Chapter 286: Someone must stay clear-headed

Xia Xi was a bit busy; Xu Yanfeng went to pick up the children, and on the way bought small cakes for the two kids.

Zi Heng didn't dislike him as much as at first; besides still not liking to talk to him, he wouldn't refuse things he gave.

Xu Yanfeng asked the two of them: "What did you learn today?"

Zi Heng stayed silent, quietly nibbling the cake. Youyou said: "The teacher taught us to memorize a poem."

Xu Yanfeng: "Which poem?"

Youyou had a plastic spoon in her mouth, tilted her head thinking for a moment, then embarrassedly smiled, showing her white teeth: "I forgot the beginning."

Xu Yanfeng: "..."

Zi Heng sighed, then helped her start: "The sun rises behind the mountains."

Youyou immediately remembered, shook the little spoon, and continued reciting from there.

The carriage was filled with children's tender voices; Xu Yanfeng was in a good mood, his mouth corners kept turning up, and occasionally he would be amused into laughing out loud.

Back home, Xu Yanfeng urged the two children to do their homework. He took off his watch, rolled up his sleeves, messaged Xia Xi asking when she would be home, then went to the kitchen to study.

Zhangyi felt weary about this; Mister, why are you here again?

She thought Mister was just being impulsive; seeing his posture, it seemed he wanted to compete with her for the nanny position.

Worried about her livelihood, Zhangyi couldn't help asking: "Are you planning to fire me?"

Xu Yanfeng didn't lift his eyelids, lightly retorting: "How could you have such an idea?"

Zhangyi: "You don't seem interested in cooking; why are you learning this?"

Xu Yanfeng then glanced at her, hesitated a moment, chose to speak the truth: "I made Xia Xi angry; I want to make amends."

Having kept her job, Zhangyi relaxed, finding it funny; no wonder she felt the household atmosphere had been odd lately—it turned out the master and mistress were quarreling. Although their relationship had never been warm, at least it was peaceful; these past few days had a sub-zero chill.

"Let's make a few dishes she likes tonight; I'll guide you through it, guaranteeing no problems." Zhangyi understood Xu Yanfeng's purpose, stopped trying to stop him from taking charge of the cooking, and actively helped him figure things out.

Xu Yanfeng knew Xia Xi's tastes and reported a few dishes.

Xia Xi got off work and returned home; as soon as she entered, she smelled the aroma of food.

Zi Heng ran over to carry her bag, tugged at her clothing hem. Xia Xi bent down, leaned close to him: "What do you want to say?"

Zi Heng seemed to share a small secret with her, whispering in her ear: "It's too scary."

Xia Xi's brow twitched; she didn't quite understand, what was scary?

Next, she heard Zi Heng say: "Tonight's dishes were all cooked by him; he also broke two plates and a bowl."

"..."

Xia Xi looked toward the dining room; she had told Xu Yanfeng this morning that she didn't need him to learn cooking, so why was he still learning—had he become addicted?

Xu Yanfeng walked over, his expensive shirt stained with cooking fumes, gave Zi Heng a look: "Go wash your hands and eat."

Meeting Xia Xi's eyes, Xu Yanfeng's lips curled slightly, and he took her hand.

Xia Xi didn't react; being pulled by him for two steps before she came to, she tried to pull her hand back, but he gripped tighter and she couldn't break free.

He brought her to the sink, opened the faucet with his other hand, tested the temperature; when warm water poured over her fingers, he took her hand, lifted it forward, and helped her wash.

Being treated like a child made Xia Xi extremely uncomfortable; her ears felt hot, she lowered her voice and threatened him: "I'll wash myself. If you don't let go, I'll step on your foot."

Xu Yanfeng ignored her threat, gently and carefully helped her squeeze out hand soap, rubbed her hands, rinsed the foam under the faucet, and handed her a paper towel.

Xia Xi didn't move.

Xu Yanfeng raised his brow, voice low: "Do you want me to wipe you?"

Before she could refuse, Xu Yanfeng took her hand again and helped her dry the water droplets.

Beside them, Zi Heng and Youyou squeezed together to share a faucet while washing hands; seeing this scene, Youyou grinned: "Mom's already this old, yet someone still helps her wash her hands."

Being laughed at by the children made Xia Xi even more uncomfortable.

Xu Yanfeng, on the other hand, was calm, took two paper towels and gave them to the two little ones so they could wipe their own hands.

The family of four headed to the dining room; Xia Xi glanced at the dishes on the table, and Zi Heng's earlier words floated into her mind: "All these were made by Xu Yanfeng alone?" She couldn't believe it.

On the table were fish, shrimp, spare ribs, plus vegetables and soup. Each dish wasn't something you could just casually make well.

Unlike this morning when he had emphasized that he made it himself, Xu Yanfeng now said nothing, silently observing Xia Xi's reaction.

Xia Xi also said nothing, first tasted the braised fish, then her expression froze slightly, growing more incredulous. The dish's flavor was actually not bad.

Xu Yanfeng pursed his lips, picked up a shrimp and put it in her bowl, donned a disposable transparent glove, lowered his eyes, seriously peeled the shrimp shell, dipped it in the sauce, and placed it in Xia Xi's bowl.

Xia Xi glanced at him, didn't refuse, picked up that shrimp and ate it.

Xu Yanfeng's eyes smiled, his mood clearly improved by more than a little, and he said this tactic was effective.

He then peeled another shrimp for her.

Xia Xi immediately said: "I'll do it myself."

Xu Yanfeng took off the glove, turned his head to look at her, and asked: "How does it taste?"

Xia Xi swallowed the food in her mouth, made eye contact with him, and without deliberately opposing him, nodded slightly. Xu Yanfeng, however, was dissatisfied with her response, his brow twitching imperceptibly: "What does a nod mean?"

"Pretty good." Xia Xi spoke, uttering a few words, then stopped looking at him.

Xu Yanfeng's pursed lips curved upward.

Soon, he noticed a child who hadn't moved his chopsticks, sitting there like a wooden puppet; he straightened his expression and called out: "Zi Heng, why aren't you eating? Waiting for me to feed you?"

Zi Heng glanced at him, speaking maturely: "Aunt Zhang has left; there are only this many people in the house. If food poisoning happened, we need someone to stay sober to call 120, right?"

Xu Yanfeng: "..."

Xia Xi suddenly laughed, nearly spitting out the mouthful of soup she had just swallowed; turning her head, she saw Xu Yanfeng's grim face and found it even funnier.

The next day, Xia Xi made time, taking Huang Shiyu to Li Tai's private estate.

Li Tai wasn't there; the person receiving them was an aunt over forty, said to be a servant in Li Tai's household. Li Tai called Xia Xi, saying she had something to attend to and couldn't come; if there were any ideas to add, they could contact later.

Xia Xi didn't mind too much; today she came just to do some preliminary preparations, whether Li Tai was present or not didn't matter.

The servant led them into the estate and then left.

The job of measuring the rooms was given to Huang Shiyu; Xia Xi walked around, some design ideas came to mind, and she wrote them down in her phone memo.

While going upstairs, Xia Xi wasn't paying attention, her toe hit the stairs, and she fell.

She couldn't hold back a cry of pain, her brows furrowed deeply, she didn't continue upward, took a few tissues from her bag, placed them on the dust-covered stairs, sat down, and rolled up her pant leg.

A patch of skin on her calf was scraped off, oozing blood; Xia Xi wiped it casually with a tissue, tore off a piece of band‑aid, and stuck it on the wound.

After resting a little, Xia Xi stood up, didn't think much of the minor injury, picked up the tissues from the stairs, slowly went upstairs, and walked through the entire second‑floor space.

"Xi‑jie, Xi‑jie, where are you?"

Huang Shiyu's shout came from downstairs, echoing in the empty, unfinished house.

Xia Xi stood at the edge of the second‑floor stairs, poked half her head forward, and replied, "Here."

Huang Shiyu tilted her neck upward, looked up, and jogged upstairs.

Xia Xi remembered something and reminded her: "Be careful when turning the corner, don't fall…"

Before she could finish speaking, Huang Shiyu suddenly cried "Ah!", fell at the very spot where Xia Xi had just tripped, one knee landing on the stair edge, the pain twisting her facial features.

Xia Xi hurried downstairs, knelt beside her, and said, "Let me see, how bad is the injury?"

Huang Shiyu didn't mind the dirt on the floor, plopped down, her face twisted in pain, sucking in breaths: "Hiss, it kills me, I'm definitely bleeding. Xi‑jie, how did you know I would fall?"

"Because I just fell here myself. The landing and turn connection of the stairs is cleverly designed but not very reasonable; later, during renovation, we should see if we can salvage it, otherwise people will keep falling."

Xia Xi said this, lowered her gaze, and examined her injury.

Huang Shiyu had been rushing upstairs just now, the impact of her fall was heavy, so naturally the injury was severe: a large chunk of skin was torn from her knee, the blood soaked through her pants, and the band‑aid was useless.

Xia Xi took the distance measurer from her hand: "You sit and rest; I'll handle the rest of the measuring, and when we're done I'll take you to the hospital—just bear with it for now."