Chapter 214: My Heart Belongs to Air-Sensei
After being accepted, all that was left was to wait for school to start. The days before then were leisurely, and since she worked hard every day, she wasn’t completely idle. Unlike Zhao Yuyan.
“I lost my game again! Little Nana, come play a match with me. I’ll carry you, okay?~”
Every time she dropped by Zhao Yuyan’s place, Zhao Yuyan would shamelessly ask to carry her in a game.
“You say you’ll carry me, but what you really want is to see me as a newbie so you can crush me, right?”
“How did you know? Are you a mind reader?”
“Please, do you think the same trick would work on me a second time?”
“But I can’t win my games! My rank won’t go up!”
“Then go to work!”
“I don’t want to work!”
Hopeless. Zhao Yuyan’s laziness was terminal. There was no cure.
But it made sense. She had fought hard to get two months off from writing. It would be a crime against herself not to play to her heart’s content.
She didn’t look like a god-tier author at all. It made one wonder how her work ever got an animation deal.
“I’m heading back. They should be back with the groceries around this time.”
“I’m hungry too. Can I come over for lunch?”
“That’s fine. I was planning on making soup for lunch today.”
“I’ll be waiting~”
Now that someone was helping her with groceries, Yu Linna hadn’t needed to leave the house these past few days. She just had to wait for them to deliver the food. Because she hadn’t been out, her skin had grown even fairer, having seen no sun at all. But what was baffling was that she hadn’t gained any weight; she was still just as thin.
In the end, she could only chalk it up to her constitution.
When she got back, the editors from Wenqing handed her the groceries. As usual, she gave them the money for reimbursement. Yu Linna carried the bags inside and started on lunch. Just as she was washing the vegetables, the doorbell rang.
“Coming… Isn’t this Bai Chen-Sensei? Come in and have a seat.”
“Good afternoon, Shion-Sensei.”
Tang Yulong was dressed quite formally today. His hair was specially styled with pomade, and his face wore a nervous expression. It made one wonder if the boy was up to something.
“What’s wrong, Bai Chen-Sensei? Why so nervous? Are you in some kind of trouble?”
“Shion-Sensei, I heard you were in some trouble recently. I came to see…”
“Just tell me your purpose for coming.”
“I want to ask Air-Sensei out for a meal, but I really don’t have the courage to go to her door, so I had to come and talk to you.”
Just as she thought. If Tang Yulong came to see her, it had to be for Zhao Yuyan. It was hard to imagine any other reason. Besides, his crush on Zhao Yuyan wasn’t a recent development. Unfortunately, Zhao Yuyan had no interest, leaving him to fret on the sidelines. One had to remember that Tang Yulong was the son of Wenqing’s chief editor. Such a great connection, and Zhao Yuyan didn’t have a single thought about it.
“I’ll open the door for you. You need to be more proactive.”
“W-w-wait, wait, wait! W-w-wouldn’t right n-n-now be too… too direct? I-I-I’m so nervous I could die…”
“If you’re so nervous, you should ask her out on WeChat instead of showing up at her door.”
Yu Linna didn’t care if he was nervous or not. She went straight to open Zhao Yuyan’s door. Since she often dropped by and Zhao Yuyan never locked her door during the day, Yu Linna could come and go as she pleased.
The moment she opened the door, Zhao Yuyan was playing a racing game on her phone. Seeing her, she first gestured for her to sit down, then stood up after another two minutes of playing. Only then did she slowly notice Tang Yulong.
“Bai Chen-Sensei? Why are you dressed like that? Are you going on a date?” she teased.
“N-n-no, no! I came to ask Air-Sensei a question!”
“What question? Go ahead and ask.”
“Air-Sensei, are you free to have lunch with me today?”
Sigh, he still said it. He had wanted to be more tactful. Plans just couldn’t keep up with reality.
“You little brat, you don’t have a crush on me, do you?”
“N-n-n-no, no, no! I just had a work-related question and wanted to discuss it with Air-Sensei, and treat you to a meal while I’m at it. I definitely don’t have that kind of intention.”
Tang Yulong’s face turned beet red. Even Yu Linna hadn’t expected him to be so easily flustered. It was just a joke from Zhao Yuyan, and he had reacted like this. How innocent could this boy be? Though Yu Linna herself was in no position to talk.
“What a coincidence. I’m having lunch with Little Nana today, so I can’t go out with you.”
“I see…”
Tang Yulong looked dejected.
“But hey, since you’re already here, why don’t you stay and eat with us? Little Nana, can you make enough for one more person?”
“That’s no problem. There’s not much difference between cooking for two and cooking for three.”
Hearing Zhao Yuyan’s last sentence, the light returned to Tang Yulong’s dim eyes.
“Air-Sensei, you mean?”
“You’re in luck, kid. You get to taste Little Nana’s cooking for lunch. Since you have to eat anyway, why don’t the three of us eat together? We can talk about work too.”
Putting aside what Zhao Yuyan said at the end, her words at the beginning were enough to make Tang Yulong ecstatic. He could eat with Air-Sensei. This was great.
He was simply too happy.
Yu Linna looked at him, then at the completely oblivious Zhao Yuyan, and couldn’t help but sigh. These two had absolutely no romantic chemistry. Could they really get together?
Since there was an extra person for lunch, Yu Linna had to cook more rice and make an extra dish. It was the first time she had invited a boy over for a meal, and she never expected it to be in this fashion. Though this boy could probably pass for a girl.
While waiting for the food to be ready, Zhao Yuyan had nothing to do, so she played games at home. Tang Yulong, who couldn’t cook, watched TV at Yu Linna’s place. He even asked if she needed help, but Yu Linna said no.
“Shion-Sensei, you can cook? That’s really surprising.”
“Can’t girls cook?”
“I don’t mean it like that. I just think, you’re already a god-tier author at Wenqing, yet you still cook for yourself. Generally speaking, shouldn’t you hire a maid?”
“I’m used to living alone. I still prefer my own cooking. I can’t say for sure about other things, but my cooking is much better than the restaurants outside.”
The sight of Yu Linna in an apron, stir-frying in the kitchen, was surprisingly pleasing to Tang Yulong’s eyes. It felt like she was a real wife.
Actually, his mother had always told him that when he got married, he should marry a woman who could cook. He had lived with his sister for so long, and she had never cooked a single meal. And when he met Zhao Yuyan, she was a complete disaster in the kitchen. So, he had basically never come into contact with a girl who could cook.
Now, seeing Yu Linna cook, he actually found her a little cute. Dammit, I like Air-Sensei. I can’t waver. My heart belongs to Air-Sensei…
“Ahem, Shion-Sensei, were you always the one who cooked at home?”
“Yeah. I used to move a lot and often went hungry. I couldn’t just sit around and wait for food, so I had to learn to cook. I learned as I went.”
Yu Linna smiled.
Life used to be hard. She often had no food. At those times, she had no choice but to learn to cook herself, to fill her own stomach. But until she met Ye Zhiyun, she had never had a day where she had truly eaten her fill.
Now that her living conditions had improved, things were naturally different.
“Shion-Sensei, you’ll be a good wife in the future.”
“You think so? I think you’ll be a good wife in the future too.”
“Please don’t tease me…”
After that, Yu Linna spent her time cooking in the kitchen. Before she had even finished bringing out all the dishes, Tang Yulong could already smell the aroma. The smell was so good. Dammit, it’s more fragrant than any dish I’ve ever eaten at a restaurant.
Looking at Yu Linna again, in her apron, her hair tied in a ponytail, stir-frying in the kitchen…
Dammit, so cute. Even cuter than Air-Sensei.
No, no, I can’t fall for her tricks. I like native-born Chinese girls, not mixed-race ones. My heart belongs to Air-Sensei…
“What are you mumbling about, Bai Chen-Sensei? The food is ready. Go call Sister Yuyan over to eat.”
“Ah… okay, okay, I’ll go right now!”
Watching him flee with a red face, Yu Linna was a little puzzled. What was wrong with him? Why did he seem even more nervous than he was at Zhao Yuyan’s place? Was she that scary? She wasn’t ugly.
In reality, Tang Yulong really wanted to slap himself. His heart was in complete chaos. Why did he find Shion-Sensei so cute? Didn’t he like Air-Sensei?
Dammit, dammit, dammit, I definitely didn’t check the almanac before leaving the house today.
“Ah, I’m starving! All these dishes look so delicious. Little Nana, you’re my lucky star. Can I move in with you?”
The late-arriving Zhao Yuyan’s mouth watered at the sight of the delicious food on the table. As a shut-in, she usually played games at home and would have a bowl of instant noodles when she was hungry. Occasionally, she would eat out at a restaurant or get fast food. There was absolutely no chance of her cooking herself, because she didn’t know how.
“No way. You’re too lazy. I don’t want to see your clothes piled up on the sofa unwashed every day.”
“You heartless person…”
It was Tang Yulong’s first time as a guest, so he was still quite reserved. When he sat down to eat, he made a point of serving Zhao Yuyan some food before eating himself. He took a bite, and it was unexpectedly delicious. He took another bite, and it felt like he was addicted.
“This is delicious! It’s even better than what I’ve had at high-end restaurants. Shion-Sensei, if you became a chef, you’d definitely become a star chef.”
“You flatter me. These are just home-cooked dishes. Next time, if I have good ingredients, I’ll make something even better for you.”
Tang Yulong looked at this god-tier author from Wenqing, his heart full of emotion. This was a real girl. In this day and age, there weren’t many girls who could cook.
For such a wonderful girl to marry some unknown man in the future—the thought alone was heartbreaking.
While eating, Zhao Yuyan watched the interaction between the two, her eyes never leaving them. Just watching them talk and laugh, she began to wonder if this Tang Yulong had feelings for Little Nana. Dammit, I won’t let you succeed.
Tang Yulong felt a sudden chill. Why was Air-Sensei glaring at him? He hadn’t done anything to make her angry…
Lunch passed in a cheerful and lively atmosphere.
