Chapter 194: Give It a Try
“Um… So... you know… I-I don't have a girlfriend, and you don't have a boyfriend. How about we just… give it a try and be together?”
Li Mu seemed to be in a good mood today, so Yu Fan decided to go for it and give it a shot.
He looked at her with hopeful eyes, but Li Mu didn’t answer. The small smile on her face slowly faded.
That made Yu Fan very nervous. He didn’t dare say anything else and just lowered his head, picked up some food with his chopsticks, and stuffed it into his mouth, only to realize it was way too bland.
Since he never cooked before, he had been afraid to add too much seasoning. He figured it was safer to add very little. After all, if the food was too plain, you could fix it. But if it was too salty, there was nothing you could do.
Was this what Li Mu meant earlier when she said his cooking was “not bad”?
"Sister, Brother Yu Fan just confessed to you," Xiao Jing, sitting next to Li Mu, poked her arm and whispered.
"I know," Li Mu nodded with a blank face.
"Then... why haven’t you said yes?"
She kept her head down, eating the almost tasteless food, not looking at Yu Fan or Xiao Jing.
His confession had come out of nowhere. But unlike the time someone confessed to her in front of the dorm building, she didn’t feel angry. Instead, her heart was racing, and she didn’t know what to do. It felt like a little deer was jumping around inside her chest.
Whenever she felt flustered like this, she tried to hide it by keeping her face emotionless. She focused on eating and didn’t even notice the taste of the food anymore. Her mind was completely filled with Yu Fan’s words.
To be honest, for a second there, she almost nodded without thinking.
Am I really falling for a guy?
Li Mu was completely lost in thought.
So far, Yu Fan hadn’t shown any habits that made her uncomfortable or feel disgusted. In fact, being around him made her feel calm and happy. Except for the fact that he always seemed to attract girls wherever he went.
It wasn’t like Yu Fan was trying to flirt. His face just naturally attracted attention.
Now that Li Mu had a good-looking face herself, she started to understand what Yu Fan had been going through.
At least Yu Fan attracted girls, while she attracted guys.
Luckily, her cold expression usually scared off most of the annoying ones.
The meal ended quickly, and since she couldn’t keep her head down forever, she finally looked up and saw Yu Fan staring straight at her, clearly waiting for an answer.
She didn’t know where to put her hands or feet. Her calm expression started to fade, and a bit of nervousness and blush showed on her face.
"Umm... I’m gonna go play on the computer, okay?"
"Sister, Brother Yu Fan just confessed to you!" Xiao Jing spoke up again.
Li Mu froze and glared fiercely at her. But Xiao Jing only looked back with her big innocent eyes, like she had done nothing wrong.
Yu Fan quickly nodded at her, then gave Xiao Jing a thumbs-up.
This little sister-in-law is like Cupid!
Originally, Li Mu had planned to ignore the confession and just forget about it. But now that Xiao Jing brought it up again, it felt like she couldn’t avoid answering anymore.
But the truth was, she didn’t even know how she really felt about Yu Fan.
"Brother Yu Fan! Didn’t you even prepare a gift?"
"Xiao Jing! Go watch TV!" Li Mu snapped, glaring at her.
Yu Fan looked a bit helpless. "I really didn’t prepare anything..."
He had planned to cook a nice meal to show his feelings. After all, there’s a saying: the way to win a woman’s heart is through her stomach.
Plus, a carefully cooked lunch should be more heartfelt than a store-bought gift, right?
But all those online tutorials had looked so easy, which gave him way too much confidence. When it came time to actually cook... he was totally lost.
Who even knows what “the right amount” means?!
Xiao Jing walked out of the dining room with a pouty face, clearly annoyed. Only then did Li Mu look at Yu Fan again.
The two of them quietly looked at each other for a few seconds before Yu Fan broke the silence.
"I’ll do the dishes. Just leave the rest of the food, we don’t have to finish it."
He knew the food he made didn’t taste very good, and he didn’t plan to make Li Mu suffer through another bad meal for dinner.
He stood up, picked up the empty bowls, and walked into the kitchen.
"Let’s just order takeout for dinner, okay? Even if it’s not the healthiest, at least it tastes better."
"Actually... your cooking wasn’t that bad..." Li Mu mumbled softly.
"I’m not taste-blind, you know."
"For your first time, it was pretty good. When I cooked for the first time, I almost burned down the kitchen."
While washing the dishes and cleaning the pots, Yu Fan replied, "Don’t try to make me feel better."
Li Mu also got up from the table, grabbed some plastic wrap, and covered the leftover food before putting it in the fridge. Then she picked up a cloth and started wiping down the table.
As a guest, she felt uncomfortable just sitting there doing nothing.
"Leave that, I’ll take care of it," Yu Fan called out, turning to look at her cleaning the dining room.
Li Mu paused for a moment, then lowered her head and asked, "Can you cook dinner again tonight?"
"You’re not afraid it’ll taste bad? Isn’t ordering food way easier?"
"......"
She kept wiping the table. After a while, she asked again. "Will you do the dishes again tonight too?"
"Of course! You don’t need to clean up either. Go play on the computer, I’ll tidy up after the dishes."
"What about sweeping and mopping the floor?"
"The place is already pretty clean. But if there’s something you think looks messy, just tell me and I’ll wipe it."
"Then... um... then..."
"What is it?"
Li Mu’s face was so red it looked like it might start dripping blood, and she lowered her head even more.
"Then it’s settled… I might not always get things right, but I will work hard to be someone you can rely on. Please take care of me from now on."
"Huh?" Yu Fan was still busy washing dishes and didn’t quite catch what she meant. "Since you're the guest, why would I depend on you to handle this? I'll take care of it."
"......"
A few seconds later, he suddenly understood what Li Mu meant, then stopped what he was doing and almost dropped the pot he was cleaning.
He turned around to look at Li Mu, who still had her head down and wasn’t moving.
He started to wonder if he was just imagining things, but then he saw that even the skin showing from her clothes had turned red.
Yu Fan swallowed hard, wiped his hands on his shirt, and quickly walked out to the dining room, stopping in front of her.
His heart was pounding, and even though he wiped his hands again and again, they were still sweaty.
"You..."
Li Mu suddenly looked up. Her face was flushed and shy, and her eyes were darting around nervously.
"I just... want to give it a try."
"Trying is good," Yu Fan scratched the back of his head with a goofy smile. He didn’t look cool at all. More like a silly, happy guy.
They looked at each other in silence for a moment. Then Yu Fan slowly and nervously reached out and gently held Li Mu’s hand.
Li Mu didn’t pull away.
Compared to other girls, Li Mu’s hands were a bit bigger. After all, she was 170 cm tall. But her skin was still soft and smooth, and her fingers were long and pretty.
Yu Fan had held her hand before, even put his arm around her waist, but this time felt completely different. His heart was racing.
He took a deep breath, it felt like he was running out of air.
Li Mu saw how careful and nervous he looked and suddenly felt like laughing. She had never seen this side of him before.
Yu Fan opened his mouth, trying to think of something sweet to say in the middle of this romantic moment. But just then, Xiao Jing came running over.
"Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law! Your cute little sister-in-law is here to ask for a red envelope!"
"Get lost!"