After the Divorce, I Ended Up with My Ex-Husband’s "White Moonlight" [Transmigration] - Chapter 36

“Why?” Qin Shi’s hand, still holding her chopsticks, trembled. It took her a full ten seconds to steady her nerves enough to ask for a reason.

“I think…” Ning Qi felt a wave of self-pity. She’d only just secured this girlfriend, and now she was about to lose her. Ugh, will I ever find someone as good as Qin Shi in the next life? Or should I ask if there are any openings in heaven or hell?

“Qin Shi, tell me the truth—did you buy this breakfast from the shop downstairs?” Ning Qi asked mournfully. She was too distraught to notice that Qin Shi’s entire frame had stiffened.

Qin Shi was currently spiraling into her own crisis of confidence. Is my cooking really that terrible? She loved it last time! Despite her inner turmoil, she maintained a calm facade. “Yes.”

Ning Qi grew even more despondent. Sensing the shift, and before Qin Shi could explain, Ning Qi spoke with a sob in her voice: “My sense of taste has failed again. Qin Shi… I think I have to go back to the hospital.”

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Qin Shi frowned. She didn’t know the specific trauma Ning Qi was referring to, but she clearly detested hearing such talk.

“It’s true!” Ning Qi looked at her with a mix of grievance and accusation. “You don’t even believe me!”

Seeing Qin Shi’s utter confusion, Ning Qi explained, “I’ve been drinking the porridge from that shop for so long, and it always tastes exactly the same. The customers say it hasn’t changed since the neighborhood was built! But now… I feel like the taste is different.”

A long silence followed. Finally, Qin Shi asked, “Does it taste… good?”

Is now the time for that? You scumbag! Ning Qi was internally fuming. She was “terminally ill” and about to be hospitalized, yet her brand-new girlfriend was only concerned with the flavor profile! Heartless!

Meeting Ning Qi’s teary, “you-scumbag” gaze, Qin Shi finally pieced together what was going on in that little head. She gave Ning Qi’s forehead a playful flick and chuckled. “What on earth is inside that brain of yours?”

Ning Qi remained silent, still nursing her “tragedy.”

“You aren’t sick.”

“Really, you aren’t.”

“I promise,” Qin Shi reassured her.

Wait… I’m not sick? Relief flooded Ning Qi. That’s great! I’m going to live a long time, and I don’t have to stay in a hospital!

Seeing her realize the truth, Qin Shi smiled and held a spoonful of porridge to Ning Qi’s lips. “Now, can I get a review?”

Ning Qi dazedly accepted the spoonful. As she swallowed, she stole a look at her companion. When this woman is gentle, it is absolutely lethal!

“Another bite,” Qin Shi prompted. Ning Qi obeyed like a well-behaved child, her entire attention anchored on Qin Shi.

“Is it good?”

“I didn’t catch the flavor,” Ning Qi admitted truthfully. She had been too busy looking at the “scenery” in front of her.

“Then taste it again.” Qin Shi patiently fed her spoonful after spoonful, occasionally adding a bit of side dish. At this moment, Ning Qi was like a pampered cat, accepting whatever its owner offered. When Qin Shi paused, Ning Qi just watched her with wide, watery eyes, waiting for the next bite.

After a while, the movement stopped. Ning Qi looked down in confusion; the bowl was empty.

The sight of the empty bowl snapped her back to reality. Oh my god, what was I doing? Was that really me? Ning Qi, you are a healthy, functional adult. Is this how you treat your able-bodied self? While she loathed herself internally, she glanced at Qin Shi’s beautiful face and decided she must have been “bewitched.” Last time she’d said looking at Qin Shi was worth three bowls of rice—she was wrong. Looking at Qin Shi actually made you waste a bowl of rice, because you couldn’t even taste the food!

“Can I get a five-star rating now?” Qin Shi asked.

“Eh?” Ning Qi blinked. Qin Shi set the bowl down and began to eat her own portion.

Finally, Ning Qi connected the dots. She asked tentatively, “Wait… you made this?”

“Mm-hmm,” Qin Shi nodded, continuing her meal.

“Five stars!” Ning Qi blurted out instantly. “Definite five-star rating!”

So, she could indeed have this gorgeous, multi-talented girlfriend who was as skilled in the kitchen as she was in the boardroom? The answer was clearly yes. Ning Qi looked at Qin Shi, then at herself.

What was I thinking earlier? Pure nonsense. I’m a lunatic! She began to worry that while her looks might be a match for Qin Shi, her intellect was seriously lacking.

“But,” Ning Qi pointed to the containers. “Why is it in the shop’s packaging?” The shop downstairs had custom-marked containers, which was why Ning Qi had been so certain of the source.

Qin Shi ate in silence.

Is she ignoring me because I’m too slow? Ning Qi pieced together the rest. “Wait… Qin Shi, did you get information from the shop owner, and then… cook it right there?”

Ning Qi remembered rambling to Qin Shi about how she survived on her terrible cooking skills: a bowl of porridge downstairs in the morning, followed by a trip to the supermarket to continue “refining” her failed culinary experiments. Since she found it too time-consuming to make her own porridge, she’d become a regular at the shop and friendly with the owner.

Qin Shi’s silence was a “yes.”

“So, you learned from the owner that I hadn’t been down for breakfast, deduced I was still in bed, and then borrowed their kitchen to make me a meal?” Ning Qi was fascinated. “How did you get the owner to agree to that?”

Before Qin Shi could answer, Ning Qi scrambled. “Wait! I need another bowl!”

Opportunity of a lifetime! Since tasting Qin Shi’s cooking previously, Ning Qi had often daydreamed about having it again while staring at her own lackluster attempts. Now that the dream was reality, she was ecstatic.

“Qin Shi, you are absolutely amazing!” Ning Qi gave her a huge thumbs-up.

Qin Shi had simply wanted to have breakfast with her. Since Ning Qi slept in, she’d improvised. Faced with such earnest, unbridled praise, Qin Shi actually grew embarrassed. She lowered her head for a moment before looking up and saying, “Just eat.”

“I am, I am!” Ning Qi chirped. Then she noticed something. “Qin Shi, why aren’t you eating the side dishes? You’re only having plain porridge.”

“Qin Shi… are your ears red again?” This time, Ning Qi was bolder. She even reached out to touch one of the blushing ears. “And they’re so hot!”

“Be quiet,” Qin Shi said, sounding mildly annoyed, but Ning Qi wasn’t afraid.

“Qin Shi, why are you so shy sometimes?” Ning Qi teased. “And yet other times—like last night—you catch me completely off guard. Logically, shouldn’t someone like you, who probably grew up receiving confessions every day, be used to this?”

Ning Qi rested her chin on her hands, leaning onto the table to stare directly into Qin Shi’s eyes.

“And what about you?” Qin Shi set down her chopsticks and countered.

“Me?” Ning Qi blinked, her long lashes fluttering. Qin Shi’s breath hitched. This time, she didn’t look away. “Did you receive many confessions growing up?”

“Of course not,” Ning Qi answered lazily. Being the Miss of the Ning family, she’d had very few chances to interact with peers outside of a controlled circle. “But you’re different!”

“How so?”

“You’re just… different. Especially good.” Ning Qi remained slumped on the table, her chin resting on her hands, tapping her fingers rhythmically. She looked like a contented cat basking in the sun.

Qin Shi’s eyes narrowed. She wouldn’t be human if she endured this any longer.

Suddenly, Qin Shi’s face magnified in Ning Qi’s vision. Ning Qi, who had been leisurely admiring the “view,” suddenly felt a coolness on her lips.

A minute passed.

“Qin Shi…” Ning Qi mumble-complained. Having experienced it once, she was less prone to running away this time, but still… “You’re still eating breakfast!”

“I’m full,” Qin Shi replied with immense satisfaction.

“Well, I still need to eat,” Ning Qi sat up properly. Qin Shi didn’t move. “Also,” Ning Qi added, her head ducked low to hide her heated face, “in the future, you can’t just kiss me without my permission. It’s too sudden.”

“I’m afraid that won’t do,” Qin Shi answered with a smile.

“Why?”

“Miss Ning Qi,” Qin Shi reached out and ruffled her hair. “You should familiarize yourself with the ‘obligations’ of being a girlfriend.”

Right. I forgot. No, wait—even a girlfriend has autonomy! And I haven’t even formally said ‘yes’ yet!

“You disagree?” Qin Shi caught her muttering.

“I agree! I agree!” Ning Qi chirped at the sound of Qin Shi’s low, warning tone. Of course I agree! If I miss this chance, I’ll never find another shop like this! She knew she couldn’t find another girlfriend this perfect even if she searched with a lantern in broad daylight.

She looked up and realized Qin Shi was actually grinning.

I was tricked! She wasn’t angry at all, she just misled me! And I answered so desperately!

She felt exactly like how “Sister Mu’s” mother described her: “Hating to be unwed”—or in other words, desperate to marry. That was exactly how she must have sounded just now!