NOVEL NEXT 13
### Chapter 13
When manipulating mental energy, time always seemed to fly by.
After tidying everything up, Lu Xi noticed it was already past seven in the evening. Standing at the door, the autumn night wind made him shiver. He hunched his shoulders as the light above illuminated the small area, highlighting his nose, which was as red as a reindeer’s.
Last time, he had been taken back to the dormitory in a daze, but this time he was fully conscious.
What should he do?
The excitement of living with his idol, Xia Baiyuan, although belated, finally surged through Lu Xi’s heart. This time, it was different from being on the starship or temporarily staying over. This was a real roommate relationship!
As a devoted fan, just thinking about it made Lu Xi want to roll around in delight and let out a groundhog’s scream.
Ah! Xia Baiyuan!!
He closed his eyes and took three deep breaths to mentally prepare himself before taking out the key from his pocket.
His heart raced, and his hands trembled.
He tried the key several times, the sharp metal slipping on the lock’s surface with a scraping sound.
Huh…
Bending down, he noticed the doorknob’s heavy shadow obscuring the keyhole under the light. Aligning his vision with the lock, he squinted and carefully inserted the key—
At that moment, the doorknob was pressed down in front of him with a click. The door opened, revealing a tall figure behind it.
Lu Xi almost bumped into the person’s chest. He looked up dazedly to see Xia Baiyuan’s calm and refined face.
Xia Baiyuan tilted his head slightly, “I thought someone was trying to pick the lock.”
He seemed to have just finished showering, emitting a faint scent of body wash.
At that moment, Lu Xi’s mind flashed with a line of bold text:
Why! Even from this death angle! Does he look so good!
A very light layer of… blush crept up the black-haired Zerg’s face as he quickly straightened up and stammered, “It’s too dark to see…”
Ah!!! So exciting!!!
Lu Xi was so excited he didn’t feel the cold anymore; he was now incredibly fired up!
Xia Baiyuan, thinking Lu Xi was embarrassed by his comment, raised his eyebrows in mild surprise. He stepped aside. “Come in.”
Lu Xi walked into the room awkwardly, moving his hands and feet in sync. Xia Baiyuan leaned against the door, watching Lu Xi’s stiff back, and then reached out to close the door. Lu Xi jumped slightly, his hair curling softly like a bouncing lamb. Xia Baiyuan paused, then slowly withdrew his hand.
The hallway was deep and long, with light and shadow cut by the walls. The line between light and dark fell right at Xia Baiyuan’s jaw, where his thin lips curved into a playful smile.
“That room is yours. I tidied it up a bit,” Xia Baiyuan said, opening another door. “Your belongings are inside, including the textbooks allocated to you. Check the inventory later, and if anything is missing, you’ll need to get it.”
The room was laid out similarly to Xia Baiyuan’s, with a well-sized bed, a small wardrobe by the wall, and a study desk.
Lu Xi nodded. “It’s nice.”
Just as he was about to enter the room, Xia Baiyuan suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered in his ear, “We need to split the rent too.”
Lu Xi stiffened, shaking off Xia Baiyuan’s hand like he’d been electrocuted, rubbing his ear vigorously while grimacing. “I know, I’ll pay you.”
Xia Baiyuan seemed amused by something. “Are you scared of this?”
“…”
Lu Xi dropped his hand, his expression calm. “Not at all.”
A true fan of Xia Baiyuan fears nothing!
Even if you are Xia Baiyuan himself, I won’t admit it.
Xia Baiyuan’s gaze lingered on Lu Xi’s slightly reddened left ear. “Oh, by the way,” Lu Xi suddenly remembered something and asked Xia Baiyuan, “Do you have an oven here?”
Xia Baiyuan replied, “Why?”
Lu Xi took off his backpack and opened it to show Xia Baiyuan. “Look.”
Inside were several bags of newly bought snack packs, seemingly the popular cookie mix. They only needed to be baked in the oven at the specified temperature to taste just like those sold in stores.
Xia Baiyuan frowned slightly as he looked at the snacks. He knew Lu Xi hadn’t gone to class that afternoon.
This school had a certain atmosphere. The commoners who managed to get into the military academy all possessed top-notch abilities, far surpassing ordinary Zerg. However, for the nobles, the standards were somewhat relaxed. As a result, the commoners were generally excellent in ability, while the nobles varied greatly in quality.
Over time, the commoner Zerg had grown disdainful of the nobles. Lu Xi was probably mistaken for a noble, and the invisible exclusion, isolation, cold stares, and harsh words would undoubtedly be uncomfortable.
Was he planning to make cookies to share with his classmates?
This might be an effective approach.
Regardless of how he knew all this—Xia Baiyuan had his own sources. As an employee, the contract didn’t require him to do this, but he chose to ignore that.
“I want to bake some cookies,” Lu Xi hesitated, “but I forgot to buy an oven.”
Xia Baiyuan collected his thoughts and nodded at Lu Xi. “Yes, we do.”
Lu Xi breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s great.”
“At 150 degrees Celsius on top and 90 degrees Celsius on the bottom…”
Following the instructions on the package, Lu Xi started the oven.
The warm orange light inside the oven cast a glow on his profile as Lu Xi focused on watching the cookies expand inside.
Xia Baiyuan stood with one hand on his chest and the other supporting his chin, observing Lu Xi’s profile.
It wasn’t bedtime yet, but he suddenly felt a bit sleepy.
Along with the soft aroma wafting from the oven, Xia Baiyuan felt the pressure in his temples gradually subside.
It was as if something that had been blocking his mind—something that had been constantly pressing on his blood vessels—had softened a bit.
It made him feel comfortable.
Lu Xi’s face gradually blurred in his vision, and Xia Baiyuan unconsciously stared at his bright red eyes, feeling like they were cherries adorning a cake.
Cake…
Cookies…
Lu Xi…
*Ding!*
Time was up, and the oven emitted a crisp, loud sound, signaling that it was time to take out whatever was inside.
Lu Xi quickly put on thick gloves and took out the hot baking sheet from the oven. He used a spatula to transfer the freshly baked cookies onto a plate.
The cookies exuded a sweet aroma, and he held the plate out to Xia Baiyuan nearby. “Would you like to try?”
The silver-haired Zerg, who had half-closed eyes, opened them as if he didn’t know where he was, then gradually focused his gaze.
Lu Xi looked at him uncertainly. “Were you… sleeping standing up just now?”
Calmly, Xia Baiyuan reached out toward the plate, but his fingers brushed past it. He groped in the air for a moment before picking up a cookie and stuffing it whole into his mouth.
He mumbled unclearly, “No, I was thinking.”
Lu Xi wished he could take out a communicator right now and capture this precious moment.
If only he could!! He hoped this photo would definitely be used in future textbooks!
The title would be “Xia Baiyuan Eating Cookies”.
A masterpiece! It should be passed down for generations!
All the Zerg in the world should come and see how handsome Xia Baiyuan was!
He looked at Xia Baiyuan expectantly. “Is it delicious?”
There seemed to be little flowers spinning in those eyes.
Xia Baiyuan made a thoughtful noise and said sincerely, “It tastes just as good as the ones in the store.”
All processed foods taste the same, just like how it’s hard for a person to make instant noodles taste bad. It’s more like an innate talent.
Xia Baiyuan’s words were no different from praising Lu Xi for making excellent boiled water—they essentially had no major difference.
But that didn’t stop Lu Xi from feeling very happy.
OvO Yeah yeah yeah!
Xia Baiyuan pointed out another thing, “Do you have packaging bags ready? If you’re planning to give each student in the class a bag, the quantity will be quite substantial, and you’ll be busy tonight.”
But when he turned his head, what he saw was Lu Xi’s slightly puzzled expression.
Xia Baiyuan asked, “What’s wrong?”
Could it be that Lu Xi hadn’t prepared boxes yet?
But what the other said caught him off guard.
Lu Xi stammered, “S-Should I give gifts to all the classmates?”
Xia Baiyuan responded, “…Huh?”
Wasn’t that the case?
“W-Wait, is this some kind of tradition?” Lu Xi looked at Xia Baiyuan in shock. “New students giving gifts to all their classmates… Is that a thing?”
At this point, Xia Baiyuan realized his misunderstanding.
Perhaps this was just a personal hobby of Lu Xi’s, quite common, isn’t it? Plus, Lu Xi was a novice at baking, so starting with semi-processed foods was normal.
As for his own thoughts…
Xia Baiyuan shook his head. With Lu Xi’s personality, even if he did give gifts to his classmates, it definitely wouldn’t be for the boring reason of “building relationships.”
“It’s nothing,” Xia Baiyuan rubbed his temples, unable to help but smile, “There’s no such thing.”
Lu Xi breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good.”
He absolutely wouldn’t let anyone know that he still baked cookies privately!!
He remembered how many times he had mocked his father for it back then, although his father had always insisted it wasn’t embarrassing, Lu Xi believed he would never do such an embarrassing thing himself.
Baking cookies?
An ultra-macho Zerg and those three words were mutually exclusive!!
He shoved the plate full of cookies into Xia Baiyuan’s hands excitedly and said, “As long as you like them, I’ll try more flavors in the future.”
Xia Baiyuan stared at Lu Xi in a daze.
Lu Xi took off his gloves and said seriously, “But even if you like cookies, you shouldn’t eat them every day. It’s not good for your health.”
He hadn’t forgotten the basket of compressed cookies by Xia Baiyuan’s bed when he woke up in the morning.
It was the same on the starship, and when he left at noon, except for last night’s meal, Xia Baiyuan had eaten nothing but cookies.
How much did he love compressed cookies???
No wonder he got stomach problems!!
Lu Xi felt deeply distressed as a devoted fan.
He had always been curious, with Xia Baiyuan’s powerful physical fitness, how could he get stomach problems?
The reason was found—
He was actually obsessively infatuated with compressed cookies.
No.
This won’t do.
How could he ruin his health for such a ridiculous reason?
Lu Xi wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen!
Xia Baiyuan liked this flavor of cookies very much, which made Lu Xi feel relieved.
Influencing subtly, he would slowly change Xia Baiyuan’s bad habits.
“I’ll go tidy up the room first.”
“Mm.”
Watching Lu Xi’s visibly lighter steps, Xia Baiyuan lowered his head again and looked at the plate full of cookies in his hand.
With steam rising and a fragrant smell wafting, he hesitated and picked up another cookie, putting it in his mouth.
In fact, the taste was similar to compressed cookies. These mass-produced cookies could only be used to satisfy hunger.
But they were warm.
The steamy food could fill not only an empty stomach but even a hungry soul.
It could even satisfy a hungry soul.