“I’ll take over from here. We agreed to take turns cooking from the start, so I’ll handle it today, and you can do it tomorrow.”
After letting the cool water run over her hand for a while, Jiang Xiao checked that Song Qiuyu’s scalded palm hadn’t blistered and the redness had faded.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
Only then did he twist the faucet shut, turn off the water, and let go of her hand.
Even so, the look he gave her small hand was still full of worry.
He’d never been burned himself before, so he never considered that Song Qiuyu might get hurt.
“Alright.”
Feeling the lingering warmth on her palm, Song Qiuyu nodded, held her breath slightly, and looked up at the person beside her, who was a full head taller.
Her heart was beating a little too fast.
Maybe she was just too moved. Jiang Xiao’s reaction had been at least five times faster than her own.
How nice. She hoped their relationship could always stay like this.
As long as Jiang Xiao didn’t know she was actually Shen Xi, in theory, nothing would change between them. They’d always be good brothers, good roommates, good friends.
“Hm?”
Jiang Xiao was about to go deal with the wok, but the sudden look in her eyes—so close, her lips slightly parted—made his heart skip a beat.
His gaze fell, almost accidentally, on her beautiful neckline, its curve on full display, but what drove him crazier was the subtle swell beneath her skin.
Was it his imagination…?
It seemed like…
She was developing?
He quietly averted his gaze, ignored the burning at his ears, coughed gloomily, and quickly walked over to the iron wok.
Hm?
Song Qiuyu tilted her head, vaguely sensing something odd about Jiang Xiao, but she didn’t dwell on it.
She didn’t plan to go sit back on the sofa and play. Instead, she stayed close to help out.
Not because she couldn’t sit still, but because she was honestly hungry.
“It’s definitely faster with two people working together!”
Jiang Xiao couldn’t do anything about her. If he forced her to rest on the sofa, he’d be too overbearing, like he was giving orders.
He didn’t like that kind of domineering style.
He watched as Song Qiuyu bent over to pick up the sliced ham sausage.
Her round, perky bottom was hugged tight by her dark jeans, sticking out slightly.
The slender white apron ties hung down from her back.
As she stood and turned with the ham sausage in her hands, the ties swayed, not much, but enough to be dangerously tempting.
He knew he shouldn’t stare, but his eyes were glued to her, as if with super glue. Jiang Xiao couldn’t help but squeeze his hand.
Bad idea.
Maybe inviting Song Qiuyu to be his roommate was actually a punishment—for whom, though?
“I’m going to sneak a piece of ham sausage.”
Right in front of him, Song Qiuyu’s pale little hand picked up a piece from the plate and popped it into her mouth.
“But you announced it. How is that sneaking?” Jiang Xiao was silent for a moment, raised his brows, and asked.
“Hehe, because I actually stole more than one.”
Song Qiuyu blinked.
Jiang Xiao didn’t call her out on it; he’d seen her “stealing” everything from start to finish. He sighed and began tossing ingredients into the pot one by one. Soon, a big pot of spicy fish was ready.
With the spicy fish on the table and the white rice cooked, Song Qiuyu wanted to help wash the dishes, but Jiang Xiao insisted she keep her burned hand clean.
She had no choice but to obediently sit on the stool and wait.
As she waited, she stared at the steaming pot of fish in the center of the table, unable to help herself from taking a few more deep breaths of the mouthwatering, spicy aroma.
Good food really was the best cure. All her bad feelings were swept away in an instant, and the smile on her face grew brighter and brighter.
“Here.”
With a gentle word, a bowl of white water was set down in front of Song Qiuyu.
“You shouldn’t eat too spicy. It’ll upset your stomach, so rinse everything in the water before you eat.”
As Jiang Xiao spoke, he set a bowl of rice in front of her and handed her clean chopsticks.
“?”
Song Qiuyu hesitated. Right, she was still supposed to have a weak stomach and not eat spicy food!
She forced a smile and took the chopsticks. “It’s okay to eat spicy food once in a while, really.”
“It’s no big deal? Wait until you’re doubled over in pain—then you’ll regret it.”
Jiang Xiao got his own rice, picked up his bowl and chopsticks, and sat across from her.
A stomachache, huh…
Song Qiuyu pressed her chopsticks to her lips, pondered for a moment, then her expression suddenly changed and she shot up from her chair.
Oh, right! Time to change her sanitary pad. She’d better check now.
Otherwise, if she waited too long, her pants and the chair would both end up red… that’d be a disaster.
Seeing Jiang Xiao’s confused look, she tried to act calm, clenched her little hand, and said, “I’ll go to the restroom first.”
She headed straight for the toilet, but at the door, she quickly turned into her bedroom and closed the door.
Jiang Xiao’s eyes narrowed in thought.
As expected, Song Qiuyu was full of holes.
Why hadn’t he noticed before?
The next second, Song Qiuyu opened the door, walked out of the bedroom looking awkward, lied about getting a paper napkin, and then went straight into the toilet.
With a creak, the toilet door shut. She quickly yanked down her pants.
Eh?
There was barely any blood this time. No wonder she hadn’t felt anything all morning—she’d almost forgotten!
But according to what she’d read online, it was normal for the first few days to be heavy or light. As long as the total was about right, it was fine.
Song Qiuyu patted her chest, pulled up her pants, not out of any concern for being a girl who’d get pregnant one day, but just wanting to stay healthy and avoid hospitals as much as possible.
That being said, her pants really were getting tighter lately… It was starting to pinch a little…
With that thought, she hid the sanitary pad she’d brought, opened the door again, put the sanitary pad back in her room, washed her hand, and returned to her seat. She picked up her chopsticks, feeling relaxed.
“Let’s eat!”
She picked up a piece of fish meat with her chopsticks and, out of habit, put it into Jiang Xiao’s bowl, smiling as she said, “This is the best part of the fish. You eat it first, Jiang Xiao!”
“Mm, you eat too.”
Jiang Xiao picked up a piece of fish meat and dropped it into her bowl of white water in return.
“Mm mm!”
Song Qiuyu carefully washed the fish meat in the white water several times with her chopsticks, then placed it on her rice.
Even though much of the flavor had been washed away, the fish meat was still delicious.
“Eat more, Jiang Xiao. This afternoon, our whole dormitory is relying on you for the CET-4 English Test and two exam preparations!”
“Mm.”
Jiang Xiao nodded slightly.
Watching the happy person across from him eating fish meat, unaware that her lips were ringed with crumbs, his gaze deepened.
From now on, he really would face this same face every day…
He glanced at his phone.
What message should he send her this afternoon?
He fell into thought.
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