[football] walk side by side

The two came out of the airport and went straight to Cristiano's apartment in Manchester.Cyril cleared the luggage and arranged the daily necessities neatly in various places.Cristiano stood aside, occasionally helping him.

Because he didn't plan to stay for too long, Cyril didn't bring too much luggage when he came, and the clothes, towels and other things were cleaned up quickly.

"Have you bought the ingredients for Christmas in advance?" After hanging the last piece of clothing on the hanger in the guest room, Cyril turned around and looked at the owner of the house.

Cristiano was silent for a while. When he was still in Portugal, Christmas was handled by his mother every year, and all he needed to do, besides helping to carry the bags when shopping, was to quietly wait for the dinner time to arrive.Now that Cyril mentioned the preparation of ingredients, he blinked blankly: "What do you want to prepare?"

Seeing his friend's expression in his eyes, Cyril sighed, knowing that he probably couldn't expect Cristiano to help him in this regard.He took out a small and exquisite black leather notebook and a pen from the backpack he brought: "Let's go to the living room and think about what we should buy together."

For this field that he is not good at at all, Cristiano can only nod obediently.

Cyril was sitting on the sofa, he lowered his head, spread the notebook on his lap, and while unscrewing the pen cap, he asked, "Is there any supermarket near here that sells cod?"

"Yes!" Cristiano replied quickly, and his eyes became bright because of a certain word, as if a child was looking forward to his favorite food: "Cod salad!"

"No." Cyril skipped this one without even thinking about it. He looked at the reluctant Cristiano, and his tone was firm and unquestionable: "You can't eat such cold things in winter, it's not good for the stomach."

"Oh..." Cristiano - three years old - Ronaldo hung his head in frustration, and some of the hair that had been fixed with hairspray also hung down deeply, looking quite shocked.Although reluctant, his professionalism as a player made him quickly abandon the idea.He lowered his head and thought for a while, then raised his head with vigor: "Then what are you going to do with the cod?"

If there is no cod salad, the others are just fine qaq

"Well... I'm going to make stewed cod with cabbage and potatoes," Cyril said, lowering his head and writing down the three words "cod, cabbage, potatoes" in his notebook. The young man who finished writing was biting the cap of his pen in distress, hesitating a bit: " But without salted cod, will the taste be worse?"

Cyril didn't consider food like turkey. European countries have different preparations for Christmas Eve dinner. Turkey, which is often mentioned as a Christmas food, is actually more in the United States. custom.But after all, Cyril and Cristiano have lived in Portugal for a long time. Now that Cyril was thinking about dinner, he naturally considered it from the perspective of the Portuguese.

It is also Christmas, and Portuguese people prefer cod more. Among the dishes with cod as the main material, stewed cod with cabbage and potatoes is the first choice of many Portuguese families.

"That's it. It shouldn't matter if it's salted or not?" Cristiano didn't worry so much, he liked the food made of cod.Cristiano, who has never prepared by himself, is very interested in everything: "I will help you in a while."

"What about desserts? Do you want king cake? Braised chicken in a copper pot seems to be good too... What do you think?"

Cyril himself has never been very keen on desserts, his taste is generally light, and as a professional player's obsessive-compulsive disorder, Cyril rarely touches sweets.But King Cake is after all the dessert of traditional large-scale festivals in Portugal. It is part of the custom itself, and it doesn’t hurt to taste it occasionally.

In the past festivals, Cristiano often ate such dishes, so he opened his mouth and wanted to refuse, but he soon discovered that this time Christmas seemed different from usual ——Although the dishes are the same, it is the first time that I have tried to join the production process.

"It's good, let's do it." Cristiano was satisfied: "There are too many preparations, and the two of us can't eat it."

After confirming the shopping list, Cristiano put on his sunglasses again, and Cyril just added a piece of clothing without making other disguises-considering Porto and Manchester United, Manchester City have no hatred, and England fans He only paid attention to his own home team, and Cyril was sure that even if he was recognized, those who asked for his autograph must be in a lack of interest.

After everything was ready, the two went straight to the nearby large supermarket.

The supermarket is crowded with people, and many people will choose to make crazy purchases before Christmas, even if many of the things they buy are actually unnecessary.Fortunately, Cyril had made clear the procurement goals from the very beginning, and the two of them didn't waste time in the dazzling array of products, and quickly filled a basket with the required ingredients.

Cristiano frowned all the way, always feeling as if he had bought something.

The food is ready and the Christmas presents have been prepared long before, so what's the difference?Cristiano thought about it blankly for a long time, until they passed a beautiful Christmas tree, he remembered it.

—He seems to have forgotten to buy a Christmas tree?

In short, after the two paid the bill and returned to the apartment that was neither too big nor too small, the supermarket staff also delivered the big Christmas tree that Cristiano insisted on.

By this time, it was already five o'clock in the afternoon.

Cristiano looked at the empty Christmas tree in front of him, then at the kitchen, and fell into deep entanglement: Should he help Cyril prepare dinner, or is it more important to decorate the Christmas tree?

He was still hesitating, but Cyril, who had already occupied the kitchen first, poked his head out from behind the door: "Chris, don't stand there in a daze, come here and help!"

"Oh."

Cristiano rarely nodded honestly, and obediently went to the kitchen.

The kitchen utensils in the kitchen are very clean. These tools are not commonly used. Only when his mother comes over specially can Cristiano enjoy the food made by his mother.But Cristiano himself never cooks by himself. Most of the time, these kitchen utensils are basically difficult to use.

The reason is very simple and rude: Cristiano can't cook.

Or to put it more bluntly, he seems to have no talent in cooking at all, even if he can fry a poached egg.

Of course, Cyril didn't expect Cristiano to help him much, he just threw a few big round potatoes to Cristiano, and said in a nutshell: "Peel and cut into pieces."

Cristiano also felt that this simple job was no problem for him, so he happily grabbed a few potatoes, sat on the stool and peeled them wholeheartedly.Cyril turned his head and started to deal with a few cods he bought.

It was still early, and Cyril was not in a hurry to prepare dinner.The two of them simply processed all the ingredients they bought, and then returned to the Christmas tree that Cristiano was thinking about.

"This star should be placed on the top of the tree?" Cristiano picked up the golden five-pointed star from the decorations: "Eh? There seems to be a small light bulb inside?"

"There are also presents... This one seems to be foam inside, um... this snowflake is so beautiful!" Cristiano, who had returned to his three-year-old body, rummaged through a bag of Christmas tree decorations with great interest. Very happy look.

At this moment, the situation of the two of them seemed to be reversed from that in the kitchen. Cristiano was busy up and down around the Christmas tree, but Cyril stood leisurely by the side, only occasionally handing over Christmas gifts according to Cristiano's needs. something or something.

"It's better to put a puppet in this position..." Cristiano muttered, and then Cyril took out a small Santa Claus puppet from the bag and gave it to him.

"Put another snowflake in this position..." A hexagonal snowflake was sent in front of him.

The two handed each other an Ann, and a 15-meter Christmas tree was quickly formed under Cristiano's hands.

The deep blue Christmas tree was filled with presents, puppets, snowflakes and other decorations. Cyril powered on the Christmas tree, and the five-pointed star at the top immediately lit up, shining in the darkening light of the night.

Cristiano, whose childlike innocence was absolutely satisfied, was in a good mood at the moment. Even when they turned back to deal with the dinner, the experience of being stopped by Cyril outside the kitchen did not affect his happy mood. Instead, he went happily The living room turned on the stereo, intending to sing a song.

Then ten seconds later, Cyril silently pulled him back to the kitchen.

You can do whatever you want, but if you don't agree with each other, just sing, okay? _(:3j∠)_In contrast, he would rather tolerate a □□ in the kitchen...

At around eight o'clock, the two successfully brought dinner to the table.

At this time, there were thousands of lights outside the window, and the lights in the house were not very bright—because Cristiano insisted on seeing the glittering colors on the Christmas tree, he thought it would be more festive.Cristiano was very proud of his idea at first, but when the light was dimly reflected on the two of them, he couldn't laugh anymore.

Dim lights, a sumptuous lunch, and a young man with a gentle smile on his face.Now, when all was quiet, he could even hear the Christmas carols sung in the soft voices of the choir outside.

Inexplicably and irrepressibly, Cristiano felt that those inadvertent images seemed to pop out from the depths of his mind again: the young man standing in the kitchen with his head bowed and seriously handling the cooking, the two sitting on the sofa, you saying a word I discussed the scene of dinner tonight in one word, and even earlier, the softness of my palm when I tied a scarf in the airport.

The singing of the choir not far away seemed to be getting closer, and it was at this time that he heard a gentle voice from the opposite side.

—“Merry Christmas, Chris.”