This chapter is brought to you by Celestialsiren, thanks for the ko-fi! (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･
Please Like Her 09 – Can’t get it started, don’t even think about it + Recording of episode nine
The atmosphere instantly became awkward, making everyone present freeze.
This scene was like an idol drama that Shang Lu acted in. When the female lead arrived and saw the supporting actress at the male lead’s house, it led to a series of misunderstandings, seemingly extending into eighty episodes.
However, Shang Lu used to play the role of a malicious supporting character before. Was this the first time… she was playing the male lead?
“You have to listen to my explanation…”
Her mouth was faster than her brain, and Shang Lu wanted to say this classic line from an idol drama, but after uttering a few words, she stopped herself.
But why did she need to explain?
However, when she met Chi Yan’s calm gaze, tinged with a hint of grievance, she felt inexplicably guilty.
Looking at the ingredients Chi Yan was holding in his hand, he had deliberately come back to surprise her.
In this current situation, it seemed like she had let his intentions down.
Logic prevailed.
Shang Lu could only muster up the courage to say, “I have quite a few pots at home. How about you cook a pot, too? I… I can drink it all.”
Chi Yan’s expression had returned to normal, but he said with some regret, “It’s alright; I came back late.”
At this moment, in the kitchen, Xu Ze also heard the commotion outside. He turned to look, and when his eyes met Chi Yan’s, he was momentarily surprised, as if he hadn’t expected this turn of events.
Chi Yan’s gaze landed on the pink apron, and his mood naturally soured.
That apron should belong to him and only him.
His habitual sarcastic remarks were on the tip of his tongue. His temperament had always been this way; he didn’t show any mercy when dealing with unpleasant matters. However, he forcibly held back those words at the moment they were about to be spoken.
Xu Ze was Shang Lu’s friend, someone who took care of her and helped her.
More importantly…
They locked eyes.
Chi Yan saw that Xu Ze’s eyes were actually larger his.
So, after a few seconds of silence, Chi Yan took the initiative to smile and said, “Hello.”
“Hello,” Xu Ze responded with a slight nod towards Chi Yan, then turned around to continue working on the dishes in the pot, as if nothing had happened.
Chi Yan’s gaze shifted downwards, landing on X Zze’s unchanged sneakers. Then, he looked at Shang Lu and reminded her, “There are disposable slippers in the cabinet in the bathroom. Why don’t you give a pair to your guest?”
“Huh?” Shang Lu was somewhat surprised and asked, “I actually have that kind of thing at my home?”
Chiyue replied, “I bought them last time when we were shopping at the supermarket. Did you forget?”
In fact, it wasn’t like that. He thought that there would be guests coming to the Shang Lu’s house sooner or later, so he bought a few pairs of slippers when he was replenishing daily necessity items for her.
Shang Lu thought for a moment and couldn’t remember the last time she had bought slippers in the supermarket, but many things in her house were usually taken care of by Chi Yan, so she didn’t suspect anything. She just said, “Oh,” and went to look for the slippers.
Chiyao looked at Xiao Mi, walked over voluntarily, and reached out his hand to Xiao Guai, saying, “Give hand.”
Xiao Guai immediately climbed down from Xiao Mi’s legs and obediently sat down next to Chi Yan, extending a paw.
“So cute,” Xiao Mi was immediately amused. Having this little dog around helped ease the tension between her and Chi Yan, making her feel less awkward.
Looking at the slippers Chi Yan was wearing and his skilled interaction with the little dog, Xiao Mi immediately remembered what Shang Lu had said and asked, “Are you the Brother who lives next door?”
“Yeah,” Chi Yan said, playing with the little dog. He casually asked her, “Has Shang Lu mentioned me to you?”
“Uh-huh,” Xiao Mi nodded and added in a hushed tone, “Sister Shang Lu said you’re a very important friend. I know these slippers are yours. When Brother Ye Lu came a couple of days ago and wanted to wear them, Shang Lu sister didn’t let him.”
Upon hearing this response, Chi Yan’s lips curled up with a clear smile, which he promptly suppressed.
He didn’t respond to this question but instead picked up Xiao Guai, placed it in front of Xiao Mi, and said, “You can try giving it some simple commands, like shaking hands or spinning. It can understand them.”
Xiao Mi couldn’t resist the charm of the adorable little dog and, with Chi yan’s guidance, extended her hand towards Xiao Guai. “Shake hands?”
*Woof!* Xiao Guai barked and extended its paw, looking at Xiao Mi with a pair of grape-like eyes.
“So cute!” Xiao Mi couldn’t help but cheer. In an instant, she lifted Xiao Guai, but she suddenly felt a bit awkward when she realized that Chi Yan, the actual owner, was still there and didn’t know whether to let go or not.
Chi Yan didn’t mind and said, “Feel free to hold it. I don’t have much time to spend with them usually. When I’m not at home, if you want to see the dogs, you can ask Shang Lu to take you next door anytime.”
Xiao Mi nodded in agreement, and her favorable impression of Chi Yan increased because of the adorable little dog. Even though it was their first meeting, she wasn’t as afraid of him anymore.
Indeed, Shang Lu’s friends were all very friendly people.
This was an important friend of Shang Lu’s, so naturally, he was a good person among good people.
Xiao Mi played with Xiao Guai, while Shang Lu came out of the bathroom with several pairs of disposable slippers. She also placed two pairs in the shoe cabinet so that other guests could use them directly next time.
“Xu Ze.” It was Chi Yan who took the initiative to call out Xu Ze’s name. He walked into the kitchen and reminded, “Shang Lu got the slippers for you, go change.”
“Thank you,” Xu Ze responded, but he didn’t stop his hands’ movements. He said, “I’ll finish cooking first.”
And at this moment, the Samoyed, who had been wagging its tail, finally realized its owner’s arrival. Its wagging tail paused in mid-air, as if caught in a guilty conscience.
Of course, the next second, it wagged even more happily, thinking that it could finally eat meat when it saw its owner.
However, Chi Yan completely ignored Da Guai, to the extent that he seemed to not even acknowledge its existence. He just washed his hands in front of the sink first, then looked at Xu Ze and said, “There’s no reason to let guests do the cooking, let me handle it.”
Chi Yan walked over to Xu Ze, extending his hand as if he was going to take the knife. After a slightly confused look from Xu Ze, Chi Yan added casually, “These are all dishes that Shang Lu likes to eat normally. I’ve made them for her many times, don’t worry, I can handle it.”
After saying that, Chi Yan revealed a gentle smile.
It was as if Xu Ze not handing the knife to him right now would be a challenge to his cooking skills.
Xu Ze found it somewhat strange, but for the moment, he couldn’t figure out what the problem was.
He hesitated for a while but eventually let go of the knife.
Xu Ze walked out, and Chi Yan finally won… oh no, he took back his stove.
Looking at the half-cut lettuce in front of him, Chi Yan frowned slightly and repeated the chopping motion in his hand.
He didn’t rush to plate the dish until the whole lettuce was cut. Instead, he compared them.
They were almost the same, and there was no noticeable difference.
Not bad.
Chi Yan was very satisfied, but then he picked up a piece Xu Ze had cut and a piece he had cut, and carefully compared them again. This time, his smile was a bit faded.
Because the lettuce slices Xu Ze had cut seemed to be slightly thinner than his.
Ugh I hate MLs like this. I was having so much fun until now. Bye guys. Gonna drop this.
Sometimes, novels are ruined by forced romance.
Compared to the other MLs in domineering CEO tropes, Chi Yan is better in managing his jealousy and restraining his domineering character when it’s related to SL.
Also, he seems have a real good friendship with Wenren Yan instead of using him as props to pursue SL. If it’s another MLs in similar trope, people in Wenren Yan’s position (character setting) won’t dare to say anything to CY, much less complained to him like he did. His immediate change of words etc. in front of SL was more like he’s afraid of failing to be a good wingman for a friend and ruining his pursuit. It’s a more of normal interaction between male friends. Especially if they know that his friend is good for the girl and the girl is also good for him.
Ehhhh, I feel like you could split the ML friend/lackey archetype into a few subtypes.
1. The lackey: more likely to be an assistant/eunuch/servant but can also be a friend or cousin who’s less powerful than ML. This guy’s pretty quiet because he’s at least a little scared of ML; you mainly hear what he thinks via internal monologue.
2. The “friend”: this guy is usually a friend or cousin. This guy is way more talkative and outgoing because he has to compensate for ML putting zero effort into their friendship. That way it sort of looks like he and ML have an opposites attract extrovert introvert style friendship even though ML doesn’t actually fulfill the introvert friend role.
What both roles have in common: they do ML’s bidding, they wittingly or unwittingly convey ML’s feelings to the reader, and sometimes they act as a foil for ML. In return the assistant gets bossed around plus maybe insulted/threatened punished, and the friend gets usually nothing, maybe dunked on or ditched.
Maybe I’m wrong and we’ll see Chi Yan actually do something nice for Wenren Yan in the future, but so far he seems like a pretty standard “friend.”
I wanted to hate him as well but tbh mc is dense with or without plot setting…First she firmly act like a licking dog in front of jiang yi but completely ignore chi yan’s throughout their school life…He never dare to show his possessive side to her coz she doesn’t hv him in her eyes so he didn’t want to pressure her……He has been trying hard to be being notice by his love but suddenly some u zi xu zi came to snatch her ? Shouldn’t he feel helpless? Don’t just try to scold him okay ? Mc doesn’t even work hard for the upcoming relationship with chi yan …its more like chi yan trying to squeeze in her life…….i always dislike how most of the novel fl changed from villian to sweetheart but in love life they didn’t seem to contribute much as ml is one working their ass of to get her answer …why? Just because mc has failed relationship…? If she can act like a dog in previous relationship than at least she can act like that she care of ml..
So much vinegar 😂
I love the subtle comment, “there’s no reason to let a guest cook” meaning Xu Ze is the guest but he, Chi Yan, belongs there so he’s not a guest. Lol, asserting his territory
I was hoping that mc would realize she missed Chi Yan & reach out. Oh well baby steps I guess
Pft, you can’t be content with regaining your stove Chi Yan? You must even compare your cut pieces of lettuce? Hahaha
CY has learned cooking only for a few months and he’s trying to catch up with XK’s level. In her latest evaluation, SY said XK had better knife skill than CY. So, he readily compare it when the opportunity arrived.
I don’t understand why it’s related to jealousy. Isn’t it normal for people to strive to be the best in front of their love interest? After all, XK was the only “non-professional cook” “potential love-interest” whom SL ever praised to have excellent cooking skill. So, CY made him as a goal threshold is reasonable.
I know right? I found it hilarious. He’s feeling so insecure right now that he couldn’t help comparing everything, no matter how small. His mind is simply spinning in circles right now.