“I didn’t mean to….”
“When I’m gaming, I don’t check my phone. That just shows how dedicated and focused I am!”
“Wait—don’t tell me… you actually check your phone while gaming?”
In the shadowy corner of the corridor, Chu You leaned against the cold wall, tilting her head up to look at the approaching Lin Mo.
She stammered as she tried to explain, her cheeks tinged with heat.
Listening to Chu You’s stubborn justification, Lin Mo, his hands pressed against the wall on either side of her, raised an eyebrow ever so slightly.
There was no emotion in his eyes.
“I don’t play games.”
At those words, Chu You’s expression froze.
She dropped her gaze, a bit disgruntled, and muttered under her breath, “You act like an old fossil, no hobbies or entertainment at all, and now you’re blaming me for playing games? That’s not fair…”
“Pa.”
A soft sound rang out as Lin Mo raised his hand and smacked the wall next to Chu You’s ear, not hard but enough to startle her—her shoulders trembled almost imperceptibly.
He lowered his head slightly, his warm breath teasing the faintly flushed skin on Chu You’s face and neck.
His voice was lowered, carrying a unique, magnetic quality.
“Senior, have you… completely forgotten you’re my assistant?”
His gaze fell on her trembling eyelashes, his tone calm yet carrying an invisible pressure.
“Leaving your employer out there, busy and overwhelmed, while you’re at home playing games with a clear conscience… This kind of behavior…”
He paused deliberately, staring at her nervously biting her lower lip, then drawled out slowly,
“Should I understand it as, what you really want to be isn’t a work assistant…”
With that, Lin Mo suddenly let go of one hand bracing the wall and, without room for argument, his broad, warm palm slid firmly to Chu You’s slender waist.
He applied a little force, pulling her closer and closing the last bit of distance.
Their noses nearly touched.
A faint, teasing glint flashed in his eyes as he drew out his words: “But rather—a life, as-sist-ant?”
Feeling the heat radiating from Lin Mo’s body and the overwhelming presence of his hand at her waist, all sorts of alarms went off in Chu You’s mind—
Damn.
With all the recent trouble piling up, she’d nearly forgotten that this bastard Lin Mo had never had good intentions from the very start!
Thinking of this, Chu You’s expression instantly switched to one of extreme flattery, even bordering on obsequiousness.
She pressed her hands to Lin Mo’s chest, trying to break free from his seemingly casual but in fact unyielding grip, and hurriedly explained, “Wha—what are you saying? I—I love working! Nothing makes me happier than work!”
She cleared her throat twice, trying to make herself sound more sincere.
“Ahem, well, you’ve been busy all day, haven’t even eaten yet,right? Why don’t you let go, and I’ll go make you something? I promise, my cooking is really good! Truly!”
She blinked rapidly, making herself look as innocent and harmless as possible—like a little kitchen helper eager to redeem herself.
Upon hearing this, the corner of Lin Mo’s lips lifted almost imperceptibly, forming a meaningful arc.
Then, he did something that completely took Chu You by surprise—he actually, cleanly and without hesitation, let go?!
With the restraint suddenly gone, Chu You nearly toppled backward from pushing too hard, only managing to steady herself by grabbing the wall.
Lin Mo stepped back half a pace with ease, perfectly opening the way to the kitchen.
He slid his hands leisurely back into his pockets, smiling as he looked at the dazed Chu You.
“Since you’re so eager to show how attentive an assistant you are, then… I’ll happily oblige.”
He paused, as if just remembering something, and added, his tone light yet leaving no room for refusal: “–Oh right, I’m suddenly craving something spicy tonight. That’s not a problem, is it, Senior?”
Chu You was momentarily stunned, her mind still stuck on “How did he let go so easily?”
Lin Mo’s aggressive presence had vanished, leaving her feeling a bit at a loss.
She stood there blankly for a second, then nodded reflexively in response to Lin Mo’s words, her voice drifting, “Uh… okay, no problem. Spicy… got it.”
“Then off you go,” Lin Mo’s smile deepened, his dark eyes gleaming with an unreadable light.
“I’ll be waiting for Senior’s special dinner.”
He deliberately stretched out the words “special dinner,” then, with a subtle shift in tone—still smiling, but sending a chill up Chu You’s spine—continued, “But, Senior, if what you make doesn’t suit my taste later…”
He tilted his head a bit, his smile innocent, voice gentle.
“Then I just might… be un-hap-py~”
That drawn-out note was like a feather brushing the heart, light but carrying an unmistakable threat.
Chu You’s just-relaxed nerves immediately tensed up again.
Staring at Lin Mo’s obviously ill-intentioned expression, she swallowed hard.
But she’d already said she’d cook, so there was no backing out now.
With that in mind, Chu You, as if going to face her doom, hurried around Lin Mo and headed for the kitchen—lately, she and Xia Ji had been staying at Lin Mo’s place, and it was basically Xia Ji who did all the cooking.
The fridge was stocked with plenty of fresh vegetables and meat.
While recalling Xia Ji’s cooking methods, Chu You opened the fridge, taking out a green pepper and some leftover pork from lunch.
Stepping into the kitchen, Chu You pursed her lips, once again cursing Xia Ji in her heart…
That brat is so unreliable! As soon as she saw Lin Mo come home in a bad mood, she didn’t care about Chu You at all, just made up some excuse and fled back to her own place,leaving Chu You to face Lin Mo alone.
“Clack clack clack…”
After washing the green pepper haphazardly, Chu You absentmindedly sliced it into uneven strips, all the while internally berating Xia Ji’s lack of loyalty.
Once the peppers were done, she fished a small handful of dried chilies from the cupboard, not even glancing at them before chopping them up at random.
Then it was time for the pork—without much cooking skill, Chu You struggled for a while, only managing to slice the meat into uneven, ragged pieces.
Finally, she prepped some scallions, ginger, and garlic, lit the stove, and poured in oil to heat the pan.
Once the oil was hot, she dumped in the aromatics to fry until fragrant, then threw in the pork, dried chilies, and green peppers all at once.
“Sizzle—!”
The hot oil met the moist green peppers and unprocessed dried chilies, instantly sending up a choking cloud of white smoke filled with the spicy, pungent scent of capsaicin, straight into Chu You’s nose and mouth.
“Cough, cough, cough…!” Chu You was nearly brought to tears by the heat, clutching her nose and mouth as she scrambled to turn on the exhaust fan.
While coughing, she grabbed the soy sauce bottle and splashed some into the pan, sprinkled in some salt, and vaguely remembered something about sugar enhancing the flavor—so she tossed in a small scoop of white sugar, too.
She stir-fried everything at random until the peppers looked limp, then quickly turned off the heat.
The whole process took just over ten minutes.
In the end, Chu You carried out a heaping plate of green pepper pork stir-fry—at least, it looked pretty decent.
Her eyes were red from the oil fumes as she glanced at Lin Mo, who was seated on the sofa apparently working on his phone.
She called out irritably, “Dinner’s ready! Come eat!”
At her words, Lin Mo set down his phone and got up.
He looked at the steaming plate of stir-fried pork and green peppers on the table, raising his eyebrows in genuine surprise.
“Oh? I didn’t expect… Senior, you really do have some skills, huh?”
Chu You wiped her tears with her wrist, chin lifted in a touch of pride as she scoffed, “Of course… What did you think?”
Lin Mo nodded and sat down at the table, picking up the chopsticks.
He looked up at the still-standing Chu You and asked matter-of-factly, “So, what’s for the main course?”
Chu You froze.
Oh no!
She’d been so focused on the stir-fry, she’d completely forgotten to make rice.
Her eyes darted in panic toward the rice cooker in the kitchen—empty.
Suddenly, inspiration struck.
She hurried to the fridge and pulled out half a hard, leftover Russian rye bread she’d bought days ago.
With a flourish, she slapped it down on the table in front of Lin Mo.
“There. Main course.”
Lin Mo stared at the hunk of bread that could double as a brick, the smile on his lips stiffening slightly.
He looked up at Chu You,disbelief in his voice.
“Green pepper pork… with Russian rye bread? Senior, are you serious?”
At that, Chu You simply threw caution to the wind, shoving the bread to the center of the table and adding, “That’s it. Eat it or don’t!”
Then, realizing how ridiculous this pairing was herself, she turned on her heel and walked over to the sofa, intending to put distance between herself and the culinary disaster.
Lin Mo watched Chu You’s obviously guilty retreat, shaking his head helplessly.
He picked up his chopsticks and gathered a large bite of the visually appealing stir-fry, blew on it gently, and put it in his mouth.
The moment the food touched his tongue, Lin Mo’s entire body went stiff.
As he chewed mechanically, he reached for the bread, trying to use it to suppress the sudden, catastrophic flavor erupting in his mouth—
The green peppers hadn’t been seeded, giving off a raw, searing heat.
The dried chilies had been fully activated by the hot oil, detonating like depth charges in his mouth.
Worse still, it was obvious Chu You didn’t often cook—her sense of salt was completely off, so that the tongue-numbing saltiness mixed with explosive heat assaulted him in a brutal double whammy.
Lin Mo’s face turned visibly red as he grabbed the rock-hard bread and took a savage bite—almost breaking his teeth.
But there was no time to care about the hardness.
He chewed desperately, the rough, dry texture barely managing to dull the burning saltiness and spicy pain.
It took over a minute of chewing before Lin Mo finally managed to swallow the mouthful of hellish green pepper pork and bread.
He immediately got up, practically lunging to the fridge, and grabbed a bottle of cold mineral water, guzzling down more than half in one go.
Feeling like he’d just escaped the gates of death, Lin Mo put down the bottle and let out a shaky breath, beads of sweat glistening on his forehead.
Just then, bored and slightly curious on the sofa, Chu You got up and walked over.
As she approached, she asked with anticipation, “Well? My cooking’s not bad, right? Look at you, gobbling it down.”
Lin Mo looked at Chu You’s still-red eyes, and her open, expectant face—waiting for praise.
The true critique stuck in his throat, impossible to say.
Seeing his complicated, hesitant expression, Chu You raised her eyebrow in confusion.
“…Wasn’t it good? That can’t be right—I remembered all the steps… Let me try—”
She reached for the chopsticks Lin Mo had used, intending to taste for herself.
Lin Mo reacted fast, snatching up the chopsticks first and gripping them tightly, his voice betraying a slight urgency.
“I already used those, and besides…”
His eyes darted over the plate of “lethal weapon” on the table as he forced himself to say, “There’s… not enough here for the both of us.”
With that, Lin Mo seemed to resolve himself, sitting back down,left hand clutching the hard-as-a-rock bread, right hand holding the chopsticks, facing this hell-level trial of green pepper pork with a look of tragic determination, and began eating again.
Seeing this, Chu You’s face lit up in a beaming smile, her earlier pride flaring back to life—
This jerk is eating so enthusiastically, so eagerly—could it be… I’m actually a hidden culinary genius?
In high spirits, she stood to the side, watching Lin Mo “devour” her cooking, even remembering to express her concern.
“Eat slowly, don’t choke…”
Then she declared with excitement, “If you like it, great! I’ve decided—tomorrow at noon I’ll cook a big meal for you and Xia Ji!”
No sooner had she finished speaking, Lin Mo, still chewing desperately, battling chili seeds and excessive salt, visibly froze. His hand holding the chopsticks stopped in midair.
Tomorrow… again?!