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“Nope.”

“Well, I made a big pot. I hope you like it. If not, I’ll have to give some to your friends.” She gestured to the kitchen table. “I also made other things in case you don’t like the porridge.”

“What time did you wake up to make these?” I walked over to the table and glanced at the assortment of breakfast I’d never had at home before.

“Five sharp. But I bought these the other day and put them in the freezer. A lot of it was just steaming and frying. I didn’t make them from scratch. Don’t have time for that.”

“I’ll eat whatever you make, love. Thank you.”

I smiled at the pretty plates of fried and steamed dumplings, a display of egg custard buns, and tarot cakes.

“But what’s that?” I pointed to the whitetriangle pastries with a creamy sauce.

“A Vietnamese pastry I love to eat for breakfast, but most people have it as dessert. It’s a banana pastry with coconut sauce.”

“This is a five-star breakfast display. I feel like a king today.”

Her eyes sparkled. “You can get these at any restaurant.”

“But I love that you made them for me to eat at home.”

She scooped some porridge into two bowls—one for me and one for her. Then she added scallions and cilantro, sprinkling in some black pepper before placing the bowls on a tray. She brought the tray over to the table and placed my bowl in front of me.

“Have a seat and eat whatever you like.” She gave me a soup spoon and a pair of chopsticks.

I bent down to sniff the steam from the porridge. “It smells so good. You’ve worked hard today. Are you tired?”

“No. I feel energized.” She smiled. “There’s nothing on my mind but taking care of you. No stress about work or anything.

I scooped some up with my spoon and ate. “The chicken porridge is amazing.”

She smiled. “Thank you. It was my mother’s recipe. You should have some dumplings too.”

“This is going to be lunch and dinner.”

“That’s what I was thinking because we’re not going out today. It’s pouring rain.”

“What do you have planned for me, Lily Pad? Today is our second date.”

“There are romantic movies we can watch.” Mischief gleamed in her eyes. “Or, if you prefer, we have laundry we could do.”

I placed two steamed dumplings onto my plate and ate them. “I’ve never heard of doing laundry as part of a fun date.”

“We’re creative people. We can make anything fun.” She grinned. “We can makeboringfun.”

“I’ll pass. But I’ll watch a movie with you. I haven’t watched a movie in a long time.”

I didn’t need to do anything today to be happy. Waking up to Vanessa making me breakfast was enough. We could sit around chatting or even doing laundry. I couldn’t believe I thought that. But yeah, even doing laundry with her would be fun.

After I finished my bowl of porridge, I looked at her. “I think you should make this for me at least once a week or whenever it rains.”

“My mom made it for me whenever I was sick. It comforts the stomach.”

“I can see that. It’s like a version of chicken soup.”

We sat in silence, eating andexchanging glances. She wore a cotton T-shirt and shorts but looked hotter than any lingerie model.

“Oh, I forgot to get you some green tea. Hold on one second.” She got up, went over to the kitchen counter, and brought over two cups of tea. “Green tea helps with digestion.”