Sister, can I be a maid too?

He sat down at the table, chatting with his grandmother about everyday things, and telling her about Lin Jianxia's funny stories at school, which made the old woman smile from ear to ear.

Less than ten minutes later, Lin Jianxia and Lin Tingwan walked in one after the other.

Lin Jianxia was carrying a bamboo basket filled with green vegetables still covered in dew and a small bunch of fresh cilantro.

"You're back?" Jiang Yubai waved to them. "Come and eat dumplings."

Hearing the greeting, Lin Jianxia blinked, momentarily stunned.

Lin Tingwan, who was standing to the side, had already walked over and sat obediently at the dining table, tilting her head to look at him.

Seeing that her younger sister had already gone up and sat down, Lin Jianxia belatedly sat down in a chair.

When I got home, I saw Jiang Yubai taking care of things at home, and I had a feeling that... something was a little strange.

Jiang Yu served dumplings to her grandmother and the two sisters, then glanced at the fresh green vegetables in the basket, her eyes lighting up:

"I remember that winter vegetables should be quite sweet, right?"

Upon hearing this, the grandmother beside her immediately smiled.

"Hey, these are our own, they're so tender and juicy. I'll have Xia cook them for you for lunch."

"Uh... Grandma, I have to leave this morning..."

"What's the rush? You should at least finish your lunch," the old man urged. "Xiao Jiang, didn't you say you like Xia's cooking? This was specially picked by her."

Were they specially picked?

Jiang Yubai blinked and turned his gaze to Lin Jianxia beside him.

But Lin Jianxia was eating dumplings with her head down, sitting upright, looking like she hadn't heard anything and refusing to look at him.

“Alright,” Jiang Yubai nodded with a smile, “Then I’ll trouble Grandma… and Xia Yatou as well.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he was lightly kicked in the foot.

He turned his head and saw Lin Jianxia, ​​who had been eating dumplings with her head down, glaring at him, looking very angry.

—Pah! You're still calling me Xia Yatou!

She glared at him a few times, but dared not say anything more because her grandmother was present, and could only grit her teeth:

"Hey, is the dipping sauce good?"

Jiang Yubai thought the little hedgehog was going to breathe, but he didn't expect the topic to turn to this. He subconsciously replied:

"It's delicious..."

"Oh," Lin Jianxia reached out and pulled the dipping sauce towards herself, giving a soft hum, "Then it's mine now."

She picked up a dumpling, slowly dipped it in the sauce, put it in her mouth, and deliberately pursed her lips, giving a "really good" look.

"Are you a child?" Jiang Yubai retorted.

Lin Jianxia ignored him.

Jiang Yubai chuckled, picked up a dumpling, dipped it generously without hesitation, and put it in his mouth.

The dumplings are filled with pork and cabbage, and taste quite good when paired with the secret dipping sauce.

"Hey! This disc is mine now!" Lin Jianxia glared.

"Well..." Jiang Yu thought for a moment and nodded, "Thank you for the hospitality?"

"Who needs your thanks!"

"Good things should be shared." Jiang Yubai turned to the other side with a grin, "Wanwan, come and try this, it's delicious."

Lin Tingwan nodded obediently, picked up a dumpling, dipped it in the sauce, took a small bite, and her eyes brightened slightly.

"Wanwan! Which side are you on?!"

Grandma watched the three of them playfully bickering with a smile in her eyes.

After breakfast and cleaning up the dishes, Lin Jianxia took her younger sister back to her room and dragged Jiang Yubai back to help with the cleaning as well.

"Here, just roll up the quilt and blanket and put them on top of the wardrobe, and place the bamboo mat next to it."

While tidying up, Lin Jianxia glanced at Jiang Yubai and suddenly asked curiously:

"Hey, your dark circles are really bad. Didn't you sleep well last night?"

Do you have dark circles under your eyes?

Jiang Yubai subconsciously touched his eye socket and made an "uh":

"I went to bed a little late yesterday, maybe I didn't get enough sleep..."

"You stayed up quite late?" Lin Jianxia blinked, then suddenly stiffened. "You...you didn't hear any strange noises, did you?"

—What do you mean by strange noises?

Jiang Yubai forced himself not to look in a certain direction and tried his best to make his tone sound normal:

"Strange sound? No, did you hear anything?"

"I...I didn't hear that...I mean, there are often pheasants calling or something near our house, could it be that disturbed you?"

"No, it's quite quiet."

"Oh, that's good."

"Yes, it's nice to be quiet."

The two of them were talking back and forth when, for some reason, they suddenly fell silent.

One was holding a quilt, the other was wrapped in a blanket, each looking away, but their movements were slow.

While Lin Jianxia was folding the blanket, Jiang Yubai quietly turned his head and looked at Lin Tingwan on the other side.

He was carefully rolling up the bamboo mat, seemingly oblivious to the subtle conversation between the two of them.

Seemingly noticing his gaze, Lin Tingwan raised her small face and looked at him with some curiosity.

—Look at me, who's responsible for these dark circles under my eyes...?

Jiang Yubai finally couldn't hold back and gave the guy a light flick on the forehead.

Lin Tingwan scratched her head in confusion, looking at him with a pair of innocent and puzzled eyes.

Jiang Yubai: "......."

...Wrong, wrong.

He quickly patted her head as if to salvage the situation.

Lin Jianxia had just finished folding the blanket when she turned around and saw this scene, and her brows immediately furrowed:

"Hey, what are you two doing?"

Caught red-handed, Jiang Yubai froze for a moment, then, after thinking for a moment, moved his hand to Lin Jianxia's head and gently rubbed it twice.

Lin Jianxia's ears turned bright red, and she slapped his hand away:

You've ruined my hair!

......

After having lunch at Lin Jianxia's house, Jiang Yubai, carrying the fresh vegetables that the grandmother insisted on giving him, finally boarded the bus back home.

After swaying and staggering for half an hour, and then taking a bus for several tens of minutes, he finally stood back in front of his little villa.

He didn't knock, but instead furtively took out his key and quietly opened the door himself.

I had just tiptoed through the living room, and before I even stepped onto the stairs, a soft voice came from behind me:

"Where to go?"

Jiang Yubai froze for a moment, adjusted his expression, and turned around with a bright smile on his face:

"Hey, Mom and Dad, you're both home?"

As he spoke, he opened his suitcase and pulled out a bag of fresh, green vegetables:

"These are all-natural, green vegetables I brought for you two. They're homegrown and absolutely delicious."

"Well... I'll go put my suitcase down first, I'll be going now."

After saying that, he tried to sneak upstairs, but Qin Huiyi wasn't buying it at all and said irritably:

"return!"

Jiang Yubai clicked his tongue, knowing that he couldn't avoid this interrogation today, so he dejectedly moved back to the sofa and slumped into the cushions.

"Ask away, ask away, hurry up and ask whatever you want."

Qin Huiyi spoke in an annoyed tone:

"Wow, you're quite the planner. What did you say back then? 'If you're not going home for the first day of the Lunar New Year, are you going to stay out somewhere else?' And what happened?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yubai immediately cried out that he was innocent:

"Hey, Mom, how can you blame me for this? I called Dad to pick me up, and he said he was 'too busy' and just left me there. I can't exactly walk dozens of kilometers back, can I?"

Jiang Pinglan, who was sitting on the other sofa, was flipping through a newspaper. Upon hearing this, she scoffed without looking up.

"Who told me they would definitely come back? Then they made me travel across two districts to pick them up at seven or eight o'clock. Is that what you call a 'guarantee'?"

Jiang Yubai continued to defend himself:

"Hey Dad, can you be reasonable? I was looking at the previous schedule. Who knew there would only be a few buses during the Chinese New Year?"

"Alright, alright, your dad and I aren't blaming you or anything."

Qin Huiyi waved her hand.

"You're an adult, it's no big deal for you to stay out one night, just come back safely."

"Mom, you are so understanding, considerate, and thoughtful!" Jiang Yu's eyes lit up, and she immediately stood up. "If there's nothing else, I'll go upstairs first—"

"sit down."

Qin Huiyi added two words slowly and deliberately.

Jiang Yubai's face fell, and he sat back down on the sofa.

"It's fine to stay out for one night, but you should at least tell us where you're staying and whose house you're staying at, right?"