The night before the college entrance exam results were released, I redeemed my Peking University ad

"Another serving of ox penis soup, please!"

"Okay, ma'am, is there anything else you need?" The young lady quickly took notes, her smile growing wider.

Li Mei then closed the menu and waved her hand dismissively, saying, "That's all for now."

"Okay, just let me know if you need anything."

The waitress left.

Ji Bai was dumbfounded.

He was enjoying himself at first, thinking to himself, "Why is the teacher being so generous today? Ordering food like it's free."

But as he listened, he realized something was wrong.

Oysters.

kidney.

Chinese chives.

Sea cucumber.

Ox penis soup.

What are these things?

This is hardly a meal.

This is going to kill him!

Ji Bai raised his head and looked at Li Mei with a half-smile.

"Old teacher, you're quite knowledgeable."

"What do you know?" Li Mei feigned ignorance, but the tips of her ears were already so red they were almost bleeding.

"Oysters, lamb kidneys, beef kidneys, chives, sea cucumber, ox penis soup..."

Ji Bai counted them one by one, and with each item he counted, Li Mei lowered her head a little.

"They're all super nutritious! Tell me, what do you want to do tonight?"

"Fit my ass! Look at those dark circles under your eyes! You really need to get them fixed!"

Li Mei stopped pretending and immediately put on a stern face: "With such huge dark circles under your eyes, aren't you ashamed!"

Ji Bai touched his nose: "Ahem, well, I've been working on experiments these past few days, and it's been pretty tough."

"Ha, you think I'd believe that?"

Li Mei scoffed, glancing at him sideways with a look that held three parts mockery, three parts ridicule, and four parts an indescribable sourness.

At first, when she saw Ji Bai with dark circles under his eyes, she really thought he was tired and felt sorry for him for a long time.

But then I thought again, who is this kid?

If you say this kid plays games until the wee hours of the morning, Li Mei will believe you, but if you say he does experiments until the wee hours of the morning, Li Mei will never believe it!

That bastard, who knows what he's been doing locked up in the house for the past ten days or so!

You must have rewarded yourself quite a bit, right?

And they even said they were "doing experiments"!

Experiment my foot!

Ji Bai felt a little embarrassed by Li Mei's gaze.

How to put it... it's like certain special-purpose study materials being stared at by a beautiful woman... ahem,

I wanted to explain, but when the words came to my lips, I didn't know how to say them.

Forget it.

Do not explain.

The more you describe, the darker.

Ji Bai leaned back, crossed his arms, and a meaningful smile appeared on his lips: "Alright, teacher, since you're so concerned about me, then this amount of food won't be enough tonight, waiter!"

"Sir, please speak."

"Add two more servings of grilled oysters, six skewers of lamb kidneys, a serving of black garlic stewed sea cucumber, and that... Ten-Ingredient Tonic Soup, please."

After Ji Bai finished speaking, he raised an eyebrow and looked at Li Mei: "Teacher, are you satisfied?"

Li Mei's face flushed red to the roots of her ears.

"Get lost! Who, who asked you to add those things!"

"You ordered it, I just catered to your taste."

"That was...that was..."

"What is it?"

"It's so you can replenish your energy! So you won't be too weak!"

"I'm weak?"

Ji Bai was so angry he almost laughed.

"You'll soon find out whether I'm weak or not."

"Ji Bai!!!"

Li Mei's voice rose another octave, drawing the attention of guests at several nearby tables.

Realizing she had lost her composure, she quickly covered her mouth, leaving only her large, watery eyes staring at Ji Bai.

That look in her eyes held three parts anger and seven parts shyness.

Ji Bai's heart fluttered at the sight.

The atmosphere... seems a bit off.

……

Before long, the dishes were served one after another, breaking the awkward atmosphere.

The Wagyu beef that arrived by air today is displayed on an ice platter, with marble-like snowflake patterns evenly distributed between the meat fibers, making it incredibly appetizing just to look at.

The oysters were enormous, stacked on crushed ice, their shells pried open to reveal the thick, glistening oyster meat inside, like pieces of warm, smooth jade.

The charcoal fire was already glowing red.

Ji Bai didn't rush to pick up the meat. Instead, he brushed a thin layer of oil onto the grill rack and waited until the oil started to smoke slightly before slowly picking up a slice of Wagyu beef and placing it on the rack.

"Sizzle—"

As the oil dripped, a cluster of golden-red flames leaped from the charcoal fire, and the aroma of meat exploded instantly.

Li Mei was taken aback by his practiced manner: "You can grill meat?"

"What's so difficult about that?"

Ji Bai stared at the meat, his hands moving non-stop: "When I was watching over the internet cafes at night, I would bake bread slices for myself when I got hungry in the middle of the night, and I couldn't bear to throw them away even if they burned."

"Back then, I thought that when I had money in the future, I would definitely come to a restaurant like this, order a table full of meat, and have someone grill it for me."

As he spoke, he flipped his wrist and rolled up the slightly charred Wagyu beef, but instead of putting it in his own mouth, he steadily placed it on Li Mei's plate.

"Teacher, you've worked hard. Take some extra nutrition."

Li Mei looked at the perfectly roasted piece of meat on the plate, glistening with oil, slightly charred at the edges, and coated with a thin layer of sauce.

"You eat it yourself, I'll do it myself," she said softly.

"Try it first, see how it's cooked."

Li Mei picked it up, blew on it, and put it in her mouth.

It melts at the entrance.

The moment the oil melts on the tip of your tongue, the rich yet sweet milky aroma rushes straight to your head.

"Mmm! Delicious!" Li Mei's eyes lit up, and her voice softened.

"Of course, it doesn't matter who grilled it." Ji Bai said, picking up a new piece of grilling material and placing it on the grill rack.

What happened next was a bit strange.

Ji Bai acted like he was on automatic barbecue mode the whole time, barely eating any himself and just piling meat onto Li Mei's plate.

The tenderest part of the frost-covered meat, just roasted to seven-tenths done, was pink and oozing with juices. It was all immediately put into Li Mei's plate.

"This piece has some fat, it smells good."

"This piece is a bit leaner, so it's not greasy."

"This piece... was overcooked by half a second, but it'll do. I'll bake a perfect one for you next time."

Li Mei's plates piled higher and higher, and she couldn't stop her no matter what she tried: "Why don't you eat some? Why are you just piling food on my plate!"

"I'm not hungry, you eat first."

"You just said you were hungry!"

"That was just now, but now watching you eat is even more enjoyable than eating by myself."

Li Mei paused for a moment, her ears starting to burn.

That bastard, how could he say something like that even while eating a meal?

She lowered her head, silently picking at the meat on her plate, not daring to say another word.

I ate too quickly, and somehow a little sauce got on the corner of my mouth.

Before she could react, Ji Bai across from her had already reached out his hand.

His warm fingertips gently brushed across the corner of her mouth, the movement as natural as if he had done it a thousand times.

Li Mei froze.

Time seemed to stretch out in that instant.

She could clearly feel the warmth of the boy's fingertips; they were a little rough, carrying the scent of charcoal fire, soothing her from the corner of her mouth all the way to her heart.

Her heartbeat was so loud she could hear it herself.

"Why do you eat like a child?"

Ji Bai withdrew his hand and wiped his fingertips with a tissue.

Li Mei finally came to her senses, her cheeks instantly turning bright red: "What...what are you doing!"

"Just wiping my mouth."

Ji Bai looked at Li Mei with a half-smile.

"Teacher, what are you thinking about?"