Shen Shuyue wasn’t cooking for Qiu Chengyue. She was cooking for herself.
Eating out every day was getting tiresome, too.
Cooking a meal once in a while to change things up wasn’t so bad.
Shen Shuyue didn’t turn around to look at Qiu Chengyue.
Once the food was ready, she carried it over to the dining table.
Just as she was about to eat, Qiu Chengyue went into the kitchen and brought out a bowl and chopsticks.
Shen Shuyue looked at him, then at the bowl in his hand.
“You’re going to eat my food?”
She hadn’t made a portion for Qiu Chengyue.
She had only cooked a little rice.
There was enough for her, but certainly not enough for him.
Qiu Chengyue had a big appetite. Even if he ate all the rice in the pot, he might not be full.
Qiu Chengyue: “……”
What kind of question was that?
“Of course.” He glanced at Shen Shuyue as if he wanted to roll his eyes.
Shen Shuyue looked at the rice in the pot and smiled.
“I didn’t cook your portion.”
“You like noodles. Go make yourself some noodles.”
Qiu Chengyue: “……”
Noodles?
Qiu Chengyue’s face darkened again.
Yesterday, this woman had gone out of her way to sleep with him.
Now that she was satisfied, she wouldn’t even let him have a bite of her food.
Qiu Chengyue looked at the rice in the pot. There were at most two bowls’ worth.
And that was only if he scraped every last bit of rice off the bottom of the pot.
She really hadn’t made any for him.
Qiu Chengyue stared at the rice for a long while, then glanced at Shen Shuyue. In the end, he went back to the kitchen and cooked himself some noodles.
Shen Shuyue watched his back and snorted before leisurely eating the braised fish she had just made.
Her braised fish was quite delicious. In her previous life, she had lived alone and often cooked fish for herself.
Sometimes, when friends came over for a meal, they would all praise her cooking.
Halfway through the meal, Qiu Chengyue came over carrying a bowl of plain white noodles.
There wasn’t a single other ingredient in it.
No oil, no meat, no egg.
He sat down opposite Shen Shuyue.
When Shen Shuyue looked up, her eyes met his.
He stared at her intently, his expression unusually serious.
Shen Shuyue: “?”
Why was he staring at her like that?
Was she so beautiful that she had left him completely captivated?
“What?”
Shen Shuyue looked at Qiu Chengyue warily.
This man’s thoughts were as impossible to read as a needle at the bottom of the sea. She could never figure out what was going through his mind.
“Today, I got my allowance.”
He spoke as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a large stack of ration coupons and money.
There were grain coupons, cooking-oil coupons, and cash.
He placed them in front of Shen Shuyue.
“These are for you.”
Shen Shuyue raised an eyebrow as she looked at the coupons and money on the table.
Was this all?
It didn’t even look like a hundred yuan.
“What for?”
“You’re not planning to make me manage your money, are you?”
Shen Shuyue had no intention of taking Qiu Chengyue’s money.
If she took his money, then the next time they argued, she wouldn’t have the same confidence.
Qiu Chengyue was silent for a moment before saying, “It’s for household expenses. To buy rice and vegetables. Whatever’s left is yours.”
Shen Shuyue laughed.
Whatever was left would be hers?
“I don’t want to cook, and I don’t want to buy groceries. You can eat at the mess from now on.”
Without a second thought, Shen Shuyue refused.
Even if she cooked, she only wanted to cook for herself. She didn’t want to cook for a man.
Sleeping with him was one thing. Cooking for him was another.
“Shen Shuyue! What exactly do I have to do… for you to be willing to cook?”
The first half of Qiu Chengyue’s sentence was rather forceful, but his tone suddenly softened toward the end.
Shen Shuyue found it amusing.
This man seemed pretty easy to handle.
So he actually had a little bit of a homebody streak.
He didn’t want to eat outside. He wanted to come home for his meals.
Seeing him eat noodles every day, meal after meal, actually put Shen Shuyue in a good mood.
“What do you have to do for me to cook?”
Shen Shuyue repeated his words, but her eyes had already fallen on Qiu Chengyue.
She stared directly at his chest, looking almost like a shameless flirt.
Qiu Chengyue: “……”
He immediately understood what Shen Shuyue meant, and his expression became even darker.
He didn’t know what had crossed his mind, but his Adam’s apple involuntarily bobbed up and down.
Then, as if to hide his embarrassment, he picked up his chopsticks and took a large bite of noodles.
Halfway through eating, he realized that he hadn’t added any salt.
He reached out and pulled the plate of fish closer, scooped half the fish and some of the sauce into his noodles, and quickly mixed it all together.
This time, it was Shen Shuyue’s turn to darken her expression.
She wasn’t full yet.
“Qiu Chengyue, why did you steal my fish?”
Shen Shuyue stood up, wanting to snatch the fish from his bowl, but it was already too late.
The atmosphere suddenly changed.
Qiu Chengyue’s Adam’s apple was no longer bobbing uncontrollably like before.
After eating several more mouthfuls of noodles, he finally spoke.
“I was hungry.”
Shen Shuyue glared at him.
“If you were hungry, you could just eat your noodles. Why did you have to eat my fish?”
“I’m still not full.”
Qiu Chengyue: “……”
He lowered his eyes for a moment. While Shen Shuyue was still looking at him indignantly, he slowly said, “The food at the mess isn’t good.”
“From now on, if you cook, I’ll eat with you. Unless you don’t cook.”
With that, he lowered his head and continued eating his noodles.
Judging from the way he was eating, he really was hungry.
Shen Shuyue was annoyed, but not particularly angry.
After a while, she picked up Qiu Chengyue’s money and tossed the grain and oil coupons back to him.
“I’ll take the money.”
He had eaten her fish, after all. She deserved some compensation.
Although, to her, this amount of money really wasn’t much.
Qiu Chengyue didn’t react.
Shen Shuyue continued eating.
She didn’t have much of an appetite; she simply ate rather slowly.
She couldn’t finish all the rice she had cooked.
And she couldn’t finish the remaining half of the fish either.
Qiu Chengyue ate quickly. He finished the entire bowl of noodles in just a few minutes, even drinking every last drop of the broth.
Judging from the way he still looked unsatisfied, he clearly wasn’t full.
When Shen Shuyue put down her chopsticks, there was still some fish left on the plate, and there was still rice in the pot.
After a long silence, Qiu Chengyue spoke again.
“Are you going to eat the leftover rice?”
Shen Shuyue was full and didn’t want to move.
Hearing his question, she lazily rolled her eyes at him.
“I’m not eating it.”
Qiu Chengyue: “What about the fish?”
Shen Shuyue waved her hand.
“Not eating that either.”
She was stuffed. She couldn’t eat another bite.
She felt that cooking for herself was still the most satisfying.
The food at restaurants was delicious, but it could get tiring after a while.
Qiu Chengyue nodded.
Then he scraped all the remaining rice into the plate containing the fish.
Noticing Shen Shuyue watching him, he said, “I’ll wash the dishes and clean the pot.”
Shen Shuyue was satisfied.
This man was quite something. When the original Shen Shuyue had waited on him hand and foot, he had treated her with disdain.
Now that she refused to cater to him, he was shamelessly coming closer instead.
And even saying, “I’ll wash the dishes and clean the pot.”
Hmph…
Shen Shuyue went over to the sofa and leaned back.
After eating her fill, Shen Shuyue didn’t feel like moving.
She crossed her legs and lounged against the sofa, revealing her soft, long legs.
Her striking red-painted toes swayed gently in the air.
When Qiu Chengyue came out of the kitchen and saw this scene, he suddenly felt hot again…