Sister, can I become a maid too?

Chapter 169 A Fool Who Turns His Elbow to Outsiders!

"Look, the vegetables are all washed. What else do I need to do?"

Jiang Yubai shook the water droplets off the vegetables, put them in a basket, and handed them over.

"Could you help me start the fire?" Lin Jianxia said while cutting the meat, "Make it burn a little brighter, I'll be waiting—"

She stopped mid-sentence as if remembering something, and pursed her lips:

"...Oh, I forgot, this isn't a gas stove. There's nothing else. Why don't you go out and chat with Grandma and Wanwan?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yu Bai let out a "Heh":

"Who do you think you are? It's just a wood-fired stove, it's not like we've never used one before."

He plopped down on a small stool, looked around, grabbed a handful of flammable pine needles and stuffed them into the stove, then took two bamboo boards and gently placed them on top.

He skillfully lit the lighter, and the pine needles and bamboo board quickly caught fire.

Seeing that the fire was burning brightly, he then took some durable firewood and put it in.

Lin Jianxia paused in her hand as she cut the meat, looking over curiously. Seeing his practiced movements, her eyes widened in surprise.

"You really burned it?"

"Hey Lin Jianxia, ​​I'm not some spoiled rich kid born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I lived in a brick house when I was little, okay? Anyone can cook with firewood, right?"

Jiang Yubai rolled her eyes at her, annoyed.

"If I were really that kind of person, the first time I met you, I would have made you serve me tea and water under the guise of collecting rent."

"Tch, it's just starting a fire, what are you so smug about..."

Lin Jianxia wrinkled her little nose, glanced at him, and couldn't help but ask in a low voice:

"By the way... why do we have to serve tea and water on our first meeting?"

"Isn't that how it's written in all those domineering CEO dramas you watch?"

Jiang Yubai added firewood while lazily drawing out his words.

"The first thing you see: Wow, this woman is so beautiful—I want her!" Who's going to get involved in any physical contact? It's just lust at first sight, okay?

He imitated it so well that Lin Jianxia burst out laughing, almost slipping the spatula into the pot.

She poured the oil and added the meat, letting out a soft hum:

"I'll take that as a compliment on my looks."

"...Can you please not be so shameless?" Jiang Yubai was speechless.

Lin Jianxia ignored that sentence, continued stir-frying the meat, and asked again with a pout:

"Hey, you've come all this way to wish us a Happy New Year, do your aunt and uncle even know?"

These words reminded Jiang Yubai.

"Oh right..."

As he added firewood, he took out his phone and dialed his father's number.

Within seconds, the call was connected.

"Hey Dad, I won't be home for dinner."

Jiang Pinglan's voice came through the phone, showing no surprise whatsoever:

"Okay, be careful. Are you going home after dinner?"

"Of course I'll come back," Jiang Yubai said, both amused and exasperated. "Who stays out on the first day of the Lunar New Year?"

"Okay, I'm relieved to hear that." Jiang Pinglan paused, then asked, "So... where are you now?"

Jiang Yubai blinked, subconsciously raised his head, and met Lin Jianxia's curious gaze.

"Uh... at the house of a classmate I'm close to."

He hesitated.

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone before Jiang Pinglan spoke slowly:

"At a classmate's house? Is it one classmate, or two?"

"........."

—No, Dad, could you please not ask the Warrior of Light such dark questions?

"Feed? Feed, feed, feed—?"

Jiang Yubai took the phone and drawled out his words.

"Dad, the signal seems a bit weak, I'll hang up now, bye!"

After saying that, he deftly pressed the hang-up button and casually stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

Jiang Yubai then added another piece of firewood to the stove with a clear conscience, and clapped his hands:

"Okay, that should be fine now."

After waiting a few seconds without hearing a reply, he looked up and saw Lin Jianxia blinking at him with a hint of surprise in her eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Jiang Yubai looked down at himself—it didn't seem like he had any coal dust on him.

"You...do you usually talk to Uncle Jiang like this?" Lin Jianxia asked cautiously.

Ok?

Jiang Yubai thought for a few seconds before realizing what he meant, then casually added another piece of firewood and said:

"Yeah, me... I was basically raised in a free-range manner since I was little. We've always talked like this. On the contrary, my mom is stricter, and I'm more afraid of her."

Lin Jianxia gave an "Oh" that seemed to understand, and was about to continue cooking when she suddenly frowned as if she realized something.

She jogged a few steps to the back of the stove, her eyes widening as she stared at the roaring fire:

"Jiang Yubai! How many pieces of firewood did you stuff in there?!"

The fire is too strong, the meat is going to burn!

Jiang Yubai then realized:

"...Uh, it seems like there's a bit too much."

Unlike gas stoves, wood-burning stoves cannot be adjusted in size at will; if there is too much firewood, the fire will immediately flare up.

Lin Jianxia hurriedly picked out a few pieces of firewood and threw them into the charcoal brazier next to her, muttering to herself as she did so:

"You have to watch the fire when you start a fire, don't just stuff in so much firewood all at once..."

Jiang Yubai watched as the girl bent over and busied herself in front of him. Her ponytail bounced gently with her movements, and a faint scent of lavender mingled with the aroma of the food, becoming increasingly clear in the steam from the stove.

"Well... it's been too long since I've burned any, I've forgotten how." Jiang Yubai coughed lightly.

Lin Jianxia straightened up and glared at him from behind.

Under the dim kitchen light, her fair cheeks were flushed slightly by the steam, and her glare carried a hint of reproach.

Jiang Yubai blinked, momentarily dazed.

When she came to her senses again, Lin Jianxia had already turned back and continued muttering things like "The fire is too big" and "The vegetables are going to burn"—things that were hard to understand.

She straightened up, turned her head to the side, pursed her lips, and waved her hand as if shooing away flies:

"Hurry up, let's go out and talk to Grandma and Wanwan."

"Hey?"

Jiang Yubai was dissatisfied.

—Damn it, I've done my part, haven't I? The food was almost ready and they were kicking me out?

—I work so hard, just hoping to sneak a bite after the food is cooked!

He was secretly annoyed when he glanced at her and saw that the girl's profile was fair and delicate, appearing exceptionally refined in the light of the stove fire.

Suddenly, a wicked thought popped into my head.

"Okay, okay..."

Jiang Yubai slowly stood up, and suddenly, with lightning speed, he reached out and smeared a little coal ash on her cheek.

Lin Jianxia was completely taken aback and stood there, her beautiful eyes still showing a hint of confusion.

Slowly, the girl's eyes widened:

"River--"

"I'm off now! Bye-bye! I'm going to chat with your grandma~"

Jiang Yubai had already turned and slipped out; before he finished speaking, he had already darted out of the kitchen door.

Lin Jianxia watched the guy's back, bit her lower lip, turned around and continued cooking angrily.

But as they continued cooking, their movements gradually slowed down.

The spatula gently stirred the contents of the pan, but the girl's gaze wandered, slowly settling somewhere else.

She subconsciously raised her hand and gently touched the spot where the coal ash had been smeared.

For some reason, my ears suddenly started burning.

It wasn't until a burnt smell wafted from the pot that Lin Jianxia snapped out of her daze and hurriedly grabbed the spatula.

......

......

It was exactly 5 p.m.

Lin Jianxia poked her head out of the kitchen and called out to the three people chatting:

"Dinner's ready!"

Grandma was just about to invite the guests to eat when she saw the young man across from her stand up very consciously.

Jiang Yubai didn't even let his grandmother lift a finger. He gently helped her to the table and sat her down. Then, as if he were returning to his own home, he led Lin Tingwan into the kitchen to serve the dishes and rice.

So the old man sat by the chair, watching Jiang Yubai and his two granddaughters come and go. Before long, the table was set with food, dishes, bowls, and chopsticks.

Stir-fried pork with chili peppers, dry-pot potatoes, braised pork, stir-fried bok choy, and a big bowl of steaming seaweed and egg drop soup.

"Grandma, I'm not bragging at all," Jiang Yubai sighed. "I've been thinking about this meal for a long time, ever since before the New Year."

"Hey, eat more if you like it."

Grandma smiled and placed a piece of braised pork into his bowl.

Jiang Yubai, flattered, picked up the bowl:

"Thank you, Grandma, but you have to eat first. I won't dare touch my chopsticks until you do."

These words made the old man beam with joy, and he then picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks and began to eat slowly.

Lin Jianxia, ​​who was standing to the side, put a piece of potato into her mouth, but her gaze secretly drifted towards Jiang Yubai.

—Wait a minute, Jiang Yubai was so respectful and polite before, but now he's calling me "Grandma" so sweetly, even more so than I am.

—So how did this guy suddenly become so familiar with Grandma? What were they talking about outside?

Just as he was thinking to himself, he heard Jiang Yubai reach out and pick up a piece of stir-fried meat with his chopsticks, and continue to ask:

"Oh, right, Grandma, what were we talking about just now? Let's talk about it again, I'm quite interested."

Lin Jianxia blinked, continuing to eat, but her ears quietly perked up.

Upon hearing this, Grandma became even more interested:

"Oh right, we were just talking about Xia Yatou when she was little, right? She was so naughty."

"Once, when we weren't looking, he sneaked into the henhouse, hugged the newly hatched chicks, and wouldn't let go, insisting on sleeping with them."

Lin Jianxia stopped eating as soon as she heard the words "Xia Yatou when she was little," and her expression slowly became blank.

"Is that so?"

Jiang Yubai suppressed a laugh, but certainly provided ample emotional value.

"And then? What happened next?"

Lin Jianxia slowly came to her senses and widened her eyes.

She really didn't expect it—so the way these two got closer was by using their own embarrassing moments as topics of conversation!

Even a fool could guess that some jerk started this whole thing!

"And then—"

Grandma had just started smiling when Lin Jianxia put a large chopstickful of green vegetables into her bowl.

"Eat your food properly, Grandma—" Lin Jianxia's ears turned red, her voice urgent and soft, "Don't say that again!"

Now it was Jiang Yubai's turn to be dissatisfied, and he protested in a serious tone:

"Hey, everyone's having a great time chatting."

Lin Jianxia immediately glared at him:

"No way! Jiang Yubai, do you think I don't know who the culprit is? Say another word and I'll take away your bowl!"

Jiang Yubai wasn't going to argue with her. He immediately turned to look at his grandmother, his face full of grievance:

"Grandma, look, your granddaughter is bullying me again. She's always like this. My life is so miserable."

The old man immediately looked over and said, feigning annoyance:

"Xia girl! How dare you talk to Xiao Jiang like that?"

—Little Jiang is here!

"Grandma, whose grandma are you?!" Lin Jianxia exclaimed angrily. "You—you should at least talk about when Wanwan was little!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Tingwan, who had been quietly eating her meal, raised her head and blinked.

"No way, what kind of older sister are you?" Jiang Yubai said discontentedly. "You don't want to be criticized yourself, so you push your younger sister to take the blame, right?"

Lin Tingwan turned her head to look at her older sister, then glanced at Jiang Yubai sitting next to her, and silently reached out her chopsticks to pick up a small piece of stir-fried pork with chili for him.

Lin Jianxia: ".........."

She didn't even bother to say things like "this is unhygienic".

If her grandmother hadn't been there, she even suspected that her silly little sister would have picked it up and fed it directly to Jiang Yubai.

You idiot who's siding with outsiders!

"Wan girl..."

The old man glanced at Lin Tingwan, sighed, and his voice suddenly lowered.

"Wan Ya wasn't like this before..."

Lin Jianxia keenly sensed the old woman's downcast mood, quickly put down her chopsticks, and reached out to hold her grandmother's hand:

"Grandma, don't worry, Wanwan is much better than before, really."

Jiang Yubai also spoke up:

"Yes, Grandma, the doctor has come to see you and said that Wanwan is recovering very well now."

The old man's gaze shifted between the two women before finally settling on his granddaughter.

Lin Tingwan looked at her grandmother, seemed to hesitate for a moment, and finally nodded gently.

Grandma's expression relaxed, as if she had finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She was silent for a few seconds, then looked up at Jiang Yubai, her tone becoming serious:

"Xiao Jiang, my two granddaughters... were taken care of by you before."

Jiang Yubai also sat up straight:

"Grandma, please don't say that. It's me who's being taken care of by them."

The old man gave a kind smile, took a red envelope from his pocket, and handed it over:

"Hey, this is a little something from Grandma... You can't refuse it, otherwise our table will be so quiet."

Jiang Yubai originally wanted to decline, but looking into those smiling eyes, he swallowed his words back.

"Well... thank you, Grandma, Happy New Year!"

He paused, then changed his tone and asked curiously:

"Um...why don't you tell me more about Xiaxia's childhood?"

"Jiang! Yu! Bai!"

Lin Jianxia slammed her hand on the table and stood up in anger.

.......

With this interruption, the conversation returned to a playful banter, and the meal became a lively affair.

After dinner, Jiang Yubai and her two sisters washed the dishes together, chatted with their grandmother, and then went out again.

"Is Jiang Yubai leaving?"

Lin Tingwan held up the spiral notebook and looked at him.

Jiang Yubai looked up at the darkening sky, then glanced at his phone:

"There's still some time... Oh, right."

As if remembering something, he lowered his head, opened his suitcase, and began rummaging through it.

"What are you looking for?" Lin Jianxia asked curiously as she leaned closer. "The ingredients are all in the kitchen."

"It's not ingredients, I remember bringing some other things too..." Jiang Yubai looked down and flipped through the items. "Oh, here it is."

Under the sisters' curious gazes, he pulled a long, thin bundle of colorful paper sticks from a hidden compartment in his suitcase and proudly gestured with his chin towards them:

"Here, a sparkler, want to play?"