Xin Dayi turned around with a dazed look on his face. Yan hope smiled slyly and, taking advantage of the boy's distraction, reached out to grab the lunchbox.
Unfortunately, I had just finished eating chicken wings, and my hands were still oily. The lunchbox was made of metal, and my hand slipped.
*Splat*
The lunchbox lid is on the ground.
Xin Dayi turned around, squatted down, tears trembling in her eyes.
"My meat, my rice..."
"Ha... well, there really are spare ribs..." Yan hope pointed to a pool of dark red spare ribs on the ground and said in a daze.
"Yan hope, you bastard, you owe me!" Xin Dayi was furious, her hair standing on end.
"Ahem... Here, take this." Yan hope stared at the ceiling with her big eyes, one hand behind her head, and handed the lunchbox she had snatched from Si Wan to the boy with the other.
Xin Dayi took the lunchbox, and the tears that hadn't fallen just moments before instantly streamed down her face—"Not even a single vegetable leaf is left, what am I supposed to eat?!"
Yan hope crossed his legs, held a toothpick, shrugged, and spread his hands innocently, saying, "Then I can't help you, young master..."
"I'll fight you to the death!" Xin Dayi gritted his teeth and rolled up his sleeves.
Ah Heng ate for half a day, his ears never quieted down. He sighed, put down his chopsticks, turned around, and held out his lunchbox to Xin Dayi, scooping out more than half of it into the empty lunchbox—"Here, you eat."
"I won't eat Zhang Sao's cooking, it's too salty!" Xin Dayi said, glaring at Yan hope with every word.
Yan hope's eyes were dark and bright, shining with an extremely innocent light.
“I didn’t do it, Aunt Zhang,” Ah Heng said gently.
"You can cook?" the two boys asked in unison.
Ah Heng nodded, looking completely matter-of-fact.
If a girl reaches her age and can't cook, how will she get married in the future?
"So, you also cooked Siwan's meals?" Yan hope raised an eyebrow, his dark hair concealing a hint of green.
Ah Heng smiled and continued nodding.
Xin Dayi's eyes widened.
At first, the boy hesitated to accept it, but his stomach was rumbling loudly, so he gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and thought, "Damn it, if Si Wanyan can eat this, so can I!" He then took it.
Braised eggplant, shredded pork with dried tofu, and scrambled eggs with tomatoes—these are just a few simple home-style dishes, but they are prepared with great care, are clean, and look very appealing.
The boy scratched his head, grabbed his chopsticks, and started shoveling food into his mouth. At first, he thought it was just ordinary, but the more he ate, the more delicious it became. He got addicted, and with the last bite, he let out a burp before putting down his chopsticks.
"Ha...you brat, you're hopeless!" Yan Xi was older than Si Wanda Yi and had always acted like an older brother, laughing and scolding the boy.
Ah Heng smiled too, her thin lips curving slightly, their color serene.
Xin Dayi wiped her mouth with her sleeve, looked up and stared straight at Aheng, and after a long while, she finally spoke.
"Wen Heng, stop laughing like that! It's really annoying to watch!"
"hehe."
"I didn't want to talk to you at first. You're always smiling like that, it's so fake. But I'm beholden to you because I eat your food. So don't smile like that in front of us anymore, understand?"
"hehe."
"You're such a blockhead, you can't even understand what I'm saying!" Xin Dayi pouted.
"hehe."
"Does your cheek hurt?" Yan hope asked with a smile.
"It hurts." Ah Heng poked her cheek and said embarrassedly.
Aside from the pain in my cheeks, what's wrong with smiling like that?
She held goodwill towards the world, fully aware of the stubbornness of human nature, and never expecting to have any ability to change anything overnight. She simply hoped that when others turned away, they would see her smile. Although others might not return the same smile, she had tried her best, yearning for the power of subtle influence. As long as it wasn't her regret, that was enough. As for others, she was powerless and didn't want to concern herself with them.
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"Aheng, can I make a deal with you?" Siwan's expression was very serious, but her bright eyes were still as warm as the sun.
"What?" Aheng laughed, tilting her head. She was doing her homework when Siwan knocked on the door.
"Next time, cook something a little worse." Siwan frowned and sighed.
"Why?" Aheng asked, startled.
"Yan hope always steals my food, so I can only eat bread every time." Si Wan said with a helpless expression.
Aunt Zhang was a typical northerner with a strong palate, and her cooking was often a bit too salty. However, the Wen family were all gentle and polite people who respected the elderly woman who had served them her whole life and never complained. They got used to the food and that was fine. Based on Aunt Zhang's previous cooking, Yan Xi would never have taken his lunchbox. But now that Aheng was in charge of cooking, Yan hope was determined to have it, much to Aheng's dismay.
"Make some more, that's fine." Ah Heng sniffed and smiled.
"Here, his lunchbox." The boy smiled, a sly look on his face, clear as a spring, with deep dimples. He pulled out a plastic lunchbox from behind his back, quick and decisive, as if he had expected it.
The lunchbox was pink, printed with a little red hat piglet wearing a small flower.
Yan hope's style.
Ah Heng sighed.
Adding Yan hope's portion when cooking isn't a difficult thing. The reason Si Wan made such a fuss about it is probably because Yan Xi was too embarrassed to ask, so she discussed it with Si Wan and tried to get her to bring it up herself indirectly.
The young man spoke to her directly without going through Siwan, so how could she refuse him?
Presumably, Yan hope felt awkward about being distant from her and didn't want to ask her for food, especially since it would be too embarrassing to ask a girl for food. So he kicked Si Wan and made an act.
This person is just too awkward...
Ah Heng was silent. She looked at Si Wan, then took the lunchbox—"Yan hope, what would you like to eat?"
“Oh, Ah Xi said he wants to eat braised pork ribs, stewed pork ribs, winter melon pork ribs, steamed pork ribs…” Siwan replied without hesitation.
After saying that, seeing Ah Heng's knowing and helpless expression, he felt that it was really unkind of him to collude with Yan hope to deceive Ah Heng, and his face turned red.
"Cough cough..." Siwan's eyes darted around, uncomfortably trying to hide her guilty conscience.
"Okay, okay..." Braised pork ribs, stewed pork ribs, winter melon pork ribs, steamed pork ribs?
She dared to say that Yan hope must have pondered this for a long time before telling Si Wan.
Ah Heng smiled and unconsciously tapped the little pig's nose on the lunchbox.
"Oh, right, Ah Heng, Ah Xi is in class. Please supervise his studies more. Keep an eye on him if he sleeps in class," Si Wan said seriously.
"Yanxi, why do you have to repeat a year?" Aheng had been asking this question.
"Oh, I overslept for the final exam and didn't take it." Siwan said with a helpless expression.
Ah Heng was stunned.
Xilin has an unwritten rule: it doesn't matter if your grades aren't top-notch, but you must attend the exams. If you dare to skip an exam, you'll definitely have to repeat the year.
"You and him aren't in the same class?" Aheng asked him, remembering that Siwan and Yanxi were in the same class.
“We’ve always been deskmates.” Siwan shook her head.
"Then why, why don't you look at him more?" Aheng asked, puzzled.
With Siwan around, Yanxi has someone to look after him, so how could he do something so outrageous?
"Why should I care? I'm already grateful that the young master didn't kill me before." Siwan raised her eyebrows, looking incredulous. "How could you make me do something like this?"
Ah Heng glanced at Si Wan silently.
oh.
Let me supervise and manage Yan Xi.
So, I have more face and I'm fairer than you, and Yan hope only bothers you and not me?
No one loves their compatriots.
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Aheng handed the pink piglet to Yanxi, who grinned broadly, his eyes wide as he pretended not to know anything—"Oh, Wenheng, why did you make one for me too? You're too kind, you're too kind, really..."
Immediately, he excitedly opened the lunchbox, blinked his big eyes, and began grinding his teeth—"Where are the ribs?! Young Master, where are my braised ribs, stewed ribs, winter melon ribs, and steamed ribs?! Oh! That brat Siwan must have forgotten to tell me!"
Ah Heng pretended not to notice and silently ate her meal. In her ear, she heard Yan hope's soft complaints, the boy's muttering voice, with the refreshing taste of adolescence, straightforward yet with a slightly nasal tone.
The boy pouted, scooped up a spoonful of rice, and saw pieces of steamed pork ribs underneath the soft, white rice.
Then, the sound was silenced.
Ah Heng chuckled to himself, enjoying the pleasure of his successful prank.
"Steamed pork ribs with rice flour, Ah Xi, I want to eat too..." Xin Dayi said with a shameless smile, squeezing next to Yan hope while holding her lunchbox.
Yan hope deliberately raised his voice, a hint of warmth in his dark, bright eyes—"If you want to eat ribs, you have to say something nice to hear me say it."
Xin Dayi, being straightforward, yelled, "It's just a piece of your rib, what's with the stinginess!"
Yan hope raised an eyebrow, scooped out a piece of pork rib with his spoon, and waved it in front of Xin Dayi.
The boy ruffled his messy hair, drool dripping from his mouth, and said with a serious expression, "Um, Yan hope, I want to eat ribs, I really want to eat them, I really, really want to eat them!"
"And then?" Yan hope asked, his eyes glancing at A Heng.
"I want to eat ribs, thank you," Xin Dayi said in a muffled voice.
"What, what's the sentence after 'I want to eat ribs'?"
"Thanks!"
"Oh, the sound is too soft, I can't hear it."
"Thanks!!"
"I can't hear you."
"Thanks!!!"
"What?"
Xin Dayi was furious—"Yan hope, you tricked me!"
"Young Master, I really didn't hear that!" Yan hope picked at his ear, gave the seat in front of him a calm but mischievous smile—"Wen Heng, did you hear that?"
Ah Heng turned around, smiling helplessly—"I heard it, I heard it."