Still Egg Fried Rice.

Uh...

Have you eaten yet?

Lin Yu held back for a long while but couldn't come up with a suitable topic to break the current silence.

He could only bring out this slightly untimely but versatile conversation starter.

No.

Su Yuyao's eyes were still a little red.

But at least she had stopped crying.

She shook her head gently, looking well-behaved and incredibly pitiful.

Then let me make you something to eat.

Looking at the unreasonably well-behaved Su Yuyao in front of him, Lin Yu felt a complex mix of emotions.

To be honest.

Lin Yu didn't have much feelings for her.

After all, the total amount of time they had spent together, even fully calculated, might not even add up to twenty-four hours.

But seeing her figure so painfully thin that it looked unhealthy,

Lin Yu still couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache and self-blame.

Actually, up until this very moment, Lin Yu still hadn't completely shaken off that dazed sense of unreality.

He didn't understand why things had progressed step by step to this point.

But Lin Yu couldn't be bothered to dwell on those things anymore.

Be it destiny.

Or the plot.

Lin Yu no longer wanted to pay them any mind.

Right now, Lin Yu just wanted to live a good, stable life.

Although Lin Yu knew that with his current messy state, he was no longer qualified to talk about being a good boyfriend or a good husband.

But Lin Yu at least still had a baseline as a human being.

He wanted to be a good father.

Then I'll go cook something for you.

Lin Yu rested his hands on his knees and stood up with difficult and heavy movements.

It was as if he was exhausted to an incredible degree, where even standing up required all his strength.

But after standing up straight,

Lin Yu took a deep breath.

He puffed out his chest again, as if he had instantly regained some strength.

Or rather, he forced himself to squeeze out a bit more strength from his very bones.

Do you have any ingredients here?

Let's see if my signature three dishes can come in handy.

Su Yuyao slightly raised her head to look at Lin Yu. A hint of confusion and curiosity flashed across her palm-sized face, not knowing what this signature three dishes title Lin Yu gave them actually was.

It's my three best dishes.

Lin Yu saw Su Yuyao's confusion and took the initiative to explain, not forgetting to brag a little:

They are all Michelin star-level delicacies!

Su Yuyao tilted her face up.

She gazed at Lin Yu, who had a faint smile on his lips. A little light gradually lit up in her reddened eyes, making her look like her appetite had been whetted by Lin Yu's boasting.

In reality, she wasn't drooling over a few dishes she hadn't even smelled yet.

Rather, she liked this interesting, humorous Lin Yu in front of her, who seemed relaxed and even carried a slight hint of cheekiness.

This made her feel as if she was truly accepted by Lin Yu.

And not just as a responsibility he couldn't throw away, or a burden forcefully weighing him down.

This brought her a trace of relief.

There is some food in the fridge.

But there doesn't seem to be any ingredients...

Su Yuyao's voice was small and soft, giving off a cautious feeling.

After speaking, she pursed her lips lightly and curled the corners of her mouth, revealing a subtle, somewhat ingratiating smile.

Like a pitiful little stray that had just been picked up and given a home.

She didn't even dare to make a loud sound of joy, afraid of being despised by the master who had finally accepted her.

It's fine.

I'll go take a look.

Lin Yu replied nonchalantly, then quickly walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge.

There wasn't any proper food in the fridge.

There were quite a few snacks that needed refrigeration, like desserts and yogurt.

Looking at these things, Lin Yu felt both heartache and anger for a moment.

He raised his volume a bit to ensure Su Yuyao in the living room could hear him, but tried to keep his tone soft as he asked with concern:

Do you only eat these things in the fridge every day?

No.

Sister Qingmo has someone bring me a proper meal every day at mealtime.

Su Yuyao's slightly hoarse post-crying voice came from the living room, and Lin Yu breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing it.

Lin Yu had always been at ease with how Qingmo handled things.

Yeah.

Of course, that was under the condition that she was on the same page as him!

He rummaged through the fridge and searched again.

Lin Yu ultimately couldn't find any ingredients.

He was just about to go downstairs to buy some.

But on second thought, Lin Yu felt it wouldn't be very good to leave Su Yuyao here alone.

During this period.

He still needed to take care of her feelings more.

After thinking about it, Lin Yu ordered an errand delivery service.

With a hefty tip of a full hundred yuan, it took less than ten minutes for the simple ingredients Lin Yu needed to arrive.

With the ingredients in hand, Lin Yu immediately got up and walked from the living room to the kitchen.

Ready to show off his skills.

Lin Yu's signature three dishes were actually quite basic.

They were sugared millet porridge, egg fried rice, and the dumpling technique he secretly learned from Xia Muzhu later on.

Although these three dishes looked very ordinary, as if anyone could make them.

But Lin Yu had full confidence in his own level.

He could definitely make these three foods taste better than anyone else!

Right now.

Millet porridge and dumplings were both a bit inappropriate.

One was too simple and plain, and the other was too troublesome.

So Lin Yu decided to just make some egg fried rice.

The ingredients were ready.

Lin Yu began to wash the wok, heat it up, heat the oil, add the eggs...

As he was busy.

Lin Yu suddenly felt something wasn't quite right.

Turning his head subconsciously, Lin Yu found that Su Yuyao had also come to the kitchen at some unknown point.

She stood at the kitchen door, half of her small body hidden behind the wall, carefully casting her gaze on him.

Looking conflicted, as if she wanted to enter the kitchen but didn't quite dare to.

Such a tiny figure, looking so lonely.

What's wrong?

Lin Yu immediately turned off the stove, put down everything in his hands, came over to Su Yuyao, and asked with concern.

...

Su Yuyao remained silent in a bashful manner.

Her slender hands nervously gripped her dress.

Her eyes, which seemed to hide a clear spring, kept darting around.

Looking at Lin Yu in front of her one moment, and looking anywhere else without Lin Yu the next.

Lin Yu sensed that Su Yuyao seemed to have something to say.

He stayed patient, bent down, brought his line of sight level with Su Yuyao's, and said softly:

It's okay.

You can tell me anything.

We don't need to be as polite with each other as strangers.

Lin Yu's gentle words quickly soothed Su Yuyao's nervous emotions.

Her gaze no longer looked at the places where Lin Yu wasn't, but solely stayed on Lin Yu's face.

Pausing for another brief moment, as if making some mental preparation, Su Yuyao finally asked tentatively in a soft voice:

I want to stay by your side.

Can I?