CH 29.2

“As for seasonings…”

Tan Qi frowned and said, “Only you and Xiao Qi can cook. The others probably don’t even know what seasonings to use for stir-frying.”

Upon hearing this, Su Chengyang furrowed her brow.

Su Chengyang knew how to cook, but only with basic ingredients like oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. She didn’t add anything else to her stir-fries.

Qi Fu was also hesitant and said, “I’m not good at handling seafood and similar ingredients. I don’t know what seasonings to use.”

The others probably don’t even know how much oil to use for stir-frying.

Everyone looked at each other, unable to think of a solution for a moment.

They didn’t want to be stuck in the seafood market for two days. The strong smell was not the main issue; the key was that they had never experienced such hardship before.

Qin You sat at the edge of the group, looking around until He Xu sitting next to her noticed something was off and whispered, “What’s wrong?”

Qin You felt a bit embarrassed and lifted up one hand, “Um…sorry.”

Su Chengyang and the others turned to look at her.

Qin You said, “I’m sorry, I lied. Actually, I can cook.”

Su Chengyang was surprised, “You can cook?”

The others also looked incredulous.

“Well, my dad was often not at home during high school, and my mom didn’t like to cook. So basically, I did all the cooking at home. My mom loves seafood, so I should know what seasonings to use.”

After speaking, she added, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to deliberately hide it from everyone. In the previous episode, I was just very nervous and didn’t dare to speak up.”

Han Songxue said, “You’re still nervous now, aren’t you?”

Su Chengyang secretly nudged her, indicating that she should keep her mouth shut.

Han Songxue pouted, covering her mouth and nose and leaning back against the sofa.

Tan Qi said, “Can you take the time to write down the seasonings in the afternoon? We’ll go buy them tomorrow.”

Qin You immediately nodded, finally feeling involved. Her eyes were shining like little stars. “Yes! I’ll write them down after I finish studying.”

Everyone: “…”

Right, she was still an outstanding student in both academics and morals.

After collecting the cards, they waited for the tide to recede in the evening, and the staff took them back to their rooms to rest.

After returning to her room, Su Chengyang thought about whether it would be too difficult for Qin You to write the seasonings alone, and if her diligent studying progress would be delayed.

Since Su Chengyang slept early last night and wasn’t tired, she left the room to find Qin You while everyone was resting.

The villa’s second floor was divided into two areas, with only six rooms. Qin You’s room was on the first floor.

Su Chengyang walked down the spiral staircase and saw Lin Yu just coming back from outside.

“Chengyang!” Xiao Lu waved to her.

Su Chengyang smiled, “Have you had lunch?”

Xiao Lu approached Su Chengyang with a box in her hand and said, “Yes, we have. There’s a Sichuan restaurant nearby that’s pretty good. I’ll take you there before we leave.”

Su Chengyang was a little surprised and looked at Lin Yu, “Is it okay?”

Lin Yu said, “Impossible.”

“Cousin brother!” Xiao Lu protested and gave him a glare.

After being reminded by Lin Yu, Xiao Lu realized that she had upset Su Chengyang. She had originally planned to apologize, but instead he didn’t help and even ruined her plan.

“Oh.” Su Chengyang was not surprised.

“By the way, didn’t you say you’ve been craving fruit pizza for a long time? There’s a pizza shop nearby, and I just bought it for you…”

Xiao Lu didn’t finish speaking before Su Chengyang’s smile faded.

“It’s okay, thank you.” Su Chengyang nodded and immediately planned to leave.

Xiao Lu realized she had said the wrong thing and explained, “No, that’s not what I meant. My cousin brother bought it! He said you did really well at noon, so he made an exception and fulfilled a wish. Right, cousin brother?”

As she spoke, she even nudged Lin Yu’s arm with her elbow.

Su Chengyang was taken aback and lowered her eyes, “No need, I don’t…”

I don’t need your pity.

In the end, she didn’t say the last few words.

Lin Yu glanced at her and said directly, “Lu Yin wants to apologize to you. She seems to have misunderstood you.”

Upon hearing this, Su Chengyang looked up.

Xiao Lu couldn’t help but sigh and be honest, “Chengyang, I’m sorry. I admit that at first, I thought that people without a home were very pitiful, but my cousin brother taught me a harsh lesson! I think he’s right, you’re not pitiful at all, you’re amazing! You’re beautiful, confident, mature, have opinions, have courage, although sometimes a bit childish, but you don’t have any place that deserves sympathy. So I want to apologize to you, I won’t think that way anymore in the future.”

Su Chengyang stared at her in a daze, her words replaying in her mind.

But she could only come to one conclusion.

Lin Yu didn’t think she was pitiful.

So Xiao Lu also didn’t think she was pitiful.

This was the first time someone had said such words to her after knowing her background.

“Thank you,” Su Chengyang’s face showed a smile, “I’m not angry anymore.”

Xiao Lu breathed a sigh of relief, but felt embarrassed and handed the box in her hand to Su Chengyang, saying, “This is the pineapple and dragon fruit double-layered pizza that my cousin brother and I picked for you.”

She put her hand to her mouth and whispered, “You should know that my brother is half Italian. They hate fruit in pizza, just like how we hate strawberries in xiaolongbao.”

Su Chengyang took the pizza box, her smile deepening, and asked, “Is there no Coke in this set meal?”

Then she looked at the two of them with anticipation.

Since she started eating diet meals, Su Chengyang had never tasted carbohydrates again.

Xiao Lu: “…”

Lin Yu, with a deep meaning, noticed that Su Chengyang was quite good at taking advantage of the situation.

He didn’t answer and looked down, reminding her, “You can only eat a little bit.”

Su Chengyang: “…”

She looked at him with accusing eyes.

Lin Yu emphasized, “Only a little bit.”

“…Oh.” Su Chengyang lowered her head, feeling gloomy.

Lin Yu looked at her, turned and walked to the door, and took a plastic cup from the windowsill, handing it to Su Chengyang.

Su Chengyang’s mind was criticizing Lin Yu, but she was surprised when she saw the plastic cup he handed to her out of the corner of her eye.

“Manager Lin…” Su Chengyang was incredulous and deeply moved.

Manager Lin must be an angel, he must be, she was too disrespectful in her thoughts just now.

Lin Yu said, “You can’t have dinner.”

Su Chengyang immediately wrinkled her nose.

But in the end, she chose carbs over dinner.

Anyway, it seemed like she could only eat healthy diet food at night.

“Thank you, Manager Lin! You are such a good person!” Su Chengyang took the plastic cup from him with a smiling face.

Su Chengyang had her hair tied up in a messy bun, and as she moved, a strand of hair fell on her smooth forehead.

The black hair was like dirt on white jade, a bit glaring, making people unable to resist the urge to brush it away.

Lin Yu instinctively raised his right hand, paused in mid-air, and then let it drop.

Strange.

After saying goodbye to Lin Yu, Su Chengyang happily knocked on Qin You’s door with a pizza and a cold coke in hand.

Qin You ran to open the door and saw Su Chengyang satisfied, drinking carbonated water.

“Sister Chengyang, what’s the matter?” Qin You asked in confusion.

Su Chengyang said, “I came to write seasonings with you and brought some pizza. My friend bought it.”

“Oh.” Qin You stepped aside to let Su Chengyang in and said, “Sister Chengyang, let me finish this chapter first, and you wait for a moment.”

“It’s okay, you continue studying. Just give me paper and a pen, and I’ll write what I know. Then you can add more when you have time.”

“Okay.”

Entering the room and coming to the desk, Qin You was not as nervous as she was in front of other people. She pulled over a chair for Su Chengyang to sit down first.

Su Chengyang saw the desk full of materials and hesitated, “Will I disturb you studying here? Or should I go back first and bring it over to you when I finish writing?”

Qin You smiled shyly, “It’s okay. I don’t like studying too quietly.”

Upon hearing this, Su Chengyang didn’t continue to decline.

She put the pizza box aside and said, “Let’s eat something first. It won’t taste good when it gets cold.”

“Um, thank you.”

Su Chengyang had been eyeing the fruit pizza for a long time, so she couldn’t wait to take a bite and squinted her eyes in satisfaction.

On the other hand, Qin You ate very delicately and elegantly.

“Are you learning English?” Su Chengyang glanced at the book in front of her.

Qin You nodded, “Yes, I’m practicing phrases.”

“Phrases…” Su Chengyang puffed her right cheek, “My name is SugYang1The original text is in English? Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“I seem to only know this one phrase. I wanted to learn on my own before, but I never had the time…Wait, there’s also ‘Happy birthday’ and ‘Happy New Year’.”

Qin You laughed and asked, “Do you want to learn? I can teach you, it’s not difficult.”

“I want to learn, but not right now.”

Su Chengyang has a highly educated face, but her Chinese language skills were learned by sneaking up to the school wall when she was young. When it came time to learn English, she missed two days and fell behind, never catching up again.

Later, she tried to teach herself, but she was really too busy, so she taught herself illustration.

Qin You lowered her head to look at the book, and after a while suddenly said, “Sister Chengyang, do you think studying is better or working?”

Su Chengyang was skeptical, “Why do you ask?”

Qin You was a bit dejected and lowered his voice, “My dad owes a lot of debt in his business and can’t repay it. My mom works and takes care of me at the same time, but I still have at least four years until graduation. I insisted on participating in this program myself, and I thought, if I can become popular, get roles, and make money, I won’t go to school anymore to help my family repay the debt, but my mom doesn’t agree.”

Su Chengyang put down the food and cola in her hand, sat up straight, and looked at Qin You seriously.

“Qin You, if I could start my life over again, even if I was so poor that I couldn’t even afford a meal, I would still choose to study.”

Reading ten thousand books is better than traveling ten thousand miles.

If she had read many books, perhaps her dream in this life would not be like a salted fish.

“Studying may not be the best way out, but it is the path with the highest potential among millions of paths.”

Although Su Chengyang’s life cannot be started again, she cannot have a beautiful campus life like an ordinary person, but she also cherishes everything she has now.

Su Chengyang didn’t know if her words could persuade Qin You, but she didn’t continue to speak. She didn’t want to interfere with anyone’s choices.

When Su Chengyang left Qin You’s room, it was almost 3 o’clock.

Following Qin You’s advice, Su Chengyang didn’t eat too much and put the fruit pizza in the fridge before returning to her own room.

Sitting on the bed, Su Chengyang took out her tablet from her backpack.

During the recording of the show, the staff did not confiscate their entertainment devices.

Su Chengyang searched for a nearby freshwater lake and found one not far away, just two kilometers from their location.

As the evening approached and there was still no staff member to notify them of the recording, Su Chengyang passed the time by drawing an illustration.

The illustration depicted a beach with a sea breeze.

She wasn’t sure why she drew a beach, as she wasn’t particularly fond of the seaside, but by the time she realized it, she had already finished it.

“Knock一Knock一”

Su Chengyang thought it was the staff coming to remind her to leave due to the receding tide, so she put away her tablet and went to open the door.

“Chengyang…”