Chapter 45 Eight-Nation Alliance Bacteria

Chapter 45: The Bacterial Alliance

Jiang Jiang ran all the way back home, leaning against the door and heaving a long sigh of relief.

Suddenly, 404's voice floated into the air, sounding eerie. "I think Lu Nanzhou likes you."

Jiang Jiang choked, the breath caught in his throat, and he coughed his lungs out while holding onto the doorframe. It took him a while to catch his breath, his face flushed red.

"What... what nonsense is that?" he retorted loudly. "We're just good friends! You have a dirty mind!"

"Good friends?" 404 snorted. "I saw the whole thing today. When you were sleeping in the car, he gave your cheek a sneaky pinch."

Jiang Jiang panicked for a moment but quickly regained his composure. "What's wrong with a good friend pinching my cheek? My second brother also pinches my cheek all the time."

404: "I think the only hard thing about you is your mouth. You could set a Guinness World Record for the world's hardest mouth."

Jiang Jiang huffed. "Whatever, I'm not listening to you. What does a system know about anything?"

404: "......"

Even though he said that, 404's words stuck with him and planted a seed of doubt in his mind.

He kept replaying Lu Nanzhou's previous behavior in his head.

It did seem like Lu Nanzhou treated him a bit differently.

But then again, there hadn't been any actions that really crossed the line.

"Never mind, never mind." Jiang Jiang shook his head.

He couldn't become as narcissistic as the system.

"I'm going to sleep."

......

On the other side, Lu Nanzhou returned home. Xiao Lv was still awake, hard at work chewing on another chair leg.

Lu Nanzhou: "......"

He crouched down and rubbed Xiao Lv's face, then dragged the chair, with the dog still stubbornly clamped on, into Xiao Lv's own room.

After tidying everything up and lying in bed, Lu Nanzhou replayed the events of the day in his mind.

His recent probing made him feel that Jiang Jiang wasn't completely indifferent; he was just naturally oblivious when it came to matters of the heart.

So, it was time to wake up this dense guy.

Lu Nanzhou needed to make him realize that he didn't just want to be his friend.

And then there was that task. The reward money wasn't a huge amount, and Jiang Jiang wasn't hard up for money. So why did he agree to do it?

Lu Nanzhou's eyes darkened.

......

The next morning at seven o'clock, Jiang Jiang, who had gone to bed early the previous night, woke up bright and early.

As soon as he woke up, his stomach started rumbling.

Jiang Jiang patted his belly with a playful smirk. "What's the matter, little thing? Didn't I feed you enough yesterday?"

His stomach obligingly growled twice in response.

He rubbed his belly, his tone indulgent. "Since you want it so badly, I guess I'll have to satisfy you."

He slurped. Perfect—he'd been missing Aunt Wang's cooking anyway.

Jiang Jiang wants, Jiang Jiang gets!

Jiang Jiang zoomed back to the Jiang family villa.

It wasn't even eight o'clock when he arrived home. His eldest brother, Jiang Huaijin, was sitting in the dining room having breakfast.

Seeing Jiang Jiang return so early in the morning, he seemed somewhat surprised.

"This early? Did the sun rise from the west?"

Jiang Jiang puffed out his cheeks and stomped over to the dining table. "Can't I get up early just once? What do you even think of me?"

Jiang Huaijin put down the newspaper and calmly took a sip of his coffee. "The kind of image that usually appears around noon."

Jiang Jiang: "......"

Aunt Wang heard the commotion and came out from the kitchen. Seeing Jiang Jiang, she smiled. "Young Master is back! Have you had breakfast? What would you like? Aunt Wang will make it!"

"Good morning, Aunt Wang!" Jiang Jiang immediately switched to a bright smile. "I'd like shrimp dumplings, rice noodle rolls, and..."

"Alright, alright, coming right up!" Aunt Wang cheerfully returned to the kitchen.

Jiang Huaijin picked up the newspaper again, asking offhandedly, "Alright, out with it. What trouble did you get into this time?"

Based on his understanding of Jiang Jiang, he never got up this early unless something was up.

"I just missed Aunt Wang's cooking!" Jiang Jiang mumbled as he sat down. "I'm not some troublemaker."

As if on cue, his stomach let out a loud gurgle.

The corner of Jiang Huaijin's mouth twitched upward slightly, and he said nothing more.

Soon, Aunt Wang prepared a lavish breakfast spread according to Jiang Jiang's order.

Jiang Jiang's eyes lit up, and he immediately dug in.

With the delicious breakfast in his stomach, Jiang Jiang's belly finally settled down.

"Burp~"

Jiang Huaijin finished the last sip of his coffee. So today's version wasn't the troublemaker, but the food-making machine.

He got up, ready to head to work.

As the CEO of a corporation, Jiang Huaijin had a ton of work to handle every day.

Just as he reached the door, he remembered the message he'd gotten yesterday and walked back to the dining room.

Jiang Jiang was still sprawled in his chair, enjoying the post-meal zen moment. Seeing his brother return, he sat up. "Forget something?"

He scanned the table but didn't see anything left behind.

"Mom and Dad will be back in three days," Jiang Huaijin stated concisely. "They should arrive in the afternoon. Just letting you know. Mom wants to have dinner together, so remember to come back early."

Jiang Jiang nodded to show he understood. "They finally had enough fun."

"When did I ever cause trouble!" Jiang Jiang protested. "I've always been good, okay!"

Jiang Huaijin gave him a "you know what you did" look, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

Jiang Jiang made a face at his older brother's retreating back, then his spirits soared with excitement.

Mom and Dad are coming back! Yay!

He started planning what gifts to prepare to welcome them home.

After Jiang Huaijin left, Jiang Jiang left the dining room and returned to his south-facing room on the second floor.

The sunlight was just right, pouring in through the floor-to-ceiling windows and casting warm patches of light on the wooden floor.

Jiang Jiang walked to the window, looking out at the meticulously trimmed plants in the garden, in an especially good mood.

Such nice weather... why not... catch some more Z's!

He flopped onto the soft bed, hugged a pillow, snuggled into it, and quickly drifted off to dreamland.

Jiang Jiang was woken up by the sun in his eyes.

"You're quite the sleeper," 404's voice rang in his mind, clearly teasing. "Including last night, you've slept a full 12 hours."

Jiang Jiang stretched, rolling over on the bed: "Mind your own business, I'll sleep if I want. Life is short, sleep while you can."

Their daily back-and-forth continued.

......

"Worried about additives in store-bought fermented rice? Then come make it with me at home, my whole family loves it!" A video's audio played from Jiang Jiang's phone.

Perfect! Mom and Dad were about to return. They both quite like sweet rice wine, especially Mom, who enjoys cooking a bowl of fermented rice with sweet rice balls when she craves something sweet.

The video made it look easy. He could make a batch of fermented rice himself to welcome them back.

He also remembered Lu Xingye mentioning Lu Nanzhou's preferences before, and it seemed Lu Nanzhou really liked fermented rice with eggs.

No time like the present.

Jiang Jiang found Auntie Wang and told her he wanted to make fermented rice.

Auntie Wang was a bit surprised: "Oh, young master, if you want some, just tell me and I'll make it. It's too much trouble to do it yourself."

"I heard Mom and Dad are coming back soon, and I wanted to make a gift for them myself," Jiang Jiang explained. "Store-bought things aren't as heartfelt as homemade ones."

Auntie Wang's expression immediately softened with affection: "What a good, thoughtful son."

The ingredients for making fermented rice are simple: glutinous rice, yeast balls, and cooled boiled water.

The kitchen in the Jiang family villa had everything. Auntie Wang got all the ingredients together for Jiang Jiang in just a few minutes.

"Do you need me to help out?" Auntie Wang asked.

"No, no need," Jiang Jiang said, ushering Auntie Wang out of the kitchen. "Auntie Wang, you rest. I can handle it myself."

Auntie Wang smiled and shook her head, not pushing the matter. "Alright then, if you have any questions, just ask me anytime."

Jiang Jiang closed the door, took a deep breath, and took out his phone to reopen the video.

Starting from washing the glutinous rice, he followed the tutorial meticulously, step by step.

Washing the rice, soaking it, steaming it—he did each step with extra care.

The rice needed to cool until it was just warm to the touch. Jiang Jiang watched over the steaming hot basin of rice, occasionally reaching out to test the temperature.

"Why won't you cool down?" he muttered quietly.

Just then, the kitchen door was pushed open.

Jiang Huaiyu leaned against the doorframe, looking curiously at the scene in the kitchen. "Well, well, which master chef is cooking here?"

Jiang Jiang was startled.

Seeing it was his second brother, he couldn't help but roll his eyes. "You scared me half to death! Can't you knock before coming in?"

"This is the kitchen, not your bedroom," Jiang Huaiyu walked in, leaning over the counter. "What are you making? What's the big secret?"

"Fermented rice."

"Tsk tsk."

"What's with the 'tsk tsk'? Get out and stop bothering me."

"Tsk tsk tsk."

"..."

The rice finally cooled to the right temperature. Jiang Jiang added the yeast powder and water in the right amounts, put on disposable gloves, and began stirring it carefully.

After mixing thoroughly, he used a rolling pin to poke a hole in the center, covered it with plastic wrap, and poked several holes in the wrap with a toothpick.

He dusted off his hands, picked up the basin, and placed it in a corner of the kitchen where it wouldn't be in Auntie Wang's way. "All done!"

Now it was time to wait.

The tutorial said it needed to ferment for two to three days at the current temperature.

Two days later, Jiang Jiang returned to the villa.

He stood at the kitchen door, took out his phone, and snapped a picture of the basin of fermented rice.

He deliberately zoomed in five times, taking a close-up shot of just the basin without revealing the kitchen background.

Jiang Jiang: [Image]

Jiang Jiang: Guess what this is?

A reply came quickly.

Lu Nanzhou: Can't guess. What is it?

Jiang Jiang: Heh heh, you'll find out in a few days.

Lu Nanzhou: Looking forward to it.

Lu Nanzhou: [spinning little person emoji]

Jiang Jiang looked at that cute spinning emoji and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Lu Nanzhou seemed to really like sending these adorable emojis lately, which was a stark contrast to his usual cool, aloof CEO persona.

Although he said he wanted to keep his distance, he and Lu Nanzhou never stopped chatting online.

Only on the first day, after 404's words got to him, Jiang Jiang spent the whole day agonizing over whether to message Lu Nanzhou.

In the end, Lu Nanzhou took the initiative by sharing a video of Xiao Lv tearing the place apart—in the clip, Xiao Lv successfully chewed Lu Nanzhou's slipper into two pieces, then proudly ran around the house with his trophy.

Jiang Jiang laughed so hard he nearly fell over watching the video, and all his earlier overthinking instantly vanished.

It was all 404's fault for saying such strange things and making him lose his head.

Banish him to the cold palace!

......

Jiang Jiang was curled up on the living room sofa watching a variety show.

Jiang Huaiyu walked up to him. "Weren't you making fermented rice? Where is it? Let your big bro have a taste too."

Jiang Jiang remembered the fermented rice he'd made earlier. "Oh right! I'd totally forgotten. It should be about ready by now."

He had even thought about bringing some to Lu Nanzhou tomorrow when he went to pick up Xiao Lv. Good thing his brother reminded him.

The two of them walked to the kitchen together, and Jiang Jiang pulled out a container from the corner.

Through the plastic wrap, he could just make out something colorful inside.

Jiang Jiang slowly peeled back the plastic wrap.

The sight before him instantly petrified him.

Inside the container, colorful molds had each claimed their own territory, making it impossible to see what the fermented rice originally looked like.

"...Pffft, hahahahaha." Jiang Huaiyu said. "That's really something. I've finally witnessed the Eight-Nation Alliance of molds attacking fermented rice."

Jiang Jiang narrowed his eyes, picked up the container of failed fermented rice, slowly turned around, and revealed a "kind" smile.

"Second brother," his voice was sickeningly sweet, "didn't you just say you wanted to taste my fermented rice? Here, don't be shy, have a taste."

Jiang Huaiyu took two steps back. "Are you trying to murder your own brother?"

Jiang Jiang advanced step by step.

Jiang Huaiyu retreated step by step.

Watching his brother beat a hasty retreat, Jiang Jiang finally snorted. What Eight-Nation Alliance of molds? How annoying!

He had followed the tutorial exactly, so how did it turn out like this...

At least he hadn't had the chance to tell Lu Nanzhou yet that he wanted to bring him some of his homemade fermented rice.

-----------------------

Author's Note: Before Aunt Wang saw the fermented rice: "What a filial child."

After Aunt Wang saw the fermented rice: "He's filial to death."

Ah, the nutrient solution has reached 300 again. I'll write the extra chapter over the weekend.