Chapter 86: Do You Like Eating Cookies?
After getting into her best buddy’s car to head home together, Lin Muqing casually mentioned that she was learning to make desserts, but didn’t say anything about her weekend plans.
She wanted to surprise him with a little gift when they went to the movies, so she kept her reason for learning desserts a secret for now.
What she didn’t know was that Ye Ziming had already guessed what she was up to. He just didn’t say anything.
How did he know? Because of a little conversation they had in the car.
“Hey, do you like eating cookies?”
With her big, pretty almond-shaped eyes blinking expectantly, Lin Muqing looked at her best buddy, waiting for his answer.
“…Why are you asking?”
Caught off guard by the random question, Ye Ziming turned to her, puzzled.
“No reason, I was just curious.”
Avoiding his gaze and fidgeting with her fingers, Lin Muqing smiled awkwardly.
“…You want to give me cookies?”
Raising an eyebrow with a teasing look, Ye Ziming asked in a slightly playful tone.
“Ah? No way! Why would I give you cookies? Haha…”
She quickly denied it, her eyes darting around with a nervous laugh.
“Hm… I don’t mind them. As long as they’re not too sweet, I like them.”
Ye Ziming smiled faintly and turned his gaze away. He had a pretty good idea of what was going on, but he didn’t say it aloud.
Still, he was kind of curious… and a little excited. He wondered when she’d give them to him.
“Oh, I see. Got it.”
Lin Muqing nodded repeatedly, then looked away, already thinking about asking the kitchen uncle to teach her how to bake cookies tomorrow.
She also made a mental note of something important, her buddy didn’t like things that were too sweet. She’d always known that.
“See you tomorrow, boss!”
Soon, the car slowed to a stop in front of Lin Muqing’s apartment building. She immediately recognized the place and knew she was home.
After saying goodbye to her best buddy, she opened the car door and got out, ready to go upstairs.
“Ziming, about that bicycle you mentioned last week…”
Just as the door closed again, Uncle Liu didn’t start the car right away. Instead, he turned around to look at the young master in the back seat.
It had been almost a week, and the young master hadn’t brought it up again. Uncle Liu was worried he’d forgotten, so he decided to remind him.
“No rush. I’ll give it to her later.”
Looking out the window, Ye Ziming watched Lin Muqing enter her apartment building, a soft smile on his face.
“Alright.”
Since he still remembered, Uncle Liu didn’t say anything more. He started the car again and headed toward their upscale neighborhood.
Right after Uncle Liu mentioned the bike, Ye Ziming suddenly had an idea, about how to get Lin Muqing to come home with him.
His eyes narrowed slightly, and the corners of his lips lifted into a sly grin.
He looked just like a mischievous fox with a sneaky plan.
“Achoo!”
“Hmm? Is someone thinking about me?”
Back at home, just as Lin Muqing took off her shoes and was about to bring in the laundry and take a shower, she suddenly sneezed really hard.
She rubbed her nose and felt something was strange, she clearly wasn’t sick.
“Sigh, forget it.”
Since she couldn’t figure it out, Lin Muqing decided to stop thinking about it.
After a full day of studying, her brain cells were precious. She couldn’t waste any more of them!
After her shower, she turned on the washing machine and returned to the living room. She picked up her school bag, getting ready to go to her room and do homework.
Before heading to her room, she checked her phone and opened WeChat. To her surprise, there were over 99+ new messages.
“So much chatting.”
She made a small complaint, then casually scrolled a bit and found out they were talking about cat-eared maid girls.
Oh dear—seeing that, she immediately closed WeChat. That topic was totally off-limits… it was dangerous!
Coincidentally, a certain video had been sent in the group, and because everyone was chatting so excitedly, it got pushed to the top.
And since it was during work hours, Lin Muqing had only checked QQ earlier and hadn’t seen what was going on in WeChat, so she completely missed it.
Thankfully, since she didn’t see it, she was able to sleep peacefully that night. Otherwise, she would’ve blown up on the spot.
Tuesday passed, and Wednesday arrived. In the morning, she got out of bed, took off her cosplay costume from the Eromanga Sensei, and changed into her school uniform. Then she headed off to school.
Everything felt very normal. Nothing happened on the way. Just a simple and happy morning like usual.
“Boss, want me to fill your water?”
After sitting down in her seat and putting her homework away, Lin Muqing grabbed her water bottle and turned to ask her best buddy.
“Mm.”
He nodded and handed over his bottle to her.
This kind of thing had happened many times before. They were both used to it and liked it, so there was no need to say much. Lin Muqing turned around and walked out of the classroom.
While getting water, Lin Muqing was thinking. Her only wish now was to live a peaceful and simple life.
As long as she could keep up her disguise until the college entrance exam was over, then it wouldn’t matter if anyone found out later. She could just run away!
In fact, she already had a plan. First, she would get her gender changed on her ID, by going to the proper authorities, of course.
Then she’d move to another city. By then, no one would recognize her, so she wouldn’t even need to pretend anymore.
There was one more thing. After the college entrance exam, she planned to find out why her body had changed like this.
If possible, she actually wanted to change back. After all, she had lived as a boy for so many years.
Why not investigate now? Because she needed to study for the exam and save money. She clearly knew that without money, nothing could be done.
“Lin Muqing.”
Just as she was deep in thought about her future plans, she suddenly heard Lin Wenbin’s voice from behind her.
“What is it?”
After finishing filling the bottle and twisting the cap on, Lin Muqing turned and looked at him, confused.
“I want to ask you something.”
“Okay.”
Lin Wenbin walked up to the water dispenser, opened his bottle, and started filling it while talking.
“I’ve known Brother Ye for so many years, but I’ve never seen anyone, other than you, who can stay by his side all the time and get along so well with him…”
He gave her a smile, then turned back to his own business.
From his memory, Ye Ziming didn’t seem to like girls very much. It was like how some people really hate cilantro.
As for guys, he had a lot of friends, but they were just regular friends, not close bros or anything like that.
So when he saw Lin Muqing hanging out with Ye Ziming all the time, Lin Wenbin was really surprised. He even once thought they might have “that kind” of relationship.
But now that he knew Brother Ye had a girlfriend, and after seeing that video, he was relieved. He thought, ‘So Brother Ye really is straight.’
“Huh? Why are you telling me this? What does it have to do with me?”