My Morning Spy Romance: Undercover and Counter-Undercover

Chi Qingchi immediately wiped her face upon hearing this:

"That's because earlier, my sister was..."

Halfway through her sentence, Xiao Chi realized the deeper meaning in Lin Yu's words:

"Hey! Xiao Lin!"

"Are you calling me a dog?!"

Lin Yu chuckled innocently, spreading his hands:

"Honestly, that wasn’t my intention at all, I swear!"

The clever Chi Qingshui chimed in:

"It was Zhu Bajie who helped eat the mountain of noodles in heaven."

Hearing this, Chi Qingchi puffed up even more, looking ready to settle the score with Lin Yu:

"Xiao Lin, I hate it most when people make fun of my 'hobbies'!"

Seeing Xiao Chi charging over, ready for a "big reckoning," Lin Yu muttered softly:

"Just the other day, when I took someone out shopping..."

"What did someone promise me?"

"Something about sore hands and feet, wasn’t it?"

At Lin Yu's words, Chi Qingchi immediately made a shushing gesture.

If her sister found out

that she’d gone so far as to "play servant" just to get Lin Yu to take her out,

she’d definitely get an earful once they were back in their room.

Luckily, Chi Qingshui, busy at the stove, didn’t catch their whispers.

Chi Qingchi quickly clasped her hands in a pleading gesture:

"Brother Xiao Lin, the dining area’s crowded—can we talk about this later?"

Watching Xiao Chi turn into a "tree statue," Lin Yu rolled his shoulders and lowered his voice:

"Tsk, my neck and shoulders are really sore."

"A person should always take responsibility for what they say, you know."

Chi Qingchi didn’t have time to think it through and hastily whispered back:

"When no one’s around, okay? I promise—I’ll take full responsibility!"

Lin Yu stood up.

With his back to Aunt Qimeng and Chi Qingshui, he lightly tapped the back of Chi Qingchi’s head three times.

Chi Qingchi: "..."

After all her efforts to guard against boys,

she still ended up trapped in Xiao Lin’s grasp.

Now it felt like "You wouldn’t want others to know, would you?" had become her reality.

Who could blame her? She’d been desperate to visit the anime district and ended up verbally signing a "servitude contract" with Lin Yu.

Chi Qingshui had no time to notice her sister’s antics.

The dough drop soup she’d made was already done.

All it needed was a splash of vinegar to perfect the flavor.

It could be served to everyone any moment.

But she still hadn’t figured out how to bring it up with Lin Yu.

She’d run through several excuses in her head,

but none satisfied her.

No matter which one she picked,

it would sound like more than just "ordinary classmates" or "ordinary neighbors."

The more she worried about Lin Yu reading too much into it, the more she spiraled into overthinking.

Lin Yu, watching his little girlfriend absentmindedly swirling the vinegar bottle, teased her on purpose:

"Smells amazing—who knew you had a talent for cooking?"

[Ding!]

[Masterful move! Compliments between lovers deepen bonds!]

[Reward: 50 spirit stones.]

"Don’t act like you know me so well. There’s plenty you don’t know," Chi Qingchi retorted, her tone haughty but her heart secretly delighted.

Little did she know,

her tiny crush had been completely exposed by the system.

If he let his tsundere girlfriend stay happy too easily, where was the fun in that?

Lin Yu continued:

"Tsk, what a shame."

"I don’t like the taste of vinegar, or I’d definitely have a bowl."

"You two enjoy it. I’ll grab a rolled egg pancake and eat upstairs."

Chi Qingshui: "!!!"

He… doesn’t like vinegar?

So Lin Yu has that kind of dietary restriction?

She actually had no idea at all!

Was Lin Yu leaving already?

He was already on his way out!

What should she do?

If she really let him go, wouldn’t all her morning preparations be for nothing?

It wasn’t like she even liked vinegar that much.

In the dough drop soup, vinegar wasn’t a must-have ingredient anyway, so maybe…

Noticing Lin Yu had already started talking to Aunt Qimeng, seemingly about to leave,

Chi Qingshui didn’t have time to overthink it:

“No, it’s fine without vinegar too!”

Lin Yu almost couldn’t hold back his laughter:

“Oh? Really?”

Chi Qingshui: “!!!”

What an idiot she was.

What was she even saying without thinking?

Now it sounded like she wanted Lin Yu to eat her… dough drop soup!

[Ding!]

[Masterful move! Your partner is willing to compromise and make concessions for you, subtly affirming your dominance in the relationship!]

[Reward: 50 spirit stones.]

Lin Yu listened to the system’s notification.

This was exactly the effect he wanted.

But being the top student she was, her mind worked quickly.

Realizing her words had exposed her true feelings,

she immediately backtracked to fix the slip-up:

“You look like you really want to try it. If I didn’t let you have any just because the vinegar isn’t added yet,

it’d make me seem petty—and I’m not a petty person.

Besides, didn’t you treat me to food yesterday? Consider this returning the favor.”

Lin Yu mentally gave himself a thumbs-up.

Oh really?

That’s how you wanna play?

Sooner or later, he’d have to check if her mouth was the hardest part of her.

Well then, let’s keep going…

“Thanks! Today’s not just about enjoying Aunt Qimeng’s breakfast,

but also getting to taste our top student’s cooking. What a great day.

Mind if I take a picture first?”

Chi Qingshui didn’t stop him: “…”

Dough drop soup wasn’t exactly photogenic food.

And he still wanted to take a picture?

Was he planning to send it to her alternate account later?

Just as Chi Qingshui suspected,

after snapping the photo, Lin Yu returned to the table with his phone,

wearing a “blissful” smile as he typed away.

Chi Qingshui’s mood was complicated.

For online couples, actively sharing every little detail of daily life could indeed feel sweet.

But taking a picture of “another girl’s” breakfast to send to his “girlfriend”…

What exactly was Lin Yu planning to say?

The top student began rationally analyzing. There were only three possibilities:

1. Claim it was his own breakfast without mentioning who made it.

2. Emphasize it was his breakfast and say either he or Aunt Qimeng made it.

3. Straight-up admit it was his female roommate’s cooking, just to tease her and stir up some jealousy.

Translated, that meant…

1. Avoidant lying.

2. Intentional lying.

3. Zero emotional intelligence and sheer narcissism.

“Let’s all sit. The soup’s ready—I’ll serve it.”

Chi Qingshui gestured for everyone to take their seats.

While fetching spoons and bowls,

she swiftly and skillfully switched to her alternate account, eager to see what Lin Yu had sent.

Naturally, she didn’t forget to mute her phone first.

A top student’s talents shone in every aspect.

Her ability to serve soup while secretly checking messages under three pairs of eyes?

She definitely had the makings of a spy.

[Lin Yu: (Picture of dough drop soup)]

[Lin Yu: Saw my roommate’s soup this morning and thought of your stomach issues. Wanted to try a bowl and learn how to make it for you.]

"Lin Yu: If... just if, I had the chance to see you, I could make it for you myself."

"Lin Yu: I was worried you'd get jealous, so I specifically told my roommate..."

"Lin Yu: Don't add vinegar!"