Xun Ji wanted to pretend he hadn’t heard, but the knocking persisted relentlessly, as if it wouldn’t stop until he opened the door.
Xun Ji reluctantly opened it. Lu Zhou stood there holding a tray.
He looked like he had just showered, with a faint mist of moisture still rising from him.
“Young Master Xun, here’s your evening medicine and the chicken shredded porridge Uncle Li simmered.”
Xun Ji pointed to a low table in the room. “Put it there.”
Lu Zhou obediently set down the tray and turned to leave.
Good, he knew his place. Xun Ji satisfactorily crawled back into bed without even glancing at the things on the table.
Five minutes later.
Knock knock knock.
Xun Ji’s face darkened as he opened the door, his tone hostile. “What else… What are you doing?”
His words trailed off sharply as he stared dumbfounded at the boy before him, buried under layers of bedding.
Lu Zhou struggled through the door and neatly laid out the bedding one layer at a time.
On the floor beside Xun Ji’s bed.
“Young Master isn’t feeling well, so it’ll be more convenient for me to take care of you nearby,” Lu Zhou said calmly.
Xun Ji laughed out of anger. “Not feeling well?”
Lu Zhou glanced at the low table and added, “It’s time for your medicine. Take it and get some early sleep.”
Xun Ji was extremely displeased and said coldly, “I’m not taking it. What are you going to do, force it down my throat?”
Lu Zhou looked at him, then lifted the covers he had laid out and crawled inside.
“Young Master is joking. I’ll sleep first then. Call me when you want to take it.”
“Lu Zhou!”
The lump of bedding didn’t move.
Xun Ji stared at the lump for a while and suddenly found it a bit amusing. To think he had stooped to needing a whiny little pup to force him to take medicine.
“Fine, I’ll eat it.” Xun Ji gave in helplessly.
He sat at the low table and drank the porridge spoonful by spoonful. Lu Zhou quickly crawled out of the bedding, sat at the table to supervise.
Only after he finished the porridge and took the medicine did Lu Zhou collect the tray, preparing to take it downstairs to wash.
“Clean up and take that thing away too.” Xun Ji vented by kicking the lump of bedding.
Lu Zhou paused and softly replied, “Mm.”
In no time, he came back in, struggling to haul the bedding back to his own room.
“Wait.” Xun Ji stopped him.
“Do you know?” He wiped his hands with a wet wipe and drawled slowly, “The last time something dragged its nest to sleep by my bed was my family’s Samoyed.”
Lu Zhou’s bulky retreating figure stiffened, and he hurried back to his room without looking back.
【Ding! Daily Tasks completed: Humiliate the Protagonist. Reward: 10 Points.】
What to do when Little Dog didn’t know the rules? Train him more.
Xun Ji cheerfully closed the door, finally enjoying some peace.
But then—
Knock knock knock.
Lu Zhou entered the room expressionlessly, turned off Xun Ji’s Bluetooth speaker, picked up the ice cream tub, and held out his hand toward him.
“Give me your mobile phone. I’ll return it tomorrow morning at six.”
Xun Ji: “…”
The unruly little dog left, and the door wasn’t knocked on again.
Xun Ji stared lifelessly at the ceiling. This time, it was truly and completely quiet.
Without the distractions of electronics and junk food, Xun Ji’s illness improved rapidly. Two days later in the morning, he dressed in his uniform and sat downstairs eating breakfast.
“Where’s Xiao Ting?” Xun Ji asked Uncle Li, seeing only Lu Zhou at the table.
“Xiao Ting’s kindergarten is a bit far from here. Brother Wang just drove her there,” Uncle Li replied.
Lu Zhou’s hand paused while drinking porridge. He said to Xun Ji, “I’ll record the food expenses for me and Xiao Ting, plus half of Brother Wang and Uncle Li’s monthly wages, as debts owed to you. I’ll pay it all back later.”
Xun Ji hadn’t planned to nitpick over such minor things, but since Lu Zhou brought it up, he didn’t bother refuting and just nodded noncommittally.
“Young Master, while organizing clothes, I noticed one of your school uniform neckties is missing,” Uncle Li said as he placed a plate of fried eggs in front of him.
“If it’s missing, it’s missing. Order another one,” Xun Ji said without explanation, taking a mouthful of seafood porridge.
Across the table, Lu Zhou subtly glanced at him.
“Hm? This porridge…” Xun Ji took another sip suspiciously, then frowned and pushed it away.
“Uncle Li, today’s porridge tastes so weird. Did one of the ingredients go bad?” Xun Ji said with a face full of disgust.
Uncle Li scratched his head awkwardly, looked at Lu Zhou, then back at Xun Ji.
“Young Master, today’s porridge was…”
Clang!*
Lu Zhou slammed his bowl onto the plate, took it to the kitchen to wash it clean, then shouldered his schoolbag and left without stopping.
“Why’s he in such a hurry?” Xun Ji wondered.
Uncle Li replaced it with a cup of hot milk for Xun Ji, chuckling as he said, “Young Master, actually, today’s porridge was made by Lu Zhou. He learned from me for a long time, practiced several times, and only then brought it out for you.”
Xun Ji was startled and hurriedly pinged the System. “You didn’t warn me about something as dangerous as Lu Zhou cooking porridge for me? He didn’t tamper with it, did he?”
【No tampering, Host.】 The System said. 【Although the Protagonist burned a few pots, ruined some ingredients, and used the wrong seasonings a few times, those failures were all discarded. What he gave you was his most successful batch.】
Where was the success? Xun Ji was speechless, but learning that Lu Zhou’s cooking was just poor and not sabotaged eased his mind.
“It was too awful. Don’t let him cook again,” Xun Ji told Uncle Li.
“Well…” Uncle Li hesitated. “Lu Zhou meant well. Young Master has helped him so much, and he wanted to do something within his power to repay you.”
“Did he say that?”
“No,” Uncle Li said. “He only said he wanted to learn cooking, but…”
“I see.” Xun Ji realized. “Since he wants to learn, let him. But until his dishes reach your standard, don’t serve them on the table.”
Uncle Li agreed, shaking his head inwardly. It seemed Lu Zhou still had a long way to go if he wanted to win Young Master’s favor.
![No Redemption for Dark Protagonists [Quick Transmigration]](https://i0.wp.com/dobynovels.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/quickkk.jpg?resize=151,215 "No Redemption for Dark Protagonists [Quick Transmigration]")
