Sure, here is the translated text:
Xu Manning would be an hour or so late, so Li Peifeng went home first. He spent several hundred Soft Meal Coins at a nearby large fresh supermarket to buy some vegetables, meat, and seafood, preparing to cook a lavish dinner.
First, it was to reciprocate the favor, which was only right. Second, after dining, he hoped Xu Manning would dismiss the thirty thousand debt and accept the gold return method. Third, Li Peifeng wanted to use this opportunity to persuade Xu Manning to let go of her hatred towards him, reach reconciliation, and facilitate his strategy for the second mission target...
Today's menu: Green vegetable platter salad, fragrant roasted barramundi with Italian cucumber shreds, M5 wagyu sirloin with mashed potatoes, French asparagus shrimp shell soup, curry seafood rice.
Because writing required a quiet environment, Li Peifeng hadn't lived in the dorm since his freshman year; instead, he rented an apartment, and his cooking skills gradually improved in these years of living alone, reaching a decent level.
The vegetables and meats were already chopped when purchased, so cooking wasn't as troublesome as imagined. When Xu Manning knocked on the door, he had already made three dishes.
"Come in."
After opening the door, Li Peifeng quickly returned to the kitchen without much courtesy, as Xu Manning had visited his home quite often before, even stayed overnight.
"The shoe cabinet is new?"
While changing shoes, Xu Manning glanced twice at the small natural wood-colored shoe cabinet and casually asked.
"Yes, could you please set the dishes and cutlery? It's ready to serve soon."
Xu Manning took off her coat and placed her bag in the living room but sat in the dining room without any intention of getting up.
She cupped her chin with both hands and leisurely watched Li Peifeng bustling around, her attention entirely on his recently transformed face, looking more confused the longer she looked: "Did you study Beijing Opera? Specialize in face-changing?"
"I've already told you I'm not sick. Come help me pick up the bowls!"
Li Peifeng was busy cooking; seeing that Xu Manning hadn't come, he turned to repeat his request but suddenly noticed a significant change in her attire from the morning.
She wore a black tailored suit and trousers, with the jacket open, revealing a fitted inner layer that highlighted an S-shaped curve. Her lower body crossed on one leg, with cotton slippers dangling, showing thin black stockings.
Silk Inside the Trousers · Xu Manning!
She surely wants a beating!!
Li Peifeng suddenly realized, and his steel kidneys mysteriously twitched twice...
Xu Manning flirted with her hair: "You owe me an explanation."
"I'll explain while we eat."
Li Peifeng turned down the heat, served the cold first course and utensils on the table, and casually asked: "Can you eat cold dishes?"
It was a seemingly simple yet deeply profound question, with intricate reasoning unfathomable to ordinary people...
Xu Manning picked up a fork; hearing this, she frowned slightly and stabbed the fork into Li's arm, angrily saying: "Eat what? Can you ask me again if I can eat what?"
"..."
"Can you act human? I thought you were dying earlier, and now you ask me if I can eat cold food? Do you have any conscience? You're just like a scumbag deceiving money, deceiving flesh, deceiving feelings!!"
Sss, it really hurts a bit.
Li Peifeng rubbed the spot where he was stabbed, glanced at Xu Manning, leaned forward on the dining table, instantaneously closing the distance between them — close enough to see Xu Manning's slightly trembling eyelashes — and warmly asked...
"So, little rich lady, do you want to let me deceive you?"
Xu Manning's pupils shrank; after close observation of Li Peifeng's face, she was even more surprised.
How and when did it happen? Just a few hours ago, this face looked like a cancer patient, yet now it appears not only fair and rosy but also smooth and delicate... Did he become more handsome?
She felt the urge to have a quick peck.
Xu Manning's lips moved, finally letting out a light hum: "No! Pay the money back!"
...
Twenty minutes later, the meal was ready.
But before officially eating, Li Peifeng took out the medical examination report he received from the hospital two days ago, giving Xu Manning an explanation.
He definitely wasn't ill...
Nor was he going to repay the money...
"I did lend the money to a friend earlier, but right after lunch, my friend repaid me."
Li Peifeng took a sip of the soup and said: "He borrowed the money for investment, thirty thousand, and now earned some profits, paying me an additional two thousand in interest. But these thirty-two thousand weren't repaid in Great Eastern Coin but gold. He believes there's a small gold market fluctuation coming within the next two months, so he took it upon himself to do this investment for me."
Li told the lie without blinking. After finishing, he took a card out from his pants pocket. Unlike a regular bank card, it was golden.
"Inside are 864 grams of gold, which at the current gold price is exactly thirty-two thousand Great Eastern Coins, the password is your birthday. If you're free tomorrow, we can do the transfer process. If you urgently need money, you can cash it anytime, and if you don't need it urgently, you can keep it stored."
Xu Manning didn't accept; she merely glanced at it and skeptically asked: "What do you mean?"
Li Peifeng fabricates: "The thirty thousand you gave me also went to settle a few eight thousand for Huabei credit loan, so I can't repay you in cash; instead, I can use the thirty-two thousand gold my friend repaid to switch hands... The extra two thousand is to thank you for your generous support."
To enhance the credibility of his lie, he even went as far as offering an extra two thousand. Li Peifeng felt like a big fool but couldn't think of another good excuse in a short time, so he resorted to this lowest option.
He'd consider exchanging thirty-two thousand for thirty thousand Soft Meal Coins, as long as he could continue buying meals normally, losing two thousand wouldn't really be a loss...
"Oh."
Xu Manning understood now and mostly believed it, yet she didn't express a clear attitude; she simply continued eating her steak, inexplicably commenting: "Your cooking skills have really improved, better than what my family's chef makes."
Li Peifeng smiled knowingly: "Should I feel honored?"
Xu Manning pondered: "I just think there's got to be a reason behind your cooking skill improvement… Did seeing my actions make you feel guilty for wronging me earlier, thus you're trying to use this method to compensate me? Like, putting twelve times as much effort and heart into a meal?"
Li Peifeng hadn't imagined that after merely six days of dating and then splitting, Xu Manning, who constantly hoped for his demise, would become so anxiously saddened upon hearing his "terminal illness" and swiftly provide thirty thousand "treatment money."
Li Peifeng admitted internally that he was touched by her gesture, especially the love words she sent via WeChat, but he certainly couldn't show it at the moment, nonchalantly answering: "Interpret it however you like... But now you're feeling regret not seeing me dying in your arms?"
"Indeed, it is regrettable."
Xu Manning also laughed: "If you truly had a terminal illness, that would be great. I'd give you money for treatment, care for you attentively and considerately, show utmost docility before your parents, loving you deeply until your death."
"Because I want you to live in regret and guilt, I want to fill you with shame in front of me, I want your parents to be eternally thankful to me, I want you to owe me affection forever, so much that even in the next life, you can't owe it back. Alas... couldn't be realized."
The ancients weren't wrong; the heart of a woman is the most venomous!
Such audacity, such brutality, such innocence!
She even dares to use love to retaliate against me!
Li Peifeng trembled internally, forced a smile: "Don't say that, there's no need."
Xu Manning pushed the card back towards him and smiled beautifully: "You keep this; there's no need for repayment. I want you to owe me affection; two thousand won't suffice to repay it!"
"Then what do you want..."
Xu Manning held a spoon in her mouth, raised her eyebrow: "Until you graduate, you'll cover my meals every day based on this standard."
Li Peifeng was momentarily stunned: so this meant he only needed to prepare extras for one person in meals over the next half-year, giving him thirty thousand he didn't need to repay? Was there really such a good outcome?
Initially, upon hearing this, Li indeed felt a slight sense of delight, but he quickly and resolutely began shaking his head.
"All three meals a day, impossible!"