Chapter 67: I Can’t Bear to

Chen Lu, naturally, wasn’t content with being made to feel flustered by this simpleton. He was already scheming about how to get back at her.

He watched as the girl’s ponytail swayed gently and silently followed behind her.

Liang Zhirou walked to the refrigerator, her hand just touching the surface before she paused, turning her head to look at him and asking softly, “Can I open it?”

She felt a bit awkward. When she was making food for Chen Lu at her own place, she hadn’t felt any pressure, but at Chen Lu’s, she inexplicably felt uncomfortable touching anything…

Chen Lu found it amusing. “Even if you took my entire refrigerator, I wouldn’t mind.”

Liang Zhirou pursed her lips, not saying anything more. She silently opened the refrigerator to see what she could make for Chen Lu.

“What do you want to eat?” she asked after looking for a while.

“White noodles are fine. Just make it quickly,” Chen Lu leaned against the wall, watching her with a serious expression. “Otherwise, I’ll feel guilty.”

The reason he hadn’t outright rejected Liang Zhirou making him food, besides the fact that this simpleton was so insistent, was that her cooking was truly delicious…

He couldn’t say he wasn’t tempted.

The girl nodded, reaching for two tomatoes.

She remembered Chen Lu’s taste very well. Of all the ingredients in the refrigerator, the only thing she could make that he’d likely prefer was tomato and egg noodles.

At least that’s what she’d gathered from what Chen Lu had told her.

Seeing this, Chen Lu stopped being idle and walked into the kitchen to start filling the pot with water.

To save this simpleton from messing around later, Liang Zhirou, despite having a good figure, was still very delicate and didn’t seem to have much strength.

The kind who would fall with a push.

When he saw the water overflowing from the pot, he quickly snapped out of his thoughts and poured some out.

“You don’t need that much water…” Liang Zhirou gently chided in a soft voice. She seemed to even think this was wasteful.

“I know.”

Chen Lu said this and put the pot back on the stove.

“I was spacing out just now.”

Hearing this, Liang Zhirou looked at him with some concern. “Are you troubled by something?”

This made Chen Lu feel strangely embarrassed. He could only explain, “Nothing much. Just thinking about how to fatten you up a bit. Look how skinny you’ve become.”

“Oh.” Liang Zhirou didn’t think too much about it, lightly responding with a single syllable.

Chen Lu had always been more concerned about her weight than she was herself. By now, she had become somewhat accustomed to it.

“You go out now. Go lie down for a bit, I’ll do it myself.”

While softly urging him, she mustered her courage and poked Chen Lu. Why else would he constantly poke her face?

But then she suddenly discovered that poking Chen Lu’s stomach felt strange, so she absentmindedly poked her own stomach.

“What’s wrong?” Chen Lu asked curiously.

Liang Zhirou lowered her head, feeling embarrassed. “Your stomach is a little harder than mine…”

Chen Lu couldn’t help but laugh. He pulled up his T-shirt, revealing his thin abs.

For someone as thin as him, this level of definition was just right for aesthetics.

“Isn’t that normal? I have abs, you know.”

Actually, he had just thought it looked more charming, so he had inexplicably stuck with it.

He wasn’t planning on training to some ridiculous level anyway. That would be tiring and ugly, pointless.

This current situation, where he could maintain it with regular exercise, was just right.

Liang Zhirou saw this and quickly turned around, feeling both ashamed and like she had turned around too quickly.

There wouldn’t be another chance like this… she should have taken another look…

Thinking about this, she blushed again, starting to berate herself in her heart.

Chen Lu smiled and lightly patted his stomach twice, but he didn’t just walk away. Instead, he sat down and watched her.

“By the way, you still haven’t let me poke back,” he reminded her. “Come here and let me poke your stomach.”

Liang Zhirou shook her head like a rattle. “No…”

“Liang Zhirou, why are you always freeloading? That kind of behavior is bad.”

“You’re always poking my face too.”

Chen Lu didn’t care. “Face is face, stomach is stomach. I haven’t stopped you from poking my face, come on, poke as many times as you want.”

Liang Zhirou turned her head and focused on cooking, ignoring him.

If she said anything more, she’d definitely fall for his tricks again.

She could still feel her cheeks burning.

This kind of physique was so annoying. Didn’t it make her seem easy to bully…?

The hot steam from the pot kept rising to the girl’s face, making her feel uncomfortable, so she took a couple of steps back. But then, as if afraid of bumping into something, she quickly stopped.

She anxiously turned back to make sure she hadn’t broken anything.

Only then did she realize that this was Chen Lu’s kitchen, it was spacious, she didn’t need to be so careful, and she didn’t need to stand in front of the hot pot and roast herself…

Then the two of them were quiet for a while, no longer teasing each other.

For some reason, the girl’s busy figure in the kitchen always made Chen Lu feel warm inside.

An indescribable feeling…

Touched and settled.

The last time he had seen her in Liang Zhirou’s house, he had inexplicably felt an urge to marry this simpleton.

It wasn’t that he liked her cooking that much, it was just that he especially liked this feeling.

According to Liang Zhirou’s personality, she would definitely insist on taking all these things upon herself.

Then, every day after work, he would accompany her to buy groceries, watching her carefully select each item, while he yawned beside her, carrying the bags.

While she cooked, he would help out a little, then act like a hooligan and be chased away by her, both embarrassed and anxious.

Just thinking about how he could bully her at will every day made Chen Lu’s lips curve upwards involuntarily.

This simpleton definitely wouldn’t bear to see him do housework, so he had to take on all the other aspects of life for her.

This kind of girl, if he could really marry her, he would definitely cherish her like a treasure.

“Liang Zhirou.” Chen Lu stopped fantasizing and called out softly.

Liang Zhirou turned around again when she heard this, her ponytail swaying slightly behind her. “What?”

“Your back looks really nice.” Chen Lu said earnestly.

The kind that you could look at for a lifetime and never get tired of.

The girl was stunned, quickly turning back around and muttering softly:

“…Hooligan.”

Although she scolded him, she was still a little happy inside.

Other guys complimenting her on her looks would really make her scared. She had encountered too many shady people when she was working part-time alone.

But when Chen Lu said it, it didn’t feel that way. Instead, it made her heart flutter. She watched the noodles bobbing in the pot, her lips unconsciously curving upwards once more.

Despite being scolded, Chen Lu still smiled. He really loved these moments.

The only sound in the kitchen was the constant rolling of the hot water. The two of them stood there, one in front of the other, silently smiling at each other.

After a while, Chen Lu suddenly realized that this was the first time Liang Zhirou had said this to him, and he couldn’t help but ask:

“You learned to laugh so quickly, now you even know how to call me a hooligan. What will you do when you learn to yell at me later?”

“No.”

The girl immediately replied, but this time she didn’t turn around to look at Chen Lu. It was too embarrassing, but she felt like she had to reassure him.

Only then could she muster the courage to speak.

Liang Zhirou turned down the gas stove, reducing the noise a little. Then, she lowered her head deeply, and after a lot of effort, finally squeezed out four words in a low voice:

“I can’t bear to…”