Jiang Xiao finished speaking and rubbed Song Qiuyu’s fluffy head before heading to the refrigerator to rummage for ingredients.
Her hair had already been neatly combed, but that single touch left a few strands sticking up at the crown of her head.
She subconsciously reached up to touch it, and her fingertips brushed against the lingering warmth Jiang Xiao had left behind.
“What kind of perfect live-in boyfriend is this? I’m so jealous!” Xia Qi’s envious voice suddenly rang out right by her ear.
“If you were willing to act a little spoiled, Old Lin could become like this too!” Song Qiuyu replied.
She watched the busy figure in the kitchen, happily accepting the envy from Xia Qi beside her.
Even though her initial demands for Jiang Xiao to adhere to ‘men’s virtues’ and become a perfect domestic man had started as a childhood prank, that bit of mischief had accidentally benefited her future self.
Even if she still needed to do many things to make up for her past mistakes, she could no longer deny it—it was precisely because of that ‘wrong’ beginning that this current future existed.
Now, as a girl, she could fully appreciate the benefits of a domestic, high-quality man.
It felt wonderful.
“If it actually worked, I might grit my teeth and try it. But Qiuyu, you haven’t known Lin An for very long, right? One semester at most.” Xia Qi threw up her hands and said confidently, “Lin An and Jiang Xiao aren’t the same type of person. He isn’t that frank, and he doesn’t play it straight; he only plays mind games with you.”
Song Qiuyu couldn’t help but laugh.
“I’ll give those exact words back to you. You haven’t known Jiang Xiao for very long either, have you? How can you be so sure Jiang Xiao isn’t playing mind games the whole time?”
“Ooh, there’s a story there!” Xia Qi’s eyes widened with curiosity.
“Don’t you already know most of the story between him and me?” Song Qiuyu glanced at the game link on her phone screen, replying to Jiang Li.
She didn’t really want to brush Xia Qi off, but Jiang Li was the priority right now. For the sake of a sustainable future for her and Jiang Xiao, she had to work hard—very hard.
“So, Qiuyu, have you ever acted spoiled with Jiang Xiao?” Xia Qi could easily see that Song Qiuyu’s focus had drifted, but she didn’t mind.
She spoke as if she were just making casual conversation.
At the same time, she looked at her own phone screen, being careful with the angle so the person beside her couldn’t see.
She opened a group chat consisting of only three people.
The three people in this group chat were, naturally, herself, Sang Tian, and Jiang Li.
In reality, she had a third objective for this visit: to investigate the situation between Song Qiuyu and Jiang Xiao for Jiang Li!
Of course, the main reason was that she was also very curious. After all, being in a relationship yourself was never as comfortable as watching others be in one.
“I definitely have!” Song Qiuyu didn’t hide it; her answer was incredibly frank.
“Haha! Then why were you two playing with water balloons last night, just like us?” Xia Qi raised an eyebrow in surprise, turning her face to look at Song Qiuyu.
Hearing this, Song Qiuyu froze.
Just as she was about to grasp a certain realization, the person beside her let out a laugh.
Her train of thought was broken, and she instinctively turned her head toward the sound.
“Wait, weren’t you two playing with water balloons?” Xia Qi looked at her with searching eyes.
“…”
Song Qiuyu’s fingertip flickered slightly on the screen. She looked back at her phone and forced herself to stay calm.
“Of course we were playing with water balloons. What else would we be doing? Do you want me to go downstairs and run a few laps right now to prove it to you?”
“That won’t be necessary,” Xia Qi said, shaking her head with a laugh.
The topic ended there. The two of them chatted about meaningless trifles until Jiang Xiao finished making breakfast. It was quite a feast, looking like more than three people could finish.
“It smells so good!” Xia Qi sniffed the aroma of the food and pressed her hands together in a gesture of gratitude.
“Being Jiang Xiao’s partner must be incredibly happy, right?” After saying this, she intentionally winked at Song Qiuyu.
Song Qiuyu gave Xia Qi a polite smile but said nothing.
Then, with her first use of the chopsticks, she placed a fried dumpling into Jiang Xiao’s bowl. She said softly, “Jiang Xiao, have a dumpling.”
“Okay!” Jiang Xiao returned the favor by placing a dumpling in her bowl.
“Qia’er, you eat too!” Xia Qi clicked her tongue, pulled out her phone to type a few things secretly, then stuffed it back into her pocket and picked up her chopsticks, ready to dig in.
Just then, a ding-dong rang out as someone pressed the doorbell at the entrance.
Eh? Who else was coming?
Song Qiuyu frowned, thinking for a moment.
Her instinct as the host made her want to get up and open the door. Jiang Xiao’s lips twitched slightly as he was already halfway out of his seat.
However, Xia Qi was even faster than Jiang Xiao. “I’ll get it! You two keep eating!”
“Jiang Xiao, tell me,” Song Qiuyu said, watching Xia Qi run toward the entrance.
She narrowed her eyes and guessed, “Could it be ‘That Man’?”
Hearing this, Jiang Xiao leisurely sat back down and turned his head to look. “The odds are pretty high.”
Immediately after, they heard Xia Qi exclaim, “Lin An? Why are you here? You don’t have wings—how did you get here so fast?”
As expected, that bit of provocation worked every single time on Lin An.
Back in the day, Lin An had only gone to comfort a heartbroken Xia Qi because he had been provoked.
Song Qiuyu bit the end of her chopstick, equally curious about how fast Lin An had arrived.
But as soon as she bit down, someone pinched her cheek, pulling her attention back to the person beside her.
“Xi’er, stop biting your chopstick,” Jiang Xiao said.
With just that one sentence, Song Qiuyu obediently stopped.
Then, Xia Qi’s voice rang out from the doorway, full of shock. “Why did you even bring a suitcase? What are you doing?”
“Because everyone who should be here is here, so I came too,” Lin An replied with a smile.
Song Qiuyu was completely confused.
She looked at the fried dumpling in her bowl, decided to set everything else aside for a moment, leaned down, and took a bite.
“Delicious!” She demurely covered her mouth with her small hand, her slender feet happily tapping the soles of her plush slippers.
“Lin An, have you had breakfast yet? If not, come join us. There’s enough for you.” Jiang Xiao had long anticipated Lin An’s arrival and called out naturally.
“Then I’m quite lucky! Thanks!” With that, Lin An naturally pushed his luggage into the room, walking past Xia Qi with a gust of wind. He went to wash his hands and then sat down in an empty seat.
“So, Lin An, what’s all this?” Song Qiuyu glanced at Xia Qi, who was walking back, then looked at her roommate across from her and the suitcase he had brought.
Seriously, though, why do you couples always run to my house when you fight? And with luggage, too?
“Oh, this,” Lin An said with a smile. “I was kicked out by my mom and dad!”
Song Qiuyu was stunned. Was that really something someone should say while smiling?
“Is it because of Xia Qi?” Jiang Xiao handed the freshly washed bowl and chopsticks to Lin An.
“Old Jiang is as sharp as ever.” Lin An was silent for a moment, adjusted his glasses, and sighed with feeling.
“So?” Xia Qi sat back down in her chair. “What are you doing here?”
“Mom and Dad said if I don’t bring you back, I shouldn’t bother coming back either,” Lin An said with a sigh.
Hearing this, Song Qiuyu silently took a sip of her corn and yam porridge, smacked her lips, muttered about how delicious it was, and took another bite of a fried dumpling.
Once she had swallowed, she immediately spoke up. “Old Lin, don’t you dare take what Xia Qi said on the phone seriously!”
Jiang Xiao remained silent, just staring at her, barely able to suppress the corners of his mouth.
“Jiang Xiao and I are one; we will absolutely not join a threesome with Xia Qi!” Song Qiuyu said with a straight face.
The moment those words came out, Jiang Xiao turned his head away, struggling so hard to stifle his laughter he almost gave himself an internal injury.
Xia Qi’s eyes went wide, and her first instinct was to grab her phone to report the situation, completely ignoring Lin An.
“I naturally trust you and Old Jiang, and I trust Xia Qi too. I believe she would be unable to convince you two to join her in a threesome,” Lin An said, glancing at the busy Xia Qi beside him.
Xia Qi was so busy reporting the news she had no time to pay him any mind.
“So, I hope you two can do me a favor and help me talk some sense into Xia Qi.”
That sentence actually reached Xia Qi’s ears. She looked up immediately.
“You want me to go back? Then do you dare to play that game I sent you? If you can clear the whole thing in one go, I’ll go with you!”
Hearing this, Song Qiuyu’s eyebrows shot up as a plan formed in her mind.