Li Peifeng is currently renting an apartment with two bedrooms, one living room, one bathroom, 83 square meters, with a monthly rent of 5000. Usually, he only uses one bedroom, while the other bedroom is used to store clothes and other miscellaneous items.
Previously, he had found someone to share the rent with, although the expenditure was reduced, it brought various inconveniences, so Li Peifeng ultimately chose to live alone.
But now Wu Wenyue has no place to live, he definitely has to lend a hand.
After getting home, the two cleared out space in the bedroom, then went to Wu Wenyue's previous rental to move the luggage over. After a busy afternoon, everything was settled.
"I've informed the landlord, here are the keys. Even brothers need to handle accounts clearly. From now on, you pay 2000 for the monthly rent, and I'll cover water, electricity, and winter heating costs. But you need to take care of full house cleaning twice a week, can you do it?"
"No problem, thanks." Wu Wenyue nodded, "I'll treat you to dinner tonight, what would you like to eat?"
"Let's save some money, you cook and just buy something to make at home."
Li Peifeng waved his hand nonchalantly, "I need to do some typing."
...
Typing is impossible, if the examination task isn't completed in a day, Li Peifeng will be anxious for an extra day.
Returning to his bedroom, he took out the small black bottle from the drawer of his computer desk.
[Perfume · Nether Sea's Breath]
Black as night, with a faint blue undertone, devoid of any other colors. Rotating the bottle, the liquid inside flows slowly, seemingly thicker than water.
"Doesn't look very magical."
Li Peifeng observed for a long time, still couldn't find anything special.
Previously, he was scared by the item description of this perfume, thinking of buying a gas mask and little white mice for experiment, determine it's harmless and effectiveness before using it.
But now, the system says this thing can improve the completion rate of the examination task, being an extremely important item. This clue slightly alleviated Li Peifeng's wariness, further increasing his curiosity.
"The mask and mice are still on the way, it'll take two days to arrive."
"Feeling a bit impatient!"
Li Peifeng pondered for a moment, stood up and locked the door, opened the bedroom window...
Two minutes later, Li Peifeng wore a heavy down jacket, a dozen layers of masks and anti-blue light glasses on his face, with gloves on his hand, fully armed, he unscrewed the perfume bottle cap.
Li Peifeng sniffed the air in the bedroom forcefully, couldn't smell anything special, decided to pour it out.
This perfume doesn't have a spray nozzle, so Li Peifeng cautiously poured a little on some toilet paper, watching the liquid gradually disperse...
"Still no smell."
Li Peifeng gradually began to remove the masks, layer by layer, until all dozen layers were removed, exposing his nose to the air, still didn't feel any fragrance.
Feeling helpless, Li Peifeng took off his gloves, daringly picked up the piece of toilet paper soaked with perfume, placing it under his nose, sniffing it gently.
After three seconds, his expression changed from cautious to puzzled.
"Are you expired or do I have rhinitis?"
"Why do you smell just like air?!!"
...
"Click."
At four in the afternoon, Wu Wenyue returned to the apartment after buying groceries, seeing Li Peifeng's door still tightly shut, didn't bother, went to the kitchen to wash vegetables and cook.
She is not unfamiliar with this kitchen, she knows the positions of the seasonings, pots, bowls and dishes very well.
Li Peifeng often invites three or five friends over for dinner, have hotpot, BBQ, or a few drinks of liquor and beer. Usually, it's him and Wu Wenyue cooking.
"Make some boiled pork slices, steamed turbot, broccoli stir-fried with beef, winter melon pork rib soup..."
Moving to a new home, Wu Wenyue is a bit excited, busy in the kitchen, but after cooking for a while found that she's made too much food, the two of them might not be able to eat it all.
"Should I call Manning over?"
"Better not."
The thought fleetingly passed, Wu Wenyue decisively cut it off.
"Knowing that the two of us are co-renting, she'd be as angry as a pufferfish!"
"If she comes over, forget eating, she might flip the dining table over!"
Considering the complex and awkward relationship between the three right now, Wu Wenyue is quite distressed.
Blame Li Peifeng?
Wu Wenyue knows that he actually doesn't want to develop a romantic relationship with Xu Manning, avoiding the label of stealing a friend's partner and instead, Manning was too proactive.
So proactive that it could bend someone who was once straight like herself, who can withstand that?
Blame Xu Manning?
There is indeed some resentment, but since she has already signaled reconciliation...
In the future, if there's an opportunity, the three should sit together and have a proper talk.
As the thoughts surged, the food was ready, Wu Wenyue placed the dishes and chopsticks on the dining table, casually called out: "Peifeng, dinner's ready!"
Ten seconds later, Li Peifeng furrowed his brow, walked out of the door, seeing the spread of food, his face gradually relaxed: "So sumptuous?"
"It's the first meal in the new home."
Wu Wenyue took off her apron, served a bowl of rice to him, then sat down to eat herself.
"Hmm, delicious!"
[Wu Wenyue gives food (converted to money value: 145 yuan), the host still has 16,959 left to unlock the lottery...]
Li Peifeng nodded while eating, and upon seeing the system prompt, suddenly realized he'd inadvertently solved another hidden worry.
Even if he used up all his "soft meal" currency in the future, he wouldn't have to worry about starving to death!
His co-tenant, Wu Wenyue, was a stable, long-term meal ticket.
If she could cover their meals going forward, he'd save his "soft meal" currency expenditure on food.
"What an unexpected gain!"
Li Peifeng was slightly surprised, but the problem was how to persuade her. Reducing the rent wouldn't work.
Although he had previously deducted 500 yuan from her rent every month, the condition was that she was responsible for cleaning. If he deducted another 1,000 and made her cook, the system wouldn't acknowledge that; it would be a transaction...
"I guess I'll just have to shamelessly mooch, wait until she cooks, then pick up a bowl and eat. What's she going to do, hit me?!"
Li Peifeng nodded to himself and laid on a string of excessive flattery: "Brother Yue, Brother Yue, your cooking is amazing! Culinary delicacies pale in comparison to your dishes! I really admire you!"
"Ah?"
Wu Wenyue looked bewildered for a moment, then chuckled, "Not bad, eat more if you like it."
"Being modest now, are we? Just look at this boiled pork slices, it captures the entire spectrum of flavors! Truly a taste of life!"
"Really? Didn't you say before that my cooking was only good for making instant noodles? And the kind that can't even include an egg!" Wu Wenyue looked skeptical.
Li Peifeng pretended not to hear, picked up a piece of beef, and exaggerated, "Wow! And this stir-fried broccoli with beef! Your knife skills are as exquisite as an expert butcher! Look at this turbot, with its fine artistry! And this spare ribs soup..."
Li Peifeng took a small sip and indulged, "As if blending the sweetness of love, the saltiness of struggle, the bitterness of disappointment, the sourness of grievance, and the spice of peaks into a perfect balance. It's so delicious!!!"
"Tch."
Wu Wenyue also vaguely sensed his devious intentions and said disdainfully, "Save it, I won't cook in the future. It's too time-consuming. I'll just eat at the school cafeteria, clean and hygienic."
Li Peifeng was quite disappointed: "Really? Brother Yue won't cook for me anymore? I must've done something wrong! Sorry, Brother Yue, I apologize."
Secret Technique · Tea Talk, activate!!
"Are you sick?"
Li Peifeng sighed: "I'm not sick, I just really want to eat the food Brother Yue cooks. Is Xiaofeng not good? Why won't you cook for me?"
Wu Wenyue's eyes widened: "Beast, can you not work your magic? You're even trying this on me?!"
"Don't talk about me like that! I just don't quite know how to take care of myself, really hoping there'd be someone with Brother Yue's cooking skills to take care of me..."
"Where's my luggage? I'll leave if you keep talking like that! I can't stand this cohabitation!!"
"Don't, brother!"
Li Peifeng grabbed Wu Wenyue's hand, deeply affectionate: "I know cooking is troublesome, it's natural Brother Yue doesn't want to cook. I don't want to make it hard for you. But just imagining the days ahead, with you cooking and me washing the dishes, enjoying your meals every day, feels so romantic and joyful."
"... Are you forcing me to hit you?"
Wu Wenyue's mouth twitched: "What's gotten into you today?"
"Does Brother Yue want to hit Xiaofeng?"
Li Peifeng pretended to hesitate, then simply let go, leaned his face forward, and closed his eyes fearfully: "If hitting Xiaofeng makes you happy, then do it! But don't hurt yourself!"
"Oh my..."
"You get one meal max a day! Got it?!!"
Wu Wenyue gritted her teeth in hatred, and with her hands, she started randomly pinching that handsome face, which made Li Peifeng grimace in pain.
"Alright, one meal is one meal, stop pinching! If you ruin my face, you'd be the sinner!"
"Feels pretty good, your skin is smoother than mine, you creep..."
Wu Wenyue reluctantly pulled her hands back and continued eating, but after a few bites, she sniffed hard, and her expression suddenly turned puzzled: "Do you smell something fragrant? It's not the food."
"What fragrance?"
Li Peifeng looked nervous, his hand holding his rice bowl stiffening.
"It's just..."
Wu Wenyue first sniffed her own hands, then looked at Li Peifeng in confusion, finally walked around the table, leaned over, and smelled his neck, cheeks, and even hands, her expression gradually shifting from puzzled to a mix of excitement and fascination...
"It's this smell!"
Something's not right with you! Very not right!
Li Peifeng didn't dare move, feeling like he was facing a formidable enemy: "Is everything okay? What exactly did you smell? Try to describe the fragrance!"
"It's like..."
Wu Wenyue took his hands, placed them under her nose, and took deep breaths.
"Sss~ Ha~"
Li Peifeng dared not move, just glancing around surreptitiously, thinking of how to escape safely.
Luckily, after four or five breaths, Wu Wenyue's eyes seemed to return to normal, looking at Li Peifeng as if she'd seen something amusing, struggling to hold back laughter.
"Xiaofeng, you're like an orange doing pole vault in the sea!"
Looks like you're about to take me for a pre-dinner fruit snack!
Li Peifeng felt a shiver all over...