The Childhood Sweetheart's Showdown

After confirming that Song Yihe was coming home, An Zhiwu went to the fruit and vegetable shop at the entrance to the residential complex to buy some groceries.

Though she wasn't livestreaming, she still had to make two dishes and a soup.

When she used to live alone and cook for herself, she usually made just one dish.

Now that Song Yihe was eating with her, one dish clearly wasn't enough.

As for why she was cooking especially for him, An Zhiwu couldn't quite explain it herself.

She would just treat it as payment for staying at his place.

When Song Yihe got home that evening, An Zhiwu was just making the last dish, the soup. Hearing him, she poked her head out of the kitchen. "You're back! Dinner will be ready in a minute."

Looking at the little fuzzy head peeking through the kitchen doorway, Song Yihe suddenly felt, for that instant, like a husband coming home from working overtime, while his little wife waited for him to return for dinner.

When An Zhiwu finished cooking and brought the food to the dining table, she spotted an elegantly wrapped bag on it.

"What's this?" she asked curiously.

"Someone gave me some desserts. I wasn't going to take them, but I thought you might like them, so I brought them back."

"Thank you~"

An Zhiwu opened the package and looked inside. There were all kinds of pastries, each exquisitely made.

She put them in the refrigerator, planning to eat them the next day.

At the table, Song Yihe ate the sweet-and-sour ribs with immense satisfaction. He turned to An Zhiwu and asked, "You're not livestreaming today?"

"I don't livestream every day. Two or three times a week. I'm an amateur streamer."

"Then what's your main job? Photography?"

An Zhiwu thought for a moment. "Actually, I majored in marketing at university. After graduation, I worked in new media at a media company, taking photos and retouching them for the company and things like that. I taught myself photography at university."

"What about next? What are your career plans?"

An Zhiwu hadn't expected Song Yihe to put her through such a soul-searching interrogation, and for a moment she didn't know how to answer. After thinking it over, she said, "I haven't decided what I want to do in the future. Most likely, it'll still be work related to new media. But don't worry, I make a pretty good income from livestreaming. I won't be unable to pay the rent."

Song Yihe frowned. What was this girl thinking? "I mean, if you need help in the future, I can help. I happen to know some friends in that industry. If you need it, I can introduce you to them."

An Zhiwu paused with her chopsticks in her rice. She had to admit she was touched.

After dinner, Song Yihe washed the dishes as usual.

An Zhiwu returned to her room and lay down on the bed.

Unable to help herself, she took out her phone and sent Shen Songqing a WeChat message: [I think I've fallen]

She had fallen for the desserts Song Yihe brought her, fallen for the backup plan he arranged for her, fallen for him washing the dishes these past few days~~~

Before long, Shen Songqing replied.

Shen Songqing: [Did you get him?]

An Zhiwu: [The revolution has yet to succeed; comrades must continue to strive]

Shen Songqing: [Have you confessed?]

An Zhiwu: [Not yet...]

Shen Songqing: [How did I end up with such a spineless best friend? If all else fails, have a few drinks, barge into his room in the middle of the night, and force yourself on him. Live or die, you'll come out ahead anyway]

An Zhiwu: [Are you sure I won't be the one losing out with that method? I'm an innocent, unmarried maiden from a respectable family]

Shen Songqing: [Psh~~ Aren't you curious how fiery he is beneath that aloof, ascetic exterior?]

An Zhiwu imagined pinning Song Yihe beneath her, only for him to look at her coldly and say, "Do it yourself." She shuddered~

The next morning, An Zhiwu went out for her usual morning run with Song Yihe.

After the run, she went home and took a shower.

She remembered that, aside from editing yesterday's photos, she had nothing much to do today.

An Zhiwu opened the refrigerator and took out the desserts.

She took a bite. They were delicious.

Her cheeks were puffed out with food when she suddenly heard the front door open.

Hmm? Had Song Yihe come back already this morning?

An Zhiwu chewed the pastry in her mouth a few times. "Dr. Song, why are you so early today..."

Then she turned around and froze.

Tang Jingwen stood behind her, staring in surprise at her... and at the desserts on the table.

An Zhiwu suddenly remembered that this seemed to be Song Yihe's childhood sweetheart—the kind who had feelings for him, too.

She wiped the corner of her mouth and greeted her awkwardly. "Hello. Um, lately I've been..."

Before she could finish, Tang Jingwen interrupted her. "Why are you in Yihe's home?"

"Well, a water pipe burst in the apartment I rented, and I don't have anywhere to stay for the time being, so..."

Tang Jingwen clearly didn't want to hear any more of her nonsense. Looking at the desserts on the table, she asked, "What are those?"

Huh? An Zhiwu looked at the table.

"Oh, Dr. Song brought these back for me to eat yesterday. He said someone gave them to him."

Then An Zhiwu saw Tang Jingwen's chest heave violently. With a bang, the desserts were swept off the table and onto the floor.

An Zhiwu stared for a moment before finally reacting. "Hey, what's your problem? How can you just knock someone else's things over?"

"Someone else's things?" Tang Jingwen looked at her with a sneer. "I'll knock them over if I want to. Who the hell do you think you are? You think you deserve to eat them?"

An Zhiwu was angered by her overbearing manner too, and immediately shot back, "I don't know whether I deserve to eat them, but you really don't deserve the nine years of compulsory education you got. Were you the fish that slipped through the net of those nine years? You barge into someone else's home for no reason and knock their things over. Do you think you look good acting like that?"

Tang Jingwen, who had grown up clad in silk and fed on delicacies, had never been treated this way. She immediately raised her hand to hit An Zhiwu.

An Zhiwu looked at her raised hand. "Believe it or not, if you dare lay that hand on me, I'll go straight to the kitchen, grab a cleaver, and chop it off!"

Tang Jingwen was so angry she nearly spat blood. Looking at An Zhiwu's big, dewy eyes, which were still somewhat cute even when she was angry, she couldn't help feeling jealous.

In the end, she lowered her hand. A petty commoner like this might actually go and get a cleaver.

"True enough. Why should I stoop to arguing with a vulgar person like you? Hit you? You'd have to be worthy of it first!"

With that, Tang Jingwen stormed out.

Only after she had left did An Zhiwu's body relax.

She crouched down and looked at the ruined pastries, her heart aching.

Such delicious pastries had gone to waste.

Judging by how Tang Jingwen had looked just now, she had clearly been furious. An Zhiwu didn't know whether she would go and complain to Song Yihe.

This childhood sweetheart even knew the code to Song Yihe's front door.

It seemed their relationship was no ordinary one.

But Song Yihe had said last time that they weren't in that kind of relationship. What was going on?

Judging by Tang Jingwen's attitude, she seemed extraordinarily possessive of Song Yihe.

The more An Zhiwu thought about it, the more confused she became. Unable to make sense of it, she simply went to edit the photos she had taken yesterday.