Chapter Twelve: Unspoken Feelings

  As the sound of splashing water gradually came from the toilet, my thoughts also gradually deviated from the fried eggs. Qin Ke was a rare beauty who was washing her naked body in the next bathroom, if you didn't have any reaction or idea, then you must be lacking male hormones.

  Just as I was about to unfold my rich imagination and sketch out a "Qin Ke's Bathing Picture" in my mind, my phone rang. I don't know why every time I think about the most critical issues, my phone rings. In the past, when I saw similar scenes in movies, I would mock the director's clichés and the inferiority of their artistic expression methods, but I didn't expect that such a cliché thing would happen in my life, and it's not just once. It seems that art is indeed derived from life. However, I still have to thank this phone call for coming at the right time, otherwise, I would have had to go back to the refrigerator to get eggs again. The caller was surprisingly Zhao Lijia, thinking that it had been almost half a month since we last met, which might be an unthinkable thing for her. After scooping out the eggs, I picked up the phone.

  "Hey! Why did it take you so long to answer the phone?"

  "You're not serving the people properly, what's with all these blind phone calls?"

  "The people are very satisfied with my service, so they decided to give me a break and give me an opportunity to find someone to serve me. Congratulations on being chosen by me."

  "Sister, I'm still young, spare me, wouldn't it be more enjoyable to change to a strong and robust body?"

  "Haha, forget it, I won't argue with you anymore. Where have you been hanging out lately? You didn't even send a text message."

  "Of course, I've been swept into the surging tide of economic construction. Besides, without you by my side, I wouldn't be considered a rogue even if I tried."

  "Get lost! Do you have plans tonight?"

  "No, do you have any good ideas?"

  "Ah, what a very good idea!"

  "Then let's talk about it, I'm listening."

  "Make dinner for me tonight. Is that alright?"

  "Very, very, all of them make me angry!"

  "I eat in the cafeteria every day, and my mouth is so tired of it! Although your cooking skills are not great, they're still better than those clumsy cooks in the cafeteria. If you don't teach me, I'll...I'll sing a duet at your doorstep!"

  "I'm speechless! I'm speechless! To think that you can do something like this to taste my craftsmanship, what else can I say but be moved?! This in itself is also a kind of affirmation of my abilities!"

  "Alright, see you tonight."

  "Wait a minute! You should have bought and brought your own groceries when you came, or else I'll be at a great loss."

  "Alright! Got it! Be more careful next time, hang up!"

  Among my friends, Zhao Lijia is the most qualified to comment on my culinary skills. She personally witnessed my rapid growth from a young man who was ignorant of cooking to a master in the industry. Under her constant criticism and encouragement, my cooking skills have made great progress, which is also inseparable from my personal efforts.

  Just as I hung up the phone, Qin Ke Yi walked out of the bathroom, wiping her hair. At that moment, what I saw was something that even someone with a rich literary background like myself couldn't find the right words to describe. I started to suspect that I had developed feelings for Qin Ke Yi, but I quickly denied it. I kept reminding myself that Tong Chen was my true love, and although she had left me, I still believed that there would be something between us in the future. As for Qin Ke Yi, maybe it was just an instinctual reaction... a man's natural response to a beautiful woman.

  "Hey! How long has it been since you washed your towel? It's got a smell!" Qin Ke's words interrupted my very conflicted thoughts.

  "You can choose not to use it, let it air dry naturally, that's better for the skin." Qin Ke gave me a fierce stare after hearing what I said, but in my heart, I was secretly rejoicing, at least for this week, she would think of me every day.

  "Do you want milk?"

  "Want to go to the living room and eat? I like watching TV while eating at home." Qin Ke said as he walked into the room. Although it was a requesting tone, it clearly had an imperative component that made me have to obey. This made me feel very strange, I who considered myself to be quite opinionated, even if I wanted to agree with him in my heart, would normally express a few opinions, but this time strangely chose silence, and a bad premonition arose from within.

  About five minutes later, Qin Ke came out of the room and seemed to get excited when he saw the fried eggs, salad and toast on the table. He quickly walked over and sat down on the sofa with his legs bent.

  "Can I switch to the video channel? I want to watch 'Stairway to Heaven'." Qin Ke said with a mouthful of crackers, speaking indistinctly.

  "Oh, please! Don't be so naive! Korean dramas and Qiong Yao's works are all deceiving young girls! They gather all the tragic events that people can think of and dump them on a few poor souls, just to get your ignorant tears. Like an old lady's foot binding cloth, it's long-winded and stinky, with no depth or thought whatsoever."

  "I'm just watching TV, why so much nonsense?" Qin Ke looked at me with an innocent expression.

  "When watching TV, choose some with flesh and blood, songs and tears. Like 'The Grand Mansion Gate' and 'The Bright Sword', it can also increase some historical knowledge."

  I quite like watching historical dramas, I used to be particularly fond of "The Legend of Qianlong" and "The Legend of Kangxi".

  "That kind of nonsense can also be called history. If you say it's a play, then it's just nonsense. One day when you see on TV that Qianlong is holding a notebook and Kangxi is having an intense romance with a Martian in bed, don't be surprised."

  "How disgusting! Give me that." Qin Ke suddenly snatched the egg from my plate. This made me wonder, how could Qin Ke's appetite and her figure possibly coexist in one person?

  "By the way! How did you end up there yesterday?" Qin Ke suddenly asked.

  "Why did you get drunk there again?"

  "It was I who asked you first." Qin Ke said with a slightly disgruntled tone.

  "That's my friend's bar, I went there to drink and just happened to run into him when I was going to the bathroom. It's that simple. Maybe it's really like you said, 'enemies on a narrow road'. Didn't you remember anything when I showed up yesterday?"

  "I only remember you saying a bunch of disgusting things to me, and then you laid hands on me. If my limbs had listened to me, I would have made sure you were picking your teeth up from the ground." Qin Ke said with a fierce expression.

  "If I hadn't suffered a loss and pretended to be your boyfriend, you might still be lying naked in some hotel bed crying?"

  "What's going on here? I don't understand! Stop taking advantage of others and pretending to be clever!" I thought Qin Ke might not have realized the ugliness of those people, so it was necessary to tell her about their ugly behavior.

  So I told Qin Ke everything I heard in the bathroom last night and what I figured out later. Qin Ke was indeed surprised that a middle-aged man would be such a person, and she exclaimed "good luck" several times. I then asked Qin Ke why she would drink with this kind of rich person, which is actually my biggest concern.

  The rich middle-aged man from yesterday was the boss of a fur store, and now is the off-season for fur sales, so they wanted to organize an activity week and needed some models. The boss was very generous, so many school modeling teams were eyeing this fat meat, so Qin Keyi decided to invite the boss to dinner to get closer. Unexpectedly, after dinner, the boss suggested finding a bar to sit and discuss some performance details, and then what I saw happened next.

  "How much money did they give you?"

  "1,000 per person."

  "Oh dear! It seems I accidentally ruined your good thing yesterday."

  "Alas! What can be done? I couldn't possibly put myself out there, anyway. There are plenty of companies that need models." Qin Ke said listlessly, leaning back on the sofa.

  "Hah, you're a rich family's young lady, would you care about this little bit of money?"

  "What's wrong with being rich? My dad has money, does that mean I can't be independent? Why do you guys always think of me as the daughter of a rich man whenever I do something?" Although I've heard Zhang Wei describe Qin Ke Yi's personality before, today was my first time experiencing her uniqueness.

  "Besides, I'm not just doing it for myself. This amount of money is not a small sum for the others in our team, especially since we have a student from a very poor background."

  "What are you looking at?!" Qin Ke was possibly annoyed by my dazed expression.

  "No big deal. You have personality and are quite loyal, I like it."

  "Get out of here! Who wants you to like it!!" Qin Ke Yi kicked me with one foot. At this time, the ringing sound of Qin Ke Yi's phone came from Tong Chen's room. Qin Ke Yi heard the ringtone and hurriedly jumped down from the sofa, wearing only one shoe on her feet, hopping towards Tong Chen's room on one leg. This was already the nth scene that made me think of words like "cute", "beautiful" this morning. Less than a minute later, Qin Ke Yi ran out of the room very excitedly, shouting a string of "Yes!"

  "Has Japan surrendered to the shrine of national reverence? Or has Taiwan announced its unconditional return to the mainland? You're so happy about it."

  "Cheng just called and said that old lecher agreed to use our performance."

  "Then congratulations to you."

  "Cheers! Come on, let's have a toast!" Qin Ke said as he picked up the milk from the table and drank it all in one gulp.

  "How does milk taste?"

  "Hmm...! It's really special." Qin Ke was still visibly immersed in joy.

  "It seems expired milk is also drinkable." I said with a mischievous grin.

  "What did you say? Say it again!" Qin Ke finally regained his sanity.

  "There's nothing wrong with it. This carton of milk just reached its expiration date today, but throwing it away would be a waste."

  "What! You... still drink after expiration!" Apparently I reignited Qin Ke Yi's anger once again.

  "I didn't drink, this cup is just broth." I said calmly, suppressing the urge to laugh.

  "You...! Bastard!" Qin Ke swiftly picked up the cushion from the sofa and threw it at me.