After the Scheming Girl Joined a Dating Show - Chapter 11

Realizing what she was thinking, Xia Mozhu shuddered. She mentally spat at herself, scolding, Su Qin treating you like a dog is bad enough; why are you trying to actually become one?!

She suddenly remembered watching a cartoon as a kid where the dog drank milk from a plate and made it look delicious. She had begged her brother to pour a plate of milk for her on the carpet, and she mimicked the white dog from the cartoon, sticking her butt in the air and lapping it up.

…How shameful.

No wonder her brother’s gaze was a bit off for several days after that. He probably thought his sister had become mentally challenged!

Whenever Xia Mozhu thought about how her brother would bring that incident up to mock her, she was filled with regret.

“Be a good girl.” Su Qin wasn’t fully awake yet. Xia Mozhu’s head was moving around in her arms, and the hair was tickling her neck. She thought it was her dog at home.

“I’m not a dog, why are you being so mean?” Xia Mozhu grumbled aggrievedly.

Su Qin muzzily rubbed Xia Mozhu’s hair, her tone indeed turning much softer: “Mm, not mean anymore.”

Xia Mozhu’s mouth fell wide open—big enough to swallow an egg. Is this Su Qin? Is this the Su Qin who snubs gossip reporters in interviews until they become autistic?

She suddenly felt a bit envious of Su Qin’s dog. It would be so blissful to have one’s head stroked like this every morning.

Xia Mozhu stared longingly at Su Qin’s tempting, bone-white neck. She secretly peeked out the tip of her tongue, but only dared to lick her own lips. If she were Su Qin’s dog, she could have leaned in for a lick; that’s how puppies play with their owners.

Su Qin gradually regained consciousness. Opening her eyes, she saw Xia Mozhu’s two pitch-black pupils full of longing, as if she were hungry, staring at her neck while her hands were balled into fists resting on Su Qin’s shoulders.

“…”

?

Seeing Su Qin wake up, Xia Mozhu didn’t dare treat her like a dog bone anymore. She retracted her hands to her sides and said obediently, “You didn’t let me move just now, so I didn’t dare. You must have mistaken me for your dog last night and pulled me into your covers. It’s okay, I won’t be mad at you.”

Su Qin, who had personally watched Xia Mozhu kick away her own pillow and duvet to squeeze into her nest, was left speechless for a moment.

Xia Mozhu sat up and knelt on the bed, massaging Su Qin’s arm. “You’ve been in this position for so long, it must be numb. You should be like me and switch positions more often when you sleep; it promotes blood circulation.”

A mixture of surprise and confusion flashed in Su Qin’s eyes. It was as if her brain had gone on vacation, unable to process the incoming information.

If there were a term for this behavior, it would be “the thief crying ‘thief’.”

When the two went downstairs, Song Yanran and An Nuo were just walking toward the kitchen.

“You guys are up so early?” An Nuo was the first to see them. “We were just about to prepare breakfast.”

Xia Mozhu said, “Perfect timing. I’ll help. I’d feel too embarrassed just waiting to eat.”

If she were at home, she would never have this level of awareness. She had deeply reflected on why she suffered from “lazy-itis” and “gluttony-itis”—it was all her brother’s fault for worrying she’d get tired if she carried even one extra bottle of water in her backpack since she was a kid. It was too late to change now.

But in front of so many people, she had to put on an act.

An Nuo asked, “Little Bamboo knows how to cook?”

Xia Mozhu: “No.”

An Nuo joked, “Having one Song Yanran causing trouble in the kitchen is enough of a headache. I’d better do it myself.”

Song Yanran: “What do you mean ‘causing trouble’! Didn’t I wash those vegetables for you yesterday?”

An Nuo: “You call that washing? You just rinsed them with water. I still had to wash them again after you were done.”

Seeing the two about to bicker again, Xia Mozhu hurried to intervene: “Sisters, don’t fight! An Nuo-jie’s cooking is delicious, and Yanran-jie’s plating is very interesting. You’re simply a match made in heaven!”

An Nuo was amused and said, “Little sister is so sweet, unlike some people.”

Song Yanran: “It’s a fact that my plating looks good. Little Bamboo’s attitude of pointing out the truth so earnestly is excellent. Thank you.”

“However,” she added, “forget about being a ‘match made in heaven.’ I’d rather be a lone star of calamity than be a match for her.”

An Nuo glared at her.

Seeing the atmosphere souring, Xia Mozhu immediately said sweetly, “An Nuo-jie’s cooking is so good, whoever gets to eat it every day would be happy to death!”

Su Qin walked over: “I’ll make breakfast today.”

Hearing this, the two who were just snapping at each other forgot what they were going to say and froze for a long while.

Song Yanran looked like she’d won the lottery. She said excitedly, “I get to eat food made by the Celestial Sister?” She didn’t look like a high-profile “Small Flower” at all; she looked like a starstruck fan girl.

An Nuo asked in surprise, “Teacher Su knows how to cook?” She remembered an interview where Su Qin said she didn’t. Did she remember wrong? Or did the reporter make it up?

Su Qin: “No.”

An Nuo: “…” That confident and matter-of-fact aura was something else—and strangely charming.

“Then let me be Teacher Su’s assistant,” she suggested.

Su Qin: “Thank you.”

Just as An Nuo was about to roll up her sleeves and enter the kitchen, she heard Su Qin say, “No need to trouble you. I can do it myself.”

Fine. An Nuo silently rolled her sleeves back down.

Song Yanran saw that Su Qin had even refused An Nuo, so she definitely didn’t need her. She knew her own limits—she could bother An Nuo, but not Teacher Su.

Xia Mozhu blinked her eyes at Su Qin and said imploringly, “How about letting me be your assistant? It’s too much work for you alone.”

Su Qin paused for a few seconds before saying, “Mm.”

An Nuo, who had just been rejected: “…” Why do I feel like I’m being treated with a double standard by Teacher Su! But scarier than that was the thought: Can two kitchen novices making a meal together actually produce something edible?

Song Yanran grabbed the hood of An Nuo’s hoodie and pulled her toward the dining table. “Don’t just stand here like a third wheel. You’re in the way.”

An Nuo felt a sudden tightening around her neck and almost lost her breath. She had to walk backward to keep up with Song Yanran. The moment the hand released her, An Nuo grabbed Song Yanran and kicked her in the butt several times, completely forgetting she was filming and needed to maintain her image.

As Xia Mozhu walked toward the open kitchen, she kept looking back at the drama between those two. Suddenly, the person in front of her stopped, and she went thud—crashing right into her back.

Xia Mozhu let out an “Ouch,” but her eyes still hadn’t returned from the scene over there.

Su Qin turned around, glanced at the two bickering women, then looked at Xia Mozhu and asked: “Why are they both ‘Sisters’?”

If one were to expand on this question, it would be: You call them both ‘Sister,’ so why do you call me ‘Teacher Su Qin’?