Ming Yue didn’t beat around the bush with the two of them—she took the bowl and chopsticks, picked up a bite, and gave Hu Zi a thumbs-up. “Your cooking is really good! It’s a match for Jiang Feng’s. So, did you two team up to go study at New Oriental?”

She was just joking.

But to her surprise, Hu Zi nodded solemnly and said, “Yeah, we did go for some training—but not the New Oriental you’re talking about, Sao Zi.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than both their faces turned to him in utter confusion.

Lin Xi rested her chin on her hand.

Ming Yue was even more shocked: the food she’d already put in her mouth suddenly plopped right back onto the table.

Lin Xi grabbed a paper napkin, wiped the corner of Ming Yue’s mouth, and then picked up the fallen food from the table and tossed it into the trash. Turning to Xiao Hu, she asked, “Are you serious?”

Xiao Hu nodded. “I’m dead serious.”

Ming Yue burst out laughing. “No way! You two teamed up to take a cooking class? Why? Are you planning to become chefs after you lose your jobs or when you get old?”

“No,” Xiao Hu replied, still dead serious.

Lin Xi immediately jumped in and leaned over to ask the unnamed male operative beside her, “Then why? You can’t possibly be doing this just for us, can you?”

“Actually…” Xiao Hu paused briefly, then nodded again, his handsome face tinged with a faint blush. “Yes.”

“What?”

Ming Yue’s jaw dropped even further.

Lin Xi found it hilarious. Before Ming Yue could close her mouth, she reached over and gently closed it for her.

At that moment, Xiao Hu glanced nervously at Lin Xi, then at Ming Yue, and whispered, “Back then, Feng Ge had already set his sights on you, Sao Zi, so his goal was clear. I… I was tricked into going by Feng Ge. He said a man should do these things for the woman he loves. He said one day I’d meet a woman I liked, or maybe use these skills to meet someone I liked. I thought what he said made perfect sense, so I foolishly let him talk me into going to learn together.”

“You two are something else!”

Ming Yue gave Xiao Hu a big thumbs-up and went right back to enjoying her meal.

Just then, Lin Xi picked up her chopsticks, took a few tentative bites, and then suddenly put them down. She looked extremely serious as she asked the man beside her, Xiao Hu, “Xiao Hu, let me ask you: according to what you just said, you’re planning to use these skills to attract all kinds of admirers, aren’t you?”

Xiao Hu quickly waved his hands. “Xi Xi, I didn’t…”

But Lin Xi seemed either unable to hear him—or simply couldn’t understand him—and fired off another soul-searching question: “And if you chose someone other than me, would you still cook so attentively for her?”

“Xi Xi, what’s wrong with you?” Xiao Hu grew nervous. He’d never seen Lin Xi like this before. Seeing her still wearing that stern expression, he hesitantly called out again, “Sister?”

That term… they only used it habitually when they were closest or being extra affectionate.

Yet Lin Xi remained resolute. “It’s no use calling me ‘Sister’ or ‘Xi Xi.’ Just tell me straight: will you?”

“Sister, this…”

He turned to Ming Yue, who was sitting not far away, seeking her help.

It wasn’t that he didn’t have an answer.

It was just that if he told her, Lin Xi might not be happy.

But Ming Yue acted as if she hadn’t noticed at all, curling up her lips and happily eating away, picking up a bite here, then another there.

End of Chapter 187: Counterattack 113