Chapter 196 Astonishment, Shock, Unbelievable
I don't know how long he sat down there. He glanced at the cigarette in his hand, which was already crumpled up, and then tossed it away.
Joey didn't come back that night either; she and Qin Yi talked all night in the hotel, as they hadn't seen each other for over twenty years.
Qiao Xing didn't know when she fell asleep. When she woke up, it was already bright outside. The first thing she did when she opened her eyes was to look at the sofa in the corner.
Unfortunately, it was empty.
She sighed, threw off the covers, got out of bed, washed her face and brushed her teeth, feeling much more awake.
She intended to go into the kitchen, but subconsciously glanced towards the doorway and noticed that Qin Ce's shoes seemed to be missing.
So... he didn't come back all night?
Qiao Xing suddenly started to worry again, wondering if something had happened to him.
Just as she was thinking, the sound of fingerprint unlocking came, and she immediately perked up and looked towards the door.
Qin Ce has returned. He's still wearing the same suit as yesterday, and his face doesn't reveal anything.
He came in on his own, changed his shoes and walked into the living room. He paused for a moment when he saw Qiao Xing.
"Up so early?"
"Hmm... It's usually around this time. Have you had breakfast yet? I was just about to make some."
Qin Ce walked towards her, raised his hand to touch her forehead, and found that it was no longer hot.
"I'll do it," Qin Ce said.
Qiao Xing hurriedly said, "No need, I can do it. Please sit down for a while."
"It's nothing." Qin Ce went straight into the kitchen. He went to the row of spice jars, reached into his pocket, took out a label, bent down, picked up the jars, and stuck the label on them.
He paused briefly in front of the few jars containing white granules.
Qiao Xing saw him preparing to use his finger and couldn't help but go over and remind him.
“This is salt,” she said, pointing to the jar in the middle.
Qin Ce then affixed the label that read 'salt' to it.
"This is white sugar, this is MSG, and this is white pepper."
Qin Ce finished pasting the jars one by one, and then Qiao Xing took a few more jars from the left and explained to him: "This is flour, this is starch, this is baking powder, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder..."
Qin Ce stared at the indistinguishable powder, his expression gradually cracking as she explained.
"Can you tell the difference yourself?" he suddenly asked.
Qiao Xing was taken aback for a moment, then nodded and said, "I can tell the difference, they're not the same."
"How are they different?"
Qiao Xing didn't know how to explain it to him: "It's just that some powders are different, and the texture is different too."
"Wait a minute."
Qin Ce turned and walked out. A short while later, when he came back in, he had another label in his hand, but this label had no printed words on it.
He took out a pen, pasted the labels on them, and then asked her, "What's this?"
"Flour."
Qin Ce twitched the corner of his mouth, unsure if she was making it up, but he still did as she said and wrote labels on the jars.
Then he said, "Alright, go out now, I'll do it."
Qiao Xing was a little worried about him, "Are you really sure you can do it?"
Qin Ce didn't argue with her, and turned to wash his hands. "Then watch me do it."
After washing his hands, he rolled up his sleeves, took out a few eggs, and started a fire to make breakfast.
Qiao Xing watched from the side, finding it hard to imagine that a man dressed in such a suit and tie would be standing in the kitchen frying eggs.
His movements weren't very skilled, but his steps were all correct, and he had a decent grasp of the heat.
Most importantly, he could actually do something even Qiao Xing couldn't: flip the egg over with a single shake of the pan handle!
This action shocked Qiao Xing. Her eyes widened suddenly, and she began to suspect that he had secretly gone abroad to study cooking all night.
He not only fried eggs, but also fried ham sausages.
"Try it." Qin Ce handed the plate to her.
Qiao Xing blankly took the plate, picked up her chopsticks and tasted it... It was better than what she had made.
Seeing her bewildered, shocked, and incredulous expression, Qin Ce subtly raised the corner of his mouth.
Qiao Xing was right; he had indeed secretly gone out for further studies for the past three days.
However, he learns quickly. Now he can basically cook all the home-style dishes that Qiao Xing can cook, and he can also cook the ones that Qiao Xing can't.
"Is it tasty?"
"It's delicious... You're amazing! It's only your second time cooking and you've already done such a good job."
Even with his skill at frying eggs, Qiao Xing has never managed to fry them this nicely. Sometimes they crumble or break when he flips them.
"That's good."
Qiao Xing took a couple of bites, then put the plate down, stared at him for a while, and couldn't help but ask, "Qin Ce, you didn't come back last night, are you alright?"
Qin Ce paused for a moment, then quickly resumed his normal movements. "It's nothing."
He only said two words and didn't explain anything. Qiao Xing knew that he wouldn't say anything more if she asked, so she didn't ask again.
She took out the breakfast she had prepared.
After breakfast, Qiao Xing rode in his car to the company.
She took three days off, but no one in the department paid much attention to it or asked her about it.
Only Xiao Hu came over to discuss the planning with her.
Qiao Xing has been here for almost a week. Everyone in the department knows she's here to learn, so they basically don't talk to her. Only Xiao Hu is diligently mentoring her.
Although nothing much was actually done.
Xiao Hu said, "There's still not much progress from the development department. I feel like we're all about to lose our jobs."
Qiao Xing laughed and said, "How could that be? You were all specially selected to form this department. You are all elite talents. No one can lose their job, and you can't lose yours."
Xiao Hu smiled sheepishly, "It's not as amazing as you say, you're making me feel embarrassed."
"It's really amazing. I was stunned when I saw those proposals. If it were our company, we definitely couldn't have done it."
"Really? Haha... It's alright, these are all beta versions. If it's the official version, it might be even more stringent, and then we'll probably have to work overtime endlessly again."
"They've already done so well, why are you still being so strict?" Qiao Xing was even more shocked.
"Yeah, our manager... well, it's mainly because our boss has such high standards. Sometimes, even if we pass the manager's test, we might not pass the boss's."
"It's a pity you're only staying for half a month. You'd know if you could have participated."
Qiao Xing wanted to participate, but time and ability didn't allow it; Xiao Hu's words had frightened her.
As the two were chatting, Qiao Xing's phone rang again.
She quickly took it out and looked at it; it was an unfamiliar number. She immediately thought of Lin Yu.
Qiao Xing didn't want to answer, so he hung up immediately.
Less than ten seconds later, the call came in again. Qiao Xing stared at the flickering screen, his brows furrowing.
Xiao Hu saw her reaction but didn't say anything.
In the end, Qiao Xing had no choice but to answer the phone.
Sure enough, it was Lin Yu's voice on the other end, "Qiao Xing, what are you afraid of? You're even afraid to answer the phone?"
Qiao Xing covered her phone and whispered, "I'm at work, don't call me!"
"Fine, come to the hospital once, and I won't call anymore. Otherwise, I'll keep calling you from different phone numbers every day. Have you ever heard of phone harassment? You won't be able to sleep at night."
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