14 Please come to my house for dinner 14

Early in the morning, Su Ran was in the kitchen preparing breakfast when Ye Qiao came out. Su Ran noticed that since Ye Qiao’s return, he had been waking up early every day, matching his own biological clock. After going out for a bit, it seemed Ye Qiao had broken his habit of sleeping in.

“Ranran, I’m here to help,” Ye Qiao said.

Su Ran had grown used to him and pointed to the vegetables in the sink. “Then you wash the vegetables.”

“Okay,” Ye Qiao replied obediently.

In no time, the vegetables were washed. Su Ran glanced over and thought it was quite well done, even better than He Zhiwen’s efforts.

Ye Qiao wiped his hands and then came around behind Su Ran, wrapping his arms around him to count his ribs.

Su Ran was in the middle of mixing the seasoning and felt a bit helpless as Ye Qiao drew close. He said his body was a work of art, but even a work of art shouldn’t be touched so often. Aren’t artworks meant to be admired?

“Stop fooling around, I’m working,” Su Ran said.

Ye Qiao lowered his head, his nose brushing Su Ran’s neck as he took a deep breath. “Just two more minutes.”

Su Ran, being good-natured, didn’t push him away but felt a strange sensation. “...Ye Qiao, are you okay mentally?”

He always felt that Ye Qiao’s fascination with his body was somewhat unhealthy. If he was overly obsessed with his ribs, it gave Su Ran the creeps. Could there be some kind of fetish or psychological issue? Since they were involved in the arts, such quirks weren’t uncommon.

Ye Qiao furrowed his brow and looked up at Su Ran, clearly puzzled by his train of thought. “Ranran, I’m not sick.”

Su Ran shuddered slightly and instinctively glanced toward Jiang Yi’s room. Even in the kitchen, this made him nervous. If Jiang Yi came out and saw them like this, he couldn’t imagine whether Jiang Yi would believe their art-filled explanation.

Thinking this, Su Ran turned and gently pushed Ye Qiao away. “No more touching. If your brother sees, there’ll be misunderstandings.”

Ye Qiao moved to Su Ran’s right side, propping his hand on the counter, eyes fixed on Jiang Yi’s door. A cold smile curved his lips as he murmured teasingly, “That would be exciting too.”

“What?” Su Ran looked at him.

Ye Qiao shook his head slowly and brushed his temple. “Ranran, you’re really adorable.”

Su Ran disliked being called “adorable.” “If you have nothing to do, go cut the meat.”

Ye Qiao chuckled lightly and moved to the cutting board. “Okay, Ranran. I’ll listen to you. Even when you’re angry, you’re adorable.”

Su Ran was speechless.

*

In the afternoon, strange noises came from next door, and Ye Qiao was annoyed by the disturbance. When he came out of his room, he saw Su Ran standing at the open door talking to someone outside.

“Ranran, who are you talking to?” Ye Qiao asked, looking outside as well.

Su Ran turned around and smiled. “Brother He moved in.”

Ye Qiao was taken aback, his expression turning cold. Sure enough, his suspicion was right—He Zhiwen had come for someone, and it was obvious who.

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