“My name is Qi Huai.”
The man suddenly said as he stood waiting for Yu Ci to unlock his door. It was also this statement that pulled Yu Ci out of his thoughts. Yu Ci was shocked for a moment and felt embarrassed. Although they had passed by each other several times, he didn’t even know the name of the other person and had invited him over for dinner……
Yu Ci held onto the cucumbers with great difficulty and awkwardly smiled, “My name is Yu Ci.”
Qi Huai made a noise of acknowledgement, and waited at the side while Yu Ci opened his door. Yu Ci’s house was very clean and had a simple decorating style. With one casual glance, Qi Huai had gotten a good feel of Yu Ci’s personality and preferences. He stared at the small pots of succulents on the coffee table as he quietly followed Yu Ci over there.
“Please sit down first. I have soda and coffee, what do you like to drink?”
Yu Ci dropped the cucumbers down onto the ground and straightened up. He clenched his fist and lightly massaged his still-sore waist.
“Plain water is okay.”
Qi Huai’s appearance was cold and refined, where people couldn’t point out any bad spots about his facial features. He resembles one of those sculptures Yu Ci has seen before, the same type of regal features, the same type of …. stoniness. Yu Ci quickly threw these thoughts away and went into the kitchen to pour a cup of warm water. When Qi Huai took the glass, his finger lightly brushed Yu Ci’s finger, and the touch was very warm. Qi Huai closed his eyes and pretended that nothing had happened.
Yu Ci didn’t notice anything so he just continued on, “The remote control is in the small basket over there. You can watch TV while I cook. Oh, by the way, do you avoid any type of food?”
Qi Huai shook his head, “No.”
When Yu Ci heard it, he smiled, sighed a sigh of relief in his heart.
Fortunately this customer was not picky with his food, otherwise—
Yu Ci went into the kitchen and opened the freezer, gloomily looking at the only piece of spare ribs remaining. It was part of the delivery he had ordered from the supermarket before. Ever since then, he would head out to eat or order take away, totally forgetting about the ingredients in his fridge.
Around 6 o’clock, under Qi Huai’s intense gaze, Yu Ci finally brought out all the dishes. His gaze turned upwards onto Yu Ci’s face. The boy’s snow-white complexion revealed a smile, “You can wash your hands and eat now.”
Five minutes later, Qi Huai sat at the dining table with a strange expression.
“What is this?”
“Smashed cucumber salad.”
Qi Huai made an “en” noise and pointed to the other dishes.
Yu Ci smoothly answered, “This is spicy and sour cucumbers, this is sweet vinegar cucumber, this is stir fry cucumber with vegetables, this is cold cucumber salad. Oh, and this is ribs stewed in cucumber!”
Qi Huai: ……..
After an hour of dinner, Qi Huai said that he’ll wash the dishes, but Yu Ci thought that since he was the guest, he couldn’t be impolite and let the guest do the dishes. As soon as he said, “It’s okay I’ll do it,” Qi Huai agreed and started to excuse himself.
Yu Ci: …..
As he was escorting Qi Huai out of the house, Yu Ci turned around and caught sight of a few unfinished cucumbers, “How does Mr. Qi feel about today’s cucumbers?”
Qi Huai stiffened.
To be fair, the cucumbers were really delicious, however, the dinner was all cucumbers. No matter how delicious they were, it was a bit repetitive. Qi Huai, remembering the unspoken rules of society, uttered out a lie in a serious manner, “Very good.”
Hearing this, Yu Ci’s mood improved visibly. Although the EQ of Mr. Qi was not very high, at least he liked the cucumbers he grew. Acknowledging this fact, Yu Ci hurried back into the living room and picked up the remaining cucumbers. He enthusiastically stuffed them into Qi Huai’s arms and with a bright smile, said, “Then Mr. Qi, you should eat more. This cucumber also tastes very good when eaten raw.”
Qi Huai silently stared at the cucumbers, pursed his lips, and finally responded with an “okay.”
Yu Ci waved at him, but vaguely felt that Qi Huai looked a bit miserable.
Scratching his chin, Yu Ci decided he was overthinking. He just gave him the remaining cucumbers, that was a joyous thing!
After sending Qi Huai out, Yu Ci laid on the sofa for a while, then got up and tossed the dishes into the dishwasher. Yawning, Yu Ci was about to walk towards his bedroom when his doorbell suddenly rang. Yu Ci turned and changed directions.
He wondered who would be looking for him at this time?
When he opened the door, he was stunned to see a professor’s face.
Professor Xia was a professor in the History Department of the Imperial Capital University. He had a warm demeanour, and under his rimmed-glasses, his eyes were gentle and kind. He noticed Yu Ci’s slightly startled expression and felt a little embarrassed. Although he knew young people like Yu Ci didn’t go to bed at 7 o’clock, it wasn’t early either. Professor Xia said, “Xiao Ci, it’s like this, the cucumbers you gave me today was really good. I just wanted to ask where you bought them.”
Professor Xia paused for a moment, and then abruptly said, “My son has been losing his appetite recently. Just two days ago, my wife asked him to go to the hospital to check if he has anorexia. Anyways, after eating your cucumbers, he managed to finish two bowls of rice and asked where I bought the cucumbers from. So, that’s why I’m here looking for you.”
Professor Xia’s son was Xia YiMing, a professor at the Law School of the Imperial Capital University. He was very young and handsome, and was extremely popular at the university. However, in direct proportion to his popularity was his temper. It was said that Xia YiMing had failed at least 60%-80% of the students at the law school.
Yu Ci was extremely flattered by the idea that the younger Professor Xia enjoyed eating his cucumbers, “I grew those cucumbers. If the professors enjoyed them, I’ll send you some more tomorrow.”
“Xiao Ci, you planted those cucumbers?” Professor Xia seemed a little surprised but then frowned, “But, your yard is empty.”
Yu Ci’s body stiffened and laughed nervously, “I planted them at my old house.”
Professor Xia nodded, “Well, then thank you in advance Xiao Ci.”
Yu Ci waved his hand, “Professor is too polite. If you like eating them, I am happy to give them.”
Motivated by Professor Xia’s approval of his cucumbers, Yu Ci immediately headed towards the storage room and called out, “Repay (the) money,” and eargerly started to harvest the cucumbers. After the cucumbers have matured, they will start to look ugly and taste bad if not picked soon enough. After the advancement of science and technology, the average yield of cucumbers per mu could reach tens of thousands of catties, but Yu Ci’s crops were slightly different.
Although Yu Ci’s cucumbers tasted very good, they didn’t yield much. One mu only produced around 5000 catties worth of cucumbers.
Only problem was that if he harvested the five thousand catties of cucumbers all at once, there would be no place to dispose of them. So Yu Ci thought for a while and decided to only pick half of the cucumbers. The cucumbers slowly piled into a small mountain, and Yu Ci randomly picked two from the pile and wiped off the thorns. One for himself and one for Fu Nian.
However, Fu Nian shook his head, hid his wings behind his back, and revealed an embarrassed expression, “I have already eaten it.”
What a rascal, even stealing his food!
Yu Ci flicked his little head, not angry at all. Fu Nian was just a bird, even if he ate the cucumbers everyday, he couldn’t consume much.
After eating and resting for a while, Yu Ci tiredly moved the cucumbers into the villa.
Fortunately, Yu Ci’s house was big enough and he could cram the cucumbers into each room.
After finishing his mission, Yu Ci slowly prepared a bath. As he laid soaking in the bathtub, he stared at his phone for a long time, contemplating. Once he seemed to have made up his mind, he opened up the WeChat group chat of his class and sent out a message:
Fellow students, do you guys like eating cucumbers? If you do, I’ll bring some tomorrow for you to try. @all members.
Yu Ci’s classmates were not very close with one another, so the group chat was usually very quiet. But as soon as Yu Ci had sent the message, someone replied within a few seconds.
Huang ZhengYang: ????
Zhao PengTao: Is the cucumber the same cucumber I am thinking of? I think cucumbers don’t taste good, bitter and astringent.
Xi JingYan: ****. I want. Anything from the School Grass*, I want! What time tomorrow? Where do I go? @Yu Ci.
Lu Meng: Me too, I also want!
Feng WenShan: +1
Mu Dong: +2
Yu Ci glanced at the number and for a while that his classmates gave him too much face. After getting a rough estimation of the amount he was going to bring, he sent an ‘OK’ emoji. Just as he was about to turn off his phone, Yu GuangHe sent a link over. It was from their school’s forum.
[Shocking news! The school grass is forcing students to eat cucumbers. It’s not a secret that cucumbers are bitter, astringent, and plain unpalatable. Does the school grass see us as trash cans? If you don’t want to eat them, why would you “gift” them to your fellow classmates?]
The title was straight to the point and the attitude of the poster was very clear.
Yu Ci glanced at the ID of the poster and was not surprised at who it was. The owner of the ID was none other than one of his and Yu GuangHe’s former roommates. Yu Ci and Yu GuangHe were pretty famous figures at Imperial Capital University, but there were always some sort of post slandering them on the forum. The two never took it seriously before, until one day when they returned to the dorm and caught a glimpse of their roommate’s computer screen.
At that moment, everything made more sense.
Yu Ci didn’t feel angry and only regarded the post as free entertainment. The post was only created a few minutes ago, but already received over a hundred comments.
There is a fish that likes to raise cats: Why is it you again? How are you accessing the information so quickly? I’m in the same class as Yu Ci, and right after Yu Ci finished asking, you post this. So black-hearted!
I can’t afford your love: If you don’t like what the school grass is giving, then just don’t take it. By the way, is the school grass preparing any for his junior sisters and brothers? Even if it’s the most disgusting tasting cucumber, I still want it! As long as you are the only giving them!
Tang Seng speaks softly: Cough Cough, these senior students, if you don’t like the cucumbers sent by the school grass, then give them to me? Willing to purchase at a high price! Add me on WeChat and you can set the price. As high as you want!
I am your dad: I also want School Grass’ cucumbers. Willing to spend money.
Yu Ci read through the messages, only feeling that this blog that was meant to slander him is gradually missing it’s overall goal. Yu Ci’s little brain turned at a high speed thinking of a way to deal with these classmates, and then commented:
You can buy them from me at the market price.
Translator Notes/Commentary
The dishes Yu Ci cooked for Qi Haui were all variations of the same dish –> cucumber salad. (LMAO) The only different dish he made was his ribs stewed in cucumbers… but then again, cucumbers. :)))))))
School Grass: 校草 Refers to the most handsome boy at the school. The female term is 校花 or School Flower.
****: 我艹艹 They’re cursing. Just found it interesting that the Chinese slang-verse has so many different ways of saying “f***”. (I already spelled out shit in here, so idk why I’m censoring f***)
Pretty sure Qi Huai’s the male lead (from the summary) BUT I THOUGHT HE CAME FROM AN EGG! (a bit salty.)
L'oeuf Reads 
I thought he came from an egg too! Interested to see if it’s true or not.
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Ah, it has started heheheh
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