Lunchtime was approaching, and sounds came from the kitchen again. Jiang Sui stepped out of her room alone and quietly approached the kitchen door, where she saw Xia Youqing busy at work.
The sound of running water was constant. She was washing the tomatoes Jiang Sui had bought and had even brought out a cutting board, intending to slice them.
Looking at her mother’s back, Jiang Sui lightly stroked her chin and stared at her movements.
Xia Youqing began to cut the tomatoes, starting to use the knife.
One, two, three…
“Hiss, it hurts!”
Sure enough, as expected, something went wrong.
As Xia Youqing fretted over the wound on her finger, Jiang Sui took a deep breath and pretended to happen past the kitchen door.
“Mom, what happened?”
“Sigh, I’m really useless. I can even hurt myself just cutting vegetables.”
“Sometimes I wonder how you survived on your own, Mom.”
When she first crossed over, aside from the meals Jiang Sui cooked for her, Xia Youqing ordered takeout the rest of the time. Just as she was becoming familiar with life with her mother, her second semester of freshman year arrived, and she had to say goodbye to her mother and head to Lan City alone.
Meeting again after more than half a year, she was still the same as ever.
But these clumsy movements were exactly what Jiang Sui needed; they provided her with an opportunity.
“Mom, you should go rest. I’ll take care of lunch today.”
“How can I let you do that? You’re usually working for that bastard Luo family. To come back and have to cook for me…”
“Because I’m worried this might be the last time we see each other, Mom…”
“Hey, you child, why is your mouth getting more and more disrespectful?”
“I’ve always been like this, Mom. You just didn’t notice it before.”
Taking the apron from Xia Youqing, Jiang Sui watched her mother go sit in the living room and then decisively pulled out her mobile phone to send a message to Lu Yunze.
A moment later, Lu Yunze emerged from the girl’s bedroom like a thief and came to the kitchen.
“Jiang Sui, let me ask first, will your plan really work?”
“The Young Master doesn’t trust me? Do you have anyone else you can trust?”
Jiang Sui’s smiling face always made Lu Yunze suspect that nothing good was about to happen.
Jiang Sui’s plan to get Xia Youqing to accept Lu Yunze was actually very simple: cook her a delicious meal.
“Are you sure this will work?” Lu Yunze had raised doubts several times already.
“It’ll work. This is a method I’ve personally tested, and it’s definitely feasible.”
Jiang Sui proactively tied the apron around his waist.
To conquer a person, one must first conquer their stomach. Jiang Sui felt that this saying didn’t just apply to men; it was the same for women.
“Personally tested? When was that?”
Meeting his gaze again, the little maid chose to gloss over it, pretending she knew nothing.
“In any case, please trust me, Young Master. As long as my mother sees your passion and sincerity, she will definitely let go of her hostility toward you.”
Letting go of the hostility toward Lu Yunze was enough. As for the Luo family…
Before starting, Jiang Sui noticed that Lu Yunze kept staring at the vegetables they had just bought with a strange look in his eyes.
“Young Master, let me ask beforehand — you do know how to cook, right?”
“Huh?”
Lu Yunze snapped out of it and immediately forced a smile.
“You’re joking. I’m someone who has taken etiquette classes, after all. As for cooking… of course I’ve mastered how much water to use for a certain amount of rice.”
“And what about stir-frying or making soup?”
“Um… I can learn!”
‘Good, very spirited, but useless.’
She hadn’t expected that Lu Yunze actually didn’t know how to cook.
Thinking back, at the Manor in Lan City, it was always Jiang Sui who secretly made delicious food for him. This guy also frequently went out to buy snacks and late-night meals; she had never seen him cook for himself.
Jiang Sui had already witnessed Luo Yao’s hellish cooking skills. She felt that if Lu Yunze were really left to his own devices, things wouldn’t be much better than with Luo Yao.
And since Lu Yunze couldn’t cook, the situation was a bit difficult. Originally, Jiang Sui intended to let him take the lead throughout the process while she only acted as an assistant; that would be the most persuasive.
After a long period of contemplation, Jiang Sui sighed and stepped toward him.
“I’ll be the Young Master’s cooking teacher and teach the Young Master a few basics.”
“Then thank you, Jiang Sui.”
“Aw, how well-behaved. My good apprentice.”
As Jiang Sui spoke, she reached out and patted his head twice, then let out a light laugh.
“…Alright, Teacher.”
Lu Yunze was very annoyed, but he couldn’t say it directly, so he could only swallow his frustration.
“Since the Young Master doesn’t know how to cook, we’ll have to change the dishes and start with something simple.”
“Simple? How simple?”
“Tomato scrambled eggs. That’s simple enough, right?”
“Hmm, I thought it was something serious. A mere tomato scrambled eggs — I’ll have that mastered in no time.”
“For real? I hope it’s as you say.”
Jiang Sui thoughtfully explained some key points of tomato scrambled eggs to him. It sounded simple, but in reality, there were quite a few things to keep in mind.
Lu Yunze nodded while listening, though with that confident expression of his, it was hard to say how much he actually took in.
Unable to wait any longer, Lu Yunze immediately picked up the kitchen knife, sliced two tomatoes, cracked three eggs into a bowl to stir, and then started the fire to cook.
First, he heated the pan and added oil, then poured in the egg mixture to stir-fry.
“Hot, it’s scorching!”
Unsurprisingly, Lu Yunze screamed as he was burned by the splattering oil droplets. Jiang Sui hurriedly reminded him to keep his voice down so as not to disturb Xia Youqing in the other room.
The fact that Lu Yunze was cooking had to be kept a secret beforehand; otherwise, there wouldn’t be enough of a surprise.
Lu Yunze gritted his teeth and looked at the pan again, discovering that one side of the eggs was already a bit burnt.
“Oh, oh!”
“Don’t just stand there, Young Master! Hurry and stir it evenly, then add the tomatoes.”
He listened, but Lu Yunze was clumsy even stir-frying an egg. A perfectly good non-stick pan ended up with a layer of unidentified material stuck to the bottom.
After a couple of random tosses, Lu Yunze quickly poured in the sliced tomatoes and continued stir-frying vigorously.
But before long, both of them noticed that the dish in the pan didn’t seem quite right.
“Why does it look different from what I imagined?” Lu Yunze muttered.
Jiang Sui squinted and looked closely for a moment before pointing out the problem.
“Young Master, did you forget to peel them?”
“Huh? They need to be peeled?”
“It’s easier to stir-fry the juices out if they’re peeled, Young Master.”
Jiang Sui massaged her forehead, feeling a bit of self-reproach for forgetting to remind him.
The tomato scrambled eggs found online were always tender, juicy, and brightly colored. The ones Lu Yunze made were not only dry, but the color was also a bit dull. Even the slightly burnt eggs were enough to make one lose their appetite.
Jiang Sui worked up the courage to take a bite and froze in place.
“Well? Is it not good?” Lu Yunze asked.
“Young Master, did you also forget to add salt?”
“Ah, I really did forget.”
Jiang Sui couldn’t help but roll her eyes and slump onto a chair.
It seemed this was destined to be a difficult journey.
With less than 2 hours until noon, Jiang Sui was glad she had bought plenty of vegetables; otherwise, there might not have been enough for Lu Yunze to squander.
Jiang Sui stood up again, her expression returning to normal.
“Come on, Young Master. Let’s continue.”
Having just observed Lu Yunze making tomato scrambled eggs, Jiang Sui had noted the mistakes he made. Next, she would have to supervise him and make sure he corrected them.
“How about you help me stir-fry?”
“No, it must be the Young Master who does the stir-frying.”
“However, I do have a way to help the Young Master.”
As if thinking of something, Jiang Sui wore a little devilish expression.
“Does the Young Master remember how you taught me to play the piano?”
“I remember. Why?”
“Come, Young Master, stand properly.”
Once Lu Yunze was standing in front of the wok, Jiang Sui came directly behind him. Her arms reached over his shoulders and grabbed his forearms.
“Jiang Sui?”
“Don’t move. Next, the Young Master’s arm movements must coordinate well with mine. It’s a bit hot, but you must endure it.”
It wasn’t just a matter of heat anymore.
From the moment Jiang Sui pressed against him, the soft sensation from his back, the fresh fragrance of her body, and the warm breath against his ear when she spoke all made Lu Yunze’s heart race.
At this rate, just calming his heart would be difficult enough, let alone focusing on cooking.
“Don’t just stand there dazed, Young Master. Let’s get started.”
Jiang Sui didn’t notice his abnormality at all.
Her words brought Lu Yunze back to his senses from his wandering thoughts.
“Don’t you still want to get my mother’s approval? Standing around like a fool won’t yield delicious food.”
Lu Yunze took two deep breaths, slowly calming his emotions.
She was right. He hadn’t come to Jiang Sui’s house for this sort of thing.
Since he had already promised to make Mrs. Xia see him in a new light, he couldn’t let Jiang Sui down.
At that thought, Lu Yunze suddenly felt that his behavior just now had been truly embarrassing. From now on, he would devote himself entirely to the process of learning how to cook.
Two people, 1.5 hours, creating the miracle of a whole table of delicious food.
Lu Yunze was completely immersed in the process of learning to cook, his mind filled with how to make each dish well.
He recorded every key point Jiang Sui mentioned in his mobile phone’s notepad and asked her questions immediately whenever he encountered a problem.
In the beginning, he was a bit flustered, but as time passed, his progress became more and more apparent.
Fragrant dish after dish was placed on the table. By lunchtime, all the dishes were just finished, and even the rice was ready to be served.
Looking at the results on the table, Jiang Sui and Lu Yunze exchanged a glance.
The former shouted loudly toward the bedroom:
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