Chapter Text
One large scoop of beef stir fry into this container, one into the next. Then came a scoop of chao fan. Jiang Cheng methodically worked his way down the assembly line until 10 containers were filled with this week's lunches. Each one of the containers was labeled, so he put Friday on the bottom, then Thursday, Wednesday, Tuesday, with Monday on top. One stack for himself, the other for his brother. Everything was placed neatly on the top shelf of the fridge before Jiang Cheng turned around to clean up the kitchen.
The song from his speakers transformed into the next, and he sang along to the familiar melody. The pots and pans were hand washed, dried, and returned to their proper places. Everything else was washed and placed on the drying rack.
Next, he would make snacks for the week. The recipe given to him by Jiang Yanli was laid out on the kitchen counter, with all the ingredients carefully measured out and arranged by order of when he would need them. He began with mixing together the spicy pork filling then adding it to the dough he had made prior. He carefully folded over the edges the way his sister taught him, and moved each completed baozhi into the steamer. Setting a timer for 15 minutes, he turned to clean up the remaining dishes.
The sound of footsteps thudded through the apartment, quickly followed by a slamming door. With a few quick motions of his finger, Jiang Cheng exchanged his ‘solo cooking’ playlist for the one titled ‘interrupted cooking.’ A new song filtered out, one that Wei Wuxian wouldn’t be able to nitpick and criticize.
“Honey, I’m home!” Speak of the devil, and he should appear.
And just as quickly, Wei Wuxian was gone, down the hall and leaving a trail of chaos behind him. Jiang Cheng tuned it out, focused on washing the dishes.
Wei Wuxian skidded into the kitchen once more, "A-Cheng! I need some food before meeting Lan Zhan!"
"Take out the trash first." The timer went off. Jiang Cheng turned off the heat and moved the steamer to the counter to cool.
Wei Wuxian slumped down, arms sprawled across the kitchen island, elbows knocking into the - thankfully empty - containers. "Aw, come on a-Cheng, I did that the other day."
Jiang Cheng saved a container from falling to the floor. "No, the other day you broke a lamp. That's what you threw out."
"Damn, why does your memory have to be so good?" Wei Wuxian muttered, straightening himself back up, disturbing the containers in the process.
Jiang Cheng wordlessly set them back in order.
Wei Wuxian continued, "can you just let it slide this time?"
"No." The baozhi should be cooled enough by now. He went to check. "Just do your chores, a-Xian."
Four baozhi should be enough for each container, so he started dishing up accordingly. He had one container filled, set it aside, and turned around to fill up the second one.
"Thanks, a-Cheng!"
Jiang Cheng turned around to see his insufferable brother, mouth stuffed and shoving the other three baozhi into his pockets.
"Wei Wuxian!" Jiang Cheng yelled out in frustration, but the man had already made a mad dash out the door and disappeared. The trash was still in the exact place it always was. Jiang Cheng cursed at his brother, angrily stabbing at his phone to switch to his ‘irritated’ playlist. He sang along with each word, a sharp bite to each syllable.
Wei Wuxian had recently rekindled with his high school crush. Jiang Cheng mistakenly believed he was rid of the name ‘Lan Zhan’ when the Jiang siblings attended a different university from the Lans. But once Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian had graduated and moved into a shared apartment in downtown Beijing, Wei Wuxian went right back to his old, shameless ways. Which obviously meant Jiang Cheng went right back to being the one left in his brother’s dust.
With fisted hands and a groan, Jiang Cheng returned to his meal prepping. He would never be as skilled in the kitchen as Jiang Yanli, but as long as Wei Wuxian didn’t complain too much about that fact, then Jiang Cheng would continue to put in the effort.
Jiang Cheng finished packing up a variety of snacks like roasted chestnuts, rice crackers, and dried squid, all portioned out into smaller bags. He also had a few bags of spicy chips that he would put in his desk drawer for when Wei Wuxian inevitably came barging in to bother him. And since Wei Wuxian didn’t have much of a sweet tooth, Jiang Cheng set aside Jiang Yanli’s homemade pineapple buns for himself.
He walked through the kitchen for one final clean up before returning to his room for a shower. The rest of his Sunday evening passed in this manner, steadily checking off each task on his list. Laundry, done. Meal prep, done. Clean the kitchen, done. Shower, done. One by one, Jiang Cheng moved through his routine.
He had just finished setting out his suit for tomorrow when his phone started buzzing.
"Hello.”
"Jiang-xiong! It's time to come pick us up!"
Jiang Cheng closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "Huaisang, I thought you and a-Xian went to see the orchestra. Can't the statue take you home?"
"Well…" Nie Huaisang hesitated. "That was before Wei-xiong teased Lan-xiong for having cute ears or something. I really don’t know." Jiang Cheng could hear Nie Huaisang's head shaking through the phone. "Lan-xiong stormed off backstage and now Wei-xiong is pouting, so please hurry!"
"Just call a didi." Jiang Cheng picked off a piece of lint from his suit.
Nie Huaisang gasped, as if the very idea offended him. "Why would I do that when we have you? Plus, it’s rush hour. A didi would be much too expensive."
Jiang Cheng grabbed the lint roller to give his suit a more thorough cleaning. "Huaisang, it’s Sunday evening. The traffic can’t be that bad."
"Wei-xiong, come convince your brother to pick us up!"
Some rustling ensued before Wei Wuxian's voice came through the phone. "A-Cheng, didi, please~"
Jiang Cheng set down his lint roller. "Fine. I'll be there soon."
The drive only took 12 minutes, proving Jiang Cheng right about there being little traffic. He pulled up along the curb right outside the performing arts center where Lan Wangji's orchestra had performed. Wei Wuxian was curled up on a bench outside, Nie Huaisang and his assistant, Mo Xuanyu, sat beside him.
Jiang Cheng rolled the window down. "Hurry and get in."
"A-Cheng!"
"Jiang-xiong, you made it!"
The three men stumbled their way into the car, Wei Wuxian in the front seat where he could lean into Jiang Cheng’s space to ask, "did you bring snacks?"
Jiang Cheng put a hand to his brother's face, pushing him away. "No food in my car."
"Uptight ass," Wei Wuxian muttered.
Jiang Cheng shifted the car into drive. "Immature prick." Deciding to be the bigger man though, he offered an olive branch to his whiny brother. "We can stop at ghost street."
"Jiang-xiong!" Nie Huaisang leaned forward from the backseat to hit Jiang Cheng on the shoulder with a fan. "I knew calling you was the right idea."
"I want mala long xia!" Wei Wuxian yelled, rolling his window down for the whole world to hear him.
"The AC is on, idiot." Jiang Cheng forced the window back up and locked it in place, mentally resigning himself to removing all the crayfish shells for everyone. Wei Wuxian was too impatient, Nie Huaisang would claim his artist hands were too delicate, but maybe if he was lucky, Jiang Cheng could recruit Mo Xuanyu to help him.