Chapter 98 – Self-reliance

“Oh, class leader, have some trust in me! If you’re actually scared, you might as well go home. You’ve already seen how energetic Xiao Qin is…”

“No way!” the class leader firmly said, “I didn’t come just for a visit, it was also to help Xiao Qin with her homework! Also, with how strange you are, how can I leave you alone with Xiao Qin!”

The class leader is really boring. We finally get a day off and she wants to spend it tutoring Xiao Qin; she even forced me to listen.

Xiao Qin was great at language and foreign language classes, so she caught up to the lessons fairly quickly. However, she was terrible at maths, physics, and chemistry. Since she missed a whole week of lessons, she seems like she’s about to cry after listening to the class leader’s explanations.

Although the class leader was a patient and competent teacher, she still couldn’t really help Xiao Qin who couldn’t think that well. The class leader could only sigh, pick out the areas Xiao Qin did understand and skip parts to teach.

The class leader was very upset when she saw that I only stood by the side smiling and I didn’t even take out any of my books.

“Ye Lin, do you think you’re really smart? If you don’t study, how will you integrate into our high tech society?”

I picked up a date from the platter of fruits, tossed it into my mouth, and mockingly replied:

“I’ll just find a low tech job, like working as a laborer at a construction site! Then I don’t need to study at all!”

Then I remembered that I forgot to take off my clothes. Since I spoke about labor, I might as well show off some muscles and show you my physical labor capabilities.

I took off my top before the class leader had the chance to stop me.

Under my tight black vest, were the muscles I was incredibly proud of.

If I exerted a bit of strength, my biceps would bulge out like Popeyes. The arc from my shoulder to my waist was like an upside down gourd. I emitted a strong and intense, manly beauty.

How about it? It should be more than enough for physical labor! I might even become a model worker and make my way onto national TV!

Xiao Qin’s eyes sparkled when she looked at me, but as for the class leader, it was like she saw a forest gorilla.

Don’t look down on gorillas! Gorillas have the perfect V-shaped body that all bodybuilders strive to achieve! They are also seven times stronger than the average person!

Do you think someone frail like your brother is civilized? Don’t kid around! Let me correct your twisted sense of aesthetics!

I arrogantly performed a bodybuilding pose to show off my developed back muscles.

In order to achieve the perfect proportion of muscles that Bruce Lee had in ‘Way of the Dragon‘, I always did chin-ups or pull-ups to train my lats.

Once I raised my shoulders and squeezed the nearby muscles, a pair of small wings formed on my back.

Although it’s completely useless, Bruce Lee did the same thing on camera before. So, I was a bit happy that I could at least imitate my idol to a certain extent.

Xiao Qin couldn’t hold back and started poking at the ‘wings’ that were on my back.

“O(∩_∩)O Haha~how fun!”

It’s been a while, so her tongue has already slowly started to heal.

The class leader suddenly covered her mouth and rushed into the bathroom.

What’s she doing? Vomiting? I’m definitely not handsome, but my looks shouldn’t make you want to vomit. Have you never seen properly trained lats? Does my ‘wings’ look like a tumor or abnormality in your eyes?

It’s the first time I’ve seen a girl who’s so ignorant! Compared to me, ‘Naruto’ has tons of people with actual abnormalities! In the later seasons, it’s actually much harder trying to find a character without abnormalities! Also, apologize to Bruce Lee immediately! The muscles that he developed through intense training isn’t for people to vomit at.

When the class leader was in the bathroom, Xiao Qin asked me in a quiet voice:

“Did the class leader not add poison to my tea because you stopped her?”

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at her victim delusions. I wanted her to clear her head, so I replied sarcastically:

“Yes, the class leader poisoned you! She didn’t even add any tea leaves, that whole cup was made with Croton! But, she grabbed the wrong cup due to her nervousness and now she’s facing the consequences of her own actions. Look, didn’t she just run into the bathroom?”

Xiao Qin formed a fist and smacked it on the palm of her other hand with an expression of sudden realization.

“The class leader is merciless! If I drank a Croton tea that concentrated, I might have died! Then she would probably seduce Ye Lin classmate right next to my dead body!”

You actually believed it! Did you not hear my 400% more sarcastic tone!? Also, to get intimate next to your corpse, how unique are the class leader’s tastes! If she had such strong tastes, she wouldn’t have puked after she saw my lats!

I wasn’t sure if the class leader actually puked in the washroom, but when she came back there were traces of water on her face, evident that she washed it.

Seeing as I haven’t worn my clothes, the class leader knitted her brows and said:

“How can you dress like that with girls here?”

“Why can’t I wear this? Aren’t sports jerseys pretty common? Everyone wears this during the summer when playing basketball and I’ve never heard a word of complaint from the girls in the audience!”

Not only were there no complaints but whenever Shen ShaoYi’s muscles are accidentally exposed during play, there would be a wave of cheers from the girls. (Recently, there’s also the whistles of a female doctor thrown into the mix)

Since the room was a bit hot and the class leader didn’t want to tell Xiao Qin to turn down the heat, she could only agree to my attire.

I glanced at my watch, it was already 11 am.

We still haven’t decided on what to do for lunch. According to my dad’s and my experience, if we wanted to order out during the weekend, we had to order ahead of time or we won’t get our food on time.

I leaned back on the sofa and asked Xiao Qin if there were any good restaurants nearby. If delivery wasn’t possible, I could always just head downstairs to buy something.

Xiao Qin clasped her hands together and asked with eyes full of expectation: “Can’t you eat me?”

I snorted, “It’s fine for me, but you don’t have much meat, there’s not enough to share with the class leader!”

The class leader stared at us with wide eyes, visibly stunned by our conversation.

Her expression calmed down quickly, she probably remembered how I told her that Xiao Qin loves corny jokes.

Xiao Qin quietly complained a bit, then she indicated there was a roast duck store nearby that Auntie Ren always ordered from. We can get all their signature dishes with one call and we don’t even have to pay on the spot, it can be added to our tab.

I thought that sounded pretty good, so I asked Xiao Qin to get the menu for that store.

The class leader interjected: “Do we have to eat out? If there are any ingredients in the fridge, I can make some simple dishes for everyone.”

I didn’t even express my opinion before Xiao Qin raised her right arm:

“Yeah yeah! I want to eat the class leader’s cooking! In order to practice cooking, I always keep a lot of ingredients in the fridge! Class leader, feel free to use as much as you want!”

After the class leader checked the fridge, she told us there were enough ingredients to make a serving of tomato meat and Di San Xian, she’ll also make a silver wood ear and date soup with the leftover dates.

She left the two of us behind to write our language essays while she went to the kitchen to start cooking.

The glass sliding door was shut by the class leader to prevent smoke from escaping. Xiao Qin and I couldn’t focus on doing our homework, instead, we constantly observed the class leader cooking.

The class leader initially wanted to use Xiao Qin’s apron, but she felt it was a bit immature since it had a picture of a cartoon rhino. It was also a bit short, so she stuck to using Auntie Ren’s light yellow apron.

Although this was the first time she used the kitchen in Xiao Qin’s home, the class leader quickly entered her proper state of mind. Every item had a proper place. regardless if it was slicing, peeling, trimming, frying, steaming, or boiling, it all showed a professional level of skill.

I never heard of the class leader learning under any chefs, so she probably was able to keep her quality while maintaining speed from cooking every day.

Her house was pretty close to the school, yet she rode a bike home every day, was it so she could get home early and cook for her younger brother?

I could almost imagine a scene with Shu Zhe sitting a the dining table while banging his fork telling his sister to hurry up and cook.

I’m not sure what kind of expression the class leader usually had when she rushed home every day to cook. Currently, she seems very calm and relaxed, maybe even a tint of happy.

Wearing an apron while single-mindedly preparing our lunch; she seems like a good wife!

Even though there was a glass door, the fragrance of the food gradually spread outside.