When The Harem Novel’s Heroine Meets The Tragic Heroine - Chapter 7

The waiter pushed the dining cart over, placing the mandarin duck pot (split pot) right in the center of the dining table, followed by plates of exquisite side dishes.

Bei Qiuqiu pulled Yu Qingling along to prepare the dipping sauces. By the time they returned, the milky white and fiery red broths were already bubbling and boiling, and the unique aroma of hotpot base permeated the air.

Bei Qiuqiu picked up her chopsticks to grab a mutton roll, but out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the person opposite her remained motionless, showing no intention of moving her chopsticks at all.

Using her chopsticks, she gripped a thinly and evenly sliced mutton roll and dropped it into the spot where the broth was boiling most vigorously. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine—there!”

“I love nine-second mutton rolls the most; they are tender and fresh. Try it, Sister.”

Yu Qingling had been hungry for a long time. Especially when her nose was filled with the rich fragrance, she had already secretly swallowed her saliva twice in that short span of time.

Since transmigrating into the book, she had stayed in the apartment gnawing on the biscuits and instant noodles left behind by the original owner—gnawing so much she felt like she was turning into a biscuit herself.

She hurriedly offered her thanks, picked up her chopsticks, and placed the still-steaming mutton roll into her mouth.

The mutton roll was slightly hot, and the dipping sauce clinging to it instantly activated her taste buds; the savory, fragrant, and spicy flavors sent her straight to heaven.

Yu Qingling thought that this was absolutely the most delicious flavor she had ever tasted in her life!

In a war-torn era of scarce resources, being able to eat one’s fill was already good enough. Having salty flavor in every meal was a luxury—a treatment only the nobility could enjoy.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, chewing slowly with a profound sense of happiness.

That look of enjoyment made Bei Qiuqiu stare without blinking.

Who would have thought that the cold and abstinent Miss would be a foodie?

She picked up a fatty beef roll from the side, blanched it, and placed it into the dipping sauce dish in front of Yu Qingling.

At this moment, the only thing attracting Bei Qiuqiu was the woman’s eyes, slightly curved from enjoying the food, looking as if they contained stars—shining and bright.

She thought Yu Qingling must rarely eat spicy food.

Otherwise, why would she be huffing and puffing after just two bites?

Her lips, crimson from the chili; her eyes, clouded with mist; and her flushed cheeks made Bei Qiuqiu’s heart itch, her throat feeling dry.

Before they knew it, two plates of meat rolls were gone, and Bei Qiuqiu called the waiter.

Only then did Yu Qingling realize she had been being fed by the girl the entire time, and her face burned with slight embarrassment.

When the waiter brought out fresh meat rolls, Yu Qingling imitated Bei Qiuqiu’s method, putting a meat roll into the boiling soup and silently counting nine seconds before fishing it out.

Just as Bei Qiuqiu was feeling regretful that the “Sister” no longer needed her feeding, a slender hand reached over. The fingers were long, the lines elegant, and the silhouette smooth—it was the exact hand shape that made her heart flutter.

Yu Qingling understood the etiquette of reciprocity and placed the cooked mutton roll in front of Bei Qiuqiu. “You try it.”

Bei Qiuqiu realized belatedly that she was being “fed back.”

She lightly licked her lips. “Thank you.”

It was clearly the same taste as before, but inexplicably, Bei Qiuqiu felt it was much more delicious than the last time she came.

The first meal the two shared ended amidst the back-and-forth of mutual feeding.

Looking at the high stack of empty plates, Bei Qiuqiu found it somewhat unbelievable.

After the meal, after dropping the person off at the entrance of the residential area and agreeing to return the coat tomorrow, Bei Qiuqiu drove away.

Regarding the matter of how to “conquer” the cold, Sister, she had a new train of thought.

She rushed to the bookstore to buy several cookbooks and went home in high spirits, preparing to start learning how to cook gourmet food herself.

To capture a person’s heart, you must first capture their stomach.

Though this saying was old-fashioned, it was practical. Bei Qiuqiu had heard of many successful cases.

At the Bei family mansion, the freshest ingredients were delivered every day.

It happened to be past mealtime, and the kitchen was empty.

Bei Qiuqiu opened a cookbook, took ingredients out of the refrigerator, and seriously began her first time cooking in two lifetimes, following the steps in the recipe.

Thinking of Yu Qingling’s reaction at the hotpot restaurant today, she noticed that the woman liked eating meat more than vegetables.

Then she would start by learning how to make Spicy Chicken (La Zi Ji).

Cooking didn’t seem difficult on the surface, but it was actually very tedious; the hardest part was controlling the heat.

Fortunately, Bei Qiuqiu had a tiny bit of talent in this area.

However, during her first attempt, although she didn’t burn it, the chicken cubes were a bit tough, and the presentation was only barely passable.

She dumped the dish and started practicing again.

This time, taking lessons from the previous experience, although there were still deficiencies, the presentation finally passed the test.

Bei Qiuqiu didn’t expect to be able to deliver “love bento” right now; she had to lure the person in first.

She took an exquisite porcelain plate from the collection cabinet, washed it, and plated the food. She placed it in a spot with suitable lighting, found the right angle, and took a photo.

After thinking about it, she tidied her slightly messy hair, held the freshly made Spicy Chicken for a beautiful selfie, and blissfully posted it to her Moments (Friend Circle).

She couldn’t always make video calls to the person; that might make the Sister feel she was too noisy. But posting on Moments was different.

Playing hard to get works wonders; the beautiful sister will be mine soon.

She wanted to let the “foodie sister” know first that she was a little expert who loved making gourmet food.

One loved making food, and the other loved eating it—they were completely complementary, a perfect match!

After posting to her Moments, Bei Qiuqiu couldn’t help but click on Yu Qingling’s WeChat avatar, look at it for a moment, and then exited without saying a word.

The system, Liuliu, watched the whole process and asked a question: [Host, what are you doing?]

Bei Qiuqiu gave a perfunctory smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I plan to use gourmet food to please the male lead.”

Liuliu thought for a moment and asked again: [Host, you keep checking that woman’s WeChat from time to time—what are you doing now?]

Bei Qiuqiu’s smile slowly faded. This feeling of being monitored every moment was truly terrible!

[Host, don’t forget that you have already broken your character persona once today.]

It was referring to Bei Qiuqiu having a pleasant lunch with Yu Qingling, who was supposed to be her adversary.

In the system’s view, Bei Qiuqiu should be on the same side as the male lead, and since Yu Qingling had knocked out the male lead, the two should not be having lunch together so happily. This was “OOC” (Out of Character) behavior.

It took a while for the corners of Bei Qiuqiu’s mouth to twitch. “No, you’re wrong. Sister doesn’t exist in your script. In the entire novel, there has never been a person named Yu Qingling, has there? So, no matter what my relationship is with her, it has nothing to do with breaking character.”

Liuliu was momentarily speechless.

“If you insist on talking about breaking character, go find Qin Anjue. He was the one who didn’t follow the script first.”

Seeing that persuasion was fruitless, Liuliu resorted to threats: [If you don’t listen to the system’s advice, you’ll suffer the consequences sooner or later. Host, you will be electric-shocked eventually.]

Bei Qiuqiu snorted coldly. “You should go shock Qin Anjue first!”

From a distance, an affected, artificial voice came from behind. “What are you doing there?”

As soon as Bei Qiuqiu heard this voice, she knew who it was: Bei Miaomiao, the original owner’s elder step-sister.

She didn’t expect Bei Miaomiao to be at home at this time instead of being at the hospital sharing hardships with Qin Anjue.

Bei Miaomiao walked over quickly and asked, “I think I just heard you call Young Master Qin’s name.”

Bei Qiuqiu kept her eyes down, expressionless. She turned to leave, but the only path out of the kitchen was blocked by Bei Miaomiao.

Bei Miaomiao bit her lip, annoyed that Bei Qiuqiu wasn’t giving her any face. She sneered, “I think Mom and Dad have already told you—Young Master Qin is mine. I advise you to stop lusting after things that belong to me.”

Bei Qiuqiu almost wanted to laugh. So, in the eyes of his sweetheart, Qin Anjue was a “thing.”

“What you’re holding… You made it for Young Master Qin, didn’t you? You want to go to the hospital to see him and give him dinner? Stop daydreaming. Just give it to me; I’ll deliver it for you.”

As she spoke, Bei Miaomiao reached out to grab it.

Bei Qiuqiu took a step back, flicked her wrist, and dumped the entire plate of Spicy Chicken into the trash can.

That scumbag Qin Anjue didn’t deserve to eat the food she cooked.