Chapter 25: What Kind of Scandalous Talk Is This?

“……！！！”

What kind of outrageous nonsense is this?

What stroking, what squeezing, what digging!

Speak clearly!

It was a tail, just a tail!

Song Xi felt that his eloquence was even more suggestive than the male lead in the Tomato Novel app Zhang Hening had sent her.

He didn't need any "training" at all!

"Um, I still feel a bit dizzy. Maybe the mushrooms haven't fully worn off yet. I’m going to take a nap; wake me up when we get home."

Song Xi silently lowered her head and buried her face in her arms.

Wait… she buried it in the wrong place.

She had just dived headfirst into his torn underwear.

O(╥﹏╥)O

Ten minutes later, the two took a taxi back to Nine Trees Residential Complex.

Song Xi changed her shoes and, clutching a pile of torn underwear, dashed into the master bedroom, not daring to glance at Jing Zhuo even once.

She plugged in her phone, which had shut down automatically, waited a few minutes, turned it on, and called Zhang Hening.

They had both finished several bowls of mushroom soup yesterday; she had to make sure Zhang Hening was still alive.

The phone rang twice before someone answered. It was the voice of Zhang Hexing.

"My universe-defyingly beautiful, darling Xi-bao..." He recited a long string of ridiculous contact names and chuckled, "What’s up?"

Song Xi felt her face flush from the embarrassing nickname. She asked awkwardly, "Second Brother, where is Hening? Is she okay?"

"She's at the hospital," Zhang Hexing replied.

As expected, mushrooms poison everyone with equal madness.

"Is she alright?" Song Xi asked, still worried.

"She spent the whole night 'weaving a web,' got tired, and is asleep now."

Hearing Zhang Hexing’s teasing tone, Song Xi knew Hening was out of danger, and her heart finally settled.

She chatted briefly with Zhang Hexing, reminding him to have water ready for Hening, as she would be thirsty when she woke up.

"Knock, knock—"

A knock at the door interrupted her call.

Jing Zhuo stood at the entrance of the master bedroom, wearing a loose white T-shirt and light gray lounge pants. His slightly damp bangs fell over his forehead, giving him a gentle, domestic air.

"Dinner's ready," he said softly.

"Oh..."

Song Xi said "goodbye" to the phone and hung up.

She followed Jing Zhuo to the dining room and realized there was a large thermal container on the table. Jing Zhuo had already unpacked it, revealing four steaming dishes and a soup.

It looked like home cooking—fragrant and fresh.

"It smells so good. Did you order this from a private kitchen?" Song Xi asked.

"I hired a cook. It's her first day trying out, and she left after finishing the meal," Jing Zhuo said. "Taste it and see how it is. If you like it, we’ll keep her on."

Song Xi picked up her chopsticks and tasted each of the four dishes, finding the flavor unexpectedly good.

The food was light, preserving the natural taste of the ingredients with a touch of sugar for sweetness—the hallmark of Suzhou-style cuisine.

She felt a sense of familiarity, like a taste of home thousands of miles away.

"Thank you, the cook made this very well."

Song Xi was deeply moved. Jing Zhuo was from the capital, and like Hening and the others, his palate would surely lean toward the salty and savory flavors of the north, with no love for sweetness.

Yet, she was the exact opposite; she preferred light, sweet flavors.

She had once heard that if a couple’s taste buds were too different, they wouldn't be able to share a table, eventually leading to rifts and affecting their relationship.

She hadn't expected Jing Zhuo to go out of his way to hire a cook specializing in Suzhou cuisine just to cater to her preferences.

"If you like it, we'll keep her. She can cook for you three times a day from now on," Jing Zhuo said, placing some food in her bowl, his tone casual.

It seemed that as long as she was satisfied, nothing was a problem.

Song Xi’s heart skipped a beat. It wasn't just the food; it felt as if a sweetness was spreading somewhere deep inside her.

So this was what it meant to live in mutual support—it was surprisingly touching.

After dinner, with plenty of time before her afternoon shoot, Song Xi hid in the master bedroom to research the two ruined pairs of Jing Zhuo's pants.

She had to find the exact models to buy and replace them.

The underwear was Balenciaga.

Five thousand yuan per pair.

Hmm… more expensive than the tie she had bought him.

As for the pants—

After searching for a long time, Song Xi finally found the niche brand on an overseas website: twenty thousand yuan a pair.

Well done, Song Xi. You just reached in and grabbed a twenty-five-thousand-yuan crotch!