Chapter 88 – Extra: The Drone. Lian Qiao & Gu Yunlang
The drone’s second day at work.
At ten in the morning—right on schedule with the time Lian Qiao usually woke up—President Gu Yunlang’s personal life assistant stood at the door, carrying a basket of fresh ingredients, and rang the doorbell.
Lian Qiao went to open the door and took the basket.
The assistant relayed President Gu’s instructions: “These are for lunch and dinner. Remember to send photos of lunch.” President Gu was worried Lian Qiao might sleep too much, so he deliberately gave him something to do.
Lian Qiao looked at the fish tail sticking out of the edge of the basket and frowned.
“Okay.”
He put the basket on the table, took a photo, and sent it to the group chat.
“Which big brother knows how to cook ???”
Everyone immediately @-mentioned Forensic Fang. As expected, Forensic Fang appeared and said, “I’ll be passing by your place later.”
Lian Qiao’s eyes lit up. He dragged a chair over and lay at the doorway, waiting eagerly.
At eleven-thirty, Fang Furong arrived. After washing his hands, he started cooking. He put on ultra-thin rubber gloves and took out a surgical knife he had brought specifically for slicing fish. With perfect precision, he removed all the fish bones—without puncturing a single hole in the gloves.
The fish was marinated thoroughly. When the oil reached the right temperature, the flour-coated fish went into the pan.
The once limp fish flesh became upright after frying, thanks to the crispy exterior—crunchy outside, tender inside, perfect for eating to one’s heart’s content.
Lian Qiao held the whole fish and took bites at will.
Forensic Fang rarely got the chance to slice fish, and he didn’t even like eating it. He gave the entire fish to Lian Qiao and cooked two simple vegetable dishes for himself, plus a plate of mapo tofu, which he ate with rice.
Throughout the process, Lian Qiao’s role was limited to handing over seasoning bottles and offering verbal rainbow-flattery. But Forensic Fang liked quiet when he worked, so Lian Qiao even spared his lips the effort.
Carefully avoiding Fang Furong’s arm, Lian Qiao took photos of the three dishes and one soup on the table, along with the fish, and sent them to Gu Yunlang as proof.
Gu Yunlang replied: “Baby is very capable. Keep it up tonight too.”
Lian Qiao pursed his lips and replied reluctantly: “Alright.”
Before leaving, Fang Furong helped Lian Qiao simmer a pot of pork rib soup and set the rice cooker timer for the evening. “Someone else will come to cook later. Make sure you arrange the timing properly—don’t let President Gu run into him.”
As for what would happen if President Gu did run into him—Forensic Fang knew that all too well.
Lian Qiao rummaged through the fridge, took out two strings of huge grapes, and packed them up. “I don’t like spitting out grape skins. Take them and eat them.”
Fang Furong said, “Alright.”
Aside from that, there really wasn’t much in this house that belonged to Lian Qiao, so he couldn’t express his gratitude any further. He reluctantly walked Fang Furong out, all the way to the elevator, even thoughtfully pressing the down button for him.
If he weren’t so lazy, he probably would have escorted him all the way to the residential gate.
Fang Furong sighed. “Not used to leaving the village?”
Lian Qiao nodded, then shook his head.
Back in Baihua Village, everywhere was filled with friendly, caring worker bees who treated each other like family. Sheep grazed by the stream, and the sounds of labor never ceased—those were the hometown sounds he missed day and night. Now, in this empty, spacious house, he was too lazy to socialize. The worker-bee brothers were all busy and couldn’t be disturbed all the time, so he could only huddle together with Xiang Jin for warmth.
Worker bees were sexually indifferent, so their offspring were almost always only children. Even lazy ones were still treasures in their parents’ eyes.
The two of them were like babies leaving home for college for the first time. The university was far away; when homesick, they would secretly cry under the covers or on the balcony with their roommates unaware.
If their parents called at this moment, their voices would definitely crack with tears. Fang Furong played the role of a family member—just seeing him made their eyes brim with tears.
They had all been to college before and knew that this feeling would pass in about a week.
Fang Furong said, “If you want to go home, I can take you to the airport right now. You’ll be there after a nap.”
Lian Qiao hurriedly shook his head. Plane tickets were expensive. He hadn’t even earned back his travel expenses yet—how could he return to the village? A person couldn’t go through life doing nothing. Having gone to college, at least he should contribute something to narrowing the wealth gap.
Making capitalists lose three thousand yuan a month was already impressive!
Seeing that he had thought it through, Fang Furong felt relieved and said, “Someone else will come to see you in a few hours.”
Lian Qiao nodded. After Fang Furong left, he moved the recliner to the entryway and took a nap. He slept until three or four in the afternoon. When he heard the doorbell, he sprang up, excitedly opened the door, and called out in a bright voice, “Brother Shaoyao!”
The visitor was No. 010. A low number meant he was young—about the same age as Lian Qiao, and a childhood playmate.
“Fang Furong already briefed me. You go play somewhere else.”
Lian Qiao was well-rested. He didn’t like going online—everywhere online was full of arguments, and he couldn’t be bothered. Surfing the internet wasn’t as interesting as herding sheep.
No. 010, Lin Shaoyao, opened the pressure cooker, added a spoonful of salt to the rib soup, threw in some additional ingredients, twisted the lid, and reheated it for another half hour.
He opened the fridge and took out celery, beef, eggs, clams, scallions, and water spinach. He made boiled water spinach, scrambled eggs with clams, and stir-fried beef with celery.
Lian Qiao proactively served two bowls of rice—one big, one small—and found six plates. At noon, Forensic Fang had helped him explore the kitchen and told him the plates were in the second cabinet.
The three dishes were evenly divided among the six plates, forming two identical dinners.
Lian Qiao happily shared dinner with the cook first, eating until half full. The other half of his stomach was reserved for dinner later with Mr. Gu, who got off work at six.
The workload of worker bees guaranteed they wouldn’t have small appetites. Lin Shaoyao was responsible for clearing all the plates, then got up to wash the dishes and pots.
“After you eat with President Gu, you’ll probably have to wash the dishes yourself.”
Lian Qiao said, “It’s fine. You’ve already solved my urgent problem.” Besides, there was no sheep to herd now—every day was boring anyway.
Lin Shaoyao restored the kitchen to its original state, wiped everything down with a cloth to remove fingerprints, and put the extra dishes back into the cabinet.
As usual, Lian Qiao reluctantly saw Brother Shaoyao off. While Lin Shaoyao put on his shoes, Lian Qiao stood to the side holding the keys. When Lin Shaoyao stepped out, Lian Qiao pressed his cheek against the doorframe and said, “Thank you. It’s really great having you.”
“No problem. I was idle anyway.”
Estimating that Gu Yunlang was about to get off work, Lian Qiao found opening and closing the door troublesome, so he leaned against the doorframe to digest a bit and waited for his employer.
About ten minutes after No. 010 left, Gu Yunlang returned from work looking refreshed. His delicate little wife had left the door wide open and was standing there to welcome him. Seeing him, Lian Qiao gave him a lazy smile.
Gu Yunlang thought his scheme had succeeded. Given Lian Qiao’s personality, cooking one meal at noon was already a stretch—let alone dinner as well. Cooking took far more energy than people realized. For slow movers, starting from washing vegetables, it could take two hours. If dinner was at six, prep had to start at four.
By now, Lian Qiao should know how exhausting cooking was. He would surely start acting cute and find excuses to dodge the task. Then Gu Yunlang could strike while the iron was hot and suggest that his boyfriend didn’t need to do anything at all.
Lian Qiao said, “The food’s ready. Come eat.”
Gu Yunlang: “?”
On the table, three dishes and one soup were kept warm by the smart dining table, at a pleasantly ideal temperature.
“So your cooking is actually this good?” Gu Yunlang said in shock as he washed his hands and changed into home clothes. At noon, Lian Qiao had taken the photos casually; the image quality was blurry, dominated by green vegetables, with no sense of color, aroma, or taste.
Seeing it in person, the skill level was abnormally good.
Home-style dishes—freshly cooked, that was their strength.
Lian Qiao said, “It’s just average.”
Gu Yunlang pulled over Lian Qiao’s hand and examined his nails—smooth, rounded, and glossy. They didn’t look like hands that had cooked.
Lian Qiao wasn’t stupid. He knew exactly what Gu Yunlang was thinking and deliberately said, “What, you don’t like the fishy smell on my hands? The fish was cooked at noon. I washed my hands many times.”
What was he looking at? Even if his participation wasn’t high, he had at least helped Lin Shaoyao pick vegetables. Back in the village, whenever there was a big banquet, everyone was busy, and he and Xiang Jin would be assigned to control the water tap or peel garlic.
Even if Gu Yunlang quizzed him on cooking details, he wouldn’t give himself away.
Gu Yunlang held Lian Qiao’s fingers and gently kneaded them. “No. I just wanted to massage them for you.”
Lian Qiao said, “My hands are really sore. Can we wash the dishes before bed?”
Gu Yunlang laughed. “You cooked—of course I’ll wash the dishes.”
Lian Qiao hugged his neck in that posture. “You’re so good.”
Gu Yunlang went into the kitchen.
Lian Qiao sat on the sofa and messaged Xiang Jin: “If you don’t want to wash dishes, say your hands are sore. Tested and effective.”
Xiang Jin sent an OK hand gesture.
After a while, Xiang Jin returned the favor and sent Lian Qiao another slacking-off tip.
“Shower before the boss showers, but don’t rush to wash your clothes. Just put them on the rack—they’ll automatically end up in the washing machine.”
Lian Qiao replied: “OK”
…
A single worker bee couldn’t possibly have time to cook every day, but once seven of them were gathered, there was always at least one who was free. When no one was available, they’d cook two meals at noon, or the drone would secretly order takeout to muddle through. After all, the reputation for cooking had already been established—there was no need for the employer to check authenticity every day.
The two drones fooled everyone for a week, rotating through all the worker bees.
Meng Xueyuan found out about it.
When worker bees went to cook, it was only proper to stay and eat at mealtime. Still, the ingredients at the CEO’s house had to be paid for. The CEO was obligated to cover the drone’s three meals a day. Worker bees helping the drone had nothing to do with the CEO.
Meng Xueyuan said to Lu Xiao, “Can you transfer some money to your friends for me?”
Lu Xiao said, “Why? They wouldn’t take it anyway.”
Meng Xueyuan cozied up and kissed him. “Think of a way.”
Lu Xiao said, “Fine. They have an account at a restaurant. I’ll tell the staff to put it all on my tab from now on.”
Meng Xueyuan said, “Then I—”
Lu Xiao cut him off. “Don’t mention money.”
What kind of CEO brought up money with his wife every day? Just hearing that word made him terrified his wife would want to settle accounts cleanly with him.
…
Gu Yunlang instructed his assistant to withdraw three thousand yuan in cash.
From his observations, although his wife’s work attitude was fairly laid-back, he placed great importance on the monthly salary of three thousand.
Gu Yunlang decided to pay the salary early to win favor—and to pay it in cash, to give Lian Qiao a stronger sense of gain.
He found a red envelope, put the cash inside, and left work early.
A payday was perfect for taking Lian Qiao out to eat and celebrate.
Getting money without having to work—Lian Qiao would definitely be very happy. The date would be extremely effective.
At 3:40 p.m., Gu Yunlang took the elevator up to his apartment. At this hour, there were few cars on the road, all green lights along the way—his luck was good too.
Standing at the door, he faintly heard the sound of a cleaver hitting a cutting board.
Oh no—he was back too late. Did Lian Qiao start cooking at this time every day?
Regret flooded Gu Yunlang’s heart. He should have thought of this earlier. With Lian Qiao’s slow pace, wouldn’t it take three hours?
In a panic, Gu Yunlang pushed the door open. “No need to cook today, let’s go out—”
The last word stuck in his throat.
Gu Yunlang stared at the unfamiliar young man in the kitchen, wearing an apron and skillfully using all kinds of pots, as if cooking in his own home—more familiar with the kitchen than Gu Yunlang himself.
Gu Yunlang: “……”
For a moment, he suspected he had entered the wrong apartment. The interior decoration was the same, though. He took two steps back and checked the door number again.
No mistake. It was his home.
The other person was holding a knife. Gu Yunlang restrained himself and asked, “You are—”
“You must be Lian Qiao’s boss, right? He’s not feeling well today. I came to help him cook. He’s sleeping in the room,” the worker bee said calmly.
He had something to do today and came early to cook. Afraid that food left too long wouldn’t be fresh, he decided to chop filling and make dumplings instead. He’d arrived too early—Lian Qiao hadn’t woken from his nap yet. Half-asleep, Lian Qiao had opened the door and then gone right back to sleep.
The man spoke as if it were his first time here, but his level of familiarity betrayed him. He could even find the rarely used rolling pin and stainless steel basins in the house.
Thinking back on the meals of the past week, Gu Yunlang began to question his life. It was hard not to feel like this person had usurped his nest—and even occupied his prized canary.
