Chapter 32

Repaying the Favor with Food

After reading through her Moments, Xu Jiaojiao returned to the main page and realized that Qi Shenbai had not accepted the money nor replied to her messages. Was he asleep?

Xu Jiaojiao bit her nails and hesitated for a moment before sending a message. [Are you asleep?]

This time, Qi Shenbai replied very quickly. [?]

Xu Jiaojiao also replied with a question mark. [You’re awake? Then why didn’t you accept the money?]

[???]

Xu Jiaojiao stared at the three question marks on the screen and typed quickly with her fair fingers. [You brought a lot of things to my house. I was asking you for a favor, so I can’t let you spend any more money on this.]

After sending the message, the notification at the top of the chat box said that he was typing. However, he continued typing for three minutes without a reply.

After a long time, Qi Shenbai finally sent, [No need.]

Just two words after three minutes! Xu Jiaojiao could not help but imagine Qi Shen’s white fingers typing clumsily, and she laughed at the thought. [You’re typing so slowly. Do you not usually chat with others on WeChat?]

Immediately after, she sent another message. [I know this bit of money is nothing to you, but my grandmother told me that I can’t take advantage of others, so please accept it, Mr. Qi. Otherwise, I’ll feel guilty.] She even sent a kitten-like cute emoji.

This time, Qi Shenbai replied very quickly, [You can repay the favor with food.]

Xu Jiaojiao was stunned for a moment before she reacted. [You want me to cook for you to return the favor?]

Qi Shenbai: [Yes.]

Xu Jiaojiao: […How many meals do I have to cook to pay them back?!] The things he gave her were so expensive!

Qi Shenbai: [One year’s worth.]

Xu Jiaojiao recalled that the marriage agreement between her and Qi Shenbai was supposed to last for a year as well. In other words, during the duration of the marriage, she would be cooking for him three meals a day.

Xu Jiaojiao: [Deal. Tell me in advance what you want to eat. I’ll cook anything and learn anything I don’t know! Satisfaction guaranteed, creditor!] Cooking was too easy for her.

Qi Shenbai did not reply. Xu Jiaojiao thought that he might be going to sleep now, so she tactfully did not send another message.

Qi Shenbai put down his phone and wiped his wet hair with a towel. Just then, the phone on the coffee table suddenly vibrated. He looked up and saw Dr. Shen’s name.

“Mr. Qi, you haven’t come for a follow-up consultation for almost a month.” A woman’s calm voice came from the other end of the phone.

Qi Shenbai’s lips curled. “I won’t go again.”

The woman on the other end of the line was silent. After a while, she guessed, “It seems that you’ve met someone you like.”

Qi Shenbai did not deny it. “Thank you for your hard work so far, Dr. Shen. I’ll get someone to transfer the fees to your account tomorrow.”

Dr. Shen chuckled. “Thank you. I wish you happiness.”

Qi Shenbai hung up the phone and threw his phone on the coffee table. When he looked up, he saw the suit hanging a distance away. The osmanthus flowers in the suit pocket had been taken away, but the fragrance of osmanthus flowers seemed to linger in the air, as did Xu Jiaojiao’s cute, delicate face.

His cold face broke into an irrepressible smile. However, when he recalled Old Madam Xu’s words, the smile on his face faded again.

“Lil Qi, I single-handedly raised Jiaojiao. No one knows her better than I do. She’s a good child. Even though she’s experienced some bad things, her heart hasn’t changed inside. Every encounter is a stroke of fate. Since you’re together now, you have to cherish such a fated encounter. Don’t wait until you lose it before regretting it.”

Old Madam Xu did not say much, but every word belied a deeper meaning, as if she knew something. What did she mean when she said that Xu Jiaojiao had experienced some bad things?

Qi Shenbai leaned back and crossed his long legs. His deep eyes were filled with curiosity. Jiaojiao seemed to be hiding many secrets, but it did not matter. He had enough patience and time to slowly uncover them.

Ever since Qi Shenbai told her to cook to pay off her debts, Xu Jiaojiao would wake up an hour earlier every day to prepare breakfast. No matter how the butler tried to persuade her, she would not give in.

The butler could only turn to Qi Shenbai. After all, Xu Jiaojiao was a guest, so it was not good for her to cook. Moreover… If she prepared every meal every day, what was a chef supposed to do?

After Qi Shenbai heard this, he did not have much of a reaction. He only said, “She can do whatever she wants. Just work with her.” After saying that, he added, “And call her Madam from now on.”

The butler’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets! When Xu Jiaojiao heard the butler call her Madam, she was so shocked that she almost knocked over the pot of vegetables! She looked at the butler accusingly, and the butler could only look at her innocently.