Chapter 4

Dinner was still the food He Yan brought back from the canteen.

It wasn’t until he returned that Su Ting remembered she had forgotten to tell him that he didn’t need to bring back food for her in the future. Now that she remembered, she said it directly.

He Yan’s hand trembled slightly as he held his chopsticks and asked: “Are you going to cook?” Her cooking was terrible.

Su Ting deliberately asked: “What? Do you miss my cooking?”

“No!” He Yan shook his head without hesitation.

Su Ting: “……” It was a good thing she had already mentally prepared herself. Otherwise, hearing that answer would have been quite disheartening.

But she understood He Yan. She already thought her own cooking was bad enough, yet the original owner of this body was even worse. At least the dishes she made were edible, whereas the original owner’s cooking could only be described as “dark cuisine.”

Bad cooking was one thing, but the original owner had no self-awareness about her lack of skill. After getting married, in an effort to impress, she prepared three meals a day for He Yan and his father, constantly trying out new dishes.

Su Ting didn’t know if He Dongchuan was touched by this, but she did know that for the entire week before his last mission, he ate all his meals at the base. The only unlucky one was He Yan.

Thinking of this, Su Ting looked at He Yan with sympathy and reassured him: “Don’t worry, I don’t plan on cooking. I just think you’re still young, and having to bring food back after school every day is too tiring. So from now on, I’ll just eat at the canteen.”

Since her cooking skills weren’t even half as good as the canteen chef’s, Su Ting figured she might as well not make things difficult for herself. Besides, unlike the original owner, she had no intention of winning over He Dongchuan’s heart through his stomach.

She might as well do whatever was most comfortable!

Hearing this, He Yan let out a long sigh of relief. “Got it.”

…

After dinner, Su Ting washed the food containers and then took out two bananas, handing one to He Yan.

He Yan didn’t take it and instead asked: “What’s this?”

Su Ting looked at him in surprise. “A banana. You’ve never had one before?”

Bananas were a fruit from the south, so it was perfectly normal that He Yan hadn’t eaten one before while living in the capital. However, he had been on the island for almost half a month now, and Su Ting had assumed that either He Dongchuan or the original owner of this body had bought some for him.  

But seeing the way he pressed his lips together and looked so stubborn, Su Ting knew she had guessed wrong. She shoved the banana into his hand and said: “It’s okay if you haven’t eaten one before. There are plenty of things I haven’t tried either. Life is long—we can take our time tasting everything. Look, you just peel the banana like this, and then you get a… well, a fragrant banana.”  

He Yan: “……”  

Su Ting realized she had just stated the obvious and cleared her throat before urging: “Go on, try it. It’s really good.” She took a bite of her own banana, swayed her head slightly, and sighed: “So sweet. Why aren’t you eating yet? Don’t tell me you don’t know how to peel a banana? If you don’t, just tell me—I’ll help you…”  

“I know how to peel it!”  

As he spoke, He Yan stepped aside and forcefully tore open the banana peel, then held it up in front of Su Ting. “See?”  

Su Ting grinned. “Wow! You’re amazing!”  

He Yan’s face turned red. He lowered his head and muttered: “It’s just peeling a banana. What’s so amazing about that?”  

“I just wanted to praise you! Haven’t you heard? Complimenting children more helps boost their confidence.” Su Ting took another bite of her banana and gestured toward him. “Hurry up and eat. Or are you planning to peel it just for me?”  

“Of course not!” He Yan took a big bite of his banana and declared: “I peeled it for myself!”  

The moment he finished speaking, his eyes widened unconsciously, and he started chewing faster.  

Su Ting watched his reaction and chuckled. “It’s delicious, isn’t it?”  

With his mouth full, He Yan could only respond with a muffled: “Mmm…”  

After finishing his banana, He Yan still felt unsatisfied and looked at Su Ting expectantly.  

Su Ting, who was still struggling to finish her own banana after eating too much at dinner, asked in disbelief: “Aren’t you full?”  

He Yan patted his stomach. With his movement, his round belly became more noticeable—it was clear that he was stuffed. But like most kids, he didn’t think about restraint when eating something he liked. Though He Yan was more mature than his peers in many ways, he was still a child at heart when it came to food. He shook his head and insisted: “I’m not full.”  

Liar!  

Su Ting rolled her eyes and said: “No more for you. Go play for a while and digest first.”  

He Yan: “……”  

…  

That night, He Yan ended up eating three bananas—two given by Su Ting and one he secretly took while she was in the shower.

Before He Yan could even finish his banana, Su Ting walked out of the bathroom and caught him red-handed.  

Because of this incident, the stable and reliable image she had of He Yan completely collapsed in an instant.  

To prevent him from sneaking food at night and upsetting his stomach, Su Ting stuffed all the snacks and fruits she had bought into the dresser and even locked it. The key was then placed in the Master’s Bedroom.  

However, she still told him that he could take a banana to school the next morning.  

Hearing this, He Yan muttered: “But you locked them up. How am I supposed to get one tomorrow?”  

“I’ll get it for you in the morning.”  

“Liar. You’re never even awake when I leave for school.”  

Su Ting rubbed her nose. It was true—she had been waking up late these past couple of days. To be more precise, aside from eating, drinking, using the bathroom, and washing up, she had barely left the bed at all.  

But that wasn’t her fault! Who wouldn’t feel like questioning life after suddenly time-traveling to the 1970s?  

With that thought, Su Ting suddenly felt justified. “That was before. Tomorrow morning, I will definitely… No, when you wake up, make sure to call me. I’ll go have breakfast with you.”  

Only then did He Yan look satisfied. “Okay, I’m going to bed.” With that, he patted his backside and went into the second bedroom.  

Watching the tightly shut door of the second bedroom, Su Ting couldn’t help but mutter: “Little brat.”  

…  

That night, Su Ting had a dream.  

She dreamed that she had returned to modern times.  

She was overjoyed, but unfortunately, her boss was blind to the moment and called her back to work overtime. Before she had time-traveled, she had already been planning to quit. Now that she was finally back, there was no way she was going to serve that boss anymore. So, in a grand and domineering manner, she threw in her resignation letter.  

After quitting, Su Ting finally got to live the carefree life she had always dreamed of—doing nothing but eating, sleeping, watching TV, and playing on her phone all day. It was pure bliss.  

But maybe it was because she ate too many snacks, or perhaps it was the lack of exercise, but she started gaining weight like a balloon being inflated.

She really was like a balloon. Not only did she become rounder and rounder, but she also floated higher and higher—until she finally went “bang” and crashed into the ceiling.  

Ouch.  

Su Ting woke up, clutching her forehead. She quickly realized that what she had crashed into wasn’t the ceiling, but the dressing table beside her bed!  

Who the hell put the dressing table there?!  

Did no one consider that someone might hit their head while sleeping?  

A few days ago, Su Ting had never even thought about it. But now… Lying sprawled out on the bed, she let out a long sigh.  

But before she could finish sighing, a knocking sound came from outside. One knock, two knocks, three knocks—then it stopped. After waiting for a moment with no response, the knocking resumed. One—  

Su Ting turned over, sat up, and shuffled toward the door in her slippers. “Coming!”  

Outside stood He Yan, already neatly dressed. The little guy always paid great attention to his appearance—his clothes were always worn properly, and even his collar was pressed flat and tidy.  

He had that kind of “arrogant young master” vibe often seen in web novels.  

At this moment, the little dragon-like young master tilted his head up at her, his calm voice carrying a hint of anticipation. “You told me to wake you up yesterday.” You also said you’d give me a banana to take to school.  

Su Ting smiled. “Got it. Go brush your teeth first, I’ll change.”  

He Yan nodded and turned toward the kitchen.  

Su Ting closed the door, switched on the light, and opened the wardrobe to search for clothes.  

The original owner of this body didn’t have many outfits—only four sets for the season. Two of them had been bought by Mother He in the capital, using money from He Dongchuan. The other two were handmade by the original owner’s biological mother.  

None of her old clothes had been brought here. They weren’t made of good fabric, and most of them were patched up. Even if she had them, they wouldn’t be suitable to wear outside.

Su Ting pulled out a white dress with blue floral prints and slipped it on. After fastening the buttons on the front, she pulled open the curtains and sat down in front of the dressing table.  

If there was any benefit to time-traveling, it was definitely the fact that she had become younger.  

Before she transmigrated, she had just turned twenty-eight. Technically, that wasn’t old, but in many people’s eyes, she was already considered a “leftover woman.” The skincare products she used had also shifted from basic hydration and moisturization to anti-aging and wrinkle prevention.  

The original owner of this body had similar facial features to her, but she was only twenty years old. Her skin was much fairer and smoother, bursting with youthful collagen.  

Her hair was also thick, shiny, and jet-black. Before time-traveling, Su Ting had already started experiencing hair loss. Although the hospital check-up confirmed there was nothing wrong and that shedding hair was normal, every time she washed her hair and saw clumps coming out, she couldn’t help but worry that she would go bald.  

Hopefully, by the time she turned twenty-eight in this life, she wouldn’t have the same concerns.  

With that thought, Su Ting parted her hair in two sections from the top of her head and swiftly tied them into thick pigtails, securing them with hair ties.  

Just as she finished tying her braids, He Yan knocked on the door again.  

Su Ting got up, walked over, and pulled the door open. “What is it now?”  

He Yan tilted his head up at her. “It’s your turn to brush your teeth.” In truth, he was worried that she would go back to sleep, so he came to call her again.  

He didn’t say it out loud, but Su Ting was an adult—how could she not see through his little scheme? She flicked him lightly on the forehead. “Relax, I won’t forget your banana.”  

He Yan refused to admit it. “I didn’t come for the banana.”  

“Really?” Su Ting raised an eyebrow. “Then I won’t give it to you.”  

“You…”  

Before He Yan could finish his sentence, Su Ting laughed and ruffled his neatly combed hair into a mess. “Alright, alright, I’ll give you the banana. Right now.” She walked back into the room, retrieved the dresser key, and unlocked the cabinet to take out the things she had bought yesterday.  

He Yan had initially wanted to be mad—she messed up his hair!  

But before he could voice his complaint, a banana and a mandarin were stuffed into his arms. She even asked: “Do you want some peach crisps and biscuits too?”  

He Yan thought for a moment. Maybe it wasn’t worth getting angry.  

After all, she was giving him a lot.