My Gorgeous Neighbor Is Cooking Every Day - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

“Use my cup?” Jiang Yingyue paused. “Yes, you can.”

Xia Xingye was a little surprised and sat up to look at Jiang Yingyue.

Jiang Yingyue continued: “If you don’t mind.”

Xia Xingye quickly shook her head. How could she mind? She was just surprised Jiang Yingyue agreed.

She had noticed that Jiang Yingyue lived here alone and hadn’t bought any extra items; she only had one cup.

Most people wouldn’t lend their personal cup to others, especially since Xia Xingye lived right next door and could easily go back for water, but Jiang Yingyue not only agreed but even worried that Xia Xingye might mind.

Because Jiang Yingyue agreed to lend her the cup, Xia Xingye felt light and airy as she slept.

In the middle of the night, she heard a sound and struggled for a while before opening her eyes, only then remembering where she was.

She looked outside the bedroom door. A light shone through the crack under the door. Someone had turned on the living room light.

Xia Xingye reached out and touched the spot next to her; no one was there.

She stared at the light under the door, full of surprise. What was Jiang Yingyue doing in the living room in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?

She waited a while, but Jiang Yingyue still hadn’t returned. It seemed she wasn’t just getting water or going to the bathroom but was staying in the living room.

Xia Xingye paused, then carefully slipped out of bed.

She didn’t turn on the light. She went to the door and opened it a small crack, seeing Jiang Yingyue standing in the living room.

Jiang Yingyue was sitting upright with a small coffee table in front of her. On it were a pile of yellow papers. She held a brush and was continuously writing and drawing, seemingly focused on some task.

Xia Xingye remembered the yellow paper Jiang Yingyue had thrown earlier. Was she drawing talismans?

The only similar scene Xia Xingye was familiar with was the trope of Taoist priests catching ghosts. Although films of this genre were rarely made nowadays, she occasionally saw clips while browsing videos and found them interesting enough to search for.

Could Jiang Yingyue be a Taoist priestess? Xia Xingye frowned slightly. She hadn’t cared about Jiang Yingyue’s identity before, but if she truly was a Taoist priestess, wouldn’t her work be very dangerous?

Xia Xingye felt anxious. This was Jiang Yingyue’s private life, and she had no right to interfere, so she could only worry silently.

Just as she was feeling miserable, there was a quiet bang from the living room.

Xia Xingye quickly looked and saw a charred spot appear on the empty space in front of Jiang Yingyue, as if something had exploded.

The sound didn’t startle Jiang Yingyue. She merely paused her hand for a moment before continuing to draw the talisman.

Xia Xingye’s heart raced, startled by the sudden small explosion. She stood at the doorway, staring at Jiang Yingyue, who was completely focused and unaware of being watched.

After a long time, Jiang Yingyue put down the brush.

Xia Xingye quickly returned to her senses, silently crept back to bed, lay down, and closed her eyes for a while.

She heard the sound of the bedroom door gently opening. A moment later, there was a slight movement beside her, and the mattress dipped slightly—Jiang Yingyue had gotten into bed.

Xia Xingye dared not move, afraid Jiang Yingyue would discover she was awake.

After Jiang Yingyue lay down, there was no more movement.

Just as Xia Xingye thought Jiang Yingyue was falling asleep and was about to turn over, Jiang Yingyue stirred slightly behind her and got up to go back to the living room.

Xia Xingye broke out in a cold sweat. Thank goodness I didn’t move just now, or I would have been exposed for faking sleep.

Xia Xingye didn’t understand why she was so nervous. To be honest, seeing Jiang Yingyue drawing talismans made her feel a little scared, but the moment she thought it was Jiang Yingyue, the fear dissipated, replaced by intense worry.

Jiang Yingyue didn’t stay out long this time. Xia Xingye didn’t even have a chance to get out of bed. After Jiang Yingyue returned, she truly fell asleep.

After an exhausting night, Xia Xingye’s eyelids drooped, and she fell asleep shortly after.

…

Xia Xingye woke up the next day, and Jiang Yingyue was already gone.

Just as she was about to look for Jiang Yingyue, Jiang Yingyue pushed the door open and entered.

Hearing that Xia Xingye was awake, Jiang Yingyue said, “You’re awake?”

Xia Xingye nodded. Seeing that Jiang Yingyue acted as if nothing had happened, she clearly had no intention of talking about last night.

But that was fair. What reason did Jiang Yingyue have to explain all that to her?

Letting her stay at her place didn’t mean she was an insider.

Jiang Yingyue had already bought breakfast. After eating, Xia Xingye returned to her apartment and found a repairman to fix the light.

The repairman called her name a couple of times as he left. Xia Xingye was still dazed and paid the money absentmindedly.

Xia Xingye was troubled in her room, unsure how to communicate with Jiang Yingyue.

She was usually not a complicated person, but when it came to Jiang Yingyue, she felt she had to overthink many things. If she acted without thinking, the consequences could be severe.

This was the first time Xia Xingye had encountered such a situation and had no idea what to do. She had never encountered anything supernatural before.

She stayed in her room all day, still feeling confused. By evening, Xia Xingye wanted to go find Jiang Yingyue, but after thinking it over, she held back.

Jiang Yingyue definitely didn’t want to be discovered, which was why she was secretly drawing talismans in the middle of the night.

Xia Xingye paced back and forth in her room all day, never taking a step outside, but her WeChat step count still reached over ten thousand.

Her phone suddenly rang. Someone was messaging her on WeChat.

Xia Xingye opened it and saw it was the dorm group chat. The three of them were tagging her.

Xia Xingye scrolled up and found they were discussing last semester’s failing grades, and there was a screenshot showing Xia Xingye had failed a course.

Xia Xingye looked at it in disbelief, confirming she was only one point short.

She froze, staring at the fifty-nine points.

Xia Xingye checked her official system account, not believing it, and found the teacher had already given her full credit for her participation grade, yet even so, she was still one point short of passing.

Xia Xingye didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She was at a loss for words.

She hadn’t tried hard enough, and the teacher had already tried very hard to save her, but if it didn’t work, it was what it was.

Her roommates reminded her that the failed subject would have a make-up exam next week and told her to study well. They even kindly sent her all the materials they had.

Xia Xingye looked at the materials and then at the time. It was past eight in the evening; the print shop outside hadn’t closed yet.

She went out to print the materials. When she came back, she saw Jiang Yingyue was about to head out. She subconsciously asked, “Where are you going?”

Jiang Yingyue raised her hand to show her what she was carrying: “To throw out the trash.”

Xia Xingye sighed in relief. It was just to throw out the trash.

“You go ahead,” she paused, then asked, “Do you want me to go down with you?”

Jiang Yingyue shook her head.

Xia Xingye understood what she meant. It was just throwing out trash; she naturally didn’t need company.

Jiang Yingyue went to throw out the trash alone. Xia Xingye held the materials and didn’t go inside, waiting for Jiang Yingyue to return.

She was about to go inside after greeting her when Jiang Yingyue saw the stack of paper in her hand: “What did you go print?”

Xia Xingye blinked and immediately said happily, “I printed some study materials.”

She had been sad about failing, but Jiang Yingyue’s question immediately made her feel better.

Jiang Yingyue proactively showed concern for her!

“Study materials?” Jiang Yingyue nodded and said approvingly, “You’re quite studious.”

Xia Xingye scratched her head sheepishly: “I failed a course last semester, and the re-exam is next week. I plan to review it these next few days.”

As she spoke, she enthusiastically showed Jiang Yingyue: “Look at these. I can’t understand them no matter how I look at them. I understood when the teacher explained it, but a few days later, I forgot again.”

Worried Jiang Yingyue would think she was stupid, Xia Xingye added an explanation: “This is the only course I failed. All my other grades are excellent!”

She handed the materials to Jiang Yingyue. Jiang Yingyue lowered her eyes, looked at them, and said, “I can teach you if you need help.”

“You can?” Xia Xingye pushed the materials closer to Jiang Yingyue and asked uncertainly, “Look, can you really?”

Jiang Yingyue examined them carefully, nodded, and said, “Yes, I can. I can teach you if you need it.”

“Great! Then teach me. Right now?” Xia Xingye got excited and forgot the time.

Only when Jiang Yingyue asked her, “Are we staying up all night?” did Xia Xingye realize it was already very late.

But as soon as she looked at Jiang Yingyue, she said, “If you’re not sleeping now, it’s not impossible.”

Xia Xingye had never pulled an all-nighter studying, but if Jiang Yingyue was with her, she could try it out.

“Wait for me,” Jiang Yingyue said, going back into her room. After a while, she opened the door and told Xia Xingye, “Let’s go.”

Xia Xingye followed her back to her room, still slightly disbelieving.

After they sat down, she stared at the problem for a long time, unable to put her pen to paper, and looked to Jiang Yingyue for help.

Jiang Yingyue told her a thing or two, and Xia Xingye suddenly had a flash of inspiration. She looked down at the paper in surprise again: “It really is that way.”

The problem she couldn’t solve wasn’t difficult at all; she was just stuck on a small step.

Jiang Yingyue didn’t laugh at her, instead comforting her: “Some parts are easy once you memorize them.”

Xia Xingye looked at her admiringly: “You’re so amazing.”

Worried that Jiang Yingyue might think she was a bad student, she quickly added: “I’m not the only one who failed this course. The failure rate for this one is actually quite high.”

It was just that none of her three roommates failed, which made her look a little dumb.

Xia Xingye had printed the materials, originally planning to ask her roommates for help with difficult parts, but now that Jiang Yingyue was teaching her, she didn’t need to ask her roommates anymore.

Jiang Yingyue taught very seriously, continuing until one in the morning. Only when Xia Xingye was too sleepy to keep her eyes open did she say, “That’s enough for today. I’ll come teach you again tomorrow.”

Xia Xingye nodded, yawned, and mumbled, “Good night.”

Jiang Yingyue replied “Good night” and left.

After Jiang Yingyue left, Xia Xingye sat at the desk zoning out for a while before going to wash up.

She still remembered that Jiang Yingyue barely knew how to operate a mobile phone. She had initially thought Jiang Yingyue didn’t understand modern things, but she hadn’t expected Jiang Yingyue not only to understand them but to be better at them than she was.

It seems Jiang Yingyue doesn’t use a phone simply because she doesn’t like it, not because she can’t learn.

As Xia Xingye lay in bed, her mind was still full of knowledge. Jiang Yingyue’s voice was lovely, like a clear stream, flowing knowledge into her mind.

While their teacher was good, their lectures were sometimes vague, and Xia Xingye often couldn’t hear clearly. In comparison, Jiang Yingyue was practically born to be her tutor.

She turned to look at the wall, curious if Jiang Yingyue was asleep yet or had gone back to drawing talismans. Thinking about it, she eventually drifted off to sleep.

The doorbell rang the next morning while Xia Xingye was still sleeping. She groggily went to open the door, saw Jiang Yingyue, and asked blankly, “Why did you come over?”