Taking Liu Yifei back to Northeast China for the Chinese New Year has sent the entire internet into

Chapter 345 Celestial Sister, are you making poison here?

Fang Yu left the company gate without scanning the shared bicycle he used for his daily commute.

Standing by the roadside, I took out my phone and tapped the screen twice with my thumb.

[Bro, East Fourth Ring Road, please hurry.]

The driver returned very quickly.

Okay, Professor Fang, I'll be there in five minutes.

Fang Yu put his phone back in his pocket, his eyes starting to wander.

It's not that he's being pretentious.

Tonight's situation is truly unusual.

If there's any physical activity involved, and you have to pedal a shared bike for twenty minutes, only to find your legs are sore by the time you get there, how embarrassing would that be?

The black van pulled over to the side of the road.

Fang Yu opened the car door, climbed into the back seat, fastened the seatbelt with a click, and leaned heavily against the backrest.

The streetlights outside the window receded one after another, their orange light casting alternating shadows across his face.

Surprise.

The surprise she told me herself.

Fang Yu stared at the headrest of the front seat, his mind already spinning wildly like a lottery.

Candle?

wine?

Skin...aspic?

Hmm, even the celestial beauty seems to really enjoy eating that stuff.

……

The car was parked at the entrance of that upscale residential community on the East Fourth Ring Road.

Fang Yu pushed open the door and got out of the car.

"Teacher Fang, just call me when you get back."

"No need, brother. I'm not sure what time I'll be leaving tonight."

Fang Yu paused for a moment after saying this.

If this were to get out, it could easily be misunderstood.

The driver was an honest man; he nodded happily and drove off.

Fang Yu lowered the brim of his hat and quickly slipped into the residential area.

The night wind swirls upwards along the building, and the shadows of the trees sway back and forth under the streetlights.

Silence reigned, save for the muffled thud of tires rolling over speed bumps from the distant entrance to the underground parking garage.

He walked through the central garden and, familiar with the layout, slipped into the unit door of Liu Yifei's building.

Inside the elevator car, the floor numbers kept changing.

Fang Yu straightened his hat brim against the stainless steel door panel and casually brushed the stray hairs from his forehead to one side.

He ran his fingers over the collar of the sweatshirt and took two deep sniffs.

The smell of that exorbitantly priced Japanese meal at noon had completely dissipated.

All that remained was the clean, refreshing scent of laundry detergent.

Alright, no problem.

The elevator arrival announcement sounded.

Fang Yu stepped out of the sedan chair, raised his hand and pressed the doorbell. It took a full half minute for the door to open a crack.

Liu Yifei leaned half her body out from behind the door.

Her hair was casually pinned up at the back of her head, with a few stray strands clinging messily to her slender neck.

The sleeves of the off-white loungewear were rolled up to the elbows, and a bright brown sauce stain was still visible on the exposed right wrist.

The moment her gaze met Fang Yu's eyes, she immediately dodged to the side, her right hand disappearing behind her back.

"What are you standing there for? Come in."

Fang Yu didn't move.

His gaze swept over her slightly guilty face, then fell on the hand hidden behind her back.

"What wrong thing have you done?"

Liu Yifei raised her chin.

"What wrong thing could I possibly do?"

"Come in quickly, it's cold outside."

As soon as Fang Yu stepped across the threshold, he glanced around the living room out of the corner of his eye.

A light-colored tablecloth was laid on the table, with a bottle of red wine standing in the center and two wine glasses placed beside it.

The images of "surprise" in his mind shattered a little.

The surprise I'm talking about... is it a candlelight dinner?

Fang Yu took another deep breath; a burnt smell lingered in the air.

"Hey, something's not right." He frowned as he changed his shoes. "What's that smell coming from your house?"

Liu Yifei's shoulders stiffened.

He shifted half a step to the side as if he were doing something wrong, barely blocking the blind spot leading to the kitchen with his body.

"No, what flavor could it possibly have?"

He spoke these words a half-tone higher than usual.

Fang Yu straightened up and looked at her.

"Really not?"

"No, really."

"Why does it smell like something's burnt?"

Liu Yifei quickly reached out to pull his arm.

They tried to pull it towards the living room sofa.

"Your nose is acting up. Go sit on the sofa and wait patiently while I get you a glass of water."

Fang Yu's lower body was extremely stable, and no matter how much she pulled, he wouldn't budge. Instead, his expression became serious.

"Stop joking, this is no laughing matter."

"For high-rise residential buildings like these, fire hazards are absolutely the number one concern."

"It's late at night, if it really catches fire, there won't be time to run away. We must check for fire hazards first."

As the last word fell, he deftly flipped his arm, using the leverage to break free from her grasp.

With a long stride, he bypassed Liu Yifei's defenses and headed straight for the semi-open kitchen.

Liu Yifei tried to catch up, but ultimately couldn't stop him.

Fang Yu abruptly stopped the car at the kitchen doorway.

Under the bright lights.

The lid of the casserole was tilted on the table, with a ring of unidentified carbonized material around its edge.

The spatula lay by the sink, its surface covered with a hard, dark brown crust that had dried completely.

A tablet sits next to the stove, its screen still lit, displaying a recipe app.

Fang Yu glanced sideways and saw the headline prominently displayed—

[Easy Recipe for Cola Chicken Wings! Zero Failure!]

What a perfect example of zero failures!

Fang Yu began to examine the three plates on the table.

On the left plate, several lumps of indescribable charred matter lay scattered about.

If the bones weren't still there, he would most likely have thought it was roasted sweet potato skin.

In the middle dish, the broth had reduced to almost nothing, and dark brown lumps had clumped together.

Fang Yu took two seconds to recognize it—braised pork ribs? Sweet and sour pork tenderloin?

It's no longer possible to tell from appearance.

The one on the right is even more ruthless.

A few green leaves lay forlornly on the bottom of the plate, their edges charred and curled upwards, as if telling a story of their unwillingness to live.

Fang Yu slowly withdrew his gaze and turned to lock onto the culprit.

Liu Yifei stood two steps away.

She turned her head away, pretending to examine the innocent-looking potted green ivy in the corner of the living room, her lips pursed.

With both hands clasped in front of him, his thumbs were digging into the soy sauce stains on his other wrist, almost scraping the skin raw.

Fang Yu turned his attention back to the three "masterpieces".

"What's wrong?"

He crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his chin toward the kitchen counter.

"Fairy Sister, are you concocting poison here?"

Liu Yifei pretended to be dead on the spot.

Fang Yu took another step closer, lowering his voice.

"Tell me honestly, are you afraid that in order to achieve a chart-topping grand slam, I'll go online and expose that I also wrote the song that's number two?"

"So you're planning to strike first—poison me?"

Liu Yifei finally turned her head and glared at him.

"you--"

Her chest heaved twice, her gaze sweeping over the three failed attempts, then over Fang Yu's face as he suppressed a laugh.

His eyes darted around, he suppressed a smile, and let out a cold laugh.

"Oh."

"Since you've already seen through it..."

She took a half-step forward with her long legs and stared into Fang Yu's eyes.

"I'm not going to pretend anymore."

"These three extraordinary poisons were all created with painstaking effort."

"First move—I'll ruin your good voice."

"The second measure—to seal that broken keyboard in your hand."