"Sister Jingzhen, quickly try the sweet and sour spare ribs. This is my mom's specialty," said Xu Qingqing.
"She can't. She's allergic to coriander," Xu Yan said without even turning his head.
Xu Qingqing looked at the coriander stuck to the spare ribs and retracted her hand sheepishly.
"Sorry, Sister Jingzhen. I didn't know."
"It's okay," Jingzhen replied with a gentle smile, gently biting her lip and looking at Xu Yan's back with a complicated look in her eyes.
"Not many people know about my coriander allergy... Even fewer can remember it all the time."
Lu Chuanbai casually put the used dishes and chopsticks into the dishwasher and looked at Xu Yan with a puzzled expression.
"When did I spoil her?"
"Huh?" Xu Yan looked at Lu Chuanbai in disbelief and imitated his tone just now. "You're the eldest, so lead the way. Isn't that the tone of coaxing a child?"
"Since when has Xu Qingqing become so delicate?"
Xu Yan was utterly confused and turned around to leave the kitchen.
It was probably a case of spoiling someone without realizing it.
Lu Chuanbai shook his head at Xu Yan's back and continued to clean up the mess left by the happy mother - son trio.
It was obvious that Xu Yan also remembered all the time that the person he loved was allergic to coriander.
Xu Yan saw Jingzhen carrying her own suitcase.
"You just had a head injury. How can you do heavy work?"
Xu Yan walked over disapprovingly and took the suitcase for Jingzhen himself. He glared at Xu Qingqing, who was still eating.
"Why didn't you help her carry it? You only know how to eat."
"I wanted to, but Sister Jingzhen wouldn't let me," Xu Qingqing said aggrievedly.
Her brother was so into this girl that he didn't care about his own sister.
Next, it was time to unpack the luggage. Since they got up so early in the morning, Xu Qingqing's hair was loose and it kept getting in the way as she moved around.
While carrying things into the room, Xu Qingqing kept pushing her hair back. Eventually, she got annoyed.
The next time her hair fell down, before she could push it back, someone gathered all her hair up.
"Let me tie it up for you," Lu Chuanbai said, waving the pink hair tie in his hand.
"It's okay. I'll just tie a low ponytail," Xu Qingqing said, trying to take the hair tie from Lu Chuanbai, but he pulled his hand back.
He wanted to show off his skills. How could he let Xu Qingqing tie her hair casually?
"Come on, come on. I'll tie it for you," Lu Chuanbai said, rubbing Xu Qingqing's head. He pulled her through the clothes scattered on the floor and headed to the second - floor bathroom.
"What are those two up to again?" Xu Yan frowned as he watched the affectionate young couple. Then he looked at the two cute kids who were carefully folding clothes.
When parents show affection, kids are just an afterthought.
Lu Chuanbai pushed Xu Qingqing into the bathroom and made her face the mirror. Then he got to work.
Xu Qingqing could only see Lu Chuanbai's fingers flying in the mirror.
A few minutes later, a smooth, low - hanging fishbone braid was done, with a pink butterfly hair tie at the end, looking extremely fresh and charming.
"Wow!" Xu Qingqing twirled in front of the mirror, admiring her hair.
"Lu Chuanbai, your skills are really good. You could consider becoming a hairdresser."
A smug smile appeared on Lu Chuanbai's face. "I only tie your hair and An'an's."
Xu Qingqing blushed shyly and gently punched Lu Chuanbai, who naturally pulled her into his arms.
Xu Qingqing put her hands on Lu Chuanbai's chest. "We're filming a variety show right now. Don't misbehave."
"Got it," Lu Chuanbai said, giving Xu Qingqing a kiss on the forehead. "There's only one month left until the winter vacation. I want to take you, Yiyi, and An'an on a trip. Where do you think we should go?"
Xu Qingqing lay on Lu Chuanbai's chest, thinking. For the family's first trip, they should choose a place with special meaning.
After thinking for a long time, Xu Qingqing still couldn't come up with an idea. She saw Xu Yiyi and Xu An'an carrying boxes back and forth in front of the bathroom.
"What do you think about going to Tibet..." Lu Chuanbai's words were interrupted when Xu Qingqing pushed him away.
"This is not the time to discuss where to go. We're here to help Sister Jingzhen move!"
While others were busy downstairs, they were just slacking off upstairs. If this was edited into the variety show, she would be so embarrassed.
Lu Chuanbai thought something serious had happened. He didn't expect it was just this. He said nonchalantly, "Don't we have Yiyi and An'an? Let them carry more things to exercise."
"That's out of the question," Xu Qingqing glared at Lu Chuanbai.
What if it stunted the growth of her two precious kids!
Xu Qingqing pulled Lu Chuanbai downstairs to carry things. After they were done, they sat around the table for dinner.
Watching Jingzhen and Xu Yan either being overly polite to each other or being at odds, making sarcastic remarks, made the meal unpleasant.
It wasn't until they got home that Lu Chuanbai noticed Xu Qingqing hadn't eaten enough and ordered takeout for her.
At night, Xu Qingqing stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, reluctant to take out the fishbone braid.
Seeing her hesitating, Lu Chuanbai couldn't help but laugh. "Take it out. If you like it, I can braid it for you again tomorrow."
"Okay," Xu Qingqing nodded and finally reluctantly took off the pink hair tie at the end of her hair.
Just then, her phone on the dressing table rang. It was Lu Qi calling.
Seeing the name on the caller ID, Xu Qingqing was in a daze for a moment. She hadn't been to Lu Qi's place for a long time and had almost forgotten about him.
She wondered if Lu Qi was angry that she had been absent from work for so long.
"Lu Qi, what do you want from me?" Xu Qingqing asked with a big smile.
As the saying goes, one should not strike a smiling face.
"Xu Qingqing, where are you? Can you come to work tomorrow?"
But there was heavy breathing on Lu Qi's end, and his words were spoken in a rush, as if he had taken a shot of adrenaline.
These days, Wang Lide hadn't asked her to go to the special action team again, so she assumed there was nothing to do.
"Sure, I'll definitely go early tomorrow!" Xu Qingqing thought Lu Qi was angry.
"I'm glad you can come. No one else can do this except you," Lu Qi said, relieved to hear that Xu Qingqing would come.
Before Xu Qingqing could ask what it was about, he hung up the phone.
"What's up?" Lu Chuanbai had just made the bed.
He had heard Lu Qi's impatient tone through the phone's speaker.
"Nothing. Lu Qi said he needed my help with something, but he didn't say what it was," Xu Qingqing shook her head and put the phone on the table.
She took a few steps back, then ran forward and threw herself onto the soft bed, sinking deeply into it.
The neatly made bedsheets that Lu Chuanbai had just arranged were messed up again.
"You're so grown - up, yet you still act like a child," Lu Chuanbai sighed helplessly. Then he imitated Xu Qingqing and threw himself onto the bed, tickling her.
"You messed up the bed I made, so you have to be punished."
Xu Qingqing burst out laughing, tears streaming down her face.
"Hahaha... Sorry, I was wrong. I'll be more careful next time... Hahaha, stop tickling me..."