"Ahem."
Cornelia coughed twice with a strange expression, her head lowered as she stared at the breakfast in her bowl, not daring to look at Su Cheng.
Li Guanqi, after a brief moment of stunned silence, remained expressionless and continued fiddling with her chopsticks, acting as if this had nothing to do with her.
Seeing everyone like this, Su Cheng felt a bit puzzled.
Could it be…
"It seems like you haven’t been living well, junior."
Liu Qingyue's face showed a look of pity as she sighed, "A simple breakfast like this actually made you think of a birthday celebration."
"......"
Su Cheng was speechless.
Wasn’t he just expressing a sense of delight?
"How about this? I’ll stay here permanently from now on, so you can celebrate your birthday every day. What do you think?"
Liu Qingyue suddenly suggested, her eyes twinkling as if she was eagerly awaiting Su Cheng’s response.
Cornelia and Li Guanqi also turned their gazes toward Su Cheng.
"Haha, let’s all eat together. After this, we’ll head to school!"
Su Cheng laughed awkwardly and quickly changed the subject. He knew Liu Qingyue was joking—after all, she was quite busy, and she’d probably be leaving today or tomorrow.
But he didn’t dare respond to her joke.
If he said no, it would hurt her feelings. If he said yes, what if she actually came back when she wasn’t busy anymore?
Her special trait was summoning beautiful girls to sleep at his house. A day or two was fine, but if it happened every day…
That would be absolutely terrible (or awesome)!
What if one day she summoned her mistress over?
He had no idea how he’d entertain such a young lady.
He couldn’t possibly serve her some knockoff iced tea, could he?
Seeing Su Cheng’s reaction, Cornelia and Li Guanqi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed Liu Qingyue was quite skilled at steering conversations.
"Looks like I’ll get to try senior’s cooking today."
Su Cheng sat at the dining table, looking at the fried eggs, bacon, milk, ham, and porridge—a lavish breakfast—and couldn’t help but express his anticipation.
"I’d be really happy if you all finished everything!"
Liu Qingyue smiled and pushed napkins toward everyone.
"Thank you."
Su Cheng thanked her, then picked up his glass of milk, took a sip, and closed his eyes in satisfaction.
Meanwhile, Cornelia and Li Guanqi also sat down at the table, ready to eat.
Liu Qingyue wiped her hands, took off her apron, pulled out a chair, and sat down, crossing her legs and picking up a newspaper to read.
"Alright, I’m going to start eating now."
Cornelia picked up her knife and fork, ready to enjoy the meal.
Su Cheng also picked up his bowl of porridge, blew on it to cool it down, and took a small sip. Instantly, his brows furrowed, and his expression turned strange.
This was way too sweet!
The sweetness level was off the charts—it was practically lethal!
Li Guanqi, sitting beside him, was about to take a sip when Su Cheng quickly stopped her. She looked at him with a pitiful expression.
Su Cheng immediately explained, "Don’t drink it!"
Cornelia, thinking there might be poison in the porridge, tensed up. "What’s going on?"
Liu Qingyue also put down her newspaper and looked at Su Cheng in confusion.
"Senior, have you tasted this porridge yourself?"
Su Cheng asked with a serious expression.
"Of course I have," Liu Qingyue replied.
"How does it taste?"
Su Cheng pressed further.
"It’s alright."
Liu Qingyue put down the newspaper and continued, "Since it’s sweet porridge, it should naturally emphasize sweetness."
"Right, if it’s not sweet, how can it be called sweet porridge?"
Cornelia chimed in, nodding in agreement.
Li Guanqi also nodded, her eyes fixed on the porridge, clearly eager to try it.
After hearing Liu Qingyue’s explanation and the reactions of the two girls, Su Cheng was at a loss for words.
"How much sugar did you put in?"
Su Cheng couldn’t help but ask again. The sip he had taken felt like he’d just eaten ten sugar cubes.
Liu Qingyue looked at Su Cheng with a puzzled expression. "Don’t you like sweet food? So I poured in a whole bag of sugar while cooking the porridge!"
"What?! A whole bag?!"
Su Cheng exclaimed in shock. A whole bag was 450 grams, and the recommended daily sugar intake per person shouldn’t exceed 50 grams.
"Did you accidentally spill it in?"
"No, I did it on purpose."
Liu Qingyue tilted her head slightly, looking proud of her culinary skills. "Hurry up and eat it before it gets cold."
With that, she went back to reading her newspaper.
This nearly made Su Cheng choke.
He now realized that this maid probably had zero cooking skills. What was in front of him was a culinary disaster!
Su Cheng was too exhausted to complain. Just as he was debating whether to throw the porridge away, Cornelia curiously picked up a spoonful and took a sip. Immediately, she let out a cry, "It’s so sweet! I’m going to die from the sweetness!!!"
She then started rinsing her mouth with milk.
Even someone with a sweet tooth like her was reacting like this.
"Is it really that sweet?"
Li Guanqi, curious, was about to try it.
"No! No!"
Su Cheng quickly stood up to stop her. He had already decided to control Li Guanqi’s daily sugar intake. If she took even one sip, her blood sugar would probably skyrocket!
Thinking this, he quickly snatched the bowl away.
Li Guanqi just stared at the porridge with longing eyes, looking a bit disappointed.
"Senior, you put way too much sugar in. The flavor is way too strong."
Su Cheng looked at Liu Qingyue with a bitter smile.
"It’s not as bad as you’re making it out to be."
Liu Qingyue looked at them with a strange expression, then stood up, walked over to Cornelia’s table, picked up the bowl of porridge, and, under everyone’s astonished gaze, calmly finished the entire bowl.
"Hmm, it’s not bad. I’ll recommend this recipe to someone else next time."
"Senior… do you usually eat things this sweet?"
Su Cheng shook his head, feeling like he was in a dream. He glanced at the empty bowl on the table and hesitantly asked.
"Hmm? Not really, just occasionally."
Liu Qingyue replied nonchalantly, then turned back to her seat and continued reading the newspaper.
Su Cheng: "......"
He was genuinely surprised by Liu Qingyue’s physical resilience.
The dining table fell into silence as everyone quietly ate their breakfast, the atmosphere becoming somewhat awkward.
After a while, Cornelia and Li Guanqi left for school first.
Since they had a private car to take them, Su Cheng insisted on riding his bike to school and declined their offer to ride together.
Su Cheng returned to his bedroom and placed the panda plushie from his closet into his system inventory.
This afternoon, he had an appointment with the Social Practice Club, and he planned to gift the plushie to them.
Although the way he obtained the plushie made him want to complain, he decided to go through with it anyway.
After leaving his bedroom, he noticed Liu Qingyue was still at the dining table reading the newspaper, with two bowls of porridge still on the table. It seemed the problem wasn’t with him—thank goodness.
So, he walked over and stopped in front of Liu Qingyue, looking at her seriously. "Senior, since they’re not going to eat it, should we just throw it away?"
Liu Qingyue looked up at Su Cheng, then lowered her gaze, seemingly displeased with his suggestion. She replied calmly, "I think I’ll reheat it later and save it for your midnight snack."
"That’s really not necessary. I don’t eat midnight snacks."
Su Cheng was startled and firmly rejected Liu Qingyue’s idea.
Liu Qingyue put down the newspaper, and their eyes met. She frowned slightly. "You’re going to be late in five minutes."
She stood up and shooed Su Cheng away like a little chick.
"What?! It’s already this late?!"
Su Cheng panicked and rushed back to get his things. Before leaving, he quickly glanced at the crow on the balcony, then walked out the door and closed it behind him.
Not long after leaving the house, a crow landed on Su Cheng’s shoulder. He hid in a secluded corner, took the glasses Liu Qingyue had given him yesterday from his system inventory, removed the monitor, and attached it to the crow’s head. After whispering a few words to it, he sent it flying back.
Su Cheng watched the crow fly away, a pleased smile on his face, and muttered to himself, "This is what they call learning from others to outdo them."
……………………
Meanwhile
Liu Qingyue put away the newspaper and looked at the two bowls of porridge on the table, deep in thought.
"I can’t let it go to waste. I’ll try the precipitation method I just read about."
Then, she stood up, took a large bowl, poured the porridge into it, and began adding a generous amount of water, stirring it thoroughly.
After determining the molecular weight range of the sugar using a semipermeable membrane (column chromatography method), she finally removed the sugar molecules one by one using size-exclusion chromatography (molecular sieving).
Just as she was in the process of removing the sugar, she suddenly felt as if someone was watching her. She turned around abruptly and noticed Yaya on the sofa staring at her with an eerie gaze, especially with that familiar object on its head...
"Why do you have that thing on your head?"
Liu Qingyue was startled, her face slightly flushed as she looked at Yaya, asking in disbelief.
But deep down, she already knew the answer; it was just a reflexive question.
Yaya tilted its head slightly, then continued to stare at Liu Qingyue with its pitch-black eyes, not making a sound.
At that moment, Liu Qingyue suddenly felt as if she was being teased.
"Alright, you're teasing me now, aren't you?"
Liu Qingyue scolded in a coquettish tone, then quickly walked toward the door.
As she opened the door, Su Cheng was standing there with a strange smile on his face: "You wouldn’t want others to find out about the strange things you’re doing, would you?"
"Your mischievous tendencies seem to be growing stronger, junior."
Liu Qingyue glared at him, let out a cold snort, and then turned back to the kitchen to continue working on the porridge.
Seeing this, Su Cheng shrugged and followed her back inside, watching her work from the side.
"Don’t worry, senior, I’ll keep this secret for life."
He patted his chest as a guarantee.
He hadn’t expected happiness to come so suddenly. The embarrassment from yesterday had turned into sweet revenge today, and Su Cheng’s mood instantly brightened.
"Thank you, then."
Liu Qingyue shot him a glance, then poured the processed porridge back into the rice cooker to reheat it.
This time, Su Cheng didn’t continue teasing her. Instead, he sat down on the sofa. After a while, Liu Qingyue, with her long, smooth legs, walked over and sat down beside him.
"Looks like you’ve finally remembered what you should be concerned about?"
Liu Qingyue raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Of course... If it weren’t for you and the others interrupting last night, I would’ve remembered sooner. But before that, I want to ask you something else."
Su Cheng looked at her, his expression becoming much more serious.
"What is it?"
Liu Qingyue asked, meeting his gaze.
"Are you planning to go back after this trip? If so, when are you leaving?"
Su Cheng looked at Liu Qingyue, his voice filled with concern.
He was still under punishment and couldn’t use his phone, so he was worried he wouldn’t know when she left.
"I’ll be heading back to the young lady’s place tonight and will return tomorrow," Liu Qingyue replied, then suddenly looked at Su Cheng with a hurt expression. "Could it be that you dislike me so much, junior? Are you trying to send me away?"
"No, that’s not it!"
Su Cheng quickly shook his head earnestly, then explained to Liu Qingyue, "It’s just that I can’t use my phone for a day, so I’m worried I won’t be able to contact you. That’s why I’m asking in advance."
"Oh, I see," Liu Qingyue feigned sudden realization, nodding with a smile. "I knew it! There’s no way my junior would want to send me away."
"Senior, how much longer do you need to work?"
Finally, Su Cheng asked the question he cared about the most.
Although he was concerned about the situation back home, he couldn’t ignore the fact that she was using her own time to help him achieve his dreams.
He didn’t want Liu Qingyue to take on so much responsibility herself. After all, others could handle it, and this made him feel deeply indebted.
"Junior."
Suddenly, Liu Qingyue’s expression turned serious as she looked at Su Cheng.
"Yes?"
Su Cheng looked at her, waiting for what she was about to say.
"Achieving this dream isn’t as simple as building a few roads or constructing a few houses."
Liu Qingyue looked into Su Cheng’s eyes and shook her head. "Those are just the basics."
"So, what do you mean?"
Su Cheng looked at Liu Qingyue, sensing that she was about to say something significant.
"I’ll give you a demonstration of just how many resources are needed to raise the living standards of a small area."
Liu Qingyue looked at Su Cheng and calmly uttered these words before continuing, "I know what you want right now, and I have the ability to help you. But this won’t be accomplished by me alone. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to leave everything to others either."
Su Cheng swallowed hard, then looked up at the sincere Liu Qingyue, his heart racing.
"Then... I want to ask, how long would it take to truly achieve the ideal level?"
Su Cheng took a deep breath to calm his excitement, then asked the question on his mind.
"Generally speaking, it would take about a generation to achieve."
Liu Qingyue thought carefully before answering.
"Huh?"
Su Cheng was stunned. A generation?
A generation is roughly 20 to 30 years.
"However, since you’ve returned, I’ll push harder. In about a month, we’ll be able to see some initial results."
Seeing Su Cheng’s face grow paler, Liu Qingyue decided not to tease him further.
"Is... is that so?"
Su Cheng suddenly lowered his head, then realized something and continued to ask, "Then... if I hadn’t come back, you would’ve..."
He couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence.
"Who knows?"