Chapter 22: What Do You Mean You're Craving My Cooking!

After staring at the tightly shut door next door for a moment, Lin Jianxia bit her lower lip and finally looked away. She took out her keys, turned around, and entered her own apartment.

Habitually flipping on the living room lights, Lin Jianxia turned her head and froze slightly. Lin Tingwan, who usually stayed in her room at this hour, was actually sitting by the dining table, staring at her unblinkingly.

"Wanwan?" Lin Jianxia's heart tightened as she hurried over. "Is something wrong?"

Lin Tingwan shook her head, scribbled something in her spiral notebook, and showed it to her sister:

"Rent?"

So that was what her sister was worried about...

Lin Jianxia breathed a sigh of relief. She patted her sister's little head, her tone light and casual. "It's fine. Jiang Yubai took me to get my salary back. You should have seen the landlady's face—she was so mad she was about to explode."

Hearing this, Lin Tingwan blinked and wrote something else in her notebook. This time, her strokes were noticeably slower, and she looked so serious that Lin Jianxia couldn't help but feel curious.

A moment later, she held up the notebook. Written neatly on the page were the words:

"Jiang Yubai is a good person."

Lin Jianxia was speechless.

Seeing this "good person" evaluation for the third time, she couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. Even though Jiang Yubai had indeed helped them out a lot, that guy was about to abduct her sister to be his maid, yet here Wanwan was, handing out "good person" cards!

"Wanwan," Lin Jianxia frowned. "Tell me the truth. Did Jiang Yubai really never chat with you?"

Lin Tingwan shook her head, giving the exact same answer as before.

"That guy!" Lin Jianxia thought. "If they've never even spoken, how on earth did he manage to deceive my Wanwan like this?!"

She grumbled inwardly, reached out to place the small cake she was carrying onto the table, and instructed her sister. "Here, Wanwan, have a little cake to tide you over for now. I'm going to take a shower. I'll heat up the food when I get out, and then we can eat."

Lin Tingwan nodded obediently, picked up the small cake, and returned to her room.

Watching her sister close the door, Lin Jianxia finally turned and walked into the bathroom. When they originally chose this apartment, she had picked it because, although small, it came with its own independent kitchen and bathroom. After all, both sisters were clean freaks. If they had to share with others, they would inevitably have to deal with greasy fumes or strange odors, which they simply couldn't tolerate.

The warm water washed over her, sweeping away the stickiness and exhaustion accumulated under the midsummer sun. Lin Jianxia narrowed her eyes in comfort, letting the warmth envelop her entire body.

"Taking a shower really is the most comfortable thing in the world," she mused.

In the tiny bathroom, the SPLASH of running water was accompanied by a soft singing voice:

"The summer wind blows warmly, saying so clearly that you love me~

"I see your cool smile, and also the times when you are shy~"

As she hummed, she scooped up a handful of warm water and watched it slip through her fingers. For no reason, a certain annoying, smiling face flashed before her eyes again.

She fell silent.

She had clearly already rejected him... yet when that jerk had pressed the issue, she had inexplicably nodded in agreement. Even thinking about it now, she still felt a bit dazed. She wondered how she had actually agreed to be his maid.

Although Jiang Yubai had sounded sincere, claiming things like "just helping to tidy the room and cook" and "absolutely no other intentions," it had sounded perfectly serious at the time. But now that she thought about it carefully, weren't those just the typical lines a scumbag used to trick little girls?!

She had read those exact tropes countless times in novels; how could she still fall for this guy's tricks?! What did he mean by "craving her cooking"? He was clearly craving something else entirely...

Lin Jianxia bit her lower lip lightly, refusing to let the thought fully surface. However, that inexplicable restlessness in her heart quietly spread along with the heat of the water, until even the tips of her ears were tinted with a faint blush.

"Why is the water a bit hotter today?" she wondered.

She reached out and turned the temperature down a bit, but her thoughts drifted uncontrollably elsewhere.

Still, she had to admit that Jiang Yubai was indeed right about one thing. The "workplace" was only a few steps away from home, which couldn't be more convenient. Moreover, her sister wouldn't have to wait on an empty stomach for her to come home and cook, and she wouldn't have to worry about anything happening to Wanwan while she was home alone. The pay was good, the work was easy, it wouldn't interfere with her studies, and three meals a day were included. No matter how she looked at it, this job was absolutely perfect.

...Aside from the possibility that a certain boss might maliciously tease her.

"No, no, I can't think about this anymore," she told herself.

Lin Jianxia hurriedly turned off the showerhead, grabbed a bath towel, and carefully dried the water droplets off her body. Amidst the rising steam, the mirror gradually cleared, reflecting a slender, smooth waist, beautiful curves as soft as rolling spring hills, and a pair of straight, long legs.

Looking at herself in the mirror, the young girl pursed her lips slightly.

"I should be... fairly pretty, right?" she thought. "No wonder that guy..."

Her ears grew hot without warning. She quickly raised her hands, patted her cheeks, and put on her clean clothes piece by piece before opening the door and stepping out of the bathroom.

The dishes Jiang Yubai had brought over at noon were truly quite lavish. Even though the two of them had eaten a lot earlier, there was still a small half left. It was perfect; warming up these dishes provided a ready-made dinner.

After dinner, Lin Jianxia was about to stand up and clear the dishes when she suddenly felt someone gently tugging at the hem of her shirt.

"What is it?"

She looked up in confusion, just in time to see the small notebook Lin Tingwan was handing over.

"Sister, I'm going to school on Monday, right?"

The moment she read this line, Lin Jianxia's body instantly stiffened. She suddenly realized that she seemed to have overlooked an extremely important problem.

The only reason she had initially agreed to let her sister go to school next week was because she had planned to completely cut ties with Jiang Yubai after paying the rent this weekend. But... things hadn't gone according to her plan at all.

Not only did she fail to righteously warn Jiang Yubai to "stop harassing my sister at school," but she had also ended up dejectedly letting him lead her away to get her salary back. Furthermore, this bastard was even going to become her mast—pah, her boss!

Given all that, wouldn't it be an absolute disaster if Wanwan went to school now? Jiang Yubai... would one hundred percent continue passing little notes to Wanwan! Coupled with her sister's inexplicable attitude towards him, wouldn't her cover be completely blown by this back-and-forth?!

At the thought of this, Lin Jianxia's vision went dark.

Seeming to notice that her sister's expression was a bit off, Lin Tingwan tilted her head, a hint of confusion flashing through her eyes. She pulled back the notebook and added another line of text below:

"Can't I go?"

Looking into her sister's expectant eyes, Lin Jianxia opened her mouth, but ultimately couldn't bring herself to utter a refusal.

"Um... let's have you go on Tuesday," she said, forcing a smile. "I still have some things to handle on Monday. Wanwan can go to school on Tuesday, okay?"

Hearing her sister say this, Lin Tingwan was finally satisfied and put away her little notebook.

Lin Jianxia smiled and ruffled her hair before turning around to clean up the dishes. The moment she turned her back, her small face instantly scrunched up in distress.

Rather than being caught red-handed on the spot, she might as well confess on her own initiative. And since she was letting Wanwan go to school on Tuesday, that meant her whole masquerade of using her sister's identity...

Most likely, probably, and most definitely... she would have to confess everything to Jiang Yubai on Monday...

"I'm so dead," she thought in despair.