Chapter 015: Is There Someone Else in This Room?

After He Yunqing finished cleaning the room, it was already past five in the morning.

Jiang Yao, utterly exhausted, sat to one side yawning incessantly. “Big brother, can we rest now?”

But He Yunqing headed straight for the kitchen.

Jiang Yao hurried after him, determined to stop him before he set foot in the kitchen.

“Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing now?”

“Making porridge,” the man replied stiffly.

Jiang Yao stifled a laugh, reminded of the bowl of porridge He Yunqing had once cooked for her.

“I think you’d better skip it this time. Let’s just go to bed, all right?”

“We? Go to bed?” He Yunqing turned to look at Jiang Yao as if earnestly parsing her words.

Jiang Yao opened her mouth, “Ah, no, I mean, you go to bed.”

“And you?”

Scratching her head, Jiang Yao replied, “I… I’ll go to bed too. We’ll be sleeping at the same time, just not in the same place. Does that… make sense to you?”

He Yunqing’s thin lips pressed together lightly. He turned back and continued preparing the porridge.

Jiang Yao ran her hands through her hair, rubbing vigorously, muttering to herself, “What kind of mess have I gotten myself into?”

Saying so, she leaned against the wall, tilting her head to watch He Yunqing. “Fine, go ahead, make your porridge. I’ll watch you.”

Unlike earlier, when pots and pans had clattered noisily, He Yunqing’s movements this time were measured and orderly.

Even drunk, this man managed to cook with such elegance.

His back was straight, his large, clean hands meticulously rinsed the rice. The dawn’s first rosy glow slipped in before sunrise, bathing the man’s features in a radiant brilliance.

Jiang Yao yawned, arms folded.

It was a beautiful scene, so lovely she wanted to capture it with her camera.

Soon, the porridge was ready.

He Yunqing ladled the steaming porridge into a bowl and set it on the dining table.

Jiang Yao sat at the table, chin resting gently on her hand, watching He Yunqing. Though his tolerance was poor, at least he was a decent drunk.

He didn’t lash out or curse when drunk; at most, he just did housework.

But was it really possible for someone to be so competent at chores while drunk?

“Are you genuinely drunk or just pretending?” Jiang Yao scooped up a spoonful of porridge, blew on it, hesitated, then cautiously tasted it.

The next moment, it was as if she had tasted a miracle.

She took several more spoonfuls in quick succession.

The porridge He Yunqing made was not only palatable, but carried a faint creamy fragrance, rivaling her favorite breakfast shop downstairs.

Between bites, Jiang Yao chuckled, “Now I believe you’re actually drunk. You couldn’t cook porridge this good when you’re sober.”

“Can you understand what I’m saying?” she asked, then lowered her head to continue eating. “Why do you become a completely different person when you’re drunk?”

She never would have thought that the usually non-cooking He Yunqing, when drunk, could do housework so well.

“If you get married one day, will your wife pour you a drink every day?”

Jiang Yao mused with a bright smile. Suddenly, she paused, raising her hand to gently touch the upturned corners of her lips.

When had she last smiled so genuinely, straight from the heart?

He Yunqing, across from her, made no sound.

When Jiang Yao looked up, she saw that at some point, He Yunqing had fallen asleep with his head on the table.

After a whole night of activity, he certainly deserved to rest.

Jiang Yao set down her spoon and stood up, walking to He Yunqing’s side. She gently nudged him, “Wake up, don’t sleep here—you’ll catch a cold.”

He Yunqing didn’t move, only knitting his brow slightly in his sleep.

There was a tranquil beauty about him as he slept, reminiscent of dewdrops at sunrise.

Jiang Yao smiled helplessly and shook her head, just about to help He Yunqing up when footsteps sounded at the door.

“Yao, Yao, why didn’t you tell me anything?”

Jiang Yao hurried out of the dining room to see Ye Yiyi returning in a rush, pulling a suitcase behind her.

The moment she saw Jiang Yao, she let go of the suitcase and swooped in for a big hug. “Yao…”

Her words trailed off as she sensed something amiss. Her big, luminous eyes swept the room. “Why is the place… so clean?”

Jiang Yao pressed her lips together. “Is it? Isn’t it always clean?”

“It’s always tidy, yes,” Ye Yiyi furrowed her brow, thinking, “but today it’s different—spotless, almost unusually so.”

“Clean is clean, what’s the difference?” Jiang Yao laughed, steering the conversation away. “What was it you just asked me about?”

“Oh!” At this, Ye Yiyi perked up. “I just heard the second young master of the Zhang Group is getting married, and He Yunqing will be the guest performer?”

Jiang Yao nodded, “Yes.”

“Your company is planning the wedding?” Ye Yiyi’s eyes shone even brighter.

“Yes.”

Ye Yiyi clapped Jiang Yao on the shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

She flopped onto the sofa, like a dreamy, innocent girl. “I’m completely smitten with him these days—if only I could work with him! Even if not, I’d love to see him in person. Yao, can you get me into the wedding as part of your job?”

Jiang Yao couldn’t help but laugh. “Hey, aren’t you going to be a diva someday? Why are you acting like a fangirl?”

“Divas can’t have crushes?” Ye Yiyi beamed. “You have no idea how amazing he is. Let me show you his stage.”

“Go wash your face first,” Jiang Yao pulled her up from the couch. “Don’t you have an event this morning?”

“Oh, right,” Ye Yiyi collected herself, put away her phone, and was about to go wash up when she suddenly stopped. “Yao, did you make porridge?”

She sniffed the air delicately.

If nothing else, Ye Yiyi’s sense of smell was impressive.

“Ah… yes…” Jiang Yao’s eyes drifted unconsciously toward the dining room.

“It smells wonderful,” Ye Yiyi smiled, lips pursed. “Wait for me, I’ll eat with you after I freshen up.”

Jiang Yao nodded, watching Ye Yiyi head off to wash, then hurriedly turned back to the dining room.

She needed to move He Yunqing somewhere else—quickly.

Not that she had any particular reason to hide him from Ye Yiyi.

It was just that Ye Yiyi was hopelessly nosy.

Back in college, when a boy gave Jiang Yao an apple for Christmas, Ye Yiyi gossiped about it for three months and investigated the boy’s family history in detail.

If Ye Yiyi found out Jiang Yao had brought a man home for the night, there’d be no end to it.

But just as Jiang Yao turned toward the dining room, she heard a sudden clatter from inside.

Halfway across the living room, Ye Yiyi turned around abruptly. “Is there someone else in the house?”