Chapter 12

Why Do I Feel Like I Can’t Even Afford to Eat These Ordinary Dishes?

At Li Zexuan’s house, Lin Wan couldn’t fall asleep. Li Zekai was reading a story to her. But he had too many questions that he felt didn’t make any sense in the story.

“How could the emperor not know that he wasn’t wearing any clothes? Didn’t he feel cold? How did the grandpa survive in the Big Bad Wolf’s stomach? She was still alive when the wolf’s stomach was cut open! How did the wolf swallow her without chewing anyway? Wouldn’t she get stuck in its throat? Why did Snow White open the door for the strange old lady? Wasn’t she suspicious? Snow White is silly…”

Lin Wan couldn’t believe a child had these many questions. She had never given birth or raised a child before. She was confused on how she could answer his endless questions.

In the courtyard, Li Yanchen and his sons gathered the firewood and prepared to cook.

The Festival Group had given them a bag of flour, a few eggs and a bag of rice. Li Yanchen knew these ingredients, but he had no idea how to cook them into a delicious meal.

“Make the dough and roll the noodles.” Li Yanchen remembered that when his mother was alive, she would often roll out noodles. She would knead the dough with a little bit of water, then flatten them and cut them into noodles. Then she would cook the noodles with vegetables. It all sounded very simple.

He took a big bowl, poured half a bowl of flour and added half a bowl of water, and let Li Zexuan knead the dough.

Li Zexuan had just rested for two minutes. He didn’t want to start working again. When his father instructed him, he covered his ears and ignored him.

Li Yanchen sighed and turned to his other son. Li Zexin just looked away. In the end, he did it himself.

[Big businessmen also have their shortcomings, I guess.]

[Why is he adding flour and water at the same time? if this goes on, the whole bag of flour will be finished.]

“Father, what are you doing?” Li Zexuan asked his father.

The staff member looked at the live broadcast room. “This family seems to be unable to make a living on their own.”

“I desperately want to help.” The planning lady couldn’t take it anymore.

“We can’t break the show’s rules. Besides, they can drop by and ask for a meal from a neighbor.”

“The Li family has five members. They are probably embarrassed to ask someone else for food.”

…

The staff member was worried.

Back at Lin Guoguo’s house, smoke rose from the chimney. Lin Tong and his wife, Shen Man, worked very well together as a team. Lin Guoguo washed the vegetables and put them in the draining basket. He was very meticulous. He checked for yellow, wilted leaves and cast them aside.

Shen Man was in charge of cutting the vegetables, and the fans found that the sound of the knife hitting the anvil was very professional.

Lin Tong, himself, was in charge of cooking. He placed the wood under the clay stove and fanned the flames.

Lin Guoguo’s family didn’t prepare any meat for the meal. Instead, there were leeks, eggs, celery, potatoes, eggplants, and beans on the table. There was the sound of sizzling vegetables on hot oil as Lin Tong sauteed them in a pan.

Soon, five dishes were ready to be eaten. Leek, eggs, braised eggplant, stir-fried celery, cumin s potatoes, stir-fried beans. The vibrant color of the cooked veggies with the way they were plated would make anyone drool.

[Why do I feel like I can’t even afford to eat these ordinary dishes?]

[As expected of a chef from a five-star hotel. He finished preparing it in just a few minutes.]

[Chef Lin, please help Xuanxuan and his family.]

[You all have the same last name and were from the same family 500 years ago. Help those poor kids.]

“Dad, let’s take some food to brother Xuanxuan’s house. We can choose a family to be our guests for the day, right?” Lin Guoguo asked.

Even if her daughter hadn’t suggested it, Lin Tong and Shen Man were already planning to go to Li Zexuan’s house after looking at the trending searches from yesterday. However, Li Yanchen had returned in the morning, and Xu Xiaoxiao had been rejected when she had gone over to invite them. Shen Man didn’t want people to assume they were there to curry favors, so they had stayed back.

Shen Man was still a little hesitant.

“Mom?” Lin Guoguo said.

Suddenly, the live broadcast room was filled with comments:

[There’s no need to go. Lin Wan is coming over with a bowl.]

[Is Lin Wan here to ask for a free meal?]

[If you’re not freeloading, why did you bring a bowl?]

[Five, four, three, two, one…]

[Lin Wan is really here. I’m dying of laughter. She’s here with a bowl.]

[Is that a bowl? my God!] Where did she find such a big bowl? it’s even bigger than the pot for rice.]

[The cubs are here too. They have bowls in their hands, too. Are they trying to store food?]

Lin Wan felt as if her legs were made of lead.

Holding the chipped enamel bowl, and a walking stick to support herself, she looked no different than a beggar. Li Zekai walked behind her, pushing her forward. She did not want to come.

However, ten minutes ago, Li Yanchen had tried kneading a bag of flour and nothing had come out of it. She was worried that they had made too much rice with nothing to eat it with. She didn’t like wasting food. Flour was precious to her. She couldn’t bear to see the all-natural bag of flour going to waste.

She had wanted to step forward and tell them to get lost and let her do it. But she didn’t want them to make it a habit and make her cook every time. It was so tiring to cook for five mouths. She would rather lose her dignity and go ask for food from someone else.

Li Yanchen was a big businessman who probably had never done something like this in his life and yet he tried his best. She felt that compared to him, she would only suffer a little. No matter how they felt about her, she would have done her part in providing them with a meal irrespective of the method she used.

Lin Wan stopped in front of Guoguo’s house and thought about what to say. It turned out that she was overthinking things. Just then, Shen Man pushed the door open and saw Lin Wan outside with a bowl. She understood everything.

“Hello, Mrs. Lin.” Lin Wan smiled and greeted her.

“Hello, Mrs. Li. I was just thinking of going to your house. Mrs. Li, do you mind if we choose your house as our guest for today?” Shen Man asked. “Lin Tong prepared lunch and we were planning to bring it over to you so we could eat together.I didn’t expect you here. ”

“That would be so great. We would be honored to have you over,” said Lin Wan.

At the same time, she was filled with regret. How could she have forgotten that Lin Guoguo’s family was going to pick a family to be their guest today? With Li Yanchen and Li Zexuan’s popularity, the Li family was clearly the surest choice. If she had just waited a bit more, she wouldn’t have been standing here embarrassed.

She quickly hid the bowl behind her.

[Hahaha, does Lin Wan regret coming to beg for food?]

[So Guoguo’s family had already planned to visit Xuanxuan’s family. No wonder Guoguo’s father made so many dishes.]

[Today, she didn’t send out any compressed biscuits or sausages. Moreover, she was the one who took the initiative to come to Guoguo’s house.]

[Don’t be happy too early. You might not be able to escape the fate of compressed biscuits yet.]

They all carried bowls of food and headed to Li Zexuan’s house. In the Li family’s courtyard, the tables and chairs were all set up. The whole family was waiting for Lin Wan to return.

After a while, they saw five people arrive. It was like a cooking competition. Each carried their best dishes out of the kitchen with their heads held high and their chests out for the judges to inspect.

“Hello, Mr. Li. We’ve brought some food with us. We’ll be doing the mission with you this afternoon.” Lin Tong put down his bowl.