“Ye Feng, why have you changed your clothes?”
When Ye Feng returned home on time, Xie Yuyan was already waiting at the door. Seeing the bag of books in Ye Feng’s hand, Xie Yuyan’s initially delighted expression stiffened slightly as she noticed that his outerwear had been replaced.
“Did… did something happen?”
“I’m not entirely sure. My student took it upon herself to change it for me, saying something about the clothes being damaged.”
Ye Feng didn’t pay much attention to the matter of the clothes. For him, as long as they were wearable, it didn’t matter.
“By the way, here’s the recipe I promised you this morning.”
“Ah…”
Initially frustrated that her attempt to intimidate Li Mucheng had failed, Xie Yuyan’s mood instantly brightened upon hearing Ye Feng’s words. She took the recipe he handed her.
“Thank you, Ye Feng~”
The thought that Ye Feng had kept his promise to her so firmly in mind eased Xie Yuyan’s resentment.
I’m so close to Ye Feng that we’re practically together every day. Why should I waste my energy being upset with a child? I should focus more on studying this recipe. After all, as the TV says, to win a man’s heart, you must first win his stomach.
At first, Xie Yuyan didn’t quite understand this saying. If you had to grab someone’s heart first, wouldn’t they just die? What good would grabbing their stomach do then? Fortunately, she eventually figured out what it meant…
“Hmm… why does my back feel so chilly?”
Ye Feng shivered uncomfortably and glanced back at Xie Yuyan, who was engrossed in flipping through the recipe.
“Xie Yuyan, did you not eat?”
“I… I did! Of course, I ate!”
Xie Yuyan quickly blinked her eyes twice. She and Ye Feng had made a pact that she would eat properly, but as soon as Ye Feng left, she couldn’t bring herself to get out of his bed. If it weren’t for the fact that Ye Feng checked the fridge every day to see if she’d eaten the food he’d left for her, she would have happily stayed in his bed until she starved.
Today, however, was an exception. So engrossed in the scent of Ye Feng’s pillow, Xie Yuyan only snapped out of it when she heard the sound of him opening the door. In a panic, she had to quickly tidy her messy hair and smooth out the wrinkled bedsheet before rushing out of the bedroom.
“Oh? Is that so?”
Seeing Xie Yuyan’s nervous demeanor, Ye Feng had already guessed the truth. He began walking toward the fridge.
“Ye… Ye Feng, aren’t you going to take a shower first after such a tiring day?”
Xie Yuyan couldn’t let Ye Feng near the fridge. She quickly placed the recipe on the shoe cabinet and ran to block his path.
“I’ll shower later. Right now, I just want to grab some milk from the fridge.”
“I… I’ll get it for you! Ye Feng, go sit on the couch. Leave this small task to me.”
Xie Yuyan stood her ground, refusing to let Ye Feng take a single step forward. She didn’t want to face his scolding.
“No need, I’ll do it myself.”
Ye Feng placed a hand on Xie Yuyan’s shoulder and tried to push her aside, but she didn’t budge. Instead, she stood there, looking at him with pleading eyes—clearly an apology.
“What? Trying to play the sympathy card now?”
“I… I’m sorry…”
Finally, Xie Yuyan stepped aside, knowing it was pointless to keep resisting. It was better to apologize sooner rather than later.
Sure enough, when Ye Feng opened the fridge, he saw that the lunch he’d left for her was untouched. After a moment of silence, he closed the fridge door.
“I… I’m sorry…”
“If you’re so unwilling to eat the food I make, then I won’t make it anymore. It’s just a waste.”
Ye Feng didn’t even look at Xie Yuyan as he spoke, his back turned to her.
“That’s not it!”
Xie Yuyan panicked at Ye Feng’s cold tone, feeling like someone drowning and unable to breathe. She rushed around him to stand in front of him.
“I don’t mean that at all! Ye Feng, I really like the food you make.”
“Give it a rest. You didn’t even touch the lunch I left for you in the fridge, and now you’re trying to make excuses? Is that why you bought the recipe?”
“No, it’s not!”
Xie Yuyan desperately tried to explain, her deep blue eyes welling up with tears as if she were about to cry.
“I bought the recipe because I wanted to learn how to cook and ease some of your burden. It’s not what you think.”
“You don’t need to explain. I won’t be preparing lunch for you anymore.”
Ye Feng turned away again, leaving Xie Yuyan standing there with her head lowered, and walked toward his room without hesitation.
“Wah…”
Just as Ye Feng reached the door, he heard Xie Yuyan let out a sob. His heart sank.
Oh no! Did Xie Yuyan start crying? I just wanted to teach her a lesson—not eating properly will make her sick. How can a trained assassin cry over something so trivial?
Ye Feng had intended to use this incident to teach Xie Yuyan a lesson. He wasn’t planning to scold her harshly, but he hadn’t expected his offhand remarks to make her cry.
“I… I’m sorry, Xie Yuyan, I…”
As Ye Feng turned around, he suddenly noticed Xie Yuyan standing in front of the fridge, holding something and eating it frantically.
“Wah… mmm…”
“Xie Yuyan? What are you doing?”
Ye Feng was startled by Xie Yuyan’s behavior. When he got closer, he saw that she was crying while shoveling the cold lunch into her mouth.
“Wait… stop! Don’t eat that!”
Ye Feng was stunned. He had expected Xie Yuyan to stand there and take his scolding, but he hadn’t anticipated this outcome.
Despite Ye Feng’s repeated attempts to stop her, Xie Yuyan kept eating from the plate. Ye Feng quickly reached out to take it from her, but she held onto it tightly, stuffing the food into her mouth along with her tears.
Seeing this, Ye Feng couldn’t bear it any longer. He used all his strength to wrest the plate from Xie Yuyan’s hands, but it was too late—she had already eaten everything.
“I… I finished it…”
Tears dripped from Xie Yuyan’s eyes onto the wooden floor, leaving small wet spots.
“Ye Feng… I ate it all… Please… please don’t leave me…”
“Xie Yuyan…”
Looking at Xie Yuyan’s vacant expression, Ye Feng felt a deep sense of regret. He blamed himself for coming up with such a harsh way to teach her a lesson. Although eating cold food wouldn’t harm her, seeing her face smeared with rice and her blank stare made his heart ache as if it had been cut by a knife.
Without a second thought, Ye Feng stepped forward and embraced Xie Yuyan, not caring about the food stains or grease on her clothes. He whispered soothingly into her ear.
“I won’t… I won’t leave you…”