CHAPTER 34: CHAPTER 34: THE NEIGHBOR NEXT DOOR

He looked at Paige Sterling, who responded naturally, "Our home robot seems to like your voice, hehe."

Isn’t it because you like it?

Of course, Julian didn’t ask this out loud.

His gloominess from the entire day seemed to vanish in an instant, his expression softened, making one want to get lost in it.

Paige tried her best not to look at his face, "What do you want to talk about?"

Julian’s voice was deep, as if deliberately showing off his good voice, "The underwater drone you improved on was a big hit when it went on sale. I’m here to fulfill my promise. Here’s a check for ten million."

Paige took the check, and genuinely smiled.

"Thanks." She thought of her current financial shortage and added, "If you have any more technical questions, you can consult me in the future."

Julian didn’t stand on ceremony at all, "I do indeed have some technical questions that need your guidance."

Then he took out his phone and pulled up a data file.

Paige leaned over to see and the two of them were quite close, Julian’s gaze inadvertently fell on Paige.

From his angle, he could see Paige’s fair ears with just a slight tilt of his head, even noticing the fine details of her appearance.

Paige was focused and didn’t notice Julian’s stare.

Once she identified a few issues in the data file, she directly took the phone and corrected them for Julian.

"There, that should do it."

Then she handed the phone back to Julian.

Julian took it naturally, "Thank you."

Paige waited for him to bring up the money matter again, but he didn’t mention it for a long time.

Paige didn’t feel right asking herself, since she just took ten million from him. Bringing up money again would make it seem like the only connection between her and Julian was a sordid financial transaction.

So Paige just asked, "Are you hungry?"

Julian mumbled in agreement, assuming Paige was going to cook dinner herself, only to hear her instructing the robot.

"Make us two bowls of instant noodles, remember to add some vegetables." She then turned to Julian, "By the way, do you eat vegetables?"

"...I do."

The two of them sat in silence for a while before Julian spoke, "You seem to have deceived me."

Paige wore an innocent look, "How did I deceive you?"

"You said the meals were cooked by you."

But looking at her, it was obvious she couldn’t cook.

Paige suddenly remembered the lie she bragged about during her first visit to Julian’s office.

"I made the robot, didn’t I? So isn’t it the same as me making the food?"

Julian, "...", so he happily ate it all, just like an idiot.

"I’m going to use the restroom."

Paige pointed without looking up, busy searching for some component on the ground.

Julian entered the restroom, glancing around.

No trace of male items, just the typical appearance of a single woman’s apartment.

The string of doubts in his heart finally relaxed completely.

When he came out of the restroom, Paige was still preoccupied, spinning a small motor around.

Julian gave a quick scan of the coffee table and saw a few self-study foreign language books.

Soon, the two bowls of instant noodles were ready.

Mr. Hawthorne, who had a cleanliness obsession, had never eaten such things in his life, but seeing Paige eat with such relish, he kept his composure and took his bowl.

He even asked Paige, "Are you self-studying foreign languages?"

Paige, holding her noodles, mumbled in agreement.

Julian, "I speak nine foreign languages."

Paige gave a casual "oh", so impressive?

Julian glanced at Paige again, "If you had a good teacher, you’d learn faster."

Paige, "...?"

Julian continued in his flat tone, "Given how good your instant noodles are today, I could teach you."

Paige looked at Julian, and he was a bit nervous, almost expecting her to refuse, but then he heard Paige say, "So you’re trying not to pay for the technical guidance I just gave you?"

Julian, "..."

Paige had already gotten down to the trivialities of money.

"But never mind." Paige added, "How confident are you that you can teach me all the languages you know?"

All of them?

"How much time can you spare?"

Paige, "...how about at noon every day?"

Julian pursed his lips, "I need to eat at noon."

"Then after lunch."

Julian, "After lunch, there’s only thirty minutes. How much can you learn?"

"Then add another hour."

A barely perceptible hint of a smile appeared at the corner of Julian’s mouth, "Okay."

One bowl of instant noodles was unknowingly devoured, and Julian even followed Paige’s lead by finishing the soup.

Paige suddenly remembered something and dashed into the small lab, forgetting Julian was still there.

By the time she finished and came out of the lab, it was already very late.

Seeing the clean and tidy living room, she momentarily felt like she had entered the wrong place.

The mess in her house that not even the robot could tackle had been cleaned up?

Paige heard some noise in the kitchen, looked over, and saw Julian, wearing an apron, tidying up.

Paige leaned against the door and watched, realizing suddenly that Julian was truly... a perfect homemaking man.

Julian had almost finished cleaning, and after removing the apron, he hung it on one side.

Paige asked him, "Where did you put all my stuff?"

Her tone was drawn out and playful, like she was being coquettish.

Julian’s voice unintentionally softened, "I cleared out the storage room and put everything neatly inside."

Paige went to check, finding that Julian had neatly categorized everything, even sticking labels on them in case she couldn’t find them.

A legendary man who can prepare exquisite meals and manage household chores!

Paige found herself quite tempted.

Then Julian spoke again:

"If you get hungry, you can call me. Eating too many instant noodles isn’t good."

"What good would calling you do?"

Julian, "I can cook for you."

Paige raised an eyebrow, and Mr. Hawthorne couldn’t miss the opportunity to boast, "I’m skilled in both Chinese and Western cuisines."

Then he said, "I’m leaving now."

Without waiting for Paige to respond, he had already put on his coat and headed out.

Paige stood bewildered at the door, instinctively saying, "I’ll see you off."

She walked to the door only to see Julian heading to the opposite door, opening it and saying to her, "No need to see me off."

Paige, "..."

The apartment next door was inhabited, but Paige had never met the neighbor.

Unexpectedly, Julian was that mysterious neighbor?

The more she thought about it, the more unsettling it seemed!

Paige slammed the door shut with a bang.

Julian stood for a moment, seeing that Paige didn’t reopen the door, and then closed his door and went inside.

From that day on, there was no need to go out during lunch time for the meals they arranged at noon, because Julian cooked directly and came to knock on Paige’s door, inviting her over to eat.