“Xinxin just woke up. What do you need from her?” Shen Yi informed his oddly bashful glutton little brother.
“What do you mean? I’m pretty sure it’s past noon there by now. I just need to talk to her! Why do I even need to ask permission from you to talk to my sister-in-law?” Shen Xue grumbled at the other line.
“Is that Xue?”
Shen Yi turned to see his wife, holding Little Yuyan in her arms. Her wide curious eyes seemed to know that Shen Xue needed her attention.
“Yes!” Shen Xue shouted from the other line, forcing Shen Yi to pull away from his phone from his ear before his brother injured his eardrum. “Sis! Can I talk to you for a moment?”
“Sorry,” Shen Yi murmured to his wife, his lips lowering to press on her temples, “I should have taken this call outside.”
“It’s okay.” Lu Xinyi shrugged. “Seems like Xue needs my help anyway.”
Shen Yi begrudgingly pa.s.sed his phone to his wife and took Little Yuyan from her so she could comfortably talk to his brother. Lu Xinyi giggled as she leaned on his arm, an arm snaking around her bent knees on the couch.
“Xue? What can I do for you?”
“Ah… well… Can I ask you a favor? Can you please ask your cousin to stop baking cookies for me? I don’t think I can endure tasting any of it anymore.”
“You sneaked in and ate her cookies, didn’t you?” Lu Xinyi replied amusedly. She could already guess what happened between her cousin and brother-in-law.
“I didn’t know it tasted disgusting! Lu Xiulan thought I liked the cookies she made, and now she brings new flavors every day!” Shen Xue spilled out and gasped, afraid that Lu Xiulan would hear what he’d said to Lu Xinyi.
Lu Xinyi threw her head back and burst out laughing; her husband, who’d put the call in the loudspeaker, fought the urge not to laugh over his brother’s predicament. Shen Xue brought this to himself. If he wasn’t such a glutton that would steal someone else’s food, he wouldn’t have shot his own foot by eating Lu Xiulan’s ‘disgusting cookies’.
“Please, Xin Jie. Please tell Lu Xiulan to stop. I couldn’t tell her how bad her cookies are. Or can you teach her to bake it properly then? Give her recipes that she could try,” Shen Xue said in despair. Had he known that Lu Xiulan was as bad as a cook like his older brother, he wouldn’t have dared to eat her cookies.
Lu Xinyi smirked, clearly enjoying her brother-in-law’s despair.
“Ah, I thought Xiulan’s cooking skills got better, but I think she’ll suspect something’s up if I suddenly try to teach her some new recipes.”
“But you gotta do something! I don’t think my taste buds could take it anymore! I have to brush my teeth thrice and gargle some mouthwash to wash away the taste on my mouth.” Shen Xue protested, “I think I’m gonna die young if I continue to eat those weird cookies.”
“That’s because you’re a glutton. This should teach you a good lesson not to take someone’s food.” Shen Yi muttered.
“I know! I know! You don’t have to tell me anymore. I learned my lessons the hard way. Happy?” Shen Xue answered his brother. “So what else should I do?” he asked his sister-in-law.
“I dunno. Perhaps you should tell her how bad her cooking is, and she’ll stop pestering you trying her cookies or suck it up since you brought this to yourself.” Lu Xinyi shrugged. She couldn’t really blame Shen Xue for asking for help. Her cousin wasn’t a good cook in the first place.
“That’s it? Suck it up? Don’t I get any choices aside from those?”
“Na-ah.” Lu Xinyi hummed. “Like I said, you can just tell her her cooking sucks although there isn’t any a.s.surance that you’ll make it alive after that.”
Thinking about it, Lu Xinyi turned to question her husband.
“Dear, if my cooking is so bad. Will you still eat it?”
“I’ll still eat it even if I get a stomachache later,” Shen Yi responded nonchalantly.
Lu Xinyi huffed and looked away although there was a hint of blush on her cheeks.
“You two. I don’t understand. You could have been honest and tell us it’s that bad.”
This Shen Brother was really something! Anyway, she felt bad for Shen Xue, but he really had to suck it up if he didn’t want to hurt Lu Xiulan’s feelings.
“Wait!” Shen Xue gasped from the other line. “You know she can’t cook, but you didn’t tell me!” he accused.
The devilish grin that bloomed on Lu Xinyi’s lips was instantaneous. Shen Yi pulled away, listening with interest in her words. It was rare for his younger brother to get along with women, and he hadn’t thought that Lu Xinyi could easily win Shen Xue’s approval through her cooking.
“Hehe, what do you think?”
“You witch! You’re an evil witch!” Shen Xue gritted his teeth. He should have known that his elder brother wouldn’t marry a woman unless she’s as black-bellied as he was.
“Xue, I a.s.sure you. I’ve been called worse than that.” Lu Xinyi’s laughter filled the room.
“Why of course I would tell you. That’s part of your punishment for eating Yuyan’s chocolates from the last time.” Lu Xinyi’s grin widened as she imagined her brother-in-law pouting at the other line.
“Hey, didn’t I already pay the price for it? Look, Xin Jie. I know it was my fault, but can’t you help me this time? I owe you one big time if you could help me.”
“Oh, just so you know, you still owe me a favor back then; and you haven’t settled it.” Lu Xinyi lifted her free hand and checked her nails, satisfied that it was still clean and short.
“What favor?” Shen Xue asked, but then it dawned to him that indeed he was still in debt with his sister-in-law. Lu Xinyi’s disguise as Lu Feiran when meeting with the w.a.n.gs weren’t settled yet!
“Then, what do you want me to do?” Shen Xue felt that he couldn’t avoid another landmine this time. Fortunately for him, he didn’t see the Ches.h.i.+re smile and the mischievous glint that appeared on his brother’s wife when he said those words.
“Then, listen to what I’ll say…”