Page 27

Yu Qing, who didn't understand why her hearing was so sharp: "..."

After speaking, Xiang Changge looked at Yu Qing.

There was still more than half of the meal left in the lunchbox in front of her, though compared to her usual intake, she had actually eaten quite a bit.

Xiang Changge asked at the opportune moment: "Are you full, Miss? Shall we head back?" I really want to go back and eat a banana split right now.

Yu Qing, who was still holding her chopsticks and eating while the other person seemed completely oblivious: "?"

What happened to the person who called her to wake up for breakfast this morning? What about the person who asked her last night if she was trying to raise pigs or dogs because she left so much food behind? She still had plenty left now, and she hadn't said she wasn't going to eat it, so why was she rushing her to go back?

Her gaze swept over the small table in front of Xiang Changge. Compared to a moment ago, the tabletop was now desolate, with only a bag of nuts and a palm-sized box of watermelon remaining.

So, she just wanted to go back because she was full herself, right?

Yu Qing lifted her clear, black-and-white dead fish eyes, glanced at Xiang Changge, and replied coldly: "No."

Xiang Changge: "..."

If you're not full, you're not full, why glare at her?

Seeing that Yu Qing had no intention of leaving yet, Xiang Changge didn't urge her. She simply took out her phone and made a call to the kitchen: "Chef Wei, do you know how to make a banana split?"

"Yes, yes, the kind where you slice a banana in half and put ice cream or whipped cream in the middle."

"What, anyone can do it? Then prepare five different flavors for me; I'll be back to eat them in a little while."

Yu Qing, who heard every word clearly: "..."

She isn't full yet?

Yu Qing was puzzled.

The puzzled Yu Qing took another look at Xiang Changge, just in time to see the person who had hung up the phone rise from the ground, stand to the side, and watch her intently.

"?"

Yu Qing: "Why are you looking at me?"

As soon as she asked, before Xiang Changge could answer, Yu Qing already had the answer herself.

What else could it be? It was just someone wanting to go back to eat her banana split.

Of course, the very emotionally intelligent Butler Xiang just gave her a faint smile: "I'm just seeing if Miss has any instructions."

She didn't have any instructions, but Yu Qing, who hadn't wanted to come out in the first place, now didn't really want to go back.

Thus, Yu Qing calmly endured the burning gaze and ate her meal like a chick pecking at rice.

Half an hour later, the food had gone cold, and only half of the meal in the lunchbox was gone.

By now, the sky had turned dark, and the surrounding streetlights had flickered on. Xiang Changge sprayed mosquito repellent twice more, and the same scent lingered around them both.

Yu Qing finally indicated that she wanted to go back.

Without using her wheelchair, her slender figure in a beige dress stepped onto the semi-dry asphalt road, one step at a time. The streetlights, clustered with tiny flying insects on both sides of the road, stretched her shadow out long.

As she walked, Yu Qing looked down.

Beside her shadow, which had been standing all alone, was another figure that didn't belong to her.

Glancing back, the person pushing the wheelchair with one hand followed slowly behind her, matching her pace.

Seeming to notice her gaze, those light eyes looked toward her and asked: "Are you tired?"

Yu Qing quickly withdrew her gaze, shook her head, and continued walking forward.

Though, perhaps she was a little tired; her heartbeat seemed to have quickened.

The villa was brightly lit. As soon as Yu Qing returned, Aunt Gong, who took care of her and had just swapped shifts with Aunt Yang not long ago, came up to greet her, handing Yu Qing her slippers while asking if she was tired.

Yu Qing exchanged a few words with her, but when she looked back, that lean figure was nowhere to be seen.

After resting in her room for a while and having Aunt Gong massage her calves, Yu Qing went into the bathroom to soak.

Amidst the scent of rose essential oil, Yu Qing poked at the bubbles on the surface of the water, lost in thought.

What is she doing right now?

She must have run to the kitchen to eat that banana split she was so obsessed with earlier.

Is a banana split delicious?

She didn't think she had ever eaten one.

Banana, ice cream, whipped cream—it sounded simple and very ordinary; it shouldn't be good.

...For something so unappetizing, she wouldn't really eat five of them, would she?

Could it be that she didn't get to eat anything good while abroad, and now that she's back in the country, she's engaging in revenge eating? That can't be good for her health.

However, she didn't seem to be in a position to say that.

After a distracted bath, by the time Yu Qing emerged from the bathroom, she saw Aunt Gong standing before the small low table by the floor-to-ceiling window, staring at the items on the tabletop with a look of deep distress.

Yu Qing brushed through her hair and walked over, puzzled: "What's wrong?"

As soon as she walked closer, she saw clearly what was on the tabletop.

On the low table, a banana split was sitting there.

Although she had never eaten this before, the moment she saw it, Yu Qing knew that this was the banana split Xiang Changge had mentioned earlier.

In a transparent, boat-shaped elongated glass bowl, halved bananas formed the base, with three scoops of different colored ice cream nestled within. The ice cream was topped with swirls of whipped cream and garnished with cherries and ladyfinger biscuits.

Right in the center on the surface, there was also a smiley-faced teddy bear cookie.

It was very cute and looked quite nice, completely different from what Yu Qing had imagined just a moment ago.

Aunt Gong was a bit rounder than Aunt Yang and had a darker complexion, with thick earlobes; she looked like the type of person who was straightforward and had no ulterior motives.

She frowned disapprovingly and said to Yu Qing, "The housekeeper told me to bring this little dessert to you, but this thing is all ice cream and cream—it's raw, cold, and greasy. How could you possibly eat this, Miss?"

She didn't know what the housekeeper was thinking, letting just anything be placed in front of the young lady so casually.

Even if the young lady might not necessarily eat it, one still had to be mindful of whether it was suitable for her.

Yu Qing didn't speak; she only walked closer and examined the banana split for a long time before saying, "It's fine, you go ahead and get back to work."

After Aunt Gong, who had a look of wanting to say more, left, Yu Qing sat down on the fabric sofa.

She rested her chin in her hands, quietly staring at the banana split on the table.

The ice cream on top had already begun to melt, and by the colors of the three scoops, she could tell they were vanilla, strawberry, and matcha flavors.

When was the last time she had eaten ice cream?

Yu Qing couldn't remember.

But she remembered that when she was five years old, the first time she tasted ice cream, that cold, refreshing treat with its rich texture had instantly conquered her; she had absolutely no resistance to it.

So, she ate a few extra bites.

Then came the abdominal cramps, the vomiting, and finally being sent to the hospital.

After that, there were only her parents' pained, tearful eyes.

For a long time afterward, she never tasted ice cream again, nor did she miss it.

Only now did she suddenly remember that when she was a child, she had actually liked ice cream.

Like.

To her current self, it was such a strange word.

She didn't have anything she liked anymore.

"Can Yu Qing eat ice cream?"

Watching Xiang Changge finish her third banana split, the system asked with some concern.

Xiang Changge was quite calm: "She isn't that fragile, and she already had dinner tonight. Eating a couple of bites of ice cream shouldn't be a problem."

System: "A couple of bites? What if she eats the whole banana split just like you did?"

Xiang Changge: "Do you think that's possible?"

System: "..."

Given Yu Qing's appetite and her temperament, it was indeed unlikely.

There was nothing currently that held enough appeal to make her finish it all.

"Then if she doesn't finish it, what if she eats too much?"

The system was still a bit uneasy.

"That's where your supervision comes in."

Xiang Changge began to tackle a fourth banana split, this one topped with yogurt and other fruits.

Suddenly burdened with responsibility, the system asked: "Me?"

"How am I supposed to supervise, Tongtong?" the system complained.

It was just an ordinary system, after all.

Xiang Changge insisted it was the one for the job: "You monitor her. If she eats more than half a scoop of ice cream, you tell me."

System, confused: "Tell you for what?"

Xiang Changge said righteously: "To rush over immediately and snatch the ice cream out of her mouth, of course."

System: "..."

So, she was sending Yu Qing a banana split just so she could take a few looks and taste it, right?

As if guessing what the system was grumbling about, Xiang Changge explained: "Isn't it good to let her experience new things? There are so many delicacies in the world; I don't believe she wouldn't have any interest at all."

Besides, wasn't life supposed to have something different every day?

System: "She isn't you!"

Although it said that, the system still worked diligently. And until Xiang Changge finished all five flavors of banana splits, it never heard a notification from the system, so it knew it wouldn't have to go "snatch ice cream from the mouth."

At ten o'clock in the evening, while Yu Qing was curled up on the bay window drawing in her sketchbook, someone suddenly knocked on her door.

Subconsciously thinking it was the maid bringing water or needing something, Yu Qing didn't even lift her head and tapped a button on the wall, and the door automatically unlocked.