【Yuechuan: Not yet.】
【Qingyi: Then hurry up and eat.】
【Yuechuan: Okay.】
Feng Qingyi put down her phone, feeling somewhat touched. Qin Yuchuan was truly a good person.
Just because she said she disliked expensive gifts, he chose to give her homemade pastries instead. Did he feel indebted to her?
But it seemed that she had always been the one indebted to him.
She had merely cooked meals for him for a while, which was just a casual thing.
Indeed, she should consider what to give him as a return gift.
When Shen Hanyue returned to the dorm, she found Feng Qingyi staring absentmindedly at the plate of half-eaten pastries on the table.
"Qingyi, what's wrong?"
Feng Qingyi snapped out of her daze, "Nothing, just thinking about some things."
"Where did you get this plate and pastries from?" Shen Hanyue asked.
Feng Qingyi took a guava pastry and fed it into Shen Hanyue's mouth, "A friend gave them to me, try it."
"This is heavenly delicious, can I have two more!" Shen Hanyue was conquered by the guava pastry's flavor.
Feng Qingyi nodded, "Of course, help yourself, but leave some for Xi and Qiu."
"No problem." Shen Hanyue readily agreed.
Feng Qingyi ate two more pieces, "I have something to take care of, so I'll be out for a bit. During class, help me bring my books. I'll go straight to the classroom."
"Sure, no problem." In the past, Shen Hanyue would have asked where Feng Qingyi was going, but now she was captivated by the guava pastries and didn't bother.
Feng Qingyi found a secluded place without people or cameras, then opened the virtual classroom app on her phone.
She decided to start taking music lessons. If she didn't seize the time now, the more she procrastinated, the more courses would pile up, and she definitely wouldn't be able to complete them.
At that moment, Lou Xi and Qu Jingqiu also returned to the dorm.
Qu Jingqiu saw Shen Hanyue sitting in Feng Qingyi's chair, "Yue, why are you sitting in Qingyi's spot? Where did she go?"
"That's not important, these are the guava pastries Qingyi left for us. Come try them, they're absolutely divine!"
Lou Xi walked over half-believing and half-doubting. She generally disliked sweet things, especially dry and overly sweet pastries.
Qu Jingqiu directly took a piece from the plate and tasted it, "These guava pastries are different from the ones I've had before, the taste is quite good."
Seeing the two praising them, Lou Xi also tried one. It was indeed much better than the pastries they usually bought, but the ingredients seemed extraordinary.
After eating a guava pastry, Lou Xi's gaze suddenly turned towards the plate holding the pastries.
This plate seemed somewhat similar to one in her father's collection room. Although she couldn't appraise it, she had a feeling it was genuine.
"Did Qingyi say where these guava pastries and plate came from?"
Shen Hanyue: "She said a friend gave them to her, but didn't specify who."
A friend? It seemed like the clothes and accessories from yesterday were also given by a friend. She had never heard Qingyi mention having such a friend before.
Since she didn't want to say, she must have her reasons. It's better to act as if she didn't know.
As for these two, they probably couldn't tell anything either.
"You two finish up, I'll go wash the plate for her."
Lou Xi said, then sat down in her own chair. She didn't have much interest in food.
Shen Hanyue: "I ate more, let me wash it."
"...I'll wash it." It might be an antique after all!
Seeing Lou Xi insisting, Shen Hanyue said, "Alright, you wash it then!"
At the General's Manor, in the dining hall.
Ever since Qin Yuchuan returned to the manor, he had been dining with Xuanyuan Xi.
Xuanyuan Xi looked at the focused Qin Yuchuan eating, "I heard Chuan went to the kitchen this morning, I don't know what he was up to."
"I learned to make some pastries." It wasn't anything that needed to be hidden, so Qin Yuchuan told the truth.
Xuanyuan Xi: "Then I wonder how Chuan's lesson went?"
How did the lesson go? He had tasted them and found them decent. She had also said the taste was good.
"Not bad."
Xuanyuan Xi looked at Qin Yuchuan. You learned well enough, but how come she hasn't even caught a glimpse of her?
Qin Yuchuan sensed Xuanyuan Xi's gaze, "Mother, is there something you wish to say to me?"
"...It was Chuan's first time learning to make pastries, I'm a bit curious about how they tasted?"
She had hinted at it for so long, yet he had no reaction. She had to spell it out for him!
How did they taste? Qin Yuchuan pondered for a moment, "She said they were quite good."
Xuanyuan Xi noticed the "she" he mentioned. So it wasn't made for her! She had waited all morning in vain! It was all Bai Wei's fault, making her wait in vain!
"Who is she?"
Qin Yuchuan looked at the bowl in his hands, she had also chosen this, "The young lady in the box, her name is Qingyi."
Xuanyuan Xi sighed, her anticipation had been misplaced.
This was forgetting one's mother after finding a wife! This son was unacceptable!
Seeing Xuanyuan Xi remained silent, Qin Yuchuan continued: "She has been busy with her studies recently, so I thought I'd make her some food. I had intended to give her other items, but she dislikes expensive things and feels they are too extravagant. I figured she wouldn't feel burdened by pastries."
This was the first time Xuanyuan Xi heard Qin Yuchuan say so much. It seemed this Qingyi was well-suited to his heart, even cooking for her himself—a treatment she could never expect.
"Busy with studies? Does she still need schooling?"
Qin Yuchuan explained, "In her world, regardless of gender, everyone can enter school at the age of three and continue until their late twenties. Only after graduating can they find suitable jobs."
"Women can also attend school? And study for over twenty years?" Xuanyuan Xi was quite surprised.
In Tianqi, there were also schools, but women were forbidden from attending, as per the rules.
Although a Princess, she could not break this social norm. What she had learned was taught by tutors summoned by her father. If not born into royalty, she might not even recognize a few characters today.
Qin Yuchuan understood Xuanyuan Xi's feelings, as he had also felt astonished upon initially hearing of it.
"Mother, that is a world completely different from ours, a place of freedom, equality, justice and rule of law—something we cannot yet attain."
Xuanyuan Xi suddenly worried for their future. Could people from such vastly different worlds truly be together?
Qin Yuchuan understood Xuanyuan Xi's concern, "Mother, I do have feelings for her, and I know she will have her own life. But I want to fight for this chance, just this one time."
"I want to take a gamble. If successful, this life will be without regret; if I lose, it doesn't matter, for how can I expect her to spend her life with someone like me whom she can never meet."
Xuanyuan Xi fell silent. She did not know how to begin, or what to say. Let it be this way!
May the heavens take pity, may her only son's wish be fulfilled.
