Although They're Mentally ill, They're Extremely Easy to Comfort - Chapter 34

This home hasn’t been this lively and comfortable in years as it was this morning.

Thanks to Qiao Bo’er, Ling Xi has resumed the breakfast habit she abandoned long ago. She finished eating and drinking, stood up, and was ready to leave without a care.

“Stop right there.”

Qiao Bo’er’s cold voice made the “lazy fish’s” head pause for a few seconds. She quickly thought through her memory, wondering which place she had accidentally offended the crazy woman this time.

“What is it?”

“Clean up the table.” Qiao Bo’er pointed to the messy dining table with an unusually stern attitude.

But Ling Xi didn’t care: “I’ll clean it up when I get back after work tonight.”

“No.”

Being harshly refused again, Ling Xi still hadn’t grasped the reason for Qiao Bo’er’s sudden low pressure, and her attitude became unpleasant: “Mind your own business.”

“I’m saying it again, clean up the table.”

“It’s the same whether I clean up now or later, why be so particular about this moment?”

“You should clean up and wash the dishes right after eating. You can’t be indecisive when doing things. You’re this old and still have a lot of bad habits; do you think you’re still a three-year-old child?”

Seeing Qiao Bo’er’s stubborn and strict demand, Ling Xi reluctantly began to gather the takeout containers, grumbling under her breath, “I’m not your employee, why are you scolding me…”

Qiao Bo’er leaned back in her chair and sneered, “I wouldn’t be this nice to my employees when I scold them. With your attitude, you couldn’t be my employee.”

Ling Xi slapped the box in her hand onto the table and glared at Qiao Bo’er in displeasure: “Hey! You shouldn’t belittle people like that.”

“Belittle? I’m just stating facts.” Although Qiao Bo’er was sharp-tongued, her actions were surprising.

She got up and took the takeout box from Ling Xi’s hand, patiently instructing her while sorting the pastries: “You’re skinny as a rail, so you must eat breakfast. Put what you don’t finish in the fridge. When you’re hungry, heat it up in the microwave. When you grow up, you have to learn to take good care of yourself.”

Ling Xi leaned against the table, watching Qiao Bo’er clean up her mess. Her less-than-nimble movements made her curiously interject with an unrelated question: “Someone as refined as you, do you even handle life’s trivial chores yourself?”

“Of course not, I have people to serve me.”

“You don’t even lift a finger for chores, so what are you lecturing me about?”

“You’re different. Your level of self-care is almost zero. If I don’t say a few words to you, you won’t clean up this table of food even if it goes moldy.”

Poked at for her sloppy habits, Ling Xi still wanted to argue: “The cleaning lady comes to my house to clean three times a week. I’m not as bad as you make me sound.”

“Even so, it’s not an excuse for you to be lazy.”

If it weren’t for a concern etched into her bones, how could this arrogant and noble woman lower herself to clean up leftover scraps and dirty dishes? And how could she nag like an old woman, constantly telling the “lazy fish” to learn to take care of herself?

Ling Xi knew she was in the wrong. She reached out to stop Qiao Bo’er’s actions, took the box from her hand, and continued packing: “Thank you for this meal… today.”

Seeing Ling Xi soften her temper, Qiao Bo’er was pleased. She smiled with crescent-shaped eyes and started with her usual arrogance: “You let me stay the night, and I treat you to breakfast. It keeps our relationship balanced. No need to thank me.”

Suddenly remembering what Xiao Mo and Su Yunjin had entrusted her with, Ling Xi slapped her forehead: “Oh my, this darn memory is getting worse and worse. I almost forgot the main business.”

“What is it?”

“I roughly mentioned the compensation proposal you showed me last time to the other two partners in the studio. They think the issue isn’t a big deal and want to invite you to dinner as an apology and to discuss the details of the compensation plan.”

Speaking of compensation, the memory of her first forced kiss was vivid. The crazy woman’s urge to kiss her again came on fiercely and abruptly.

She suddenly put one hand on the table and the other around the unlucky girl’s waist, leaning her body weight onto Ling Xi. The feeling of being pressed together was soft and comfortable.

Qiao Bo’er provocatively hooked Ling Xi’s chin: “Actually, I think… compensating me with you is the most suitable and simplest, low-cost and high-return. Isn’t this much more worthwhile than paying money?”

Ling Xi’s gaze was fixed on Qiao Bo’er’s face. She didn’t swat away the crazy woman’s restless hand, nor did she avoid the naked gaze, but instead self-mocked: “What good is it to compensate you with a good-for-nothing like me?”

Qiao Bo’er’s fingertip suddenly touched her mouth, silencing her, then she slightly turned her head and placed her own lips on the other side of her finger.

Ling Xi held her breath with nowhere to retreat. She even felt like the surrounding world had gone silent, only hearing her heart pounding so fiercely it was about to burst through her throat.

Qiao Bo’er was entirely pressed against Ling Xi. Their distance was separated only by a slender finger.

A non-kiss, yet wantonly stirring up someone’s emotions.

After a fleeting touch, Qiao Bo’er backed away slightly. She looked at Ling Xi seriously but did not withdraw the hand placed on her lips. It was like a lecture, or perhaps an order: “You are an excellent professor of ancient philology. Your handwriting is as beautiful as your face. You are also a rare young appraiser of ancient and modern Chinese and Western art and artifacts. You must not belittle yourself, and I will not allow you to call yourself useless.”

Ling Xi was surprised. This seemed to be the first time she had heard such a high-level compliment from Qiao Bo’er. She blinked, coming back to her senses: “What did you just say?”

Qiao Bo’er disliked Ling Xi’s sudden arrogance from receiving a little praise, so she immediately changed her words: “Nothing.”

“You complimented me!”

“I did not.”

“You did! You just said a whole bunch of complimentary things about me!”

“You misheard.”

“You are so stubborn. If you complimented me, just admit it!”

Intelligent as Qiao Bo’er was, how could she not know that Ling Xi was merely trying to cover her panic from the finger-separated kiss by raising the volume of her voice?

Forget it, she’d let her play dumb.

Checking the time, Qiao Bo’er changed the subject and kindly reminded her: “Hurry up and finish cleaning, be careful not to be late.”

“Right, right, right. If I’m late, Director Chen will give me trouble again.” Ling Xi carried the dishes toward the kitchen. Qiao Bo’er followed her and brought up her plans for the day: “I’ve already seen you this morning, so I won’t go to class this afternoon.”

“Huh?”

“If I recall correctly, the one named Xiao Mo in your studio is the main person in charge?”

Qiao Bo’er’s train of thought was too jumpy. Ling Xi was still foolishly trying to figure out how the unrelated matters of class and Xiao Mo were connected.

Seeing that her brain wasn’t working, Qiao Bo’er added the key point: “I’m free tonight and can have dinner with your two partners.”

“That’s great! I’ll have Xiao Mo arrange the restaurant later. What do you want to eat?”

“Order whatever you like to eat. After all, you’re the little glutton.” Qiao Bo’er smiled and poked Ling Xi’s cheek playfully. Ling Xi wrinkled her nose and bared her teeth, pretending to be a little tiger.

Still finding Qiao Bo’er’s plan unreasonable, Ling Xi questioned: “That’s not right, not right. Seeing me this morning and having dinner tonight doesn’t conflict with you going to class this afternoon at all. Are you trying to slack off? Classmate Qiao Bo’er, your study attitude is very poor!”

Seeing Ling Xi persistently trying to find something suspicious, Qiao Bo’er simply leaned her lips close to Ling Xi’s ear and whispered a cryptic piece of sweet talk: “It’s not poor. It’s just that this way… I will be yours both morning and night, and you will be mine sooner or later.”

The heartless, cold “lazy fish” blocked out Qiao Bo’er’s unrestrained teasing, only feeling that the answer was irrelevant and out of place. She spoke, lacking any romantic flair: “Where do you learn all these low-quality, cheesy pickup lines every day? They sound terrible!”

Faced with Ling Xi’s harsh criticism, Qiao Bo’er became more interested. Taking advantage of the fact that Ling Xi’s hands were covered in cleaning foam and she couldn’t fight back, she immediately wrapped her arms around that slender waist and mischievously harassed the little lazy cat’s ear, leisurely counter-asking, “Can’t stand not seeing me for just one afternoon? Are you missing me already?”

Ling Xi’s ears were very sensitive. After being nibbled twice by Qiao Bo’er, they were already hot and purple with redness: “I wish you’d never come to class again, so I don’t have to deal with your trouble. Get off me!”

Regardless of what Ling Xi was thinking, Qiao Bo’er decided to PUA her first: “Hmph, you contradictory little woman, you just want to see me…”

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