Chapter 165: Culinary Nightmares
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After touring the apartment, Shen Yue asked, “You must be hungry, right? I brought ingredients with me. Let me cook for you!”
Jiang Mingzhao hurriedly stopped her. “No need. I can order takeout, or just ask the housekeeper to prepare something.”
“Oh, come on. How could food from outside be as healthy as something I make myself?”
In the end, Jiang Mingzhao still failed to stop Shen Yue. Carrying the groceries, she went straight to the kitchen on the first floor.
Jiang Mingzhao sat on the small sofa outside the living room, feeling as though he were sitting on pins and needles.
After the cooking competition last time, he had already learned that Shen Yue’s culinary skills were terrible—worse even than his own. What excuse could he use to slip away later?
As the kitchen echoed with a nonstop clatter, Jiang Mingzhao could not help shuddering.
Anyone who knew better would realize Shen Yue was cooking. Anyone who did not might have thought she was waging a battle in there.
Every now and then, Shen Yue’s soft exclamations or loud screams drifted out of the kitchen.
Jiang Mingzhao was livestreaming at the time, and the viewers watched as his complexion grew paler and paler. They burst into laughter.
[Hahahaha, Jiang Mingzhao is so pitiful. He wants to run, but he can’t get away.]
[Is Jiang Mingzhao really that terrified of Shen Yue’s cooking? How awful can it possibly taste?]
[Maybe Jiang Mingzhao doesn’t like Shen Yue, so naturally he doesn’t like anything she cooks either.]
[Who knows? We’ll just see what Jiang Mingzhao has to say later.]
After two long hours of waiting, Shen Yue finally began bringing the dishes out of the kitchen.
Since she had left such long intervals between preparing each dish, the ones she had made first were already cold.
Jiang Mingzhao stared at the four dishes and one soup laid out on the table. Unable to tell what any of them were, he hesitated to pick up his chopsticks.
Shen Yue looked at him expectantly. “Why are you just sitting there? Hurry up and eat!”
Jiang Mingzhao could not bring himself to refuse. With chopsticks in hand, he tremblingly reached toward one of the dishes and picked up a blackened lump.
The shape of the dish seemed to resemble a fish.
Even so, he asked doubtfully, “What is this?”
“Steamed fish. Can’t you tell?”
“Then… what about the soup?”
Jiang Mingzhao voiced the question from the depths of his heart.
Shen Yue replied casually, “I accidentally boiled it dry.”
“Are you sure this is still edible?”
“Why wouldn’t it be? I tried it already. It has a slightly burnt flavor, and it’s pretty good.”
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Jiang Mingzhao wanted to say that her tastes were truly extreme, but he did not dare.
Fortunately, after he picked up the blackened object, he discovered that it was only the fish skin. The meat inside was fine, though it had been cooked so long that it looked rather tough.
He immediately set the blackened skin aside and picked at the meat underneath.
The moment he took a bite, however, he found the meat old, hard, and slightly fishy.
“You didn’t add ginger!?”
“Hmm? Was I supposed to? I thought steamed fish meant steaming it as it was, without adding anything.” Shen Yue looked astonished.
Jiang Mingzhao was speechless.
In the end, he did not taste anything else. He simply ate plain rice mixed with soy sauce, and no matter how Shen Yue tried to persuade him, he would not change his mind.
[Shen Yue’s cooking really is terrible. Even she won’t eat it.]
[Jiang Mingzhao: Rice mixed with soy sauce is still the best.]
[I’m dying of laughter. Shen Yue was so determined to cook that I thought she would be good at it.]
After the two of them hurriedly finished their meal, Shen Yue enthusiastically volunteered to wash the dishes.
Jiang Mingzhao did not stop her. Since she wanted to be helpful, that was fine—as long as she did not smash his plates.
That was what he was thinking when a loud crash came from the kitchen, followed by the sound of porcelain shattering.
“Did you break something of mine?” Jiang Mingzhao asked at once. He rose and strode toward the kitchen, where he saw Shen Yue frantically gathering the broken pieces.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’ll clean it up right away…”
Frowning, he added, “Be careful. It’s only one plate.”
Then he went upstairs. “I’m going to sleep. Don’t disturb me.”
Shen Yue’s hands stopped in the middle of cleaning up the pieces. She raised her head happily toward the doorway, only to find that Jiang Mingzhao was already gone.
She was still delighted.
Jiang Mingzhao had actually shown concern for her!
In stark contrast to the chilly atmosphere there was the scene at Nan Yan’s home.
Ever since returning to the capital, she had been living with the Nan family.
Usually, only she, her mother, and a few servants were at home. Her father was often away, busy with business.
When Nan Yan’s mother learned that Yun Ze was coming over, she immediately instructed the servants to prepare an abundance of delicious food.
She even had them clean and prepare the guest room.
When Nan Yan heard about it, she hurried to her mother to object.
But her mother said, “You silly girl, didn’t the assignment say that the two of you were supposed to take care of each other for two days? He takes care of you today, and you take care of him tomorrow. It’s quite troublesome for you to keep traveling back and forth like that. Why not let Little Ze stay here for both days? You can just consider it an opportunity to look after a guest.”
As she spoke, Nan Yan’s mother patted her hand and explained everything in a gentle tone.
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Still, she was already very pleased.
When the family had arranged this marriage for Nan Yan, Nan Yan had been adamantly opposed to it.
But lately, whenever Nan Yan’s mother had free time, she watched variety shows and livestreams. She had noticed that Nan Yan seemed to be growing fonder and fonder of Yun Ze, and she could not have been more thrilled.
It seemed that the day when the two families became related through marriage was not far off.
Given how much Yun Ze cared about Nan Yan, she was confident that Nan Yan would soon fall for him.
Yun Ze did not talk much, but he expressed all his affection through his actions. He was truly a rare and admirable man.
She had to help her daughter seize every opportunity to deepen their relationship.
Nan Yan lowered her head, her face flushed. She neither agreed nor refused, which amounted to tacit consent.
At that moment, Nan Yan’s mother asked tentatively, “My dear, didn’t you used to insist that you would never fall for Yun Ze? How did you suddenly change your mind?”
“Not at all! Mom, don’t make things up.” Nan Yan hurriedly tried to defend herself.
Her mother covered her mouth and laughed. “You’re embarrassed to admit it now? Come on, tell me. What changed your mind?”
“Well…” Seeing how serious her mother looked, Nan Yan thought carefully. “Maybe Song Wanning had some influence on me. She and Young Master Wen used to dislike each other too, but later they… And I started wondering if perhaps I had been too harsh.”
“Oh? Song Wanning? I like that girl too. She’s your friend now, right? Remember to invite her over sometime. I’m curious about her cooking. I’d like to exchange a few pointers with her.”
“Sure!” Nan Yan had not expected her mother to like Song Wanning, so she agreed at once.
The viewers had only just entered the livestream and were happily listening to Nan Yan’s mother lecture her. The next moment, they discovered that Nan Yan’s mother was also one of their allies.
[Nan Yan! When are you inviting Song Wanning over? You have to livestream it when you do!]
[Yes, yes! We want to watch too!]
[Mom, I’m not dreaming, am I? Are my two favorite streamers about to have a dream collaboration!?]
[Ah!!! This is so exciting~]
[Speaking of which, whose cooking will be better when the time comes?]
As they were talking, a servant came over to announce that Young Master Yun had arrived.
Nan Yan’s mother immediately rose from her chair and led Nan Yan to the entrance to welcome him personally.
End of Chapter