Qiao Xi appreciated his offer and declined, saying, "My mom makes these, and you can't buy them anywhere else."

This made Du Xinyu even more confused. He said matter-of-factly, "Then just ask your mom to make you some. Will making it yourself be the same?"

Upon hearing this, Qiao Xi paused for a moment as she prepared the ingredients, and said with a hint of longing on her face, "If she were still alive, I would definitely make this for me."

“She…” Du Xinyu wasn’t so stupid as to not understand what she meant. After realizing what she meant, he subconsciously apologized to her, “Yes, I’m sorry.”

Hearing his apology, Qiao Xi was somewhat surprised, "Oh my, so our little cousin can apologize."

Du Xinyu immediately straightened his back and tucked in his stomach, replying, "Tch, I'm a reasonable person too, okay?"

Qiao Xi knew that he was actually very kind at heart, but he was sometimes a little simple-minded and had a sharp tongue.

"There's no need to apologize for this," Qiao Xi said with a sense of relief. "Everyone dies eventually, but we can leave our mark on history."

Du Xinyu gave her another disdainful look, "You talk as if you've seen through life and death."

While Aunt Liu went out to buy things, Qiao Xi didn't have much to prepare, so she took a can of beer from the refrigerator and gestured to Du Xinyu, "Want some?"

Du Xinyu hesitated for a moment before taking it, and Qiao Xi then took another bottle. The two of them then began to "drink and chat" in the kitchen.

Qiao Xi continued, "It's not that I'm indifferent to life and death, but none of us know what will happen tomorrow. We can't predict whether an accident or a surprise will come first."

"Therefore!" Du Xinyu said solemnly, "Life is short, so we should enjoy it while we can!"

Qiao Xi immediately gave him an admiring look, "Wow, you've got a pretty clear understanding of life."

When Du Xinyu heard Qiao Xi praise him, he was proud and smug. "Of course! That's exactly why I opposed that marriage. How pitiful would I be to be tied down by marriage at such a young age?"

Qiao Xi said with disdain, "It doesn't seem like I'm asking you to marry her right now. It's just a meeting to get to know each other. If it's a good match, you can start dating; if not..."

"Stop, stop!" Du Xinyu retorted, unable to accept it. "Why are you talking about love when you're in the prime of your life? You'd be better off eating well, sleeping well, and having fun."

Qiao Xi suddenly remembered something and asked, "You haven't graduated from university yet, have you?"

Du Xinyu nodded and said, "Yes, I'm a senior this year."

"So you're... skipping class now?" Qiao Xi almost forgot about this. In her previous life, he was thrown out by Qi Jincheng, so Qiao Xi didn't know him very well.

Du Xinyu said dismissively, "Oh, what's the big deal? I've hardly ever been to class anyway."

Qiao Xi, “…”

He had the ugly appearance of a rich young master who was idle, lazy, and irresponsible.

"So you spend your time eating, drinking, and having fun?" Qiao Xi asked deliberately.

Du Xinyu thought for a moment and nodded, "Pretty much."

Qiao Xi smiled politely and gave him a thumbs up, "You're quite promising."

Du Xinyu said with a proud look, "Absolutely."

Qiao Xi was speechless for a moment. She didn't know if he was genuinely proud or joking, but judging from his expression, he didn't seem to be joking.

After a moment of silence, Qiao Xi asked him again, "Does your mother know you're here?"

Du Xinyu said with considerable confidence, "Of course I don't know. If I did, I would definitely come to find me."

"If I were your mother, I definitely wouldn't come looking for you," Qiao Xi replied with a smile, giving him a very firm answer.

Just as Du Xinyu gave her a puzzled look, she added five more words to his face: "Most likely, he's ruined."

Du Xinyu was stunned for a moment, then shouted at her, "Hey, what do you mean?"

However, Qiao Xi had already left the kitchen; she wanted to see if Aunt Liu had returned.

The steps to make flower cakes were still quite complicated for her, and by the time she finished, it was already dark.

Qi Jin called ahead to say he would be home late and wouldn't be back for dinner, so Qiao Xi quickly finished her dinner and continued making her flower cakes so she could take them to the cemetery first thing tomorrow morning.

Du Xinyu was playing games, but when he smelled the aroma coming from the kitchen, he couldn't resist running over.

As he approached the kitchen door, the aroma was incredibly tempting.

Although he had just eaten dinner half an hour ago, he secretly reached out his hand when he saw the flower cakes that Qiao Xi had just taken out of the oven. Qiao Xi slapped his hand away just before he touched them.

Du Xinyu immediately exclaimed, "Sister-in-law, don't be so stingy!"

Qiao Xi originally didn't want to give him any, but after hearing him call her "sister-in-law" on his own, she changed her mind. "Just out of the pot, Iron Hand?"

Du Xinyu, no longer acting like a complaining woman, smiled and said, "I've always been tough-skinned since I was a child, I'm not afraid."

Qiao Xi didn't stop him anymore. "Then do as you please."

Du Xinyu reached out impatiently to grab it, only to get burned. To cover his embarrassment, he gave a silly laugh and said, "It really is a bit hot."

"No one's going to take it from you, eat slowly." Qiao Xi isn't a stingy person, and besides, this is the first dish she made, so she doesn't know how it tastes. It's a good opportunity for him to test the waters.

After blowing on it a few times, Du Xinyu decisively took a bite, then his expression changed drastically as he spat it out, saying, "It's so salty!"

"Is it salty?" Qiao Xi tasted it in disbelief, and it really was a bit salty.

After failing in the first set, she immediately made a second set.

After it came out of the oven, she invited Du Xinyu to try it, saying, "Want to try some more?"

Du Xinyu was a little skeptical, but the smell was really good, so he dared to try it again. "Pah, it's too sweet."

Qiao Xi decisively started the third round. After finishing, she again let Du Xinyu taste it. Du Xinyu had clearly lost faith in her, but under Qiao Xi's repeated invitations, he still decided to give it a try...

"Why is it bitter?" Du Xinyu looked at her with a questioning expression.

Qiao Xi also felt it didn't make sense. After thinking about it carefully, she finally realized where the problem was.

Having mastered the techniques from the previous attempts, this batch was quickly ready. When she wanted to find Du Xinyu to 'test' it again, she was surprised to find him preparing to sneak upstairs.

Qiao Xi quickly called out to him, "Little cousin."

Du Xinyu's face was filled with a survival instinct, and Qiao Xi quickly comforted him, "This time it'll definitely taste good."

"I'm full," Du Xinyu said hastily.