wei Ying gave him a recipe for the blueberry topping and started cooking the chocolate. While Lan Huan stirred all the ingredients on the stove, he saw Wei Ying adding cinnamon and, ah, pepper again? To the melted chocolate.
He couldn’t help but ask, “A-Ying, since when do you cook? You seem to have a lot of chocolate knowledge, I wouldn’t think of doing half the things we’ve done so far.”
“Ah, Huan-gege flatters me. My mother also had a chocolate shop, so I grew up cooking with her. Though my parents died early, they left me their shop and my mother's recipe notebook.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“I noticed that most of my mother’s recipe were pretty popular, the only problem was that more chocolate shops started to open and I lost customers,” he continued, putting the melted chocolate in a bowl, “that's why I decided to create some. It became quite popular before I decided to move here!”
Wei Ying took part of the lemon filling and mixed it with the melted chocolate, then letting it chill and sat at the counter, while Lan Huan let the blueberry topping to simmer and then also took a seat.
“Then, why did you move?”
“I don’t know. I wanted to have new experiences, to see different people and help them. After all, chocolate is the cure for anything!” he laughed.
“I guess so,” Lan Huan giggled, “chocolate can really make people happier. Jingyi jumps with excitement whenever he comes here.”
“Ha-Ha! Jingyi is a very joyful boy, it’s always fun when he’s around. Both he and A-Yuan have lots of fun.”
“I can imagine. Not a day passes by when Jingyi doesn’t mention A-Yuan,” Lan Huan could almost roll his eyes at it. “But sometimes I worry for him. The world is not the way he thinks it to be.”
“Aiyah, I’m sure he’ll be fine, Huan-gege! Also, they’re so young, it’s cute!” Wei Ying laughed, “and I can see that you’re the same with Jiang Cheng, he must have taken after his father!”
“Or maybe his uncle,” Lan Huan grinned, “A-Zhan isn’t much different. He and Jingyi could spend hours talking about the shop, I bet.”
“Ah, Huan-gege, stop!” Wei Ying tried to cover his red face with his hands, the cool ring metal against his warm cheek. Just the thought of Lan Zhan was enough to make him feel giddy and his heart beat faster.
The rain had already become a light drizzle, the sun already appearing again.
“But I can see that A-Zhan is much happier now,” he continued, “so I have to thank you for that.”
“Ah, Huan-gege, stop that, otherwise your brother will marry a melted Wei Ying!”
Lan Huan gleefully laughed, “Okay, okay.”
After taking the blueberry topping out of the stove, Lan Huan let it to cool.
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While they waited for the crust to finish baking and the topping and filling to cool, Wei Ying took Pepper so Lan Huan could pet her.
While Lan Huan fed Pepper her favourite snacks, Wei Ying started to write down this recipe on his notebook, making sure to write a copy for Lan Huan as well.
After taking the crust out of the oven and waiting for it to cool a little, Lan Huan helped Wei Ying to tidy up the mess they made while cooking. While at it, Wei Ying started to write down everything that was missing so he wouldn’t forget to buy them later.
“Huan-gege, now let’s add everything in and taste it!”
“Right.”
Upon Wei Ying’s instructions, Lan Huan placed the pie pan on top of the counter and took the chocolate lemon filling, pouring it into the crust, then taking the lemon filling and pouring it on top of the chocolate. Wei Ying gave him the blueberry sauce and Lan Huan added it on top of the pie. Then, Wei Ying put in a little of lemon zest around the blueberry.
“Done!” Wei Ying exclaimed. He made sure to take a picture before cutting one piece and giving it to Lan Huan and cutting one for himself, “ready?”
Lan Huan gulped and nodded. Took a bite at the same time Wei Ying did.
“It’s... good?” Lan Huan blinked.
It was a bit spicy, as the name suggested, but the sour lemon and the sweet chocolate actually made a good combination. The chocolate lemon filling had cinnamon, and it mixed well with the spice. The blueberry added to it too so although it was spicy it still tasted good and wasn’t weird. Bittersweet and tasty.
“Of course it is!” Wei Ying laughed, “why are you that surprised?”
“I tried to make a simple lemon pie and failed miserably while you just improvised and cooked the best lemon pie I've tasted.”
“Ha-ha! Huan-gege, don’t forget, you’re the one who did it! I was just here to help a little!” he winked at him. “So, do you think this new recipe is approved?”
“I do. You should add it to the menu of the shop. The Chocolate Lemon Blueberry Spicy Pie will be the new sensation.”
Wei Ying laughed delighted, “If Huan-gege says so!”
“There’s still a bit of the chocolate left, what are you going to do with it?”
“Ah, I can just make some kind of lemon chocolate mousse with it!”
“Did you just invent a new recipe on your mind?”
“You bet I did!”
They both laughed.
Wei Ying cut the pie in pieces and taught Lan Huan how to put the pieces in the plastic boxes. Lan Huan thought something was missing, so he added a purple ribbon on top of the box.
“Huan-gege, you’re already a professional! Come work with me!”
Lan Huan gave him a laugh, “I’ll pass. Today was good though.”
“I enjoyed it too,” Wei Ying grinned, “bonding time with my in-law!”
“Ha-ha, well, there’s uncle next.”
“Ah-ah, I think I'll pass it this time.”
Lan Huan chuckled.
Wei Ying placed three pieces inside a pretty green paper bag and gave it to Lan Huan, as well as his copy of the recipe.
“Thank you, A-Ying,” Lan Huan smiled at him, “let me treat you to lunch sometime, as thanks for today.”
“Huan-gege, you’re too polite, there’s no need to!”
Wei Ying waved as Lan Huan walked out of the shop. He turned around and put the rest of the pieces inside the plastic boxes, adding a ribbon like Lan Huan did. He thought he could give them to A-Yuan and Lan Zhan later.
Just then, the door opened and when Wei Ying turned to look at the new customer, he saw Lan Zhan walking in, with his graceful steps and honey-coloured eyes filled with tenderness.
“Wei Ying.”
“Lan Zhan!!!”
Wei Ying all but jumped at his fiancé's open arms, which instantly trapped him in a tight, warm hug.
“Lan Zhan! I missed you so much!” Wei Ying whined in Lan Zhan’s neck.
“I missed Wei Ying too,” Lan Zhan leaned down and gently kissed his temple before caressing his hair, “you could’ve called.”
“But I thought you were busy! Also, weren’t you supposed to be there the whole day?”
“Thanks to uncle the meeting ended early. I came back to have lunch with you, I figured you haven’t eaten yet.”
Wei Ying mentally thanked Lan Zhan’s old shufu then looked at the clock on the wall and realized it was past lunchtime already. His belly grumbled.
“Lan Zhan, I'm so hungry! Thankfully I have the best fiancé in the world!”
Lan Zhan smiled lightly, “I ordered lunch on the way here, let’s eat.”
Only then did Wei Ying realize Lan Zhan was holding a plastic bag. He smiled and stood on his tip-toes and kissed Lan Zhan’s lips. The kiss was immediately reciprocated.
After parting, Wei Ying guided Lan Zhan to the kitchen with a last peck on his cheeks while holding his hand.
“I met brother outside.”
“Yeah, Huan-gege came here wanting me to teach him how to make a lemon pie,” he said as he took out all the food Lan Zhan brought and placed them on the balcony.
Lan Zhan raised an eyebrow.
“Brother doesn’t cook deserts. He’s not very good at it.”
“Yeah, I realized,” Wei Ying snorted, “It was for Jiang Cheng. Ah, but we ran out of ingredients so I had to improvise!”
“Did you forget to go to the market?” Lan Zhan fondly.
“Maybe...” Wei Ying brushed his nose, “ah, do you want to taste it?”
Lan Zhan glanced at the open notebook while Wei Ying gave him the plastic box with one piece of pie inside it.
“Chocolate Lemon Blueberry Spicy Pie,” he read.
“What do you think of the name? I came up with it!”
“It’s great, Wei Ying has good taste. It looks appetizing.”
Wei Ying giggled, cheeks dusted pink. “We can have it after lunch.”
“Mn.”
Lan Zhan took Wei Ying’s hand in his as they started to eat, fingers brushing against the engagement ring on Wei Ying’s finger. An equally pretty ring adorned his own finger, and under the light coming from the windows, both bands glinted.
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Lan Huan took a deep sigh as he parked his car in front of Jiang Cheng’s studio. He just texted Jiang Cheng and the latter said he was free.
He stepped out of the car and entered the studio. Jiang Cheng was upstairs, waiting for Lan Huan. The second floor was where he liked to rest, Lan Huan knew it so he went straight upstairs.
“A-Cheng, I'm here.”
“A-Huan,” Jiang Cheng greeted him with a gentle smile. He was sitting on his favourite sofa chair by the coffee table. The smell of dumplings and noodles made its way to Lan Huan’s nose.
Lan Huan walked towards him, receiving a light kiss on his lips before sitting on the chair next to his boyfriend, putting the paper bag on top of the coffee table.
“Did you have lunch yet? I was so caught up into finishing this project that I didn’t see the time pass by.”
“Fine. I’m hungry as well.”
“Were you too busy?”
“I was. I just came from Wei Ying’s shop,” Lan Huan said.
Jiang Cheng scrunched his nose, “Was Wei Ying pestering you to taste his crazy chocolate recipes? Because that’s what he always does whenever I go there.”
Lan Huan giggled, “No, no. I was the one cooking a crazy recipe. For you, A-Cheng.”
He gestured to the paper bag. Jiang Cheng raised an eyebrow at that but still leaned forward and took the bag in his hands, looking its content. He held a small plastic box in his hands, looking at Lan Huan.
“Surprise, A-Cheng!” he smiled, “remember I promised you a lemon pie? Well, it’s not the same as that day, there were some... erm, complications, but it all turned out fine. Wei Ying assisted me, but I cooked most of it.”
“A-Huan... thank you,” Jiang Cheng got up and went over to his boyfriend, sitting on his lap and kissing his lips.
“Anything for my A-Cheng.”
Jiang Cheng opened the box, Lan Huan handed him a clean fork and Jiang Cheng took a bite.
“Wah! It’s not sweet at all? I mean, it is sweet, but it’s also spicy?” Jiang Cheng beamed. Lan Huan found it rather cute. “A-Huan, how did you cook it?”
“It’s Wei Ying’s newest recipe; Chocolate Lemon Blueberry Spicy Pie.”
Jiang Cheng cringed at the name, “At least the taste is good. I can’t believe you made it yourself! I thought you were terrible with sweets.”
“Thanks for having faith in me, A-Cheng.”
Jiang Cheng chuckled, “Always. Actually, Jingyi came here earlier and told me you were attempting to cook a desert and assured me that no matter what you fed me, you still loved me and that what it counted was the intention, not the end result.”
Lan Huan was speechless. “I see both my son and my boyfriend are against me.”
They laughed together.
“But I'm really glad you liked it. I have the recipe, so I can cook it for you whenever you want it!”
“Remember your words,” Jiang Cheng grinned and took another bite.
Later, after they had both eaten, Jiang Cheng claimed he was tired so he just continued to lay there on Lan Huan’s lap and eventually fell asleep.
Lan Huan took this opportunity to take a picture and sent it to Wei Ying.
Didi’s fiancé:
[Photo Attached]
He liked it. Thank you, A-Ying. <
Wei Ying was in the middle of caressing Lan Zhan’s soft hair when his phone’s screen lighted up with a new notification and a ping sound. He opened his chat with Lan Huan to see a photo of Jiang Cheng sleeping on Lan Huan’s lap with his face on his shoulder.
He chuckled, careful not to move too much and disturb Lan Zhan. He immediately sent a reply to Lan Huan before putting his phone aside and using both arms to embrace Lan Zhan tighter, the latter pressing light kisses on his neck.
It didn’t take too long for Lan Huan to receive a reply. He opened the chat and saw Wei Ying had sent a photo of Lan Zhan nuzzling his nose into Wei Ying’s neck while holding him followed by a text.
Didi’s fiancé:
[Photo Attached]
> I’m glad he liked it. Lan Zhan did as well.
> Say, we should all have dinner together, I have a new idea for a dessert.
> That’s for later though, both me and Lan Zhan are too comfortable to move.
Lan Huan giggled lightly and sent and ‘okay.’
Later, Jiang Cheng would wake up and go back to his work, leaving Lan Huan to stare at him as much he wanted. They would have to get up and move from the most comfortable position ever. Jingyi would appear after his date with Wen Yuan. They would meet for dinner and Wei Ying would bring a crazy new recipe he came up with and Jiang Cheng would argue with him, Lan Zhan would pamper him and Lan Huan would smile.
That would all happen later, though.
Now, the slightly spicy taste of blueberries lingered and the sweet scent of chocolate and lemon filled the air in the cool, white clouded afternoon.