"Let me open the door."
Seeing the situation, Su Cheng stood up and walked towards the door. After opening it, he was startled to see Li Guanqi standing outside. He stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do.
She was wearing her school uniform, with her usual pure black stockings, a shoulder bag slung over her shoulder, her hair cascading over her shoulders, her face expressionless, but her eyes fixed on Su Cheng.
"You... why are you here?"
Su Cheng was bewildered and didn't know what to say, so he instinctively asked about her intentions.
"Looks like I disturbed you. It seems I came at the wrong time."
Li Guanqi's tone was calm, but this rhetorical question left Su Cheng at a loss for words.
He thought back and realized that Li Guanqi had never spoken to him in this manner before.
Their eyes met for a while, and Su Cheng felt a chill down his spine. Eventually, he shook his head to deny her statement.
At that moment, he clearly heard Li Guanqi lower her gaze and ask, "Is senior sister Liu inside?"
Su Cheng was caught off guard and looked down, noticing two pairs of women's shoes. He had to admit, "Yes, senior sister Liu is inside."
"Seems today will be lively. It's been a while since I last saw senior sister Liu. Would it be convenient for me to stay and join?"
Li Guanqi added.
Her straightforward, concise, and to-the-point words left Su Cheng stunned.
He even had a ridiculous thought: Could it be that Liu Qingyue's special ability is summoning beautiful girls to sleep at her house? That ability is so lame!
"Alright, I'll help you tidy up the room after dinner."
Su Cheng didn't object but instead nodded readily and stepped aside, inviting her in.
With two already here, more girls wouldn't make a difference.
To be honest, his house was quite spacious. Four bedrooms and a living room could easily accommodate three people.
He figured either Cornelia or Liu Qingyue must have told Li Guanqi, which was why she came.
"Okay."
After hearing Su Cheng's words, Li Guanqi slightly nodded and put on her slippers, walking straight into the living room. Her gaze swept over the two women at the dining table.
"You... why are you here?!"
Cornelia, spotting Li Guanqi, clasped her hands over her mouth in shock, her face filled with disbelief.
Liu Qingyue was also slightly surprised but maintained her composure. She slightly furrowed her brows, glanced at Cornelia, then shifted her gaze to Li Guanqi. "Senior sister Li, long time no see."
After saying that, she smiled and continued, "Since our last collaboration, it's been a while. I didn't expect to see you here today."
"Yeah, senior sister Liu, you're quite surprising. Coming back and meeting here."
Li Guanqi nodded in response and, under Cornelia's astonished gaze, sat down next to Liu Qingyue, acting very familiar. "It seems senior sister Liu hasn't been too busy with work lately?"
Liu Qingyue sighed lightly. "Not at all, look at my dark circles, and I've lost weight too."
"Is that so?"
Li Guanqi turned to look at Liu Qingyue, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Did you lose weight because of the hard work?"
"Yes, the workload has been tough. It's rare to have some free time, so of course, I need to do something most relaxing to recharge."
Liu Qingyue smiled and continued seriously, "Unlike you, senior sister Li, who always has so much free time to do what you like. It's very enviable."
Cornelia, listening on the side, was utterly confused and hastily interjected, "You two know each other?"
She then looked at Li Guanqi, full of confusion, and asked, "And why do you call Su Cheng 'senior sister'?"
"Su Cheng?"
Li Guanqi glanced at her, then turned back to Liu Qingyue. Just as she was about to speak, Liu Qingyue suddenly preempted her and said, "Because senior sister Li, like Su Cheng, is my dear junior."
With that, she reached out and stroked Cornelia's soft golden hair.
Hearing this, Cornelia widened her eyes and exclaimed in surprise, "What?! You also attended the same school as Su Cheng?"
Li Guanqi wrinkled her brows but didn't refute.
This seemingly ordinary statement contained a lot of information.
From this, it could be deduced that Liu Qingyue had used a mix of truth and disguise to lead Cornelia into making assumptions on her own.
For someone like Cornelia, who doesn't care about lies or the truth, would naturally fill in the gaps with her own speculations.
From the known information,
Liu Qingyue was the elder.
Her appearance now was quite different from before,
more mature than before.
Considering her return from the countryside, it was easy to guess the general situation.
Therefore, there was no need to break the news.
Exposing it would bring her no benefits. Since Liu Qingyue had interrupted her earlier, it was clear she didn't want it revealed. Therefore, not revealing it would make the other party a bit wary of her.
Realizing this, she decided not to waste any more words and turned to Cornelia, "Yes, we studied together."
"What? You really went to school with Su Cheng?"
Cornelia's face was filled with shock, obviously frightened.
She was sure she hadn't seen this person at school, which meant it must have been before that. This would make them childhood friends!
Li Guanqi, however, just shook her head expressionlessly.
In her heart, she had already confirmed her thoughts, and the shake of her head was to tell Cornelia that it wasn't what she thought.
Unfortunately, Cornelia misunderstood and thought Li Guanqi was mocking her.
Originally, she thought the elder was on her side, but now, even that sense of pride and thing to boast about was gone.
In a moment, she felt greatly deceived, her pretty face turning red with anger as she pouted, "You should have told me such an important thing sooner!"
"Alright, let's eat first. The food is getting cold."
Su Cheng came out of the kitchen with a set of bowls and chopsticks and placed them in front of Li Guanqi. Then he called out to Cornelia, and then to Liu Qingyue, "Everyone, eat quickly before it gets cold."
After saying that, he sat down at the head of the table and started eating.
Watching her every move, Li Guanqi's eyes flickered slightly, then she lowered her head and began to eat.
Cornelia didn't say anything more and just sat down next to Liu Qingyue. Her gaze towards Li Guanqi was filled with hostility.
She hadn't expected Li Guanqi to show up!
And she had learned an important piece of information.
Li Guanqi had been classmates with Su Cheng for so long!
No wonder Li Guanqi had visited Su Cheng's house last time, and their relationship was so good!
Now everything made sense!
"Senior brother's cooking is as delicious as ever, truly praiseworthy."
Liu Qingyue picked up some food and chewed it, then praised without reservation.
"You're exaggerating. It's just ordinary home-cooked meals."
Su Cheng put down his chopsticks modestly, but one chopstick fell to the ground. He bent down to pick it up, and when he looked up again, he swallowed hard.
Because three pairs of beautiful legs entered his vision: one white, two black.
The white was like creamy ice cream, the black like pure dark chocolate.
Why all described with food?
Because...
As his thoughts drifted, one pair of black-stockinged legs seemed to notice his gaze. The sound of a slipper falling startled him, and he quickly stood up.
As a result, Liu Qingyue's face showed a faint smile as she gave him a wink with her right eye, as if saying, "If you keep looking, everyone will know your preferences."
After signaling, she lowered her head and put on her slippers.
Beside her, Li Guanqi took the chopsticks from him and stood up, walking towards the sink.
"Thank you."
Su Cheng instinctively thanked her.
After washing, Li Guanqi returned, handing the chopsticks back to Su Cheng, then sat back down and started eating in silence.
As for Cornelia, she was busy eating, seemingly turning her frustration into strength.
After the meal, everyone was quietly eating.
"Go clean up my room."
Li Guanqi said to Su Cheng and stood up to start clearing the dishes. Cornelia, hearing this, also stood up, looking at Li Guanqi in shock, "You, you're also staying here tonight?!"
Li Guanqi glanced at her and nodded.
Just as Cornelia was about to say something, Su Cheng quickly interrupted her, saying, "Cornelia, I forgot to feed YaYa. Could you please go feed him for me?"
Cornelia glanced at Su Cheng upon hearing this, but still headed towards the balcony.
Seeing this, she then turned to Liu Qingyue: "Senior sister Liu, you must be tired from the journey. Let me prepare the bath for you to rest."
Originally, Liu Qingyue had wanted to help with the dishes, but upon hearing this, she was momentarily stunned: "Alright, thank you, junior brother."
"No trouble at all, no trouble at all,"
Su Cheng smiled and waved his hand, then headed towards the bathroom.
Everyone went about their tasks in an orderly manner, and no one spoke again.
Liu Qingyue sat on the sofa reading the newspaper, while Li Guanqi quietly tidied up the table. The living room was so quiet that one could clearly hear Cornelia's voice as she conversed with YaYa on the rooftop.
Although the atmosphere was quiet, it was the first time Su Cheng's home had been so lively.
After a long while,
Su Cheng broke the silence first. He walked out of the bathroom and addressed Liu Qingyue in the living room: "Senior sister Liu, you can take your bath now."
Liu Qingyue looked up, gave him a smile, then stood up, carrying her suitcase: "Thank you. I've been wanting to soak in some hot water."
"You're welcome,"
Su Cheng replied, then headed towards another room, while Li Guanqi, who had finished washing the dishes, sat on the sofa, picking up the newspaper to read. Meanwhile, Cornelia came out from the balcony, her big eyes fixed on her.
"Senior sister Liu, do you have something to say?"
Li Guanqi put down the newspaper and looked up.
"Why are you also staying over?"
Cornelia asked, her eyes wide.
"Why did senior sister Liu stay over?"
Li Guanqi countered.
"Because... because..."
Cornelia paused, then continued, "Because... Su Cheng really likes me, and I like her too. We have endless things to talk about, so I wanted to stay under the same roof as her."
"Oh."
Li Guanqi nodded, not expressing much opinion, then continued reading her newspaper.
Seeing this attitude, Cornelia became upset and pressed further, "And you?"
Li Guanqi finally looked up at Cornelia, then calmly said, "Because Su Cheng's birthday is near."
"Huh? Birthday?"
Cornelia blinked in confusion, not understanding what a birthday had to do with staying at Su Cheng's house.
But as she thought deeper, her eyes widened in shock. She pointed at him with a trembling hand, her face filled with astonishment: "You... you're not thinking of giving yourself as a gift to Su Cheng, are you?"
As soon as Cornelia finished speaking, her face turned bright red, imagining a certain scenario, and she felt both shame and embarrassment. Lowering her head, she muttered, "How shameless!!"
However, Li Guanqi remained silent, not saying a word.
Cornelia bit her lip, then gathered her courage and looked up at him, stating word by word: "Absolutely not! I will stop you!"
"Although I don't know why you would think that, but you're mistaken,"
Li Guanqi shook her head, her expression calm as she continued to explain, "This time, Su Cheng's friends want to surprise him on his birthday. To prevent him from finding out early, I need to come and check the situation beforehand to avoid any accidents, like you, who are quite good at causing them."
"I'm not that clumsy, nor do I have a big mouth,"
Cornelia puffed her cheeks indignantly.
Just as Li Guanqi was about to explain, Liu Qingyue, wearing a white nightgown, emerged from the bathroom. Her face was covered with a mask.
To avoid being recognized by Cornelia after removing her makeup, she had deliberately applied a face mask.
She wiped her wet hair a few times, then sat down opposite the two and said, "Are we dealing with the phone?"
Li Guanqi looked at her but didn't speak, only nodding.
"Mhmm,"
Liu Qingyue nodded, then looked at the puzzled Cornelia and explained, "Su Cheng is quite popular now, and on his birthday, he might receive countless blessing messages."
Yes. Right now, Su Cheng is completely unaware that he is about to have a birthday. However, if even a single blessing message reaches him, he might figure out everyone's efforts, and the surprise would end up being half-baked.
At that moment, Su Cheng suddenly walked out from the room. The three of them immediately fell silent, while he looked puzzled at the three women, especially at Liu Qingyue, who was wearing a nightgown. He immediately turned his head, embarrassed.
Although the nightgown seemed very plain and nothing was exposed,
After all, it's a girl's nightgown. He had heard that girls don't wear anything underneath. This is a sign of how much trust!
Therefore, he absolutely cannot disappoint senior sister Liu!
"I mustn't let my desire overcome my will!"
Thinking of this, Su Cheng pretended not to mind and turned his gaze back, acting as if nothing had happened. He looked at Liu Qingyue's slightly damp hair and showed concern: "Senior sister Liu, don't catch a cold."
"It's alright."
"Um, you should dry your hair first!"
"Oh dear, how careless of me. I thought I had put on a bathing cap, but it's still wet."
Liu Qingyue touched her hair, feigning annoyance and sighed, then took out a hair dryer from her suitcase, looking at Su Cheng with anticipation: "Junior brother, could you help me blow it?"
"I... I’m not experienced with this!"
Su Cheng stammered.
"It's okay, just blow it casually. I'm wearing a mask, so it's not very convenient for me."
Liu Qingyue said, handing the hair dryer to Su Cheng, then sat down on the sofa by herself.
Seeing this, Su Cheng looked a bit helplessly at Li Guanqi and Cornelia. Suddenly, Li Guanqi stood up, came to Su Cheng's side, took the hair dryer, and turned to Liu Qingyue: "Senior sister Liu, let me help you dry your hair."
Liu Qingyue had no choice but to nod, agreeing to it. Then she closed her eyes and sat on the sofa.
Li Guanqi glanced at the Cornelia sitting on the dining room sofa, then at the Liu Qingyue, who was sitting on the sofa and enjoying the moment, with her eyes closed.
She adjusted the hair dryer to a suitable temperature and started helping Liu Qingyue dry her hair.
"Do you want to take a bath? I'll help you prepare the water,"
Su Cheng asked Cornelia.
Cornelia nodded.
Su Cheng then headed towards the bathroom.
Cornelia, however, was thinking about whether she should also get her hair wet so that Su Cheng could help her dry it. After all, Li Guanqi would also be taking a bath soon.
She believed that senior sister Liu wouldn't ruin her plans, as Su Cheng genuinely liked her. Imagining that Su Cheng would gently help dry her hair later, Cornelia couldn't help but feel excited and a bit unable to contain herself.