After a brief moment of contemplation, Ji Fanyin decided to allow Bai Zhou to do as he pleased. The latter took her phone and flipped it over.
Obviously, the caller could only be Song Shiyu.
Since Bai Zhou was right beside her, he was the only one left who could access her phone while it was still in 'Do Not Disturb' mode.
Bai Zhou didn't hang up the phone. He stared at Ji Fanyin's phone screen for two seconds, and surprisingly, he actually picked it up. "Song Shiyu, you're really getting addicted to this, huh?"
Ji Fanyin couldn't hear what Song Shiyu said on the other end, but Bai Zhou's complexion swiftly darkened. A few seconds later, he quietly hung up the phone.
Ji Fanyin raised her eyebrows a little.
There were many comebacks one could make to Bai Zhou's remark. Just a simple 'Aren't you the same too?' was more than enough to silence him.
She was just curious as to how Song Shiyu phrased it.
However, what she was the most concerned with was whether Song Shiyu was intending to make another reservation with that call. So, she gently asked Bai Zhou, "What did he say?"
Bai Zhou tossed her phone into her bag with moderate force and replied, "Nothing much. It's all nonsense... You aren't allowed to look at me anymore. Read your book instead!"
He stomped back to his seat and sat down. There was a brief pause before he suddenly sneered, "You actually fell in love with a scum like him?"
To maintain the character she was playing, Ji Fanyin chose not to respond to Bai Zhou's remark. Deep down, however, she was amazed by the latter's inability to see the irony of his own words.
You're scorning him despite being in the same position as him? What a remarkable lack of self-awareness.
After this small incident, she turned her attention back to the book in her hand. Despite knowing next to nothing about sketching, she still managed to finish it despite the professional jargons filling its pages.
When she finally closed the book shut, she noticed that the only sound to be heard in the art room was the light whirring of the air conditioning. There weren't any pencil scratching sounds to be heard.
She raised her head and looked in Bai Zhou's direction, only to see him dozing off on a large comfortable chair. The pencil in his hand was already on the verge of falling to the ground.
He might be young, but there's still a limit to his vitality.
Ji Fanyin quietly rose to her feet and walked over to Bai Zhou's side. She tried tugging the pencil in his hand softly first, and it was only when he failed to respond did she finally pull it out entirely.
Bai Zhou groggily opened her eyes. "Mmm... Big sis?"
"You stayed up all night again?" Ji Fanyin patted his hair which was as unruly as his personality. "Go on and take a nap. I'll wake you up when it's time to eat."
She spoke with a suppressed voice, such that Bai Zhou didn't suspect a thing at all.
"... Don't go, big sis," he murmured a few indistinct words.
"I won't go anywhere. I'll be right by your side," said Ji Fanyin gently.
Bai Zhou returned to sleep with an ease of mind.
Ji Fanyin suddenly thought that it wasn't that bad for her client to have stayed up the previous night either. It sure was a load of burden off her back.
Standing beside Bai Zhou, she turned her attention toward the half-done sketch that he had been working on so far. It was a portrait of her—or from the artist's point of view, Ji Xinxin—reading a book with a lowered head. It had a tranquil vibe that brought serenity to those looking at it.
It's hard to believe that this was drawn by someone of Bai Zhou's personality.
Bai Zhou subconsciously reached for Ji Fanyin's hand while the latter was still looking at his sketch, but the moment their fingers barely came into contact, she quickly pulled her hand away.
In the end, he only managed to grab onto her coat, though he clutched onto it with surprising tenacity, refusing to let go at all.
Ji Fanyin lowered her head to look at him and her eyebrows shot up a little.
...
It was a particularly peaceful sleep for Bai Zhou till he was woken up.
The first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was the person he liked, and it brought a smile onto his face. He called out to her with a voice that was still a little nasal from having just woken up, "Big sis."
"You lazy bum." The other party poked his forehead. "It's already after lunchtime. Your tummy is going to start hurting if you don't wake up soon."
Bai Zhou closed his eyes groggily as he mumbled softly, "I want to eat... the food you make. You said that you would learn some of the local specialties in... France...!"
His words gradually slowed down, and the final word was literally spoken with a shout. He immediately sat upward as if he had been struck by lightning.
Shit! Ji Xinxin is obviously in France! The person beside me in a fake!
Bai Zhou glared at Ji Fanyin with a mixture of anger and fright, but the latter simply directed an unfazed smile at him and asked, "Are you finally awake?"
He wanted to burst out cursing, but at the next moment, he belatedly realized that he was holding onto her coat. He immediately flung it off as countless vulgarities flashed across his mind.
"Lunch? We'll get delivery!" He vigorously whipped out his phone and tapped into a delivery app. "We'll be eating fried chicken!"
Ji Fanyin sighed softly. "You're still young. You shouldn't eat junk food all the time."
"That's none of your business!" shouted Bai Zhou. He was like a volcano that was already on the verge of eruption. "You aren't like big sis at all! Do you even know how to cook?!"
"I do," replied Ji Fanyin with a smile. "I know a bit of French cuisine. What would you like to eat?"
Bai Zhou was in the midst of furiously adding spicy chicken into his shopping cart when his finger abruptly came to a halt. "... Really?"
"The preparation time might be a bit long though, and I don't have any ingredients at my place." Ji Fanyin took a look at her watch. "Why don't I grab some ingredients later on and cook dinner for you?"
Bai Zhou stared at her intently as if he was trying to guard against a thief.
But in the end, he still caved in and agreed to it. He even passed his phone to her and said, "Order what you want for lunch."
Ji Fanyin scrolled through the menu of the unhealthy fried chicken fast food restaurant, and in the end, she opted for Ji Xinxin's usual choice of salad and corn.
It's lucky that I ate more for breakfast, she thought.
Probably thanks to having rested up well, Bai Zhou was much more effective in the afternoon. He managed to finish two sketches, which he carefully stowed away in a folder as if it was some sort of precious treasure.
"You can go to the supermarket on your own. I won't be tagging along," said Bai Zhou as he walked out of the art room. "It'll be troublesome if anyone catches the two of us together."
Ji Fanyin considered asking him for his bank card, but she decided against breaking her character here.
I'll just report my expenses to him later on. It's unlikely that he would shirk payment anyway.
Ji Fanyin headed to the Hema supermarket at the B1 floor in the shopping mall. She quickly drafted up an ingredient list in her mind and grabbed everything she needed before making payment. (Hema is a major China supermarket chain under Alibaba.)
Once she was done, she made a call to Bai Zhou.
His voice was as impatient as always. "You're done? Send me your address. We'll head there separately."
Ji Fanyin blinked her eyes before replying, "Let's head to your house instead. You have a larger kitchen. Besides... I'm worried that you haven't been taking care of yourself recently. I want to take a look around your apartment."
She had no intention of giving her address away to her client that easily. Even with Song Shiyu, she chose to meet him in a public parking lot in her neighborhood instead of directly giving him her address.
She made a clear distinction between work and private life.
Bai Zhou was silent for two seconds. Perhaps it was because he didn't want to waste his time arguing with Ji Fanyin over this, he soon replied, "I'll send my address to you. You head there yourself."
He hung up his phone afterward.
A while later, Ji Fanyin received the address from him and hailed a cab, lugging an entire box of ingredients with her all the way to Bai Zhou's apartment.
Someone with a privileged background like Bai Zhou naturally lived in a high-class condominium. On top of having the penthouse apartment, he also had a butler who was on standby 24/7.
The butler was already waiting at the entrance of the condominium when she arrived. He brought her to the penthouse and opened the door for her before leaving without asking any questions at all.
His respect for his employer's privacy showed his professionalism.
Ji Fanyin was unable to find any smaller slippers in the shoe rack, so she had to make do with an oversized one.
She was quite passionate about cooking. She lay out her ingredients one by one in the open concept kitchen and began handling them accordingly. Cooking was quite enjoyable to her,such that she soon started humming a tune.
Twenty minutes later, Bai Zhou arrived.
There was a spirited look on his face when he opened the door. When he noticed an additional pair of slippers by the doorway, he quickly turned to the kitchen and held his finger to his mouth, gesturing for Ji Fanyin not to make a noise.
Ji Fanyin quickly swallowed her greetings back in.
"Right now? Sure!" replied Bai Zhou over the phone. It was clear that he was in a good mood. "... Big sis, don't you have any lessons today?"
Ji Fanyin immediately got the message.
Ah, it's one of Ji Xinxin's routine checks.
She took a paprika, placed it on the chopping board, and skillfully sliced it into half. She proceeded on to remove its seeds and membrane before cutting it into smaller pieces.
"Yes, I'm free. I can play with you right now." Bai Zhou casually placed his motorcycle keys on the table before speed walking to his laptop. "Is it just the two of us? ... Who else will be joining us?"
Ji Fanyin elegantly sprinkled salt and pepper on the steaks and gently massaged them to rub the flavor in.
"Your friend is joining us too? ... Is it a guy or a girl?" Bai Zhou's voice could be heard through the opened door of his study room. "A girl? Ah okay. I'm switching on my laptop now. I'll be there right away. Yeah, you should add me into your party."
Ji Fanyin stashed the steak and all of the other processed ingredients neatly into the plastic containers provided by the supermarket.
Bai Zhou finally walked out from the study room with his phone still in his hand. He said, "Ji Fanyin, you may leave now."
He placed his phone down on a table before heading into the bathroom to wash his face.
Meanwhile, Ji Fanyin made use of the next few minutes to clean up the mess in the kitchen.
When Bai Zhou walked into the living room with water dripping from his face and saw that Ji Fanyin was still around, he asked with a frown, "Why are you still here? I don't need you around anymore. Don't worry, I won't ask you for a refund since I'm the one cancelling the reservation now. Make sure to take everything away with you. I don't need them anymore."
Ji Fanyin stacked the containers of freshly handled and marinated ingredients into a plastic bag before turning to Bai Zhou. "Wait a moment, young master Bai."
"What?" grumbled Bai Zhou impatiently.
Ji Fanyin put on a professional smile and said, "I've left the receipt for the expenses I have incurred at the supermarket on your shoe rack. Please remember to reimburse me accordingly."
"Just how poor are you?!" exclaimed Bai Zhou. He waved his hand impatiently and said, "Hurry up and leave!"
It's just some foie gras, steak, red wine, mussels, and stuff. This rich young master wouldn't be too bothered with just a measly 10,000 dollars.
Out of gratitude, Ji Fanyin kindly took away the trash bag in the kitchen with her when she left the penthouse. With a huge bag of high-quality ingredients in hand, she hailed a cab and headed back home.
It was only 3 o'clock by the time she got home.
I got to leave work nine hours early, and I even got a free Western dinner feast for myself.
Yup, he definitely is a VIP client of mine.