Chapter 194: Dumplings

A smile flickered in Gu Zhiyu’s eyes. “Oh? Since it concerns your safety, maybe I should search a bit more thoroughly?”

An Nan’s whole body radiated resistance. “No need!!”

You scheming, wicked man—back off! Back off! Back off!

Gu Zhiyu laughed out loud. “Alright then, I’ll listen to you.”

An Nan let out a sigh of relief. Why is it that every time she faces him, she can never get the upper hand?

If she can’t fight him, she can at least avoid him.

She turned on the TV. “You watch a movie for a while. I’ll go get a room ready for you.”

Gu Zhiyu said, “No need to trouble yourself. I can just sleep on the sofa.”

An Nan replied, “How can someone who paid eighty million sleep on the sofa?”

That would make her a real scammer.

Gu Zhiyu chuckled. “You’re the most practical woman I’ve ever met.”

An Nan shot him a look. “If you know that, why aren’t you giving up already?”

Gu Zhiyu replied, “On the contrary, it just makes me more motivated.”

An Nan frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Gu Zhiyu smiled. “It’s not like I’m short on money. If you love money, isn’t that the same as loving me?”

An Nan: …

How can this guy be so shameless?

Suddenly, she felt the neighbors’ nickname for him—“the nouveau riche”—was actually spot on.

She reminded him, “Money’s basically just waste paper now.”

Gu Zhiyu replied, “I’m not short on supplies either.”

An Nan was speechless. “Who flaunts their wealth like this? Aren’t you afraid of being kidnapped and ransomed?”

Gu Zhiyu said, “Kidnap me? You? Be my guest.”

An Nan: …

She realized her first impression of him had been way off.

He looked cold and aloof, like he kept everyone at arm’s length, but in reality, he was just a fake gentleman.

Too lazy to argue with him anymore, An Nan headed straight for the guest bedroom.

Gu Zhiyu stood up to follow. “I’ll help you.”

An Nan stopped him. “No need, I can handle it myself.”

If he followed her in, how was she supposed to use her space ability?

Gu Zhiyu assumed she had some private things to put away, so he didn’t insist.

“Alright, go ahead. Leave the heavy lifting to me.”

An Nan nodded and went into the guest room, locking the door behind her.

There was already a bed in the room. An Nan found a new set of bedding and put a few changes of clothes for him in the wardrobe.

To avoid exposing her space ability, she deliberately piled supplies in every corner of the room.

Then she went to another room and took out all the supplies they might need for the next month, arranging them neatly.

She tried to make sure everything looked like it had a reasonable source.

By the time she finished, it was already late.

When An Nan came out, she saw Gu Zhiyu busy in the kitchen.

She raised her eyebrows. Didn’t she tell him to watch TV? Why was he in the kitchen cooking?

This tenant was truly one of a kind—he paid eighty million in rent, and now he was cooking for the landlord.

Gu Zhiyu was chopping meat for the filling, with a bowl of kneaded dough beside him.

The three little ones were squeezed into the kitchen with him, watching curiously.

An Nan walked over for a look and her eyes lit up. “Are you…?”

Gu Zhiyu smiled. “I promised you dumplings, remember?”

An Nan’s heart skipped a beat. “You remembered?”

Back at the mountain base, she’d complimented Gu Zhiyu’s frozen dumplings, and he’d said he’d make her fresh ones if he got the chance.

She hadn’t expected him to arrange it on his very first day here.

Gu Zhiyu didn’t say anything, just put the chopped meat into a big bowl and started adding soy sauce, salt, and other seasonings.

An Nan watched carefully from the side, taking mental notes.

Gu Zhiyu glanced at her with amusement. “Think you can remember it all?”

An Nan nodded. “I can.”

She could cook herself—she just needed to remember the differences in their seasoning.

But then she thought of something and said, a little defeated, “It’s no use even if I remember. Last time I tried making teriyaki beef rice your way, I followed your recipe exactly, but it just didn’t taste the same.”

Gu Zhiyu mixed the filling, the corners of his mouth lifting. “If you can’t learn, then don’t bother. I’ll cook for you.”

An Nan pouted. “It only counts if I learn it myself. What, are you planning to cook for me for the rest of my life?”

As soon as she said it, she regretted it.

This man’s hormones had been out of whack lately—if he latched onto this, he’d definitely say something unbearably sweet.

Sure enough, when she looked up, Gu Zhiyu was grinning from ear to ear, about to say something. An Nan quickly covered his mouth.

“No talking! Focus on your work!”

Gu Zhiyu looked a little innocent.

On the floor, Fortune, seeing that they were just chatting and not cooking, let out an impatient whine.

An Nan withdrew her hand. “See? Even the dog’s hungry. Get to work!”

Gu Zhiyu smiled, brought the prepared filling and dough to the dining table, and got ready to start wrapping dumplings.

An Nan sat down beside him to help.

By now, night had fully fallen. An Nan turned on the dining room light, and the warm yellow glow bathed the two of them.

Gu Zhiyu rolled out the wrappers, An Nan filled them, and from time to time they had to fend off Fortune, who tried to steal raw dumplings.

Laifu and Lord Rabbit sat quietly on chairs nearby.

Neither of them spoke.

Gu Zhiyu rolled out the dough, glancing sideways at An Nan and the three little ones gathered around.

He couldn’t help but think of how, in the past, he’d often flown his helicopter in circles above this house, quietly watching the light shining from the windows.

Now, he was sitting here in this warm light himself.

He pressed his lips together, suddenly hoping time would slow down, or that the rain would never stop.

In the hallway—

“Damn! When is this rain going to stop?”

“Seriously, it’s been pouring all afternoon. Is it ever going to end?”

“If I’d known, I would’ve just run home earlier, even if it was a pain. Now we’re stuck here—it’s torture!”

“Let’s wait a bit longer. We absolutely can’t go out while it’s still raining.”

Some residents who’d rushed into Building 6 to escape the acid rain were anxiously waiting for it to stop.

A girl of about ten clung to her mother’s arm. “Mom, I want to go home.”

The woman hugged her close and soothed her. “Don’t be scared, sweetie. As soon as the rain stops, I’ll take you home.”

Those who could still talk were the ones who’d been near the entrance or reacted quickly and weren’t badly hurt.

Several others had been severely burned by the acid rain and were lying on the ground, unable to speak.

At that moment, someone suggested, “Looks like this rain isn’t stopping anytime soon. Why don’t we go upstairs and find an empty room to rest? At least we’d have a bed.”

Another person said, “There are so many of us—where are we going to find enough empty beds?”

“You don’t know? This is the demon woman’s building. Almost everyone in this unit has already been killed by her.”

A few people were surprised. “What demon woman?”

The others looked at them. “You don’t know the Chainsaw Demon Woman? You’re not from our complex, are you?”

Those people nodded. “We’re from Qian’ao Community. We came here to trade supplies. Never thought we’d get trapped here…”"