Ji Liuyue could, of course, tell that Liu Qingye was hoping she would ask.
But she simply refused to.
Let the other woman stew.
In the end, it was Liu Qingye who could no longer hold back. She said, “These were sent by Ji Xizhou.”
Ji Liuyue immediately became interested. Ji Xizhou had sworn up and down just last night that he had been secretly in love with someone for over a decade, and now he had sent Liu Qingye a loving breakfast first thing in the morning?
She couldn’t help suspecting something was off. “Are you sure you didn’t see wrong?”
“I’m sure.”
Liu Qingye answered with absolute certainty. “I saw his back when I opened the door just now. I wanted to call out to him, but he walked away too quickly.”
Ji Liuyue pondered this for a moment.
She seemed to have thought of a possibility, then smiled.
Putting on an expression of disdain, she said to Liu Qingye, “Then go eat in the dining room. Eating in the bedroom will make it smell.”
Liu Qingye didn’t argue. She simply felt that she had won this round. Holding the breakfast tray in one hand, she walked out in high spirits, humming a tune.
After making breakfast, Ji Xizhou had gone to the gym by himself to work out, so he never crossed paths with Liu Qingye.
By the time it was past nine, everyone had gradually gotten up.
As soon as Cen Yu entered the kitchen, he began making breakfast for everyone. There happened to be eggs and vegetables in the refrigerator, so he decided to make vegetable noodles topped with fried eggs.
He asked, “Has everyone eaten breakfast? I need to figure out how many servings to make.”
Liu Qingye had been sitting alone on a small sofa not far from the dining table, reading a magazine.
When she heard him, she looked up and smiled. “I’ve already eaten. You don’t need to make a serving for me.”
Ji Mingtian looked at the female guest he was interested in with concern and asked curiously, “Yezi, you got up so early to eat breakfast?”
Liu Qingye answered vaguely, “Yeah. I didn’t make it myself, though.”
Just then, Ji Xizhou appeared in the dining room after finishing his workout, taking a shower, and changing clothes. The moment he saw Ji Liuyue, he asked her directly, “Yueyue, did you eat breakfast? How was it?”
Ji Liuyue had been waiting for precisely this moment.
First, she glanced at Liu Qingye in the distance. Then, pretending to be confused, she said, “Breakfast? What breakfast? I haven’t eaten yet.”
Ji Xizhou grew anxious. “The breakfast I left outside your room around seven. I even knocked, but no one answered.
“After I went back to write a note, the breakfast had been taken inside.
“Didn’t you eat it?”
Everyone’s eyes shifted back and forth between Ji Liuyue and Liu Qingye.
Wang Aitian and Zhang Weiyi in particular knew that Ji Liuyue and Liu Qingye shared a room. So, the breakfast Ji Xizhou had left outside the room had been taken in and eaten by someone else?
It was really hard to tell what had happened!
Liu Qingye’s expression had been as smug as could be just moments ago, but now it was equally awkward.
She finally realized why Ji Liuyue had looked at her with that faintly amused expression.
It turned out that Ji Xizhou’s breakfast had been meant for Ji Liuyue, while she had naively assumed that he had sent it to show his interest in her.
It was hardly surprising that she had made that mistake.
After all, she had grown up being pursued and fawned over by men. Whenever she encountered the occasional setback, she simply assumed that the problem lay with someone else.
That morning, Ji Xizhou had dropped off the breakfast and run away immediately. From Liu Qingye’s perspective, he had merely been too shy and embarrassed to stay.
As for the possibility that Ji Xizhou had sent it to Ji Liuyue?
Sorry, but that possibility had never even entered her mind.
And regarding Ji Xizhou’s claim the night before that he had been secretly in love with someone for more than a decade, Liu Qingye was even more convinced that it was merely a script the production team had prepared for the fifth male contestant.
After all, if you really liked someone, how could you stand holding it in for more than ten years without confessing? And when you finally got the chance to confess, you chose to do it on a dating reality show. No normal person would think that way.
The atmosphere in the room fell silent for a moment.
Only Ji Mingtian still hadn’t realized that Liu Qingye had eaten the breakfast.
He was still asking, “That’s strange. Could it have been left outside and taken away by the cleaning lady the production team hired?”
Ji Liuyue smiled and said, “Maybe.”
She hadn’t exposed the truth on the spot, which could be considered a way of saving Liu Qingye some face.
But in reality, that was impossible.
The women in the house only had access to their own limited perspectives, but once the show aired, the audience would have an omniscient view and naturally see the whole chain of events.
So everyone would know that Liu Qingye had mistakenly eaten the breakfast meant for someone else.
Ji Xizhou still hadn’t figured it out and continued muttering, “How could that be? My breakfast was obviously freshly made. The fried egg was still hot. Why would the cleaning lady take it away?”
Just then, Lu Nanxun came in to get some water. As he passed by Ji Xizhou, he calmly said, “Liuyue and Liu Qingye are sharing a room.”
Ji Xizhou suddenly understood. His expression turned into one of shock and surprise.
His expression control was somewhat lacking, and he stared at Liu Qingye for a little too long.
Liu Qingye couldn’t bear the public humiliation any longer. She simply stood up with the magazine she had been reading and left.
By the time Cen Yu finished making breakfast, the others had gradually woken up as well.
They gathered around the dining table in twos and threes to eat.
Xu Jinsi was the last one downstairs. He noticed the regretful look on Ji Xizhou’s face, then glanced at the only person missing from the table—Liu Qingye.
He smiled.
Although he still didn’t know what had happened with the breakfast, he had already guessed most of it.
Putting on an apparently friendly expression, he said, “Xizhou, you’re the new guest here. Why don’t you go call Liu Qingye?”
Ji Mingtian blurted out, “No need. Yezi already ate breakfast.”
“Oh, she got up that early? Who made breakfast for her?” Xu Jinsi asked, tilting his head toward him as he picked up some noodles.
Ji Xizhou’s face turned a dark shade of red. He said gloomily, “This morning, I only made breakfast for Yueyue. I don’t know about anyone else.”
That was practically an admission.
From just those few simple sentences, Xu Jinsi had more or less pieced together what had happened. The corners of his lips lifted into a faint smile.
“Hmm. Very hardworking of you. Even if you didn’t receive the credit, you certainly put in the effort.”
Every word sounded like praise, but every word was actually laced with sarcasm.
Ji Xizhou had painstakingly made the breakfast, yet Liuyue hadn’t received it. Instead, Liu Qingye had eaten it. This was certainly a case of effort without reward.
Ji Xizhou felt aggrieved.
But he also knew that the matter would have to be quietly brushed aside. From beginning to end, it had all been a misunderstanding.
Making a big deal out of it would only make him look petty.
The honest Dr. Lu silently glanced at the two of them, then thoughtfully pushed the side dishes closer to Liuyue.
In a gentle voice, he asked, “Yueyue, did you sleep well?”
Ji Liuyue replied, “Pretty well.”
Lu Nanxun said warmly, “Then after we finish eating, let’s go to the supermarket to stock up.”
Ji Liuyue nodded. “Okay.”
It was something they had already agreed on. The refrigerator in the island house didn’t contain many ingredients, so they needed to go to the supermarket and buy a large supply of groceries.
Originally, the plan had been for Ji Xizhou to drive the SUV provided by the production team and take them there.
Lu Nanxun was the last to join the conversation, but he acted quickly. The night before, he had already asked his assistant to park his car in the cottage’s parking lot.
An honest man wouldn’t do anything too outrageous.
He only wanted to get there first and steal the opportunity.
