0117: Lower Belly

After laying out the egg pancakes, Xu Lin casually prepared a vegetable salad. Although he was only level 2 in Chinese culinary skills, when it came to cooking, fundamentals mattered above all else. Besides, making salad required little technical skill. Then he glanced at the yogurt, strawberries, and blueberries in the fridge.

He simply combined them together and divided them into four or five bowls.

The breakfast had milk, eggs, vegetables, and fruit—healthy and not too heavy. Just right.

“Mr. Xu, I think you should come over to cook for us from now on.”

“I have to go running in the morning. When would I have time to make breakfast for you?”

“Mr. Xu, you have no love at all.” She hooked her arm around his neck, a warm sensation pressing against his skin.

“That tickles… Let me go.”

“No way. Do you want to cook for me or not? Wait, for us. You said you wanted to be a playboy, but you act like a straight guy, helping us cook without me even reminding you?”

“Ahem!”

They both looked toward the doorway and saw Ji Yun with her indifferent little face staring at them.

“Sorry… I can’t get handsy,” Chu Qingchan immediately withdrew her hand and obediently stood aside.

“Can’t get handsy, huh? What kind of agreement did you two come to?” Xu Lin looked at Ji Yun with interest, surprised to see Chu Qingchan so well-behaved.

“Can I say?” Ji Yun glanced at Chu Qingchan, a bit embarrassed.

“The little girl’s shy. It’s just that we can’t have any physical contact with you without the other person knowing.”

“Uh… I’m not some little sister. You can touch me all you want, I don’t care!”

“We do care.”

“Then don’t touch me anymore. Breakfast is off.”

“Ji Yun, you see, he doesn’t want to cook for us.”

Chu Qingchan ran over and hugged Ji Yun, their small faces pressed close together.

Xu Lin suddenly felt his ‘brothers’ bonding. Luckily, he had great control—two beautiful girls cuddling? Not bad at all!

“Xu Lin, since we all go to school together in the morning, why not eat together?”

“Then you all have to run together. I can come early, make some breakfast, and we can eat before exercising.”

“But you can run to school, we can, but I don’t go to school. Do I have to run back?”

“Star Chu, just take a taxi back.”

“So troublesome.”

“Then will you even eat breakfast?” Xu Lin watched her carefully, and finally Chu Qingchan nodded vigorously.

“But don’t blame me if I can’t keep up.”

“There’s Ji Yun too, no problem.”

“You just got a little stronger from exercising earlier, and now you’re blaming us? Teacher Chu, you’re not supposed to be so proud.”

Ji Yun teased, and Xu Lin smiled. If it had been Chu Fengyi before, he might have been scared, but now she practically wanted to marry him.

Wait, marry!? Well, no need to be too afraid. After all, he was her husband in her previous life, and he had taught her martial arts.

She probably wouldn’t hit him anymore, right? Suddenly, he had a question…

“Alright, exercising is important. But just running only gets your body moving. You still need a professional’s guidance.”

“On the weekend, I can take you to the gym and find a professional instructor. I happen to want a standardized workout plan myself.”

“That dark-skinned girl?”

“Chu Qingchan, why do you keep calling her dark-skinned? Don’t you know she even has abs? So cool.”

Instantly, the two girls’ gazes sharpened!

“What do you mean abs? You’re looking so closely?”

“I saw her at the gym wearing a sports crop top, so I noticed. If you work out regularly, you’ll have them too.”

Chu Qingchan pictured her own toned abs—pretty good. But getting defined abs was tough. Better to rest well… Suddenly, she felt lazy.

“I don’t want that… I prefer a soft belly,” Ji Yun shook her head after a moment’s thought.

“Yeah, soft feels nice.”

Chu Qingchan chimed in, making Xu Lin feel a pang of sadness—he hadn’t even touched Ji Yun’s soft belly yet.

“Do you want me to feel your soft belly?” Xu Lin suddenly leaned in. Ji Yun was startled and hid behind Chu Qingchan!

“Xu Lin, my mom’s here. What are you doing?”

“Sorry, sorry. It’s mainly because Sister Chu said she could touch it, but not me.”

“We’re sisters. You’re being a pervert.”

“What’s pervy about touching a belly? Let’s eat first.”

They carried their food out of the kitchen, only to find Ji Yun’s mother was no longer in the living room.

“Auntie? Has she gone home?”

“She went to the bathroom.”

“Oh.” Xu Lin nodded and put the food on the table, but then he suddenly froze staring at the door.

“Ji Yun, your dad didn’t come home yesterday, right?” Xu Lin lowered his voice and asked.

“I don’t think so. I went over there this morning to get some clothes…” Hearing the question, Ji Yun immediately understood.

She had just comforted her mother and planned to talk to her father first. But if he didn’t come home all night, that situation would be difficult to handle!

So she hurriedly took out her phone, only to find it was dead. Xu Lin handed her his phone. Just as she was dialing, Ji Yun’s mother came out.

Xu Lin quickly took the call, pretending to walk into the small bedroom, gradually raising his voice.

“Hello, Uncle? Sister’s coming to visit next week? Great! Money… no, no, I’m not asking for money, just food and lodging!”

Entering the small bedroom, he lowered his voice. The father-in-law replied.

“What are you saying? I don’t understand.”

“You really should thank me. You almost kicked the bucket.”

“What? Me, kick the bucket? Don’t say such unlucky things so early in the morning!”

“No, Uncle Ji, Auntie is here. I happened to meet her while with Chu Qingchan. She came to sit for a while. Ji Yun slept here with Chu Qingchan last night.”

“That girl, always bothering Miss Chu. Wait… your aunt is still outside?!”

“So I pretended to take a call just now. You find an excuse to say you went out. Don’t let Auntie know you’re back.”

“I get it, I get it. Sounds like Ji Yun talked to her mom?”

“Yes, and surprisingly, her mood seems okay.”

“Yeah, only Ji Yun can calm her mom down. Thanks, Xu.”

“No problem, Uncle. We’re family.”

“Ahem! Don’t say that! What family!”

Then he hung up abruptly, making Xu Lin frown.

Sigh! I just helped you out, and now you don’t recognize me as your future son-in-law? We’re family, but that girl won’t even let me touch her belly…

Xu Lin felt surrounded by beautiful girls but had no one he could truly be close to. Sigh!

But from his heart, he wanted to protect them. Unless they agreed, he would never force anything.

Especially with Chu Qingchan and Ji Yun. They were getting along fine now, but if he pushed too hard, it would break them apart.

So he had to be careful, maintaining this little group of two, so it could grow to a dozen people in the future!

Leaving the bedroom, Ji Yun sat with her mother on one side, Chu Qingchan on the other. None of them had started eating.

“Auntie, you two go ahead and eat.”

“You just make the call. No rush.”

“I’ll wash my hands first.”

“I’ll wash mine too.”

Ji Yun stood up and followed him to the bathroom. Before he turned on the faucet, he caught sight of Ji Yun’s face in the mirror—flushed bright red.

She didn’t sneak a glance at him, then lowered her head and tugged at the hem of her shirt, looking awkward.

He turned and gently placed a hand on her forehead.

“Do you have a fever?”

“No! It’s just… um…”

Her eyes misted over. She bit her rosy lips and said,

“Xu Lin… you wanted to touch my belly earlier, right? You were waiting near Sister Chu Qingchan. You can touch it now, but only once… just once.”