You are all bad women! Don't come over!

"Are you making a late-night snack, Sister Xia?" Shen Mochen let out a sigh of relief and walked over.

Startled by the sudden voice, Xia Qingrou jumped, then seeing it was Shen Mochen, her face showed a bit of panic, but it soon calmed down, and she maintained that beaming smile.

"Yeah, I'm a bit hungry, just don't tell anyone I get up at night to make something to eat, okay?"

"I see there are a lot of snacks in the house..."

"Snacking too much isn't healthy!" chided Xia Qingrou. "Home-cooked meals are healthier!"
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I think the food you cook might be even less healthy than snacks... Shen Mochen recalled the overly salty rice porridge and the undercooked baozi.

"Your food's about to burn," Shen Mochen pointed at the pot.

Xia Qingrou let out a cry of despair and quickly waved her spatula.

"These vegetables are cooking too quickly..." she muttered while stir-frying.

Shen Mochen moved to Xia Qingrou's side, where her phone was on, playing a cooking tutorial video. Despite the light in the garage, Shen Mochen couldn't make out what the dark contents of the pot were.

"You're not really making a late-night snack, you're just practicing cooking," Shen Mochen said.

Xia Qingrou's face changed, and she took the pot off the stove without a word.

Shen Mochen frowned slightly; this wasn't really something to be embarrassed about, no need to sneak around.

"Why are you out here?" Xia Qingrou asked with her back to Shen Mochen.

"I just came out for some fresh air. I'll head back now," said Shen Mochen. "I won't mention this to anyone else."

Xia Qingrou turned around, her face beaming with a lovely smile: "Alright then, you should go back. Today's training was so exhausting, you should get some rest early!"

Shen Mochen nodded, turned around, and left without saying anything... When he reached the corner, he looked back to see Xia Qingrou picking up a mouthful of vegetable from the pot with her chopsticks, then frowning repeatedly.

She stood alone in the night, her silhouette elongated by the moonlight.

Something inside Shen Mochen stirred, and suddenly he walked back.

"Let me help you."

"You're going to help me?" Xia Qingrou was taken aback. "You know how to cook?"

"Not really, but I can help you chop the vegetables, and you can do the stir-frying. That way we'll be much faster. Anyway, how the vegetables are cut doesn't really affect the taste; it's mainly about seasoning and heat control."

Xia Qingrou was silent for a moment, then smiled radiantly: "Then I'll take you up on that offer!"

Shen Mochen nodded, walking over: "Isn't there an induction stove in the kitchen, why do you use a hearth to cook?"

Xia Qingrou wore a bitter expression: "The induction stove consumes electricity too quickly, and Yanyan has an electricity meter in her room..."

Shen Mochen understood; she still didn't want others to know.

"And also..." Xia Qingrou gazed at the hearth, her eyes somewhat misty.

"And what else?" Shen Mochen asked.

Xia Qingrou seemed to snap out of it, glanced at Shen Mochen, hesitated for a moment, then looked down with a smile: "And also... Sister Yuncui used to cook with a stove too."

"Sister Cai, eh..." Shen Mochen sighed softly.

Just from this mention of Sister Yuncui, Shen Mochen knew that the other person held deep affection for Cai Yuncui.

Shen Mochen looked down to help Xia Qingrou chop vegetables and said casually: "You and Sister Cai must have been very close, Sister Xia."

"Everyone has a good relationship with Sister Yuncui; she is like a sister to all of us," Xia Qingrou glanced at Shen Mochen, "You've spent several days with her, so you should be able to feel it, right?"

Yes, that simple-minded, overly nice person, it's hard to imagine anyone having trouble getting along with her, Shen Mochen thought to himself.

"Hmm, she is very kind. Sometimes, a bit silly," Shen Mochen recalled the sweet taste of coconut milk on his lips, feeling somewhat guilty.

In the past few days, Shen Mochen had come to understand that everyone in room 0819 greatly respected Cai Yuncui, even Han Muxue, who would call her by name. If they ever found out some of the over-the-top things he had done to Cai Yuncui, he probably wouldn't be able to mix in here anymore.

Especially since Xia Qingrou was his current girlfriend. Hmm, to know that her boyfriend had kissed someone she saw as a sister, the thought alone, Shen Mochen couldn't bear to imagine!

"She is a bit silly, we're always worried that bad men might deceive her!" As soon as she mentioned this, Xia Qingrou chopped a radish in half forcefully, gritting her teeth, "If any bad guy dares to play with her, I'll personally take him down!"

Shen Mochen shivered.

"Husband, you have to help me with this when the time comes!" Xia Qingrou grinned at Shen Mochen.

"Uh... I think you alone will be enough," Shen Mochen said weakly.

"No way, it's easy to get a death sentence when you kill someone alone, but if two people conspire together, the guilt can be shared, and just a prison sentence will do!"

You're actually considering this in so much detail, you can't be serious! And why do I have to go to prison with you, indeed the most poisonous is a woman's heart!

Seeing the color drain from Shen Mochen's face, Xia Qingrou couldn't help but laugh, "I'm just joking, how could you take that seriously! How could I ever kill anyone, that would be criminal!"

Shen Mochen nodded in agreement, "Yeah, it would be such a waste to ruin one's own life over a bad person..."

"I'd just castrate him, that's all!" Xia Qingrou said with a mischievous smile, her expression serious.

Shen Mochen tensed up uncomfortably, feeling a chill.

Right, Sister Cai is just a foolishly nice person, not really a blockhead. Now that she knows about his relationship with Xia Qingrou, she certainly wouldn't tell them about the things that happened between them!

Wait a minute, why am I so nervous? Am I really the scumbag Xia Qingrou speaks of?

Impossible, absolutely impossible!

"I heard that you have sisters, right, Sister Xia?" Shen Mochen shifted the topic awkwardly as he chopped vegetables.

"...Yes, two disappointing sisters," Xia Qingrou said, looking down.

"So, how is your relationship with them? It must be good, right?" Shen Mochen thought to himself, what does she mean by disappointing, they both seem to be from National University, right?

"It's okay, we often greet each other warmly and friendly," Xia Qingrou said indifferently.

"That's good to hear, I'm quite envious that you have..."

Before Shen Mochen could finish, Xia Qingrou burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Shen Mochen cocked his head.

Xia Qingrou pointed to Shen Mochen's head and said with a laugh, "If Xuexue were here, she'd definitely call you an idiot again! The 'warm and friendly' I mentioned is actually just mutual verbal attacks and insults!"

Shen Mochen's lips twitched slightly, and he shook his head with a smile, "But, only those who are close to each other would bicker and fuss, right?"

He and Yin Caiyu used to bicker and squabble all the time.

"Look at it this way," Xia Qingrou paused for a moment, "If one day, both my eldest sister and my second sister fell into the river and I could only save one... I would definitely turn around and walk away, then throw stones into the river!"

"Hahaha..." Shen Mochen could only offer a dry laugh at someone else's family affair, but although Xia Qingrou seemed fierce, there was no malice or hostility in her eyes; it was probably just a joke with Shen Mochen.

"Even though Sister Xia is the youngest at home, here you are like the big sister," Shen Mochen said with a smile.

However, his casual remark caused Xia Qingrou to freeze momentarily, as if petrified. But this stillness lasted only for an instant, after which she casually lowered her head to adjust the progress on her phone's video.

"Yes, after Sister Yuncui left, I am the oldest here," Xia Qingrou said.