Chapter 10

Good Cook? Rong Yue was surprised to see her mother and the young master bringing out dishes from the kitchen when she woke up the next day. Dressed in her neatly ironed uniform with her hair packed into a rolled-up bun, Qin Yichen sighed at how attractive the young girl was. For their living conditions, it was already surprising that they weren’t getting disturbed by men. “Yue’er, this young master used the vegetables outside to make several dishes, you should try some before going to school.” Her mother said softly as she set the table and then pulled her daughter with her to sit down. Rong Yue understood that her mother was slightly naive, and she already felt that it was impossible that the man in front of her would have made something edible. She watched as he rinsed his elegant and slender fingers and then picked up the chopsticks after serving himself. Qin Yichen felt her gaze on him and looked up, shooting her a questioning glare. Instead of being embarrassed, Rong Yue rolled her eyes and then looked at her mother, who had taken a bite of the food. Her mother’s eyes lit up immediately as she chewed on the food quite quickly and swallowed. Without thinking, she took a second mouthful and then a third, making Yong Yue wonder if the meal was really good. Noticing that her daughter wasn’t eating, Rong Xia stopped eating and looked over worriedly. “What’s the matter? Are you okay?” “Hmmm, I was just waiting to see him eat it in case there are some poisonous vegetables there.” She responded frankly, making her mother flush in embarrassment. She looked at the young man who had gotten up early to cook to be sure that he wasn’t offended before replying to her. “He’s cooking is refreshing and good. Also, don’t you know that all my herbs and vegetables are good ones? How can it be poisonous?” She chided gently. Rong Yue looked at Qin Yichen one more time, rolling her eyes at the man who had acted like he wasn’t aware of the mother-daughter interaction as he ate his meal peacefully. She then picked up her chopsticks and took a mouthful. Almost as if he were waiting, the moment her eyes lit up with surprise at the taste of the food, she met Qin Yichen’s ga, ze who was watching to see if she would like the meal. Seeing as she liked it, the corner of his mouth lifted in a small smile that looked very ugly to Rong, Yue, who was embarrassed at being caressed. Since he already knew she liked it, she ate the food up very quickly and even got a second serving before standing up to go to school. “Here, I won’t be needing it in school, and I know you would need a phone to communicate and get your people to pick you.” Rong Yue sai,d handing him the phone. Even though she had the intention of finding some work while she had break in school previously, she was willing to let him use it as a payment for making breakfast. Considering that he needed it, Qin Yichen didn’t refuse and took the phone from her while his eyes conveyed his thanks. “Mother, you don’t have to treat anyone inside the house again. If it’s something urgent, you can treat them outside or in their house.” She told her mom, who nodded obediently as she rolled up the piece of already-painted fabric from last night. Since it was just the right size for her bag, she kept it there and waved toth of them goodbye and left for school. As soon as she got to school, Tong Yang, who had arrived a lot earlier, rushed to meet her. “Rong Yue, you came just on time.” She said excitedly and pulled her towards the classroom. After hearing the announcement, she rushed out to make sure that she could control Rong Yue before she heard the words from their classmates. “Just now, the social department announced that there would be more announcements regarding the award and graduation ceremony. I really can’t wait to win the belle of the year.” She gushed while Yong Yue went into deep thought. In their past life, the rules of the competition had been different, and instead of allowing interested participants to enter the competition by themselves, they had instead picked five suitable candidates and opened the selection to the school. She had won the competition by a landslide, but after seeing how miserable her best friend was, she had willingly stepped down and allowed Tong Yang to take the brown home. Thinking of how she had sacrificed anything she could to make her happy and how she had paid her back, Rong Yue sneered in her mind before she smiled gently at her. “I’m sure you would look very good in the crown. You don’t have any competition.” She said, looking around their classroom. Since the competition required that they were all-rounders, there were other people but they also couldn’t compare to Tong Yang not to mention Rong Yue. Tong Yang nodded before looking at Rong Yue with a pitiful and glossy expression. “Would you be competing? Father wants me to win this because of my bad grades....” “I won’t be entering my name, I know you want this also.” Yong Yue assured her. Since she knew that no one was going to enter their name, she knew she wasn’t going to be breaking any promises. Extra-curricular activities like this would close soon, and the major award program would only be after their exam; however, competitions like this would have been organized and closed before that time. Tong Yang nodded and then thanked her eagerly while her eyes had a satisfied and victorious look. Before she rushed out of the classroom, everyone was already mentioning that she was the one going to win the award. Since they had been friends the whole of high school, she knew that since Yong Yue gave her word, she wouldn’t give her name to the socials department. Both of them walked to their class in a silent harmony, and each person’s mind was filled with their thoughts. Just as they were about to enter the class, Fang An, the class president, crossed their paths. “Yue’er, the mathematics teacher asked me to come with you, it seems like you had entered some answers wrongly.” Fang An said with his eyes fixed on only Rong Yue. Tong Yang smiled broadly, hoping that he would look at her. Even though he was the class president, everyone knew that Fang An’s family was one of the biggest families in their city. More importantly, his family had some ties to the capital. With how attractive he was, he was the dream boyfriend of most girls in their school, ranking number two on the list of the most attractive boys. Rong Yue nodded and followed him unsuspecting. After they crossed the path that separated the classrooms from the teacher’s offices, Fang An paused, and a shy look crossed his face. When he had gotten the thought of warning her, he hadn’t bothered to think it twice. Now that he was standing in front of the pure beauty that he secretly admired, he wondered if she would find his words offensive.