Gu Qiu looked down, gazing at the dishes in his bowl.
But the next second, Xu Youtian stuffed another large chopstick-full in.
Gu Qiu snapped back to his senses and shifted his plate to the side.
“That’s enough!”
“Hehe, I saw you weren’t using your chopsticks at all, so I thought you felt there wasn’t enough food!”
Xu Youtian had a smile on her face. She blinked twice, deliberately looking at Qin Zhiyi, and continued to him:
“Or is it that you want someone else to serve you food?”
“How about Teacher Qin…”
Before she could finish, Gu Qiu interrupted in a low voice.
“Even good food can’t shut your mouth, huh?”
Xu Youtian stuck out her tongue playfully.
At the same time, to prevent her from saying anything else reckless, Gu Qiu finally lowered his head and ate seriously.
According to what Qin Zhiyi had said earlier, the tomato scrambled eggs, green pepper beef strips, stir-fried chicken thigh meat, and hot and sour baby cabbage were all made by her own hands… and they were also the dishes Xu Youtian had piled into his bowl the most.
Gu Qiu paused, then tasted them one by one.
The ingredients were fresh and tender, the seasoning was just right, and the level of spiciness suited his taste.
His eyes widened slightly, his gaze fixed on the dishes.
Qin Zhiyi’s cooking skills were excellent. In their previous life, right after they got together, she would often cook for him, but gradually he stopped getting to eat her cooking.
He had thought that after so long, he would have forgotten the taste. He never expected that just one bite would awaken those long-dormant memories.
Suddenly, he remembered that Qin Zhiyi rarely ate spicy food. Even when she did, she could only handle mild spice. Yet five out of these eight dishes had chili added, and each one was at least medium spicy. Clearly, they couldn’t have been prepared for herself… so they must have been made specifically for him…
At that thought, Gu Qiu couldn’t help but look up slightly, stealing a glance at Qin Zhiyi.
She was eating in small bites, her gaze entirely focused on him.
Judging from her behavior these past few days, she really did seem to know she was wrong and was sincerely trying to apologize to him. So should he…
No!
This woman’s personality was unpredictable. Who knew if she might change back to how she was in their previous life tomorrow? He couldn’t be foolish again and jump right back into the fire!
That was close!
He was almost bought off by a single meal!
While Gu Qiu’s thoughts were running wild, Qin Zhiyi’s inner world was equally rich and colorful.
“Stupid man, I carefully prepared all these dishes for you. How could you possibly not like them? You just have to act tough in front of me!”
“You won’t take a single bite of the breakfast someone else sent, but you do accept the things I give you. So, A-Qiu, you’re biased toward me… you must have me in your heart… Mhm, this is good. Leave the rest to time. In our previous life, I couldn’t be a proper wife. In this life, I want to make you so, so many delicious meals!”
“If only that person who sends breakfast were here, I’d let her see what a real gap looks like. Let’s see if you ever dare to steal my man again!”
“Gu Qiu was mine in our previous life, and he’s mine in this life too. No one can take him away!”
…
A moment later.
Xu Youtian was the first to put down her chopsticks. Seeing that her goal seemed to have been achieved, she didn’t plan to stay any longer and shot a glance at her bestie.
The next second, the two stood up simultaneously.
Xu Youtian blinked at Qin Zhiyi and said with a gentle smile:
“Thanks for the treat, Teacher Qin! Love you!”
“You’re welcome. If you run into any difficulties in your studies in the future, you can come find me. Besides biology, my math and chemistry are pretty decent too. I hope I can help you!”
Qin Zhiyi responded softly.
Today’s feeding session had gone so smoothly, and it was all thanks to Xu Youtian’s assist. If Gu Qiu hadn’t been present, she might have felt the need to turn around and thank the girl herself.
The key thing was that this young lady seemed to understand her thoughts very well. She would probably need her help quite a bit in the future, so it looked like she should stock up on some snacks and drinks in the office!
Xu Youtian raised her willow-leaf eyebrows and, before leaving, planned to crack one more joke with Gu Qiu.
But Gu Qiu seemed to have anticipated it. He pulled a long face and stared straight at her.
“You’re full, so why don’t you hurry up and leave?”
“Want me to add some homework for you to help you digest?”
“Tsk, so fierce. No wonder you can’t find a girlfriend!”
Xu Youtian muttered a quick retort, made a funny face at Gu Qiu, and then dragged her bestie away!
After only the two of them were left at the table, Gu Qiu didn’t take any more dishes and instead went back to eating his own food.
Seeing that, Qin Zhiyi quickly reminded him:
“Teacher Gu, I’m full. You can finish the dishes on my side. They were quite expensive, and it’d be a shame to throw them away!”
Hearing that, Gu Qiu was taken aback, but he didn’t stand on ceremony this time.
He picked up the last piece of spare rib and put it in his mouth. After eating and pondering for a moment, he asked casually:
“Um… are you free tomorrow?”
“I’ll treat you to a meal.”
Qin Zhiyi blinked her beautiful eyes.
“Sure!”
“The cafeteria?”
Gu Qiu shook his head slightly.
“Let’s eat out!”
Although last time when Qin Zhiyi dropped him off, he had said he would treat her to the cafeteria, later A-Long had promised to treat her to a big meal and even dragged it all the way to his grandma. Combined with how she had been checking in on him and showing concern during this period, not treating her to a restaurant meal just didn’t seem right!
Hearing his words, Qin Zhiyi’s eyes lit up and she pressed further:
“Just the two of us?”
Gu Qiu pursed his lips.
“Uh… yeah!”
“A-Long has something going on and can’t make it.”
“If you don’t want to, then forget it!”
Qin Zhiyi quickly shook her head.
“I want to!”
She had been thinking earlier about how wonderful it would be if A-Long didn’t get involved and she could have a meal alone with Gu Qiu. Now that her dream had come true, how could she possibly refuse!
Then, she suggested:
“How about you wait for me at the school gate after school tomorrow?”
Gu Qiu thought it over carefully and felt that would be too conspicuous.
Rumors about the two of them had already been circulating in the class these past few days. If someone saw them together, this misunderstanding would probably become impossible to clear up!
“I’ll come find you at the parking lot!”
“Okay!”
Qin Zhiyi understood his concerns, but she had long since decided to take things slowly with Gu Qiu, so there was no need to dwell on it. She happily agreed.
Right after the two finished talking, Xu Youtian came back.
She placed a cup of fruit tea by Qin Zhiyi’s seat.
“Teacher Qin, I felt a bit bad about eating so much of your delicious food, so this one’s on me!”
Qin Zhiyi’s beautiful eyes blinked.
Even though she had only been here for a week, she was already familiar with the school rules.
There were no milk tea or beverage shops in the school, phones weren’t allowed, let alone ordering takeout. So this cup of fruit tea was a rare commodity. It showed Xu Youtian’s genuine sincerity toward her, which was all the more reason she couldn’t accept it. She hurriedly refused.
“I don’t really like drinking these. You have it yourself!”
“Liar, I saw you drinking some in the office just the day before yesterday!”
Xu Youtian put on a slightly haughty expression.
“I don’t care, you have to accept it!”
“And don’t worry about me not having any if I give it to you. I can just share a cup with my classmate!”
Seeing how persistent she was, Qin Zhiyi couldn’t refuse anymore.
“Alright, thanks!”
“You’re welcome!”
Xu Youtian waved her hand, then turned her attention back to Gu Qiu.
“Sorry, Old Gu, there’s only one cup. If you want to drink it, you’ll have to share with Teacher Qin, hahaha!”
Gu Qiu, who was in the middle of finishing up his lunch, choked on her words.
But by the time he looked up, Xu Youtian had already run far away, and he couldn’t help but grit his teeth.
“Just you wait!”