Chapter 120 - It's Not That I Can't Cook

Chris put his cup on the table and hurriedly headed for the kitchen. As he looked around, he saw a fire burning inside the pan. The fire was not very big, but enough to scare off someone who never cooked like Merry.

The man sighed as he approached the stove. He then turned off the stove before covering the pan with a lid. In a moment, the flames died down. Chris looked at Merry with an annoyed expression.

"You really can't cook?" Chris asked in disbelief.

He thought she was just saying that her cooking was not good, but Merry was actually telling the truth.

Merry lowered her head, rubbing the back of her right hand. Her hands splashed with the hot oil earlier as she tried to pour water into the pan. She replied softly, "No…"

"Then what have you been eating for the past half year?" Chris crossed his arms asking questions.

The tall man's figure contrasted with the small kitchen, making the kitchen look cramped. Chris looked at Merry closely and noticed that the hair beside the young woman's ear looked charred. Guilt immediately filled Chris's chest. At his unreasonable command, Merry's beautiful hazelnut hair caught on fire.

"I ordered food from outside ..." Merry shifted her legs restlessly.

Chris sighed, "Alright, go and wash your face. I'll take care of this." He ordered.

Hearing that, Merry looked up in surprise, "Brother Chris, can you cook?" She asked in surprise. She didn't think that the young master of the Hartanto Family could cook!

Merry's shining gaze that was staring at him with admiration made Chris feel proud. The man cleared his throat and straightened his back, "Of course I can, not like you." He sounded arrogant.

"Wow ... Brother Chris is great!" Merry clapped her hands excitedly.

"Now, get out of the kitchen. I'll call you when dinner is ready." Chris said while trying to hide his smile.

"Okay!" Merry hurriedly left the kitchen to clean her face, as Chris ordered.

In the kitchen, Chris scanned the messy stove area. He could smell the burnt in the air. The man then let out a deep breath before folding his sleeves and started cleaning the kitchen. He found a bowl filled with broken eggs. However, the eggs were mixed with the broken shell and were unusable.

Chris threw away the contents of the bowl, then opened Merry's refrigerator. Since that woman couldn't cook, she didn't keep a lot of food in her refrigerator. There were only a few eggs, fruit, and a box of rice left over from yesterday's dinner. Chris decided to make a simple dish, namely omurice— fried rice with a fried egg.

Meanwhile, Merry went into her room after washing her face. She changed her dirty clothes with a pink sweater. Then, she returned to the kitchen with light steps.

When Merry was about to walk in, Chris immediately closed the kitchen door right in front of her face. The young woman jumped back and almost fell. If she hadn't backed away just now, that door would definitely hit her nose!

"B-Brother Chris? Why? What happened?" Merry asked in shock.

"Just wait outside!" Chris's reply was short.

The man sounded impatient, perhaps because he didn't want to be disturbed while cooking. Merry felt that the smell of the burnt in the air was getting stronger, but she didn't really think about it.

"Oh okay." Merry replied reluctantly. She returned to the living room and spent time playing with Tiger. Every now and then she glanced at the tightly closed kitchen door.

At that time, Chris who was in the kitchen was watching the screen of his cell phone with full concentration. He was holding the cellphone with one hand while the other was busy stirring the rice in the pan using a spatula.

Ten minutes later… 

The young master of the Hartanto family rubbed the back of his head with a frustrated expression. He threw the spatula in his hand into the sink. Then, Chris took the pan and dumped its contents in the trash.

He failed miserably!

The last time Chris cooked was when he helped his nanny cook omurice. At that time, he was only 5 or 6 years old, so he watched more of the babysitters than cooking.

Even so, Chris was sure that he could cook something as simple as omurice. But what was the result? He failed miserably! Somehow, the rice and eggs were mixed into a formless, sticky dough. Chris himself was disgusted when he saw it.

The man slammed the frying pan into the sink too. Then he turned and left the messy kitchen.

Merry immediately turned her head when she saw the kitchen door open. She stood up and asked hopefully, "Brother Chris, is dinner ready yet?"

Chris straightened his sleeves and answered in a flat voice, "Change your clothes. We'll eat out."

"Huh?" Merry put down Tiger and headed to the kitchen. She wanted to see what was going on, but Chris grabbed her collar from behind and pulled her back.

"Looks like something is wrong with your gas. To be safe, you'd better call someone to check it out." Chris said quickly.

"Oh okay." Merry immediately believed the man. Her innocent expression didn't show a shred of doubt.

Seeing that, Chris felt a little relieved. It's not that he couldn't cook, but there's a problem with the gas!

The next day, at eight in the morning, Sister Mei had come to the hospital. She brought Lilia and Jean breakfast.

When the middle-aged woman came into the room, she saw Lilia lying limply on the sofa. The model's face looked wrinkled and paler than yesterday. There were dark circles under her eyes.

"Madame, did you sleep poorly last night?" Sister Mei asked worriedly. She glanced at Lilia while arranging the dishes on the table.

"Well...." Lilia replied halfheartedly. She covered her face with her arms to hide her yawning.

The reason why Lilia seemed so lethargic and powerless was because she only slept around 3 a.m. She was too excited to read netizens' answers to the question "How to seduce my husband?" until she lost track of time. If Jean didn't wake up and put her to sleep, Lilia probably wouldn't sleep at all.

At least, her efforts weren't in vain. Lilia had many interesting ideas that she could implement later. She intended to try it as soon as she returned home. After thinking that, Lilia's pale face became a little fresher.

A few moments later, Jean came out of the bathroom. The man was still wearing the shirt and pants he wore last night. Lilia turned to her husband. Jean's tall body and broad chest always refreshed Lilia's eyes. His appearance reminded her of one of the netizen's replies she read last night.

[User4469]: "How hard is it to seduce a boy? You just need to take him to the bed, strip him naked, and everything will be OK!"

Lilia hurriedly covered her hot face with her arms. She had never even seen Jean take off his clothes, but she was already bright red at the thought.

Meanwhile, Jean walked over to Lilia and stopped in front of the sofa. He studied his wife's flushed face in confusion. When Jean woke up this morning, he had checked Lilia's temperature and the results were normal. Did the woman suddenly catch a fever from an infection that made her face this red?

Jean reached out and touched Lilia's forehead. The temperature was a little warm, but not as bad as before, "What are you thinking about?" Jean began to feel worried, "Are you alright?"

The woman jumped when she felt the touch of Jean's hand. She hurriedly lowered her arm and smiled awkwardly at the man, "It's nothing. I'm fine, you don't need to worry. Let's eat."

Lilia got up from her sofa and took Jean's hand. The man's skin felt warm after bathing. Lilia's smile grew wider as Jean squeezed her hand gently. Together they approached the dining table that Sister Mei had prepared.

Lilia considered calling Harold after breakfast. Since the injuries were not too severe and could be treated at home, she wanted to be discharged from the hospital immediately.

*****

Sister Mei had prepared a very nutritious breakfast such as egg soup and fine porridge decorated with chopped green vegetables. Lilia and Jean sat at the table, then started eating their breakfast.

Lilia had just swallowed a spoonful of egg soup when Jean handed her a piece of boiled egg that had been shelled. The woman smiled broadly and let her man feed her.

Sister Mei watched this warm scene with teary eyes. She felt both very happy and touched. The middle-aged woman had raised Jean since childhood and felt happy when her young master had found the woman he loved with all his heart. That man was no longer a cold and distant person. Jean now understood what it felt like to be loved and to love.

Sister Mei turned around and was about to go home when the door to the room suddenly shook violently, as if someone was trying to open it. A second later, someone banged loudly on the door to the room. Sister Mei jumped in shock when she heard that.

Lilia and Jean stopped their breakfast. The two of them exchanged glances for a moment. Jean's gaze was colored with irritation as he guessed who the unkind visitor was. There was only one person who dared to interrupt his precious breakfast time with Lilia.

Sister Mei woke up and hurried to the door, "Young Master, I'll open the door." She said.

The middle-aged woman opened the locked door and slid it open. She saw Chris standing in the hallway carrying a large shopping bag.

"Ah, Mr. Chris. Good morning." Sister Mei politely greeted.

Chris nodded and walked into the room. The man put his shopping bag on the table, but his expression froze when he saw them having breakfast.

"… Looks like your breakfast is delicious." Chris said after being silent for a moment.

Jean glanced at the shopping bag and recognized the logo of the restaurant Lilia liked. She immediately understood what Chris was here for in the morning. But that didn't mean Jean could forgive him for interrupting his time with Lilia.

"What are you doing here so early? Do you intend to have breakfast here too?" Jean quipped while continuing his breakfast.

Chris's face turned red as he glared at his best friend, "I'm here because I'm free, that's all." His reply sounded annoyed.

"Hmm.." Jean took another boiled egg and put it back in Lilia's bowl, "I didn't know you had that much free time."