Chapter 160

MCAB – Chapter 160

“It’s obvious so long as you pay attention. Her feelings when she looks at you cannot be hidden,” Millie said as she took out a small bottle of perfume from her bag. Then, after spraying some on her wrists, she took out some gum and tossed a piece into her mouth.

“I’ll be careful.”

“You really are capable,” Millie suddenly said. She honestly felt that the woman before her really was capable. If she had been standing in Yu Fanshu’s shoes, it’d be fortunate if she didn’t curse and criticize Jun Zishu to death, much less fall in love with Jun Zishu and send a bunch of resources her way.

Meanwhile, Jun Zishu simply smiled and walked away when she heard Millie’s comment.

…

Jun Zishu took on the responsibility of buying all the groceries this time. After all, she was the only one who knew how to cook. The others would only add trouble if they helped.

Yu Fanshu followed Jun Zishu to the market, and the reason she gave to the others was to help her girlfriend share the load. The real reason was, in fact, also the same.

“I’m probably not going to buy a lot today, so you didn’t have to come out to sunbathe with me,” Jun Zishu said, one of her hands covering her microphone while the other hand was holding an umbrella that covered both herself and Yu Fanshu.

“This isn’t sunbathing. This is a type of enjoyment,” Yu Fanshu replied nonchalantly, one of her hands similarly covering the microphone on her.

“It seems that our secret has been discovered, Teacher.”

“What secret?”

Yu Fanshu turned her head toward Jun Zishu, wondering if there was any secret between them.

“Millie has noticed that we aren’t just roleplaying a couple, but that we are actually dating instead.”

“What of it? Everyone knows that you are my girlfriend right now. Are you worried?”

Attending a dating show was one thing, but getting involved in a love scandal was an entirely different matter.

“No, I’m not worried,” Jun Zishu said without hesitation. She didn’t care about fame, to begin with. Rather than trying to hide her relationship with Yu Fanshu, she was quite eager for news of it to get out. Specifically, she wanted a certain someone to know about it.

Jun Zishu was working with the Anti Stand-in Division this time, and her mission was to make sure that Yan Jue fell short on both ends, obtaining neither his Juliet nor Juliet’s stand-in.

In reality, Jun Zishu was mostly done with her mission already. After all, she, the stand-in, was currently being uncooperative, and Yu Fanshu had no interest in Yan Jue whatsoever. Now that both the stand-in and Juliet had even gotten together, there was zero chance that Yan Jue could obtain either of them.

However, Jun Zishu felt that she still hadn’t done enough. Even if she refused to work as Yu Fanshu’s stand-in, there was no guarantee that Yan Jue wouldn’t find other replacements, and she couldn’t allow this to happen.

Moreover, just the thought that someone was secretly trying to obtain Yu Fanshu disgusted Jun Zishu. It would’ve been fine if Yan Jue had openly expressed his affection and pursued Yu Fanshu. Yet, instead of doing so, he kept his feelings a secret and found body doubles to vent his emotions.

“Once I teach you how to love, I’ll find a suitable time to let everyone know that we are together. I don’t want to have to behave secretively about our relationship. Of course, if you want to keep it a secret, I don’t mind doing that, either,” Yu Fanshu said. She didn’t mind how others thought of her. However, she couldn’t ignore Jun Zishu’s opinion, either.

“I don’t mind. I’ll wait for that day to arrive,” Jun Zishu replied with little concern. Then, she released her grip over her microphone, held hands with Yu Fanshu, and they strolled through the market buying groceries like a normal couple.

When Jun Zishu and Yu Fanshu returned to the villa, Lemon had already grown restless from waiting.

“This is my favorite variety show. Not only is it full of anticipation, but it is also very relaxing,” Yu Fanshu commented as she followed Jun Zishu to the kitchen. She could openly eat, have fun, and relax while filming this variety show. She even got to make money while doing all of these things. It was truly a wonderful experience.

Jun Zishu nodded in agreement. She also found cooking to be quite enjoyable.

After setting down her grocery bag, she pulled out two potatoes and a carrot. Then, she washed the ingredients and a plastic container.

Afterward, she peeled and diced the potatoes and carrots, put them into the container, and soaked them in water.

Subsequently, she scooped six portions of rice into the rice cooker pot, washed the rice, drained the water, and set the rice aside.

“Huh? Aren’t you cooking it in the rice cooker? Why did you drain the water?” Yu Fanshu asked, standing at the kitchen entrance like usual. She found it more interesting to watch Jun Zishu cook than playing with her phone.

“I’m making a rice casserole today.”

“Okay.”

Afterward, Jun Zisuh took out the dried mushrooms she had bought, cleaned them, and soaked them in water to rehydrate them a little. Then, she took out the large chicken thighs she bought, washed them, deboned them, and cut them into small chunks. Once that was done, she marinated the chicken with shredded ginger and cooking wine.

After letting everything sit for some time, Jun Zishu scooped up the mushrooms and chopped them into halves. Then, she added oil into a clean wok, heated the oil, and added the marinated chicken. After the chicken changed color, she added soy sauce and dark soy sauce before stir-frying everything together.

“What is she making today? Is it fried chicken thighs?”

Drawn by the smell, Lemon appeared by the kitchen entrance beside Yu Fanshu.

“She says it’s rice casserole,” Yu Fanshu repeated what she previously heard. In reality, she didn’t know what a casserole was. She had neither made one nor eaten one before.

“What’s that?” Lemon asked, similarly never having had rice casserole before.

“All you need to know is that it is going to be delicious.”

“I guess you’re right.”

Lemon nodded. Then, after sniffing the air and rubbing his belly, he returned to the living room in eager anticipation.

Meanwhile, Jun Zishu added salt and sugar into the wok to enhance the chicken’s flavor. After all the stir-frying she did, the sauce had already dyed the chicken chunks into a delectable color. Then, once she felt that the chicken was sufficiently cooked, she added the diced potatoes, carrots, chopped mushrooms, and a handful of green beans into the wok.

After stir-frying the chicken and the other ingredients for a moment, she poured them over the rice she had previously washed. Then, she added the water she had previously soaked the mushrooms and stirred everything until evenly mixed.

After doing so, Jun Zishu pulled out the rice cooker, put the rice cooker pot inside, sprinkled a little more salt, and pressed the “Cook” button. Then, she left the rice cooker to do its thing and started washing the wok to make a soup.

…

By the time the casserole was done cooking, Jun Zishu had also completed her tofu and shredded pork soup. Noticing that the rice cooker had switched into standby mode, she transferred the soup into a big bowl and brought it out to the dining table.

When the soup’s smell entered Lemon’s nostrils, he eagerly washed his hands and walked up to the dining table.

“Is eating the only thing you know how to do?” Jiu Xi asked derisively. He was the first to get up from the living room sofa, yet Lemon had arrived at the dining table before him.

“Huh? Where are the other dishes?”

After making a silly face at Jiu Xi, Lemon turned back and saw only a bowl of soup on the dining table.

“It’ll be ready in a minute. I made mushroom chicken casserole today,” Jun Zishu said from the kitchen. Then, she unplugged the rice cooker, brought it to the dining table, and opened the lid in front of everyone.

Immediately, the rich smell of chicken paired with mushrooms spread in the air, and everyone couldn’t help but gulp when they got a whiff of it.

“Go and get the bowls.”

The oily rice, soft potato cubes, tender chicken, fragrant mushrooms, diced carrots, and green beans looked very delicious when scooped into a bowl, and everyone finished their portions in no time. Then, after the meal, they washed everything down with a bowl of tofu and shredded pork soup. The tofu was smooth and tender, the shredded pork was chewy and flavorful, and the soup was warm. The dining room was air-conditioned, so everyone enjoyed the food and soup without feeling stuffy.

After everyone happily finished their meals, they were faced with the problem of doing the dishes.

“Here comes the question: Who’s doing the dishes this time? Don’t tell me it’s going to be me and my boyfriend again?” Lemon asked as he pointed at himself and Jiu Xi. Ever since they attended this show, they had been doing the dishes for every meal.

Meanwhile, Jiu Xi’s mouth twitched a little when he heard how naturally Lemon said the words “my boyfriend.”

“Other than the cook, everyone else has competed fair and square every time. It’s your fault for losing every time. So, should we go with rock paper scissors again this time?” Millie suggested.

However, Lemon shook his head and said, “Let’s switch to a different method.”

“What do you suggest?”

“We’ll play a game,” Lemon said.

In reality, this was part of the script. Rather than Lemon, it was the TV crew that came up with the idea of playing a game instead. Meanwhile, after a brief off-camera discussion, it was decided that Lemon would be the one to suggest the game.

“Alright, then. What should we play?”

Everyone got into character flawlessly. Even though they all knew what game they would play, they still pretended to be surprised and interested. Naturally, Jun Zishu was no exception.

“I want to join if we’re going to play a game,” Jun Zishu raised her hand, to which Lemon nodded in response.

“We’ll play ‘I can you can’t’, then. We don’t have a lot of space to play other games here, so we’ll settle for something more elegant.”

Everyone else quickly agreed to the suggestion and moved to the living room.

“I can you can’t” was a game that involved participants taking turns saying something special they had done before. Participants had to extend all their fingers during this time, their ten fingers representing ten lives. When a participant spoke of a feat they had previously carried out, the other participants would have to retract a finger if they had never done a similar feat.

After Lemon recounted the rules, everyone made thoughtful expressions to indicate that they were pondering what to say.

“Does everyone understand the rules? Whoever uses up their ten lives first will have to do the dishes,” Lemon said.

The script only mentioned that there would be such a game scripted in this episode. Although the TV crew would help them prepare whatever props they needed, the guests would still have to come up with the game’s content by themselves.

“Let’s start with you, then,” Jun Zishu said as she looked at Lemon.

After nodding his head, Lemon proudly said, “I have abs!”

After saying so, Lemon lifted his shirt. Even though he had just eaten, his six-pack abs remained neatly arranged and beautifully shaped.

“Boo, you’re bullying girls,” Millie complained before retracting a pinkie.

However, Lemon simply grinned and remained silent.

Jun Zishu and Yu Fanshu also remained silent and retracted their pinkies. Then, they turned toward the two other boys in the room.

“It’s my loss,” Tang Tongtong said as he retracted his left thumb.

However, to Lemon’s surprise, Jiu Xi didn’t make any movements.

“What? Don’t tell me you have them?” Lemon asked in surprise. Jiu Xi had a lean build, and it didn’t look like he was someone who worked out a lot.

In response, Jiu Xi curled up his lips a little and pulled up his shirt, revealing the six-pack abs underneath. Moreover, his abs were much more pronounced than Lemon’s due to his lean body.

“Wow, they’re real,” Lemon commented as he tried to touch Jiu Xi’s abs, only to have his hand mercilessly swatted away by Jiu Xi.

Meanwhile, Jun Zishu narrowed her eyes a little as she looked at Lemon’s enthusiastic face.

Jiu Xi’s turn came after Lemon. After racking his mind for a moment, he said, “I participated in a marathon before.”

“I also took part in one before.”

Tang Tongtong raised his hand and saved himself from retracting a finger. Everyone else, though, didn’t share the same fate.

“I can do splits. I can even do side splits,” Millie said after racking her head for some time.

However, contrary to Millie’s expectations, everyone else smiled when she said so.

“I can do it, too,” Lemon said.

“Me, too,” Jiu Xi and Tang Tongtong said.

“Ahhh! Why are you men so good?!”

Millie was the first to perform, executing a front split followed by a side split.

It was Jun Zishu’s turn afterward, and she executed both splits with ease.

When Yu Fanshu saw Jun Zishu’s back facing her and the thin waist that got exposed because of Jun Zishu’s actions, she couldn’t help but be distracted for a moment.