It wasn’t until after seven in the evening that Ning Chu finally wrapped up her work.
A full table of dishes, along with pork bone soup and a bowl of longevity noodles—this was the fruit of her entire day’s labor.
Yet, she still couldn’t stay idle. She busied herself cleaning up around the induction cooker, which was surrounded by chaos after her cooking marathon.
Wen Yang, unable to hold back, approached her, grabbed her little succubus tail, and led her toward the coffee table.
“Hey! What are you doing?”
“Let’s eat first. I’ll clean up after dinner.”
“Don’t touch my tail!”
Ning Chu didn’t dare resist. Once her tail was seized, she lost all her strength, allowing herself to be gently pulled backward and seated on the sofa.
Her face was flushed red, and she sneaked a glance at Wen Yang, bracing herself to become part of the dinner if things escalated.
No wonder he’s the male lead of a steamy romance novel—his mind is always full of naughty thoughts!
A scene from a raunchy novel suddenly popped into her head: the female side character wearing nothing but an apron, cooking for the male lead while he devoured her in every sense.
It’s his birthday! I even cooked an entire table of food!
But Wen Yang simply sat down beside her, handing her chopsticks as he usually did, though his gaze today carried a softer warmth. “Take off the apron and try your cooking.”
“Oh~”
Ning Chu removed the apron, carefully folded it, and placed it under the coffee table, muttering quietly, “I’ve already tasted everything. It’s fine, just a bit worse than my mom’s cooking.”
Her cooking skills were still at a beginner level, though her knife work was barely passable after assisting her mom in the kitchen during winter break.
She glanced over at Wen Yang, only to see him already starting on the bowl of longevity noodles.
Wait, wasn’t he supposed to let me eat first?
“The noodles seem a bit overcooked.”
Suppressing the lingering tension from having her tail grabbed, Ning Chu leaned over to inspect the noodles. “I left them in too long—they’re so thin.”
“They taste good.”
“Really? When my mom used to make longevity noodles for me, I thought they were awful. I hated how soft and mushy they were.”
Wen Yang smiled as he nodded. “They’re really good.”
“Maybe my mom was just half-assing it...”
Having already eaten quite a {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} bit while cooking, Ning Chu barely touched her chopsticks and instead kept chatting away.
“I was so worried my cooking would be terrible. The last few times I tried, I made myself sick.”
“Thankfully Lily helped. When I wasn’t sure about something, I could call her.”
“Oh! And I bought a ring!”
“A ring?” Wen Yang noticed the silver ring now adorning Ning Chu’s right index finger—it was the one he’d given her on her birthday.
At the time, Ning Chu had already become a girl, though few people knew. She wasn’t used to wearing accessories, so she had simply stored the ring away.
Rummaging through the nightstand, Ning Chu excitedly returned with another ring box. “I spent so much money on this one! It’s kind of a couple’s set with yours!”
“Was it expensive?”
“Dozens of bucks... Try it on!”
Before Wen Yang could react, she eagerly slipped the ring onto his finger.
“It doesn’t fit...”
Wen Yang’s long, slender fingers—capable of effortlessly gripping a basketball—had prominent joints, causing the ring to get stuck at the second knuckle.
Ning Chu had always had a love-hate relationship with those hands. Today, they were an obstacle.
First, the cake turned into a mess, and now the carefully chosen ring didn’t fit. Her mood sank as she fidgeted with the ring, murmuring softly, “This birthday is turning into one problem after another...”
Seeing her drooping head, Wen Yang couldn’t help but chuckle. “We’ll just get a bigger size.”
“I just wanted to give you a nice birthday...”
“It’s already great. You should be happy too—it’s my birthday, after all.”
“You’re right.”
Ning Chu looked up and smiled at him, quickly bouncing back to her usual cheerful self. “Hey! Try the pork bone soup. There’s marrow inside, and the meat is super tender!”
“And this sweet and sour pork—well, I cheated and used the sauce from the fish...”
Although she had initially aimed to create a surprising and memorable birthday for Wen Yang, she realized that a warm, homey celebration might be exactly what he needed.
Taking on the role of a proper wife, she wanted to give Wen Yang a taste of the comfort and warmth of a real family.
She couldn’t deny the guilt she felt over Wen Yang’s family situation, and now she had thrown herself in as part of the package.
Seeing the smile that hadn’t left his face all evening, Ning Chu felt that she had done pretty well, despite the hiccups here and there.
If only she could read his mind—she had no idea what Wen Yang was really thinking.
“From now on, when you work part-time on weekends, I’ll cook and wait for you at home! I’ll be your logistics team!” Ning Chu declared proudly. “Starting tomorrow!”
“I doubt you’ll last until next weekend.”
“No way! I don’t have anything else to do on weekends anyway. Shopping and cooking are easy!”
“Then I’ll take care of the dishes.”
She nodded emphatically. “Deal! I hate washing dishes!”
Growing up, her family had a rule that whoever ate the slowest had to clean the dishes, so Ning Chu had spent years scrubbing pots and pans. It had left her with a psychological aversion to the task.
Propping her elbows on her thighs and resting her chin in her hands, she watched Wen Yang devour her cooking with wide eyes.
Seeing him eat so heartily, Ning Chu felt a rush of accomplishment. It was like playing a healer in a game and reviving a teammate who was on the brink of death.
All the fatigue from the day’s work melted away.
“Eat slower, or you’ll choke.”
She began to suspect Wen Yang was putting on a show for her. The food was decent, but it couldn’t be so good that he’d wolf it down like this, could it?
While Wen Yang usually ate a lot, his table manners were far better than those of Yan Xinya.
“What time is it?”
“Seven-thirty. Do you have plans tonight?”
“There’s something later.”
“What game are you playing?”
Wen Yang swallowed his food and turned to look at Ning Chu. His intense gaze made the little succubus lower her head in embarrassment.
“I feel like I’ll speedrun you tonight,” he teased.
Ning Chu’s competitive streak flared up. “No way!”
She wasn’t sure she could completely exhaust the steamy romance novel male lead, but she was confident she could endure a few rounds!
“I’ve never even used the steering wheel before,” he added.
Her mind immediately conjured an image: bent over the edge of the bed, Wen Yang standing behind her, gripping her horns while her tail wagged involuntarily.
Her face turned crimson, and her legs instinctively pressed together to clamp down on her tail.
“Pervert! You still have cake to eat!”
“You look like you’re looking forward to it.”
“I... I’m going to take a shower first.”
Ning Chu jumped off the sofa. It was Wen Yang’s birthday—there was no avoiding tonight’s events. Now, she had to decide whether to wear that outfit to boost Wen Yang’s "attack speed" and power, and maybe even call him “Master” or something.
Hmm, maybe calling him “Daddy” would excite him more.
It would definitely excite her too...
