“Why did you change your mobile phone?” Ren Suo asked.
“I forgot to bring my mobile phone along with me when I went to Tianjing, and the Countermeasure Division did not retrieve it for me either. Look at this, they gave me a new one instead. It seems to be a special edition with a greatly enhanced performance and a much longer battery life!” Dong Chengling replied.
–It’s no wonder that Qiao Muyi and Gu Yueyan had been unable to contact you.
Ren Suo remarked, “Why did I not receive such treatment from them… Mmm? This shrimp omelet with crab stick and leek is absolutely delicious! Is this a new dish sold at the dining hall? Also, it has been more than 10 days since the Dragon Boat Festival, are they still selling glutinous rice dumplings?”
Dong Chengling had brought a thermal lunch box with her and indeed planned to eat with Ren Suo.
The thermal lunch box was not big, but there were three home-cooked dishes and two glutinous rice dumplings inside. The food was still piping hot when Ren Suo took them out. He was really hungry at that time. As a Practitioner, he already had to consume more food to replenish his higher energy consumption, and with so many things happening that night, he was long famished.
Looking at the remnants of oil on Ren Suo’s face, Dong Chengling smiled. She said, “This is not takeaway from the dining hall, I made them myself.”
“Mmm?” Ren Suo replied as he chewed on the glutinous rice, fried omelet, crab meat, and fatty meat in his mouth. He finally managed to swallow the food in his mouth and asked, “Why did you think of cooking by yourself?”
“When I did not have enough money in the past, you were always willing to treat me. I have always remembered this kindness in my heart,” Dong Chengling replied with a smile.
She continued, “I was thinking about how I would repay you at that time. I wanted to treat you to a meal today, but when I came to look for you in the afternoon, you were not at home.”
——Black Bell, if only you could recognize human faces… If you could do that, I would gladly give you photographs of any breed of cats you want, be it an American shorthair, British shorthair, or a puppet cat! I would even be willing to adopt a cat just for you!
Dong Chengling was slightly embarrassed as she scratched her face with her index finger. She said, “At that time, I thought that it would be more sincere to cook a meal myself. However, the last time I cooked was a year ago, so I bought a lot of ingredients in the afternoon to experiment. In the end, I only managed to whip up a barely decent meal after 8 p.m… As for the glutinous rice dumplings, I bought them elsewhere and heated them up.”
“No way,” Ren Suo said. He was definitely not so oblivious as to be picky when someone else treated him.
He remarked, “The food you cooked is absolutely delicious. I have always been having my meals at the dining hall, and I am already very satisfied to be able to eat such home-cooked meals occasionally!”
Upon hearing Ren Suo’s evaluation of her food, Dong Chengling flushed. She grinned widely and said, “It’s great that you like it.”
Then, Ren Suo asked, “I just have a question, why did you get glutinous rice dumplings for today?”
“Oh, it’s because you already left Tianjing on Dragon Boat Festival, so I thought… By the way, what took you so long before opening the door?” Dong Chengling replied.
“Cough, cough—”
Ren Suo choked on the glutinous rice of the dumpling and quickly drank a few mouthfuls of water to clear his throat. However, Dong Chengling was not worried as it would be unbelievable for a Practitioner to be choked to death by a glutinous rice dumpling. She continued staring extremely curiously at Ren Suo.
Ren Suo had not expected that despite him trying his best to avoid the subject, Dong Chengling still did not forget about that matter.
He stammered, “I… received your call, and then…”
“And then?” Dong Chengling asked.
“And then I… tripped. Yes!” Ren Suo exclaimed as he pointed at the corner of the coffee table in the living room. He continued, “I hit the corner of the table. Look at that, isn’t it sharp?”
It would definitely have hurt if anyone hit the corner of the square-shaped, glass coffee table in the living room with force.
Ren Suo added, “My knees started to bleed from the impact, and I thought that it would be rude to welcome you in that state, so I treated myself first before opening the door… Cheng Ling?”
Ren Suo realized that midway through his sentence, Dong Chengling did not seem to be listening to him anymore. Instead, she was staring at his eyes in a daze.
Dong Chengling returned to her senses and said, “Ah? Oh, oh, I see, you were so happy to receive my call that you tripped… Hmmm…”
Before she finished her sentence, she walked over to touch the glass coffee table, as if to see if the corners were really as sharp as Ren Suo described.
Ren Suo felt that what Dong Chengling said seemed to be slightly different from what he meant, but he was having an adrenaline rush at that moment and could not be too bothered.
Dong Chengling finally moved on from that topic and Ren Suo breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly finished all the food in no time.
Ren Suo had his fill and burped. He remarked, “Ah, I feel alive again.”
Dong Chengling laughed and said, “You must be exaggerating… If you like, I can cook for you everyday.”
“What?” a momentarily stunned Ren Suo replied.
Dong Chengling said, “Now that I’m back at the college, the number of points in my wristband has also increased by a few folds, so I won’t be short of points even if I spend points on time for Practice.”
She swept her hair behind her ears and continued, “Actually, I used to like cooking for myself. It was just that I gave up doing so when I came to Lianjing City to study in university, as the use of high-power appliances in the dormitory was prohibited. I could have cooked for myself when I came to the Heavenly Institution of Lian, but I did not have sufficient points to buy the ingredients then.
“However, I now have sufficient points in my wristband to buy the ingredients, but I can’t eat that much alone. If I cooked more dishes for every meal, there would definitely be leftovers. For the sake of health and to preserve the taste of the food, it would be best not to keep any food as much as possible.”
“As such, if you are willing to help me out, I would be able to cook as much as I want.”
Dong Chengling looked at Ren Suo and blinked. She added, “At the same time, this is also to express my gratitude towards you for treating me to so many meals. However, my food may not be as delicious as the food from the dining hall.”
It is to express her gratitude? Ren Suo was relieved, and subconsciously replied out of politeness, “Would this really be a good idea…”
Dong Chengling replied, “If you are not willing to do so, I can treat you to a meal at the dining hall everyday instead. If I still do not do anything to return your kindness although I now have the ability to do so, I cannot live with a clear conscience.”
Ren Suo could not think of any reason to refuse Dong Chengling, and in fact, there was no reason for him to refuse either, so he changed the topic. He asked, “So… Gu Yueyan has also treated you to meals before, are you not intending to thank her as well?”
“Oh, right!” Dong Chengling exclaimed.
It was as if she had a sudden great revelation. She said, “I need to thank Gu Yueyan too. I should ask her if she would be willing to come and eat with me everyday. If there are three people eating, I can cook more dishes!”
Ren Suo did not want to destroy Dong Chengling’s eagerness, and he was also growing tired of the food from the dining hall after eating there for so many days.
He said, “I’ll have to trouble you then…”
“You’re welcome,” Dong Chengling said as she packed the now empty lunchbox into her bag. Ren Suo had emptied all of the contents of the lunchbox into his stomach.
Dong Chengling turned around to look out of the window and said, “It’s still raining.”
Ren Suo also commented, “Yeah, the rain started very suddenly, and it is extremely heavy too. Nonetheless, summer is also the peak of the rainy season in Lianjiang, so it is perfectly normal too.”
“Indeed,” Dong Chengling replied.
After a moment of silence, Dong Chengling picked up her bag.
She said, “In that case, I’ll go back first.”
Upon hearing that sentence, the weights in Ren Suo’s heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys could finally be eased. Ren Suo almost wanted to relax his bone marrow as well as he forced himself not to be too happy. He replied, “Oh, see you again. I’ll see you out.”
However, when Dong Chengling walked to the door and turned her head, she suddenly yelled, “Cockroach!”
Eh? Ren Suo turned his head and saw a cockroach at the corner of the wall, stubbornly crawling into his bedroom.
Could Dong Chengling be a scaredy-cat like Gu Yueyan and knock herself unconscious by hitting the wall?
No, she was not!
With one swift motion, she grabbed three to four pieces of tissue paper from the tissue box on the coffee table. Then, she pointed at the cockroach with her left finger and commanded loudly—
“Surrender!”
Nothing happened to the cockroach, but Dong Chengling seemed to have anticipated it. The next moment, she rushed over towards the cockroach with the tissue paper in her hand!
Perhaps due to the intense murderous aura and aggressive movement behind it, the cockroach instantly sped up and managed to squeeze its way into the bedroom, through the gap between the door and its frame!
“Stop right there!” Dong Chengling shouted.
Both Dong Chengling and the cockroach moved so quickly that Ren Suo could not react in time. The next thing he knew, Dong Chengling opened the door to his bedroom in a bid to kill the cockroach!
—You forced me to kill your entire family, roach!
“Why did you change your mobile phone?” Ren Suo asked.
“I forgot to bring my mobile phone along with me when I went to Tianjing, and the Countermeasure Division did not retrieve it for me either. Look at this, they gave me a new one instead. It seems to be a special edition with a greatly enhanced performance and a much longer battery life!” Dong Chengling replied.
–It’s no wonder that Qiao Muyi and Gu Yueyan had been unable to contact you.
Ren Suo remarked, “Why did I not receive such treatment from them… Mmm? This shrimp omelet with crab stick and leek is absolutely delicious! Is this a new dish sold at the dining hall? Also, it has been more than 10 days since the Dragon Boat Festival, are they still selling glutinous rice dumplings?”
Dong Chengling had brought a thermal lunch box with her and indeed planned to eat with Ren Suo.
The thermal lunch box was not big, but there were three home-cooked dishes and two glutinous rice dumplings inside. The food was still piping hot when Ren Suo took them out. He was really hungry at that time. As a Practitioner, he already had to consume more food to replenish his higher energy consumption, and with so many things happening that night, he was long famished.
Looking at the remnants of oil on Ren Suo’s face, Dong Chengling smiled. She said, “This is not takeaway from the dining hall, I made them myself.”
“Mmm?” Ren Suo replied as he chewed on the glutinous rice, fried omelet, crab meat, and fatty meat in his mouth. He finally managed to swallow the food in his mouth and asked, “Why did you think of cooking by yourself?”
“When I did not have enough money in the past, you were always willing to treat me. I have always remembered this kindness in my heart,” Dong Chengling replied with a smile.
She continued, “I was thinking about how I would repay you at that time. I wanted to treat you to a meal today, but when I came to look for you in the afternoon, you were not at home.”
——Black Bell, if only you could recognize human faces… If you could do that, I would gladly give you photographs of any breed of cats you want, be it an American shorthair, British shorthair, or a puppet cat! I would even be willing to adopt a cat just for you!
Dong Chengling was slightly embarrassed as she scratched her face with her index finger. She said, “At that time, I thought that it would be more sincere to cook a meal myself. However, the last time I cooked was a year ago, so I bought a lot of ingredients in the afternoon to experiment. In the end, I only managed to whip up a barely decent meal after 8 p.m… As for the glutinous rice dumplings, I bought them elsewhere and heated them up.”
“No way,” Ren Suo said. He was definitely not so oblivious as to be picky when someone else treated him.
He remarked, “The food you cooked is absolutely delicious. I have always been having my meals at the dining hall, and I am already very satisfied to be able to eat such home-cooked meals occasionally!”
Upon hearing Ren Suo’s evaluation of her food, Dong Chengling flushed. She grinned widely and said, “It’s great that you like it.”
Then, Ren Suo asked, “I just have a question, why did you get glutinous rice dumplings for today?”
“Oh, it’s because you already left Tianjing on Dragon Boat Festival, so I thought… By the way, what took you so long before opening the door?” Dong Chengling replied.
“Cough, cough—”
Ren Suo choked on the glutinous rice of the dumpling and quickly drank a few mouthfuls of water to clear his throat. However, Dong Chengling was not worried as it would be unbelievable for a Practitioner to be choked to death by a glutinous rice dumpling. She continued staring extremely curiously at Ren Suo.
Ren Suo had not expected that despite him trying his best to avoid the subject, Dong Chengling still did not forget about that matter.
He stammered, “I… received your call, and then…”
“And then?” Dong Chengling asked.
“And then I… tripped. Yes!” Ren Suo exclaimed as he pointed at the corner of the coffee table in the living room. He continued, “I hit the corner of the table. Look at that, isn’t it sharp?”
It would definitely have hurt if anyone hit the corner of the square-shaped, glass coffee table in the living room with force.
Ren Suo added, “My knees started to bleed from the impact, and I thought that it would be rude to welcome you in that state, so I treated myself first before opening the door… Cheng Ling?”
Ren Suo realized that midway through his sentence, Dong Chengling did not seem to be listening to him anymore. Instead, she was staring at his eyes in a daze.
Dong Chengling returned to her senses and said, “Ah? Oh, oh, I see, you were so happy to receive my call that you tripped… Hmmm…”
Before she finished her sentence, she walked over to touch the glass coffee table, as if to see if the corners were really as sharp as Ren Suo described.
Ren Suo felt that what Dong Chengling said seemed to be slightly different from what he meant, but he was having an adrenaline rush at that moment and could not be too bothered.
Dong Chengling finally moved on from that topic and Ren Suo breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly finished all the food in no time.
Ren Suo had his fill and burped. He remarked, “Ah, I feel alive again.”
Dong Chengling laughed and said, “You must be exaggerating… If you like, I can cook for you everyday.”
“What?” a momentarily stunned Ren Suo replied.
Dong Chengling said, “Now that I’m back at the college, the number of points in my wristband has also increased by a few folds, so I won’t be short of points even if I spend points on time for Practice.”
She swept her hair behind her ears and continued, “Actually, I used to like cooking for myself. It was just that I gave up doing so when I came to Lianjing City to study in university, as the use of high-power appliances in the dormitory was prohibited. I could have cooked for myself when I came to the Heavenly Institution of Lian, but I did not have sufficient points to buy the ingredients then.
“However, I now have sufficient points in my wristband to buy the ingredients, but I can’t eat that much alone. If I cooked more dishes for every meal, there would definitely be leftovers. For the sake of health and to preserve the taste of the food, it would be best not to keep any food as much as possible.”
“As such, if you are willing to help me out, I would be able to cook as much as I want.”
Dong Chengling looked at Ren Suo and blinked. She added, “At the same time, this is also to express my gratitude towards you for treating me to so many meals. However, my food may not be as delicious as the food from the dining hall.”
It is to express her gratitude? Ren Suo was relieved, and subconsciously replied out of politeness, “Would this really be a good idea…”
Dong Chengling replied, “If you are not willing to do so, I can treat you to a meal at the dining hall everyday instead. If I still do not do anything to return your kindness although I now have the ability to do so, I cannot live with a clear conscience.”
Ren Suo could not think of any reason to refuse Dong Chengling, and in fact, there was no reason for him to refuse either, so he changed the topic. He asked, “So… Gu Yueyan has also treated you to meals before, are you not intending to thank her as well?”
“Oh, right!” Dong Chengling exclaimed.
It was as if she had a sudden great revelation. She said, “I need to thank Gu Yueyan too. I should ask her if she would be willing to come and eat with me everyday. If there are three people eating, I can cook more dishes!”
Ren Suo did not want to destroy Dong Chengling’s eagerness, and he was also growing tired of the food from the dining hall after eating there for so many days.
He said, “I’ll have to trouble you then…”
“You’re welcome,” Dong Chengling said as she packed the now empty lunchbox into her bag. Ren Suo had emptied all of the contents of the lunchbox into his stomach.
Dong Chengling turned around to look out of the window and said, “It’s still raining.”
Ren Suo also commented, “Yeah, the rain started very suddenly, and it is extremely heavy too. Nonetheless, summer is also the peak of the rainy season in Lianjiang, so it is perfectly normal too.”
“Indeed,” Dong Chengling replied.
After a moment of silence, Dong Chengling picked up her bag.
She said, “In that case, I’ll go back first.”
Upon hearing that sentence, the weights in Ren Suo’s heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys could finally be eased. Ren Suo almost wanted to relax his bone marrow as well as he forced himself not to be too happy. He replied, “Oh, see you again. I’ll see you out.”
However, when Dong Chengling walked to the door and turned her head, she suddenly yelled, “Cockroach!”
Eh? Ren Suo turned his head and saw a cockroach at the corner of the wall, stubbornly crawling into his bedroom.
Could Dong Chengling be a scaredy-cat like Gu Yueyan and knock herself unconscious by hitting the wall?
No, she was not!
With one swift motion, she grabbed three to four pieces of tissue paper from the tissue box on the coffee table. Then, she pointed at the cockroach with her left finger and commanded loudly—
“Surrender!”
Nothing happened to the cockroach, but Dong Chengling seemed to have anticipated it. The next moment, she rushed over towards the cockroach with the tissue paper in her hand!
Perhaps due to the intense murderous aura and aggressive movement behind it, the cockroach instantly sped up and managed to squeeze its way into the bedroom, through the gap between the door and its frame!
“Stop right there!” Dong Chengling shouted.
Both Dong Chengling and the cockroach moved so quickly that Ren Suo could not react in time. The next thing he knew, Dong Chengling opened the door to his bedroom in a bid to kill the cockroach!
—You forced me to kill your entire family, roach!
