"Zhao Yan, where is Ji Yan?"

The middle-aged man, who I guessed was the father, but Zhao Yan merely shook her head.

"Ji Yan has other appointments today. She is out shopping today."

"I see…she's going out with her friends, huh?"

The woman smiled kindly as she accepted Zhao Yan's reply. Then she frowned, a look of concern coming over her face.

"What about you, Zhao Yan? Have you made any friends yet?"

"Yes…actually, I brought a friend back today. He's the one I told you about yesterday."

Zhao Yan gestured for me to step forward, and I complied nervously and bowed politely to the middle-aged couple. Zhao Yan then continued.

"This is Shu Cong. He saved Ji Yan's life about a week ago, so I plan to thank him by treating him to dinner, as I told you. Cla.s.smate Shu Cong, these are my parents and my sister, Yue Jian."

"Ah, yes. I'm Nan Gong Jiao Shou. I'm a professor at the Inst.i.tute of Biology. Thank you for saving my daughter." He then glowered at empty s.p.a.ce next to Zhao Yan, as if there was someone standing there. "Ji Yan, that girl…if she was the one who was rescued, then she should be the one thanking Mr. Shu here instead of you, Zhao Yan."

"It can't be helped. Ji Yan already had plans prior to this." As expected, Zhao Yan defended her sister. She was loyal to a fault.

"Well, it's fine. Come in, come in!"

Zhao Yan's mother quickly ushered us through the front door. As I stepped through the patio, I stared at her in confusion before turning to Zhao Yan.

"You have a mother?"

"What's that supposed to mean?!" she snapped, annoyed. I scratched my head and shrugged.

"Well…I thought you three were clones...um…test-tube babies cloned by your 'father' to inherit the Mei Yue Min thing…"

Zhao Yan pausd to glare at me. "You've obviously been reading way too much manhua. And I've never heard of Mei Yue Min before."

Yeah…I probably have. The next thing I knew, the mysterious transfer student, Xu Wu Cheng, would have some dark secret of his own, Ji Yan would plot something nasty against her sisters out of jealousy…

All right, I should start separating reality from manhua, like right now.

"Um…"

Yue Jian spoke up nervously as she hurried to our side. I remembered that we were going to give her the box of strawberry short cakes, so I pa.s.sed the box to Zhao Yan instinctively. It was better if she received the gift from her sister intead of me, especially since Zhao Yan was the one who paid for them. Still, I was getting uncomfortable under her curious gaze, so I cleared my throat and asked a random question.

"Where are your bandages?"

"Huh? W…what bandages?"

Boy, but was the girl jumpy or what? She looked really tense and timid. I sighed, and did my best to smile rea.s.suringly as I elaborated.

"I was under the impression that you had an accident about nine or ten years ago where you fell into a vat of flammable liquid in your father's laboratory, got burned and ended up with scars on your face. So you would cover them with bandages…"

Zhao Yan smacked my head so hard that I actually saw stars as I fell over.

"What nonsense are you spouting to my sister?!"

"Sorry, it's as you say." I rubbed my head as I slowly got back to my feet, and grinned apologetically. "I've been reading too much manhua."

"Yue Jian, ignore him for now." Zhao Yan extracted the box from the nice wrapping and pa.s.sed it to her sister. "These are the famous strawberry short cakes from the face near my school. Make sure you share them with Father and Mother. I bought them so that all of you can have a taste."

"O…oh! Thank you!"

Zhao Yan smiled, and then lowered her voice in a conspiratorial whisper. "Don't let Ji Yan know about this, though. That girl never eats enough."

"Um…you can have some too!" Yue Jian was opening the box, and she politely offered one to me. I couldn't help but warm up to her. Yue Jian might be overly timid and clumsy, but she was certainly adorable and kind.

"No thanks. You can share it with your parents instead. I'm not a big fan of strawberries." I was more of a mango person. In other words, I only liked mangoes, mango cakes, mango juice, mango ice cream, etc.

"I see." Zhao Yan raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, I should have…"

"Oi, I was just giving an excuse because I want to be polite! Read the mood!" I hissed. Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself down. "Anyway, don't worry about it. I'm happy to watch your family enjoy the dessert. Besides, I'm looking forward to your homecooked dinner."

"Zhao Yan's…homecooked dinner?"

"Speaking of which, I should probably go prepare now. Please take a seat and make yourself at home. It might take a while, but I'll serve you something good. I hope."

Zhao Yan smiled briefly before leaving for the kitchen. After she disappeared, Yue Jian flailed about in panic.

"Are you sure you want Zhao Yan to cook?"

There was something about her initial reaction that worried me, and now her current panicked demeanor sealed that feeling of dread in my stomach.

"Um…why?"

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea."

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Um…Zhao Yan's cooking skills aren't…well…" Yue Jian was as pale as a ghost as she entertained what seemed like ghastly memories. I found myself less and less able to keep myself in denial. "Uh…I don't know how to put it…it's just that sometimes the stuff that Zhao Yan prepares, it might be difficult to call them food…"

I felt cold dread seeping into my heart, completely replacing all sense of denial. As much as I was a fan of free food, it only applied to stuff that was actually edible. Still, I was somewhat relieved at the information. So the seemingly perfect Zhao Yan did have something that she couldn't do…

"What should we do?" I was unable to keep the unease out of my voice.

"Well…Mother is with Zhao Yan, so it should be okay…I think?"

You think? Oh, great. That was just brilliant. It was a good thing I had received the gift of poison immunity from the Holy Spring, otherwise I would be worrying about finding an antidote or charcoal pill for the inevitable poisoning.

"Well…anyway…if you don't mind me asking…" Yue Jian began fidgeting nervously when I settled down on the sofa. I sighed.

"Relax, lady. I'm not going to eat you."

"E…eat me?!"

Jeez, girl. Don't take my words so literally.

"Ask whatever you want. Don't worry, I'm not the type to get angry easily."

"O…oh. Sure. Yes." Yue Jian nodded enthusiastically. b.u.mbling over the sofa in an attempt to get nearer, she blurted out innocently. "Are you…Zhao Yan's boyfriend?"

"Nope. I'm afraid I don't have the qualifications to be her boyfriend, even if I wanted to."

I didn't know how much Yue Jian knew about her sister in school, so I summed Zhao Yan up as this flawless, perfect superwoman who was good at everything, from studying for tests to athletics to combat and magic. Yue Jian listened intently, absorbing each and every word I said. Her face was full of wonder even before I finished the story.

"Huh…I never imagined Zhao Yan to be so good. At home, she's a little less…uptight."

Glad to hear that. So there were cracks underneath that superhuman façade of hers.

"Still, you're the only boy that Zhao Yan has ever brought home, so I thought maybe…"

I chuckled and shook my head. "Don't worry, this isn't a harem story."

"Harem story?"

"Never mind…just take comfort in the fact that your sister isn't interested in romance at all."

"That's true." Yue Jian leaned back as she munched on the strawberry short cake. "To be honest, you're the first and only person Zhao Yan has ever brought home. Father and Mother must be so happy."

"Uh…okay." Now that was a surprise. I had figured that Zhao Yan was immensely popular and had a lot of friends, but from what her mother and now even her sister said, it seemed that Zhao Yan distanced herself from her peers. "I wonder what she will be cooking."

"We can take a peek!"

Yue Jian jumped to her feet excitedly. The more we conversed, the less tense she became as she warmed up to me. I slowly understood why Zhao Yan wanted me to meet her sister. Most likely it was to put her at ease and open her up to people her age. Yue Jian behaved like this was the first time she had spoken to someone her age, who wasn't either of her sisters.

I followed Yue Jian to just outside the kitchen, and the quiet girl threw her hand up to stop me in my tracks before placing a finger on her lips. Understanding the need to refrain from making a sound, I stealthily tiptoed to just behind Yue Jian.

Her mother's voice was drifting out of the kitchen, her tone raised in agitation.

"No, don't touch that, Zhao Yan!"

"Don't worry, Mother. I've made curry before. You can leave this to me."

"You call that sludge you made curry?! That resembled sewage more than anything edible. I will not have you wasting perfectly good and fresh ingredients again. Just peel the potatoes."

…sludge? Did Zhao Yan's mother just say sludge?

"Zhao Yan tried making curry one time," Yue Jian explained, trembling as she pressed her back against the wall, her eyes wide from some horrific memory. "We ended up throwing up after she fed it to us. She called it curry…but the whole thing was purple."

Good heavens, what on earth did Zhao Yan put inside the curry to turn it purple?!

"Ah, geez! You can't even peel the potatoes correctly! You're tearing off too much skin! And what's with the carrots? I didn't tell you to mince them! This is why I told you to go outside and entertain that young man! You're hindering me more than you're helping!"

I chortled as I listened to Zhao Yan's mother berating her for her antics in the kitchen. The irritatingly perfect Mary Sue image I had of Zhao Yan was melting away as she stubbornly insisted on helping out in the kitchen, much to her mother's chagrin.

"Zhao Yan always never backs down because of her pride," Yue Jian said nostalgically I couldn't help but chortle.

"That suits her character, actually." I shook my head. "Next time you want curry, you should let me know. I know how to cook Singapore chicken curry. I'll bring a pot over next time."

Honestly, I was cheating. The Singapore chicken curry that I cooked occasionally for myself and Dad was a ready-made one that I could buy online. Prima Taste brand was really convenient. All I needed to do was mix the curry paste with the appropriate amount of water, according to instructions, and boil it, and it worked. There was quite a bit of prep work to do, such as peeling the potatoes and cutting the carrots, etc. But on the whole it was a relatively easy affair. Even an amateur like me could cook it. I should introduce Prima Taste Singapore chicken curry to Zhao Yan sometime.

Even she couldn't mess that up…right?

"All right, let's go back to the living room…"

We were about to do that when a shadow appeared behind us, catching us in the act. Scowling, Nan Gong Jiao Shou placed his hands on his hips.

"What are the two of you doing?"

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