Chapter 58: Cockroaches!

**[Miss Bai Yao! You are far too cowardly!]**

**[Qiu Ye has already shown he likes you! Why didn’t you strike while the iron was hot and confess?! Do you still care about your past experiences? Or do you have an inferiority complex and think you don’t deserve him? He doesn’t even know anyway!]**

**[Or maybe you’re worried that he’s just all talk and can’t satisfy your needs?]**

**[Mission failed!]**

‘Hey! System, did you get that right?!’

‘I’m a man! You’ve got a bug! How could you run for so long and not realize it?!’

Hearing the system prompt and being labeled as “cowardly” and “inferior,” Bai Yao was furious.

Even if he admitted he was a bit cowardly and had a slight inferiority complex, it had nothing to do with this mission! It was entirely the system’s fault.

If it had told him to hit on girls or confess to a girl he liked, he might actually do it in the heat of the moment.

Bai Yao looked back at the noisy dormitory.

Everyone had just returned from class and was busy with their own things.

Lin Mingxin was playing Street Fighter, his hands flying over the Hitbox, but his character was still taking every single hit.

Wang Zuhao was being bridge-camped in his game and was cursing up a storm, insulting several generations of the campers’ ancestors.

Chen Zhilong was assembling his new e-sports chair, making grunting noises and a series of clatters and bangs.

“Bai Yao, cook some noodles. I’m so hungry,” Qiu Ye said, leaning back in his chair and clutching his stomach as he let out a hungry cry.

“People who don’t know any better would think you’re calling for your mom,” Chen Zhilong mocked as he worked.

“It’s not like both your hands are broken.”

“Mommy! Oh, Mommy! I’m so hungry!”

Bai Yao’s scalp prickled at the address.

This nickname was way too ridiculous!

Hadn’t they agreed that he wouldn’t have to worry about food after leaving the hospital?

Yet Qiu Ye had only bought instant noodles, eggs, and sausages, and was still relying on him to do the actual cooking?

Bai Yao felt that Qiu Ye was really pushing his luck.

He stood up with an annoyed expression, took three bags of instant noodles, two sausages, two eggs, and a handful of bok choy from the cupboard, then turned toward the balcony.

Carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and fiber… it was technically a balanced meal.

Qiu Ye also stood up, grabbed a pot he had borrowed from another dorm, and followed him to the balcony to fill it with water.

“Excuse me, move over a bit.”

‘At least he knows how to help,’ Bai Yao thought. He stepped aside from the faucet, washing the bok choy as he asked, “Are three packs enough?”

“Should be? I usually eat two.”

“Grab the bowls for me.”

“You got it!”

The pot was half-full of water.

Qiu Ye lifted it with one hand and wabbled back into the dorm.

He put the pot on the induction cooker, then brought out two disposable plastic bowls and chopsticks for Bai Yao.

“Egg drop?”

Bai Yao cracked an egg against the laundry sink and skillfully dropped it into a bowl with one hand.

“Or do you want them poached?”

“Fried?”

“No oil.”

Qiu Ye watched Bai Yao’s movements and let out an exaggerated cry of admiration.

“Cracking an egg with one hand! That’s amazing — “

“…”

It was so over-the-top that Bai Yao couldn’t feel happy about it at all.

He whisked the two eggs, set them aside, opened the bags of noodles to put them on the bowls, peeled the sausages, and sliced them.

Qiu Ye chimed in with praise every few seconds.

“Whoa! Did you learn to cook before? Your skills are so good!”

‘I’m just boiling instant noodles!’

“Wow! Even the sausages are sliced so evenly!”

‘Stop with the awkward flattery! You can clearly see the slices are different thicknesses with the naked eye.’

Bai Yao couldn’t hold back a laugh.

He nudged Qiu Ye with his elbow and said, “Stop being a nuisance.”

Seeing Bai Yao’s eyes curve into a smile, Qiu Ye became even more enthusiastic.

“The vegetables are washed so clean — “

He was really laying it on thick.

Lin Mingxin rushed out to use the bathroom and glanced at the two of them busy by the sink.

“You two actually look like a married couple.”

Bai Yao wanted to retort, but Lin Mingxin had already ducked into the bathroom.

“What a weirdo,” he muttered.

He finished prepping, returned to the dorm, and found the water was nearly boiling.

While the water was simmering, he poured the egg mixture in evenly, creating beautiful ribbons.

Then he dumped the rest of the ingredients in and covered the pot to wait.

Qiu Ye pulled up a chair and watched the induction cooker expectantly.

“Holy crap! A cockroach!”

A scream came from the balcony.

Lin Mingxin rushed into the dorm, looking pale as a ghost, with a large, glossy black cockroach flying behind him.

It was huge! At first glance, it looked like a ping-pong ball flying toward his face.

The whole dorm was instantly thrown into chaos.

Bai Yao feigned calm and stepped aside, his face expressionless.

Qiu Ye immediately stepped in front of him to block the way.

Chen Zhilong searched frantically for something to swat it with, while Lin Mingxin ran around in circles, shouting “Holy crap, holy crap!”

Only Wang Zuhao remained calm, continuing his game.

He scoffed, “It’s just a cockroach. Are you guys really this scared? Are you even men?”

“Brother Hao! It’s flying toward you!”

Wang Zuhao looked back just as the flying cockroach lunged at his face.

His face went white in an instant.

The 200-pound, 6-foot-tall man let out a high-pitched scream like a teenage girl.

“AAAAAAAHHH!!!”

“Screw your mother! Such a huge cockroach!”

He was a local and had seen plenty of large cockroaches, but having one fly into his face was too much for anyone.

Even his dialect came out.

For a moment, the dormitory was filled with screams and curses, loud enough to blow the roof off.

“Damn! Where did it go?!”

“It’s on you! It’s on you!”

“Holy crap! That’s disgusting!”

Bai Yao was actually fine.

He had grown up in an urban village where the environment was poor.

He’d seen rats the size of cats and frequently found cockroaches in his cupboards, so he always kept bait at home.

More importantly, he had already stepped back and used Qiu Ye as a shield.

After the chaos settled, the cockroach was nowhere to be found.

It had disappeared into some unknown corner.

The roommates looked at each other, their hearts filled with unease.

“Do you think it’ll crawl into someone’s mouth while we’re sleeping tonight?” Bai Yao asked tonelessly, intentionally scaring them.

He wasn’t worried; he had a bed curtain that was thick, lightproof, and fully sealed.

The already shaken group became even more anxious.

“Let’s buy some bait,” Chen Zhilong said, standing up helplessly.

“I’ll go to the convenience store.”

“Bring me a Coke,” Lin Mingxin suggested quickly.

“Buy a few different types of bait, just in case one doesn’t work.”

Wang Zuhao slumped in his chair, already looking up reviews for cockroach bait on his phone.

“Move over, don’t block the way. Let me see if the noodles are done.”

Qiu Ye looked back at Bai Yao and stepped aside.

“Aren’t you afraid of cockroaches? It was so big.”

He was from the north and had never seen a cockroach that large in his life.

“It’s fine, just a bit gross.”

In truth, if the cockroach had flown at his face, Bai Yao would have screamed too.

But seeing how scared the others were while he remained composed…

‘I really am quite manly!’

“Wang Zuhao is even more of a coward than I am,” he mocked.

“Qiu Ye, you screamed pretty loud too.”

“I’ve never seen one like that…”