Her eyebrow twitched. "How do you know I didn’t eat already? Did you hire soone to spy on ?"
Ou Lin laughed and shook his head. "You don’t like street food. And the amusent park doesn’t have any good restaurants. So the chance of you eating sothing is basically zero."
Qiao Li’s jaw dropped.
Okay... he was right.
That was exactly what happened.
She had skipped food all day because nothing looked clean enough for her.
Still, she crossed her arms and snapped, "What you’re cooking is just as bad as stall food anyway."
Ou Lin kept smiling. "Really? I wore gloves. Look."
He held up his hands to show the clear plastic gloves.
"And this." He pointed to the plastic chef hat on his head. "Totally hygienic. Co on. Just try it."
Qiao Li rolled her eyes so hard it almost hurt. "Fine."
She stomped upstairs, pretending she didn’t care.
But a few minutes later, she walked back down.
She planned to say sothing an like, "This food’s worse than dog food."
She had her full speech ready.
She sat down at the table, arms folded, waiting for Ou Lin to ss up.
But then...
He placed the food on the table.
The sll hit her nose first.
It was warm. Spicy. A little sweet.
It slled... amazing.
Qiao Li’s eyes widened just a little. No way.
She leaned forward slowly, pretending she wasn’t curious.
She picked up a spoon and took a bite.
Her eyes widened even more.
It was delicious.
Perfectly seasoned. Soft but crunchy in the right places. The flavor lted on her tongue.
She stared at the bowl like it had just spoken to her.
Ou Lin sat down across from her, acting casual. "So? Is it good?"
Qiao Li quickly put down her spoon and looked away. "It’s... fine. Just okay."
But secretly?
She had never wanted to finish a al so fast in her life.
After finishing her food, Qiao Li sat back, rubbing her tummy a little. She looked at the empty dishes, then raised an eyebrow at Ou Lin.
"Alright, spill it. What’s the special occasion? Why are you suddenly acting like so five-star chef?"
Ou Lin grinned. "Easy. I need to fatten up my wife before I devour her."
Qiao Li choked so hard on her water, she almost coughed her lungs out. "Wha—what?!"
Ou Lin quickly patted her back with a smirk. "Don’t be so shocked. There’s still a lot of ti before that, you know?"
Qiao Li shoved his hand away and glared at him. "Who said I’m gonna be your wife?!"
He tilted his head, all innocent. "The one who just answered."
Her face turned red with anger. Without thinking, she stood up and leaned over the table—
CHOMP!
She bit down on his hand. Hard.
Ou Lin winced but didn’t scream. Even when blood started to co out, he didn’t pull away. Instead, he chuckled — CHUCKLED — while she was still biting him!
Qiao Li noticed the blood and her eyes widened. She let go, taking a step back. "You—! Why didn’t you pull away?!"
Ou Lin lifted his hand slightly. "This ti... you’re the one who attacked ."
Qiao Li growled, "You deserved it."
She turned to walk off — but before she could take even two steps—
"Aaaaaghhhhh! It hurts! Qiao Li, it really hurts!"
She spun around so fast her ponytail almost slapped her. "Shut up!" she hissed. "Do you want my mom to co in here and see this?! I’ll get grounded for life!"
But Ou Lin clutched his hand dramatically. "It’s seriously painful! I don’t think I can take it!"
"I’ll bandage it, okay?! Just stop yelling!"
"Nope," he said, suddenly calm. "Only if you listen to for one whole day."
Qiao Li squinted at him. "So this was your plan?"
Ou Lin shrugged and smiled.
She wanted to scream. How did she ever fall for this crazy man?!
With no choice, she marched over and grabbed his hand. "Fine. I’ll listen. But only because I don’t want my mom to find out."
He smiled sweetly. "You’re the best, wifey."
"Say that again and I’ll bite your other hand!"
He laughed and let her lead him upstairs. When they reached her room, she slamd the door shut.
She turned around, ready to yell at him so more...
But then—
Thud.
Ou Lin stepped forward and caged her between the door and his body.
Qiao Li blinked like a cartoon character. "W-What are you doing?"
Ou Lin leaned in with a small smile. "Co on. You know what I’m doing."
Qiao Li’s whole brain scread danger! She could feel her heart pounding like crazy.
She tried to stay calm. She frowned and crossed her arms. "If you think this is gonna make everything okay, you’re dreaming."
He looked serious now. "I know. I know it might take 20... maybe 30 years to earn your forgiveness. Maybe my whole life."
He gently looked into her eyes. "But I’ll wait. Because you gave the best years of your life. Now I’ll give you the rest of mine."
Qiao Li’s heart skipped a beat. Her mouth opened a little, but she closed it quickly.
No. She shook her head. She wasn’t going to fall for this. Not again.
She shoved him back, hard.
"Try anything stupid and I’ll call my mom."
He just chuckled. "I’m waiting. I want you to deal with ."
Qiao Li turned red. She gritted her teeth. "You’re such a smug idiot."
He held up his hands like he was surrendering. "Okay, okay. How about this? You listen to for one day. In return, I’ll forget the bite."
Only then did she glance down at his hand again.
Her eyes went wide. "Wait... It’s still bleeding?!"
She panicked and ran to grab her first-aid kit. "Why didn’t you say anything earlier?!"
As she carefully dabbed his wound with cotton, she felt her guilt bubble up. "I’m sorry... I shouldn’t have gone that far."
Ou Lin smiled softly. "It’s okay. It’s just a scratch."
"But it’s bleeding!"
He gently touched her forehead. "It’s my fault. My blood is dramatic. It likes to show off. Even if you didn’t bite , I probably would’ve poked myself so the extra blood could get out."
Qiao Li froze... then burst into laughter. "You’re seriously the weirdest person I know."
He shrugged with a grin. "I try."
But then she pushed him again, frowning. "Don’t think your sweet words will fix things. I’m not coming back to you just because you’re acting all cute."
Ou Lin gave her the biggest smile yet. "Good. That ans I get to chase you forever."
Qiao Li rolled her eyes. "Ugh! You’re too smug!"
He winked. "Only for you, wifey."
Qiao Li lowered her eyes, a small frown on her face. Just then, her phone buzzed.
Ding!
She checked the screen. It was a ssage from that boy — the one from the amusent park. He’d texted:
"Today was fun! Can we hang out again soon?"
Ou Lin, who was still standing nearby, caught a peek of the ssage. His smile instantly dropped.
He pointed at her phone with a sulky face. "Block him."
Qiao Li raised an eyebrow. "Excuse ?"
Ou Lin crossed his arms, pouting like a kid who didn’t get candy. "That guy’s annoying. Just block him already!"
Qiao Li smirked. "Why would I do that just because you say so?"
"...Because I’m your future—"
"Don’t say it!" she warned, pointing a spoon at him.
Ou Lin sighed dramatically. "Fine... but seriously, you shouldn’t waste your ti with him."
Qiao Li looked at her phone again. Truthfully? She was going to block the guy. He scread like a goat on every ride and even spilled soda on her favorite jeans.
Still, she shrugged. "I’ll decide what to do. You don’t get to control everything."
Ou Lin looked disappointed but nodded. "Okay... it’s your choice."
Then, out of nowhere, his whole energy changed. He sat on the edge of her bed and started whining in a high-pitched voice.
"But Li-Liiiii," he said, dragging her na, "you never pay attention to anymore! You don’t even look at ! I’m invisible! Like a ghost! Boo!"
Qiao Li blinked and gave him the most unimpressed face ever. "You’re seriously acting like a five-year-old."
Ou Lin flopped backward like a dying fish. "Maybe if you noticed more, I wouldn’t have to act this way!"
"You’re so dramatic," Qiao Li said, rolling her eyes.
Ou Lin peeked at her from the bed. "I’m serious! I’ll do anything if you just look at again. Hug . Scold . Take a hundred pictures of . I won’t even blink!"
Qiao Li tilted her head. "Any kind of pictures?"
Ou Lin sat up quickly. "Any!"
She smirked mischievously. "Even one of your abs?"
Ou Lin didn’t hesitate. "Sure!"
Before she could say anything else, he pulled off his hoodie and tossed it aside.
Qiao Li froze.
Right there, under the warm light of her room, were the most well-defined abs she’d ever seen in real life.
"...Whoa," she whispered, eyes slightly wide.
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