Even as a "normie," I'm completely oblivious to it.

I need to go to the hospital for another checkup.

This idea lingered in Qin Ruoke's mind, refusing to leave.

Actually, she didn't want to get too involved in Yu Zhe's life at first; she just wanted to watch over him from afar.

But time and time again, when things actually happened, she still found herself getting involved without even realizing it.

For example, regarding Yu Zhe's trip to the hospital today, she could have called Su Zixiao from the apartment and asked her to handle the matter, but Qin Ruoke still followed him without hesitation.

This was somewhat out of character for her, yet she couldn't help herself.

That's really too greedy.

Because she kept thinking about this and hesitating about whether or not to go to the hospital, she kept getting distracted during class in the afternoon and barely listened to anything.

This continued even after school, when he was working.

Right now, I only have this part-time job at Luo Xiaomeng's bakery. I wasn't late today, but I was still a bit distracted while working and almost added wasabi to the cake.

She patted her cheeks to clear her head: "Ugh... this isn't good. I really hope Yuzhe can go back to school soon so I don't have to think about all this... no... should I go to the hospital now... ugh."

Her gaze shifted slightly towards the staff lockers. In her own locker was a delicate food container, a meal that Qin Ruoke had quickly prepared after leaving the hospital at noon.

"I really don't know why I made this... Am I really going to eat it myself...?"

Honestly, she really didn't know why she prepared this dinner. Her initial motivation was definitely to give it to Yu Zhe, but since she wasn't going to the hospital, there was no opportunity to give it to him.

Qin Ruoke, caught in a dilemma, just stood there blankly stirring the chocolate sauce, her thoughts drifting off somewhere else.

But this situation was soon broken by a light and lively voice.

"Hey! Qin Ruoke! You're here for work today."

Luo Xiaomeng, who occasionally visits the bakery to check on things, mischievously sneaks into the kitchen.

Even this shout couldn't bring Qin Ruoke back to her senses. Luo Xiaomeng stepped forward again, stood on tiptoe, and patted her shoulder.

"Qin Ruoke? Qin Ruoke? Little Ruoke!!"

Xiao Ruoke…

"Huh? I'm here!"

Perhaps it was because Yu Zhe often called her that, because upon hearing this address, Qin Ruoke immediately put down her work and turned around, only to see Luo Xiaomeng looking up slightly with a puzzled expression.

"Seriously, what's wrong with you? I've seen you spacing out the whole time at school."

Qin Ruoke smiled awkwardly: "No, it's nothing. Maybe I'm just a little tired from studying. Luo Xiaomeng, are you here to check on the work? Everything is normal in the store, just like usual."

"Um... everything's fine in the store, but to be honest, you're the only one who's not quite right."

"?"

Seeing that she hadn't noticed, Xiao Meng sighed, walked past her, and took down the menu that was stuck on the table.

"Because it seems like no matter what the customers order, it always turns into a chocolate cake... You see, it's clearly written on the menu, and then when I came in, I saw you still stirring the chocolate sauce..."

"Ah... I'm sorry, I'll redo it right away."

Actually, Luo Xiaomeng wasn't there to demand an explanation; she was more worried. Having worked with Qin Ruoke and the others so many times, Xiaomeng considered her a friend. So, how could Xiaomeng not worry about such an unusual situation?

She pressed down the blender in Qin Ruoke's hand: "Alright, stop messing around. I'll leave the rest to someone else. If you have something on your mind, you can leave work early and rest. Oh, by the way, speaking of resting, I wonder how Yuzhe is doing?"

Because she was afraid that it would cause trouble if her classmates found out about this, when Qin Ruoke came to convey Yu Zhe's leave request, she only said that he was not feeling well and needed to go home to rest.

This is consistent with what Yu Zhe told Xiao Meng this morning.

"Okay... thank you. I'll take the day off then, so you don't need to calculate my salary."

Qin Ruoke nodded and walked towards the employee counter; it was time to go home and rest for a while.

But Luo Xiaomeng disagreed: "That won't do. You have to take paid leave. Do you think I'd deduct your salary? We're friends."

"friend?"

Qin Ruoke turned around and looked at the little girl with some surprise. She was initially astonished, but then smiled with relief: "Yes, she's a friend."

No wonder Yu Zhe and Luo Xiaomeng are usually so close. It's true that the people he approves of are all people with certain qualities.

Qin Ruoke was also happy that Xiaomeng could say she was a friend.

It wasn't until she opened the employee locker that Qin Ruoke suddenly realized something.

I saw this lunchbox again... Sigh, so should I go to the hospital or go home?

Holding the box and examining it, Qin Ruoke hugged it to her chest and murmured to herself, "Wouldn't going to the hospital be too much...wouldn't that put Yuzhe in a difficult position..."

"Hospital? What hospital?"

She thought Luo Xiaomeng had left, but Luo Xiaomeng hadn't.

She was a little worried and had been thinking of walking Qin Ruoke a short distance away when she overheard her muttering to herself.

Qin Ruoke was startled and turned around abruptly to see Luo Xiaomeng standing right behind her.

It's not that Qin Ruoke has poor perception! It's just that Luo Xiaomeng is really too short, she really doesn't...

note!

"No! It's nothing, you must have misheard... Hahaha..."

The perceptive Xiaomeng is not easily fooled. She mentioned the hospital and Yuzhe in her words just now, so her absent-mindedness this afternoon is probably related to this.

So Xiaomeng pressed on, "You can't fool Xiaomeng! Tell me quickly, what's going on?"

Qin Ruoke remained silent, not intending to speak.

This doesn't mean Xiaomeng has no choice: "Sigh, I was thinking of not disturbing Yuzhe's rest, but it's this late, he should be awake by now. Let me make a call and ask."

There's really nothing I can do about Luo Xiaomeng.

"Stop calling... Never mind, I'll tell you."

So Qin Ruoke explained the whole story to Luo Xiaomeng.

"I see. He said he was fine this morning, so he was fine."

Like other girls, Xiaomeng was a little sulky.

Her eyes darted around cleverly, and she clapped her hands: "I've decided! I'm going to the hospital to get checked out. I probably haven't had dinner yet."

Then she hopped over to the cabinet not far away and picked up a menu: "Hmm... Today's super nutritious meal deluxe version is too expensive and we didn't use it, so I'll send it to Yuzhe to help him recover. That's decided!"

Is that all?

Qin Ruoke looked at the lunchbox she was holding with a bit of a speechlessness. She had been agonizing over it for so long, but when it came to Luo Xiaomeng, it didn't seem like a big deal at all.

There were relatively few customers in the store at that time, so Luo Xiaomeng mobilized some staff to help her complete this super set meal with lots of rare ingredients.

And she smiled happily: "Hehehe, luckily my family owns a restaurant. It's only really useful in situations like this. Hmm, it's much better than cooking for myself!"

Luo Xiaomeng didn't mean anything by it; she was just saying that if she were alone, she definitely couldn't make a meal as delicious, nutritious, and visually appealing as the deluxe set meal.

But Qin Ruoke heard this differently.

It's much better than what one person would cook... She gripped the lunchbox tightly in her hand.

I didn't have any competitive advantage over other girls to begin with...

She was a little resentful; even if she didn't want to argue, sometimes she still wanted to prove herself.

So she mustered her courage and said to Luo Xiaomeng, "I think... the thought behind it is very important, even if it's just a simple home-cooked meal made by one person..."

22. Take it one step at a time.

"Ah? Oh right... The sentiment is very important."

Luo Xiaomeng didn't understand why Qin Ruoke suddenly started talking about this.

It's worth mentioning that she had obviously seen the lunchbox Qin Ruoke was holding from the beginning, but Xiaomeng thought it was just dinner Qin Ruoke had prepared for herself and didn't think anything of it.

But suddenly saying that the sentiment is very important, is this implying that the super nutritious meal Xiaomeng wanted to give to Yuzhe is just for show and has no sentiment?

This really angered Xiaomeng.

She turned around and retorted, "Of course, the sentiment is important, but isn't the form important too? Qin Ruoke, think about it. Even if I spend a whole day making a simple rice ball and give it to Yuzhe, he won't be happy, will he?"

Just ordinary...

Qin Ruoke glanced at her lunchbox. Although it was quite pretty, the dishes inside were nothing compared to what Xiaomeng had prepared.

To put it bluntly, these two are not even on the same page right now.

Qin Ruoke just wanted to say that the dishes she prepared were made with care, while Xiaomeng just wanted to say that her deluxe set meal was not just for show.

But now it has directly devolved into the two attacking each other.

They argued for several minutes but couldn't reach a conclusion about the relationship between intention and form.

"How do you know I don't have feelings for you?!" Xiaomeng argued logically.

Qin Ruoke didn't know why she suddenly became unhappy.

"I didn't say you weren't sincere! I just said there's no need to be so formal!"

"Being bound by formalities...aren't you saying I'm rigid about formalities and lack sincerity...?"

"I didn't say that."

"You said it!"

Qin Ruoke didn't know how many years it had been since she had argued with anyone like this, like a child.

She was also a bit overwhelmed. The decision of whether or not to go to the hospital this afternoon had already made her very irritable.

So Qin Ruoke asked directly, "So why are you so concerned about this? What does it matter whether you have feelings for someone or not? Do you actually like Yu Zhe?"

"I just like it!"

"Huh?"

Xiaomeng answered almost without hesitation.

Qin Ruoke was speechless for a moment. This didn't sound like she was just being stubborn at all. Luo Xiaomeng, you're really something.

As if realizing what she had said in a moment of impulsiveness, Xiaomeng's face turned bright red, and she could only cover her face with her hands, looking shy and embarrassed.

"Ugh... I said it already." Xiao Meng peeked at Qin Ruoke through her fingers. "If I said... I misspoke, would you believe me?"