28

Xiao Jian's pancake business is booming. His skills were already quite good, and with the free promotion from Qiu Jie, Wang Ting, and others, he gets a steady stream of customers every day. Ever since Wang You'ai ate Xiao Jian's homemade pancake that morning, he's joined in the promotion. Encouraged by Wang You'ai, many boys who are too lazy to eat dinner in the cafeteria or want a change of pace choose Xiao Jian's pancakes first.

These days, everything relies on packaging and promotion. Good promotion attracts customers, and Xiao Jian's pancakes are no exception. Thanks to the widespread word-of-mouth effect, many teachers came to buy them. So, at the end of the semester, Xiao Jian unexpectedly received a work-study stipend from his department, encouraging him to maintain stable grades while working. They even promoted Xiao Jian's example, calling it a windfall! But for Xiao Jian, it was more accurately described as a pancake falling from the sky—a stroke of good fortune. The pancake landed right on him, unexpectedly giving him money. How could Xiao Jian not be happy?

Xiao Jian should have been very happy, and he was indeed quite cheerful. But the thought of Qiu Jie's method for dealing with Li Muqing made him anything but happy. It was really not a good method! In Xiao Jian's opinion, it would be better to honestly chase after Li Muqing every day than to use Qiu Jie's method, except he didn't know when Li Muqing would agree to him... Using Qiu Jie's trick might work, but Xiao Jian really couldn't do it! So while Xiao Jian was happy that his pancake business was booming, he was also worried about his love life. He was experiencing for the first time what it felt like to be in pain and happy at the same time, which was really nauseating.

Actually, Qiu Jie's teaching him wasn't anything new. It was simply to have Xiao Jian find Wang Ting to provoke Li Muqing and force him to submit. Unfortunately, Xiao Jian wasn't the type to use tricks. Saying sweet words and sending pancakes was already the limit of what Xiao Jian could do. Li Muqing alone was enough for Xiao Jian to handle. If Wang Ting were added to the mix, Xiao Jian might as well jump off a building. Therefore, Xiao Jian also planned to clarify things with Wang Ting. Unfortunately, Wang Ting had recently disappeared and he hadn't seen her for over a week. However, Xiao Jian didn't have time to deal with Wang Ting right now. He planned to talk to her when he ran into her.

After racking his brains for a whole week, Xiao Jian finally came up with what he thought was a brilliant plan.

That evening, after selling all his pancakes, Xiao Jian excitedly ran to Li Muqing's dormitory and knocked on the door.

"Is there something you need?" Li Muqing's attitude towards Xiao Jian remained cold. Although his cold face always discouraged Xiao Jian, Xiao Jian never intended to give up.

"Li...Li Muqing, I...I'd like to invite you to my house this weekend." Xiao Jian didn't beat around the bush and got straight to the point.

"Why would I go to your house?" Li Muqing cursed Xiao Jian in her heart for being so dense, not even saying anything nice to coax her, not even the kind of sweet talk that was easy to see through. But she still couldn't bring herself to refuse him.

"The corn and vegetables I grow are in season, and I'd like you to come and try them. You city folks rarely get to eat food grown without chemical fertilizers, right? So I'd like to invite you..."

"Is there anything else?" Li Muqing neither refused nor agreed.

"And...and the eggs laid by my hens are also delicious! I think they're called free-range eggs here, and they're really big!" Xiao Jian said excitedly after thinking for a while.

"Anything else?" Li Muqing still didn't answer.

Xiao Jian was so anxious that sweat was starting to bead on his forehead. What exactly did Li Muqing want to eat? He had already told her about all these delicious foods, how could he still not be tempted?

"And...and the well in front of my house, the water in it is so sweet! Sweeter than any Nongfu Spring water!" Xiao Jian finally remembered and blurted it out.

Li Muqing almost burst out laughing. Seeing Xiao Jian standing anxiously at the door of his dormitory, thinking about the things from his hometown that were now everywhere, he felt that Xiao Jian was honestly ridiculous and pitiful at the same time. In the end, he couldn't bear it: "Can't you even get a little meat?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jian finally understood. After all this time, it turned out that Li Muqing was a carnivore who couldn't live without meat!

"Yes, yes, yes! Of course! And all the pigs are slaughtered on the spot! Guaranteed fresh!" Xiao Jian's tone suggested he wanted to take Li Muqing home right now. Li Muqing was too embarrassed to tease Xiao Jian any longer, so she agreed to go back with him this weekend. However, her tone was still cold when she agreed.

Even so, Xiao Jian was still completely captivated by his good looks. He walked back to his dorm with a silly grin, told Wang Youai he was so handsome, lay down on his bed with a silly grin, had a sweet dream with a silly grin, talked in his sleep with a silly grin, and the next morning he pushed his pancake cart out to sell pancakes with a silly grin. Finally, just as Xiao Jian was closing the door, Wang Youai couldn't help but say, "He's gone crazy."

From Tuesday's invitation to Friday's departure, Xiao Jian felt every second was torture. He finally looked forward to Friday after class and rushed to Li Muqing's dormitory door, waiting for him to return.

As soon as Li Muqing stepped out of the elevator, she saw a big, goofy guy standing at the dormitory entrance. When he saw Li Muqing return, he grinned, revealing a set of white teeth, and said, "Ready to go." Then he wore a silly grin.

While sitting on the train, Xiao Jian told Li Muqing how big and wonderful his hometown's vegetable garden was, while recalling how Qiu Jie had praised him a few days earlier when he successfully shared his idea: "Great job, Xiao Jian! You're a master now! Your skills have improved! And also, when you're sleeping at night, you can…@#￥%……&*"

"Xiao Jian? Are you feeling unwell? Why is your face so red?" Li Muqing was eating the apple that Xiao Jian had peeled for her when she noticed that Xiao Jian had suddenly stopped talking and his dark face had turned red. She wondered what had happened to him.

Xiao Jian snapped out of his daze and saw the hint of worry still lingering on Li Muqing's handsome face. He couldn't help but feel overjoyed. He kept saying that everything was fine and continued to tell Li Muqing about his hometown. Xiao Jian was having a great time, and Li Muqing was listening attentively. Before they knew it, they had arrived at their stop.

But good things often come with difficulties, and misfortune always seems to strike when people are happiest. Just like a joke that God played on Xiao Jian, when Xiao Jian happily brought Li Muqing back to his home and opened the door with great joy, he found that there was another person sitting next to his mother on the wooden chair in his house—Wang Ting.