To mask her self-consciousness, Lu Yan darted into the kitchen as soon as she changed her shoes.

Aunt Liu was incredibly capable – the spacious kitchen was immaculately organized, from the gleaming silverware to the snow-white stove top, every surface sparkled.

After placing the vegetables on the island counter, Lu Yan went to open the refrigerator.

The moment she opened the door, despite mentally preparing herself, she was still nearly blinded by the overwhelming abundance of ingredients packed inside.

If you want to know the meaning of “comprehensive and all-inclusive,” look no further than Aunt Liu’s refrigerator. Just to accommodate one Jiang Chengyi – wasn’t this a bit excessive?

Coming to her senses, she began examining the numerous ingredients. Unable to handle anything too complex, she had to start simple. After much deliberation, she finally selected eggs and winter bamboo shoots.

She’d already bought meat and tomatoes on the way, and with these additional ingredients, she planned to make stir-fried meat with bamboo shoots and tomato egg stir-fry.

After all, Jiang Chengyi only disliked fish and wasn’t picky about other foods. Besides, these were her best dishes, sufficient to get by.

After washing the ingredients, just as she was about to start cutting, someone entered behind her.

She turned around puzzled – Jiang Chengyi? What was he doing here?

“It’ll be ready soon,” she turned back, continuing to slowly cut vegetables. “Just two dishes tonight, we’ll make do. My cooking skills are average.”

“I can see that,” Jiang Chengyi coldly glanced at her cutting technique.

“?”

What could he see?

“I can see your average skills,” he rolled up his sleeves and took the knife from her hand.

Before she could process what was happening, Lu Yan found herself inexplicably sidelined.

Jiang Chengyi began cutting vegetables, while Lu Yan stood aside with her arms raised, staring at him.

She was curious, mostly indignant, but she had to admit – he looked quite handsome while cooking.

However, watching Jiang Chengyi efficiently prepare the vegetables with skills far superior to hers, she quickly realized the gap between them. After a few seconds of stunned silence, she sheepishly retreated.

Sitting at the dining table, she still found it puzzling.

This wasn’t logical.

Jiang Chengyi had previously said he never entered the kitchen. Not just him – even his mother never lifted a finger for housework. They had several servants at home, each with their specific duties from cooking to general maintenance, leaving no need for the masters to do anything themselves.

She remembered when she first heard about this, she had proudly looked down on him, saying she’d learned to cook in middle school and made delicious dishes that even her mother couldn’t help but praise.

It was a Sunday, and Jiang Chengyi was playing in a high school league match at the city gymnasium. Many students from No. 7 Middle School had come to cheer.

As soon as the game ended, Jiang Chengyi didn’t even wait to celebrate with his teammates before running over to find her.

Outside the gymnasium, besides her, Deng Man and Tang Jie were also there.

Some days earlier, a student from a neighboring school had been stalking her. After getting beaten up by Jiang Chengyi, that pervert had become much less aggressive. Though some time had passed since the incident, everyone was still somewhat nervous.

Fearing that the pervert might harass Lu Yan again, Deng Man and Tang Jie refused to leave first.

Only when Jiang Chengyi arrived did Tang Jie, refusing to be a third wheel, drag Deng Man away.

She stayed behind, and seeing Jiang Chengyi covered in sweat, pulled out a clean towel and cold soda she’d prepared from her backpack and handed them to him.

Jiang Chengyi took the Sprite but refused the towel, just tilting his head back to drink while watching her with his dark, bright eyes – the hint in his gaze immediately understood with just one look.

What a bad boy. She glanced up at him, walked to his front, and stood on tiptoes to wipe his sweat herself.

He kept staring at her, and when she wiped near his ear, his gaze flickered. He lowered his head and suddenly kissed her.

Afterward, it was still early, so Jiang Chengyi suggested watching a movie she’d been wanting to see before taking her home.

On the way, as they talked, the conversation somehow turned to cooking.

When he heard she could cook in middle school, Jiang Chengyi expressed disbelief, deliberately teasing her: “How old were you in middle school? Could you even reach the stove?”

“Who couldn’t reach the stove?” To prove she really could cook, she began listing the detailed steps for making egg fried rice, adding that besides that, she could make several other home-style dishes too.

While she was proudly listing her culinary repertoire, he fell silent and asked: “Do you cook at home often?”

She nodded: “Mom often has to work overtime, sometimes getting home very late. When I’m hungry, I have no choice but to learn to cook myself.”

She deliberately avoided the topic of her parents’ divorce.

Actually, she rarely mentioned these family matters to others. Even Tang Jie and Deng Man, close as they were, didn’t know much about it.

She knew her mother had a hard time after the divorce, so she was very obedient. Besides studying hard, she would help with manageable household chores whenever she had time.

The sky gradually darkened as they walked and talked, unconsciously reaching the back of the movie theater.

She was still talking about egg fried rice when Jiang Chengyi suddenly stopped. Puzzled, she thought they’d run into classmates. After looking around, she looked up at him: “What’s wrong?”

He gazed at her with a complex expression.

She thought he had something to say: “What is it?”

He smiled and said casually: “Nothing.”

She wanted to ask more, but he took her hand and walked on.

During lunch break the next day, she, Tang Jie, and Deng Man bought snacks and sat on the library steps, eating and chatting.

Tang Jie thought Lu Yan had recently been prioritizing romance over friendship. After criticizing her, she started gossiping about who was dating whom in their grade, and who had been rejected by whom – just typical after-class gossip.

Seeing Deng Man remained silent, Tang Jie and Lu Yan exchanged glances, then nudged Deng Man’s arm: “What are you thinking about, Deng Man? Hey, do you have someone you like?”

Deng Man had been staring at a distant building. Hearing this, her expression changed slightly, and she quickly shook her head.

“Why so scared?” Tang Jie was unsatisfied. “You’re so boring, never telling me and Lu Yan anything.”

Deng Man stuffed her half-eaten Snickers into Tang Jie’s mouth, saying: “When have I ever not told you things? Don’t wrongly accuse me.”

Lu Yan, being observant, found Deng Man’s gaze strange and followed it. In that direction, there were several adjacent buildings.

She tried to identify what Deng Man was looking at for a while, initially believing it was the school’s indoor basketball court. It wasn’t until much later that she began to doubt that assumption.

Lu Yan stared at the three dishes and soup steaming on the dining table.

Jiang Chengyi was incredibly efficient – in less than half an hour, the food was ready. Not only did it smell good, but it also looked impressive, at least much better than anything she could make.

Taking a bite, she immediately felt ashamed.

After several years, her cooking skills remained stagnant, while Jiang Chengyi had become so accomplished.

While eating, she kept feeling like his gaze was falling on her, but when she looked up, she realized she had misunderstood – he hadn’t even glanced her way.

She ate with composed dignity. Though she didn’t verbally praise his cooking, such skills didn’t need praise – her inability to resist eating two bowls of rice was undoubtedly the strongest affirmation of Jiang Chengyi’s culinary abilities.

Jiang Chengyi finished eating before her but didn’t leave the table, just sitting there drinking water. Perhaps it was Lu Yan’s imagination, but his typically expressionless face seemed to hold a hint of satisfaction.

Maybe the air conditioning was set too high – she suddenly felt warm. Lowering her eyes, she gathered the bowls and chopsticks and took them to the kitchen.

After starting the dishwasher, she washed her hands and came out of the kitchen.

Jiang Chengyi hadn’t returned to his room but had retrieved a stack of documents from somewhere and was slowly reading through them while drinking water.

Her gaze swept over them, noticing one stack was entirely in English, with “Serial murder case” written at the top of the page.