Chapter 33

When Lu Qi opened the door and saw the figure standing outside, he raised an eyebrow. "What are you here for?"

Jiang Bai's expression was calm. "You and Lu Yao both took sick leave today. The teacher asked me to tell you about the homework."

Lu Qi looked puzzled and muttered disdainfully, "Couldn't you have just sent us a message? Why come all this way?"

Without changing expression, Jiang Bai shot back evenly, "I came to visit Lu Yao."

What Jiang Bai meant was that he had made this trip specifically to visit Lu Yao. It had nothing to do with Lu Qi, so Lu Qi should stop being so full of himself and minding other people's business.

Hearing Jiang Bai's voice at the door, Lu Yao came out as well.

When Jiang Bai saw Lu Yao's pale face, he could not help frowning. His voice was flat, but his concern was impossible to conceal. "Did you take your medicine? Why do you still look so sick?"

Lu Yao covered his mouth and coughed twice, his voice hoarse and low. "I took it when I woke up earlier."

"Grrr, grrr—"

As soon as Lu Yao finished speaking, his stomach suddenly growled. His empty stomach, which had been neglected for most of the day, protested to remind its owner of its existence.

Hearing his stomach growl, Lu Yao pressed his thin lips together. He still appeared calm, but the tips of his pale ears instantly burned with embarrassment.

Lu Qi said bluntly, "Let's order takeout first. You haven't eaten anything all day."

When Jiang Bai heard that Lu Yao, a sick person, had not eaten anything the entire day, his eyes darkened slightly. He frowned in disapproval and began lecturing him directly. "You're sick, so why don't you take better care of yourself? Even if you have no appetite, you should still eat something, shouldn't you? Since you're sick, you need to pay even more attention to nutrition. That's the only way your body can recover faster."

Lu Yao looked up at Jiang Bai's suddenly stern expression and inexplicably felt a little guilty.

Lu Yao said, "I just... accidentally slept through the whole day."

Jiang Bai had initially thought Lu Yao had gone without food all day because he had no appetite. After hearing his explanation, Jiang Bai shot Lu Qi a disdainful look. What kind of care had Lu Qi been giving the sick person? He had actually let him go an entire day without eating a single grain of rice.

Forget it. Expecting Lu Qi to take good care of Lu Yao, a patient, was practically wishful thinking. It was already impressive enough that this young master, who had never had to lift a finger around the house, could take care of himself.

Jiang Bai sighed. "Don't order takeout. I'll make some plain congee and vegetables."

Hearing Jiang Bai's suggestion, Lu Qi openly questioned him. "You can cook?!"

Jiang Bai calmly retorted, "If you don't want to eat, then don't. I wasn't planning to make your portion anyway."

That immediately rubbed Lu Qi the wrong way, and he started arguing with Jiang Bai instead.

Lu Qi said, "Then I'm definitely eating! Who knows whether your food is even edible? I need to check it for Lu Yao, so your cooking doesn't make him even sicker."

Lu Yao said, "..."

Here they went again! Lu Qi and Jiang Bai really argued every single day.

Ever since he had started sitting next to Jiang Bai, Lu Yao had seen them trading barbs countless times. The two of them were like needle against wheat straw, natural-born enemies who simply could not get along.

After Jiang Bai entered the kitchen and saw the disastrous mess covering the floor, then learned from Lu Yao about Lu Qi's earlier feat, he could not help rolling his eyes. Speechless, he looked at Lu Qi, who was leaning against the kitchen doorway.

"The one whose cooking is truly inedible is you, isn't it?"

Having been hit where it hurt, Lu Qi loudly defended himself despite his guilt. "I-I just made a mistake earlier! A mistake!"

Jiang Bai gave him a casual glance. "Being loud doesn't make you right."

Lu Qi felt like this irritating, sharp-tongued bastard was about to make his blood rush to his head.

Holding a glass, Jiang Bai turned to pour a cup of warm water from the kitchen dispenser, then handed it to Lu Yao, who was also standing at the kitchen door.

"Here. You need to drink more water when you have a cold. The kitchen is greasy, so go sit outside and rest for a while. The congee will be ready soon."

When Jiang Bai saw Lu Yao sit beside the dining table, holding the cup and taking occasional sips of water, his gaze softened slightly.

He turned toward Lu Qi, who stood nearby with his arms folded and the air of a lord, and ordered him without ceremony, "You! Get in here and clean up your own mess."

Lu Qi curled his lips. "You don't need to tell me. I was going to clean it up myself."

Sitting beside the dining table, Lu Yao felt the warmth from the glass in his palms. Listening to the childish arguments rising and falling from the kitchen, he lowered his eyes and smiled softly.

Jiang Bai worked quickly, and before long, a pot of congee was ready.

He was still watching over the steamed egg custard on the stove, so he directly ordered the idle Lu Qi beside him, "Lu Qi, take the congee out and let it cool."

Lu Qi snapped, "Hey! Jiang Bai, you bastard! Don't order me around like I'm your lackey!"

Though Lu Qi was raging verbally, he obediently picked up the pot of congee and carried it out of the kitchen.

Seeing Lu Qi awkwardly carrying the congee, Jiang Bai's voice gave away neither pleasure nor anger. "If you spill the congee I worked so hard to make, you'd better prepare yourself."

Hearing Jiang Bai's voice from behind him, Lu Qi's heart trembled. Why did that bastard Jiang Bai sound like he was giving off such a sinister killing intent?!

Jiang Bai soon finished the steamed egg custard and another light vegetable dish.

After Lu Yao took a bite of the egg custard, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. "It's delicious."

Hearing Lu Yao's approval, Jiang Bai's eyes filled with a rich smile. "As long as you like it."

Although Jiang Bai's cooking was quite good, Lu Qi could not stand seeing his smug expression. He deliberately snorted and said disdainfully, "It's just okay. Compared to my family's housekeeper, it's nowhere close."

Jiang Bai was in a good mood and could not be bothered arguing with this childish fool, so he merely replied with a bland jab, "Still better than some idiot who doesn't understand that water and fire don't mix."

When Jiang Bai brought up his foolish stunt again, Lu Qi was immediately embarrassed into silence.

After dinner, seeing that Lu Yao seemed to be feeling much better, Jiang Bai got up and left the Lu family home.

Not long after Jiang Bai left, Lu Qi, who was sitting on the living room sofa, suddenly slapped his forehead in realization. He planted his hands on his hips and burst into triumphant laughter.

Lu Yao looked at him with disgust and confusion, then secretly sighed. Lu Qi really did not seem very smart.

Lu Qi's voice was brimming with delight and pride. "That idiot Jiang Bai! For someone with such a smart brain, he actually forgets things too."

Resting his chin on one hand, Lu Yao casually asked, "What did he forget?"

Lu Qi said, "The homework! He said earlier that the teacher had asked him to tell us about it. But after dinner, he just left and completely forgot about it. Hahaha! When I go back to school tomorrow, I'm definitely going to mock him hard! Let's see if he still dares to sneer at me all the time."

Lu Yao said, "..." Was it really okay for a high school student to still be this childish?

Lu Yao yawned sleepily. "Don't you rarely do homework anyway? Even if Jiang Bai forgot to tell you about it, it wouldn't affect you."

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Lu Qi had only completed his homework seriously for a while when he had made that bet with Lu Yao. These past few days, he had relapsed into his old habits and returned to how he used to be.

Lu Qi said, "Hey! Lu Yao, whose side are you on? Jiang Bai is an outsider! It'd be one thing if you didn't speak up for your own brother, but you're actually taking an outsider's side!"

Lu Yao replied calmly, "At least that outsider wouldn't nearly blow up the kitchen."

Lu Qi said, "..."

You two and this damned tacit understanding—would it kill you not to bring that up?! Couldn't you just let bygones be bygones?!