Volume 1 Chapter 164 Extra: The Top of the Food Chain

After Du Ruo settled in North City, the Du family would come to North City several times every month.

Every time he came, he brought big and small gifts. He came to see Du Ruo, have meals, chat, and stay in the hotel. Du Ruo and Xu Jingmo didn't feel it was a disturbance.

Xu Siyan had extracurricular tutoring classes arranged every week during the holidays, so he couldn't come with them. He was secretly jealous of them. When the long summer vacation came, he couldn't wait to come to North City and live in the old house. Xu Hongjin hired a tutor for him, and there were servants at home to take good care of him. When Du Ruo and Xu Jingmo were free, he could go to play with them. Every day was extremely comfortable.

When Du Yao heard this, he also wanted to come over. Xu Yichu and Du Qian both had jobs and didn't have long vacations to stay with him in Beicheng, so they let Du Yao live with Du Xuefeng and let Du Xuefeng take care of him.

Du Yao only lived with Du Xuefeng for one day before he called Du Ruo crying and begging for shelter.

Du Xuefeng said that he was too active, so she asked him to practice horse stance and learn Go... He really couldn't stand it and complained to Du Ruo. Du Ruo knew very well that with Du Yao's personality, it would be difficult for him to live with Du Xuefeng. She softened her heart, talked to Xu Jingmo, and agreed to let him live in her house.

Du Yao was overjoyed and immediately packed his bags and ran away from Du Xuefeng.

Du Yao moved into his sister's house, and Xu Siyan refused to do so again, wanting to live in his brother's house too.

Xu Jingmo asked Du Ruo for his opinion. Du Ruo thought that it didn't matter if one or two came, and there was room for them at home, so he agreed without thinking.

In this way, four people lived under the same roof.

Du Ruo has no summer vacation. He still goes to work early and comes back late every day, and he still doesn't think there is anything wrong with his life.

Every night the four of us would get together to play games and it was really lively.

But Xu Jingmo was going crazy.

In the first few days after Du Yao and Xu Siyan moved in, he was very considerate and maintained his brother's patience, but now he is getting more and more upset.

How could they not be upset when two huge light bulbs suddenly broke into their sweet world of two?

They didn't cause any trouble, they just took up Du Ruo's attention.

As soon as Du Ruo got off work, the two of them would pester her and ask about her well-being. They even rushed to do tasks like peeling shrimps for meals.

Xu Jingmo suddenly felt that he was useless.

In the past, he was in charge of planning his and Du Ruo's nightly arrangements, but now he has to take care of two young kids.

He would watch children's movies, and when he was having fun playing games, the anti-addiction system would suddenly pop up and interrupt his interest. He even canceled all the benefits every night because he didn't want Du Ruo to be too tired to go to work the next day.

Du Yao and Xu Siyan stayed with them for a week, and Xu Jingmo began to think about how to send these two "divine beasts" away.

After breakfast that day, Xu Jingmo came back from sending Du Ruo to work. He called the two kids out and started a serious talk with them.

Xu Jingmo: "Are you two planning to stay here with me for the entire summer?"

Du Yao and Xu Siyan nodded repeatedly. Seeing Xu Jingmo's serious expression, they cautiously asked, "Brother, you are not disgusted with us, are you?"

Xu Jingmo said with a half-smile: "How could I dislike you? Since you want to live in my house, you should abide by my house rules. We are not your guardians. We can pamper you, but we have no obligation to support you. For the first week, we will take care of you as your brothers and sisters. After that, if you want to continue living in my house, you have to pay a little reward."

Du Yao immediately said, "Pay the rent? I have some pocket money."

Xu Jingmo: "You think you can live in my house just by spending money? What are you thinking?"

Xu Siyan raised her hand and said, "I can do housework."

Xu Jingmo nodded slightly with satisfaction. "Since you are of some use, we won't hire a housekeeper to clean the place every day. You can take over."

Du Yao quickly added: "I can do housework too. Your house has two floors. Si Yan definitely can't do it all by himself. I can also help."

Xu Jingmo said reluctantly: "Then for the sake of our relationship, I'll give you a chance."

Du Yao and Xu Siyan looked at each other excitedly and asked, "Can we continue to stay here as long as we do the housework?"

Xu Jingmo pretended to be distressed and said, "You should have discovered this week that I have always been the one cooking in our house, and Du Ruo has always just eaten ready-made food and doesn't need to take care of me.

But I have to go out of town to participate in a competition for three days next week. Since you are here, do you still need my girlfriend to take care of you?"

Du Yao slyly found a loophole and said, "What will my sister do if you are not at home?"

Xu Jingmo: "I will naturally arrange for someone to take care of her. But I have no obligation to arrange for someone to take care of you. I'm just worried that you need to be taken care of by her, and I'm afraid she'll be tired, understand?"

Du Yao: "We can order takeout and take care of ourselves without my sister having to take care of us."

Xu Jingmo chuckled, "You ate takeout for three days in a row? And then you had a stomachache and were hospitalized?"

Xu Siyan: "What should we do? We don't know how to cook."

Xu Jingmo: "Who knows how to cook right after birth? Did I know how to cook before? If not, you can learn. It is always good to have many skills. Now that you have learned it, you will have a competitive advantage over others when it comes to finding girlfriends in the future."

Du Yao: "Can you learn to cook in a week?"

Xu Jingmo: "It depends on whether you are sincere or not. Anyway, you will eat it. If you can't do it, when I leave next week, you should pack up and go home. Don't bother my girlfriend here. Do you understand?"

Xu Siyan said confidently, "I can do it! I will never trouble my sister-in-law!"

Du Yao was unconvinced and said, "I won't bother my sister either!! Don't worry, I can take good care of my sister even if you are not around!"

Xu Jingmo smiled with satisfaction, "Okay, then it's a deal."

Then he held out his hand to them and said, "Talks between men must be kept confidential, understand?"

Du Yao and Xu Siyan high-fived him and said, "No problem!"

*

Xu Jingmo's words were half true and half false; he and Du Ruo didn't cook every day.

After all, cooking is actually a waste of energy. It takes two hours to prepare the food and ten minutes to eat. When you are busy, you don’t have the spare time. They have a special auntie who cooks for you.

But now it was summer vacation, so he was not so busy, so he liked to cook for Du Ruo. Cooking for the one you loved was a pleasure. He fed her, and she would naturally feed him, which was all fun.

Now there are two little kids in the family, both of whom have been raised since childhood. Xu Jingmo is afraid that they may have stomach problems, so he never takes them out to eat and always cooks for them at home.

Therefore, when he said this, Du Yao and Xu Siyan had no doubt at all, after all, seeing is believing.

When Du Ruo got off work in the evening and just stepped out of the elevator, she noticed something different.

These days, every time she came home from get off work, the two little kids would be waiting for her at the door, each with a pair of slippers, while Xu Jingmo would be busy in the kitchen.

Today, the lobby was unusually quiet. They left? That shouldn't be the case. If they were leaving, they would have told her in advance.

Du Ruo changed her shoes, threw her bag at the door and walked towards the kitchen, only to see Xu Jingmo leaning lazily at the door, as if directing something.

She approached and saw Du Yao and Xu Siyan in the kitchen, each wearing an oil-proof mask, carefully stirring the pot.

"What are you doing?" she asked curiously.

Xu Jingmo naturally put his arm around her waist, kissed her forehead lightly, and said with a smile: "Your two brothers will have to start supporting themselves from today."

Du Ruo didn't know what they were doing, but she didn't care much about the naughty kids' psychology and didn't ask much.

He just looked at the black and sticky food in the pot, which was supposed to be scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and said with an expression of disgust that was hard to describe: "This is for dinner? I choose not to eat it."

Xu Jingmo pointed to the four dishes and one soup on the table and said, "Don't worry, I've prepared your dinner. They are making dinner for themselves."

Du Ruo glanced at the dining table, breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "That's okay, thank you for your hard work." She kissed him on the cheek, then went upstairs to her room to change clothes.

Xu Jingmo saw her going upstairs, looked at the two little kids in the kitchen, and said, "Don't give yourself food poisoning. I'll have to send you to rescue. Go home and have everything you want. Why suffer here?"

Du Yao and Xu Siyan saw that Du Ruo didn't care about them at all, and even had a tone of disgust. They felt looked down upon. They didn't want to save face by working hard for others, and they wouldn't eat food given out of pity!!

Du Yao took a spatula and gave Xu Siyan a bite of the egg.

Xu Siyan frowned and said, "It's too salty, add sugar."

Du Yao scooped a large spoonful of it in, stir-fried it for a while, tasted it himself, and said in disgust: "It's too sweet, add some salt."

Xu Siyan sprinkled some salt in it.

Xu Jingmo said dimly: "Why don't you just add some water? It's all mushy."

Du Yao immediately took a cup of water and poured it in. He poured cold water into the hot pot, and instantly a burst of hot steam rose up, scaring the two men so much that they stepped back a few steps.

Xu Jingmosi had no intention of saving her and continued, "Try it again."

They both scooped some soup and tasted it. It was neither salty nor sweet, so it was edible.

Turn off the heat and serve.

Xu Jingmo leaned against the door, laughing so hard that his stomach hurt.

Du Yao and Xu Siyan were quite satisfied with their first cooking experience. They high-fived each other and encouraged each other, "It's only a week. We can do it!!"

At night, the two little ghosts were like cabbages in the field, watching the two people opposite them eating meat and vegetables with relish. They both held a bowl of horrible soup in their hands and sighed.

Du Yao said pitifully: "Sister~"

"I'll serve you tea, water, wash your clothes and cook for you, as long as you are safe and sound!" Du Ruo looked at Du Yao calmly and said, "Brother, when can I rely on you?"

Du Yao disappeared.

Xu Jingmo picked up a piece of short ribs for Du Ruo, looked at Xu Siyan and said, "What do you want to say?"

Xu Siyan shook his head repeatedly.

Xu Jingmo and Du Ruo ignored the pitiful looks from the two. After the meal, Xu Jingmo looked at the four dishes and one soup that were mostly left over, sighed and said, "Tsk, we made too much, what a waste..."

The two little ghosts opposite him stared at him with green eyes.

Xu Jingmo smiled and said, "Want to eat?"

They both nodded repeatedly.

Xu Jingmo: "Okay, that's fine. Eat my meal for free. Wash the dishes after dinner. You can always use the dishwasher, right?"

"Can!!"

Xu Jingmo stood up leisurely and ignored them.

The two of them enjoyed a feast with one mouthful of rice, one mouthful of meat and one mouthful of vegetable.

“Wow…it smells so good!!!”

In the living room, Xu Jingmo took a grape and threw it into his mouth, then curled his lips happily. Humph, he's just a naughty kid, you want to fight with me?

Du Ruo opened her mouth and let out an "ah", and Xu Jingmo fed her a grape.

She looked at him and smiled, "Evil-minded grapes."

Xu Jingmo took advantage of the two people at the table not paying attention, quickly pecked her lips and said, "You have a bad habit."

Du Ruo and Xu Siyan's perseverance exceeded Xu Jingmo's imagination. Every morning after Du Ruo went to work, the two began to do housework. After finishing the housework and homework, Xu Jingmo would generously reward them with a meal at noon, saying: You mopped the floor well, it's a reward.

In the evening, Xu Jingmo only cooked dinner for him and Du Ruo. Du Yao and Xu Siyan had to fend for themselves and their cooking skills had not improved at all, so they could only eat their leftovers.

Although they were called leftovers, they were actually left for them by Xu Jingmo on purpose. There were four dishes and one soup, and two dishes every day were made according to the two's preferences.

The day was packed with activities, and even the most energetic kid would get tired. Every night before 9 o'clock, he would be so sleepy that he would ask to go back to his room to sleep. This left Xu Jingmo and Du Ruo to go back to their room and enjoy their own world.

Xu Jingmo is going to the neighboring province to participate in a competition tomorrow, and he couldn't help but torment Du Ruo twice more in the evening.

After taking a shower, Du Ruo lay on the bed and complained quietly: "It's more tiring to coax you than to coax a child."

Xu Jingmo said as a matter of course, "Didn't I coax you, too?"

Du Ruo was too lazy to argue with him, after all, this man was becoming more and more shameless.

She nestled in his arms and said sleepily, "Du Yao has really grown up. At home, he would ignore a banana peel if it fell in front of him. But you've been ordering him around like this for a week, and he hasn't complained of being tired at all."

Xu Jingmo hugged her contentedly and complained, "That's not growing up, it's that you're too tempting. These two, one is obsessed with sisters, the other is obsessed with idols, they're small but have big butts, and they're still refusing to leave. Tsk, I'll see how long they can hold out. If they can hold out for a summer vacation, I think I respect them. At least they've learned to be self-reliant."

Du Ruo silently curved her lips, pecked his chin and said, "Good luck in tomorrow's game, Momo."

Xu Jingmo kissed her eyes and said, "I received the fairy's blessing and brought you a first prize. Good night, Rubao."

Du Ruo: "Good night."

*

Xu Jingmo went out for three days, and when he came back, the "divine beast" was no longer in his house.

Confused, he called Xu Siyan and asked, "Where did you go?"

Xu Siyan: "I'm back to Jiangcheng."

Xu Jingmo: "Ayao has also gone back?"

Xu Siyan: "Yes, we came back together, the day before yesterday."

Didn't he leave the next day? Xu Jingmo asked curiously, "What happened? Why did he leave so suddenly?"

Xu Siyan was speechless and only said: "Brother, you have worked hard, and you deserve this happiness!"

Xu Jingmo: ???

He didn't get any answer from Xu Siyan, so he called Du Yao again.

He asked directly, "Why did you return to Jiangcheng?"

Du Yao asked back, "Brother-in-law, did you eat all the loving breakfast my sister made?"

Xu Jingmo: “Ah.”

Du Yao admired and said: "What a warrior!"

Xu Jingmo: "What do you mean? You asked your sister to cook for you?"

Du Yao: "I didn't let you. We kept your family rules in mind and didn't dare to bother my sister at all. We even cooked dinner for her. She complained that our food was not tasty and insisted on showing us her cooking skills. She said that her breakfast was especially good and you always ate it all."

"None of us have ever eaten the food cooked by my sister. Who wouldn't want this benefit that comes right to our doorstep? We didn't even eat much for dinner, just waiting for her loving breakfast the next day."

"That…"

"The food we cook may not taste good at best, but it's still edible. But my sister's cooking is simply unbearable."

"She even asked us with a fake smile: Is my sister's loving breakfast delicious? We gritted our teeth and said: "It's delicious." She was particularly happy and said that since you are not at home, she has the obligation to take care of us and she has cooked for us these few days."

"Si Yan and I couldn't enjoy this blessing, so we went home in the afternoon."

"Brother-in-law, I wish you and my sister a long and happy marriage."

“You deserve it!!!”

Xu Jingmo: “…”

Xu Jingmo never thought that he had tortured them in various ways but failed to drive them away, but Du Ruo's loving breakfast made the two of them run away immediately. He felt both amused and helpless.

In the evening he went to pick up Du Ruo in person, and the two of them went out for a big meal.

At the dinner table, he asked Du Ruo: "Did you do this on purpose?"

Du Ruo raised his chin proudly: "Do you know who is at the top of the food chain? You, the rookie."

Xu Jingmo couldn't help laughing and gave her a thumbs up, praising her: "Amazing."