Chapter 198: The Middle Road Kills Shredded Beef.

Chapter 198

Return to Xiyu Yue Ting.

[Zhang Housekeeper] carries four large bags of New Year's goods from the trunk of the car.

Seeing an exquisitely packaged Barbie doll gift box, he plunges into confusion.

Just as he wants to ask Madam where to put away the gift box, in the master bedroom or Young Master's room, he sees Madam has already swiftly taken out some bags and walked towards the villa entrance.

She tosses over her shoulder:

"I'm going over there, will be back later."

The "over there" in [Sheng Mumu]'s mouth refers to her mother-in-law [Feng Yaoqin]'s house.

Every time she accompanies [Feng Yaoqin] to the Garden Square to dance, she would casually say she's "going over there."

"Hey, wait, Madam—" [Zhang Housekeeper] doesn't get to ask his question before [Sheng Mumu] is already out of sight.

[Qi Mo] has just gotten out of the driver's seat, car keys in hand. He closes the car door and exchanges silent looks with [Zhang Housekeeper].

[Zhang Housekeeper] picks up the Barbie gift box. "Sir, should I put this in...?"

"Give it to me." [Qi Mo] reaches out to take the gift box and strides towards the villa entrance with his long legs.

[Zhang Housekeeper]'s eyes widen in silent astonishment. "!!!"

Oh my...

So I guessed wrong.

It belongs neither to Madam nor Young Master.

It turns out it's Sir's???

Uncle Smiley Face dot JPG

Yet another day unlocking new hobbies of the house owner.

In another villa kitchen, [Sheng Mumu] and [Feng Yaoqin] stand side by side in front of the counter.

Laid out before them are all the ingredients needed to make Dry Fried Beef.

Before leaving for the supermarket, [Sheng Mumu] had pulled [Feng Yaoqin] aside and whispered to her for a long time.

It was to finish what had been left undone previously.

The night [Feng Yaoqin] arrived in J City, she had wanted to teach [Sheng Mumu] how to make dishes her son-in-law [Qi Mo] likes to eat.

Back then, [Sheng Mumu] didn't want to learn at all.

They were pretending to be married couple anyway, just keeping up appearances.

Why would she really learn to cook for a man?

No way would she be willing.

Yet somehow...

When everyone brought up buying New Year's goods just now...

The thought to learn cooking suddenly popped up in her mind.

It even gave herself a fright.

The two tie on aprons and wash their hands clean.

[Feng Yaoqin] skillfully picks up a cleaver. With her left hand pressing on a slab of fresh beef and right hand holding the cleaver cutting downwards, she tilts her head to instruct:

"Mumu, watch closely—"

"Beef should be cut against the grain like this—"

"Then for the chili peppers, snip off the ends—"

"Cilantro and green onion sections should be cut into 3 cm pieces, just need a little bit for nice presentation—"

"... "

"[anger emoticon] [hands on hips angry emoticon]"

[Qi Mo] looks at the words she sent appearing on his phone screen, piecing together scattered fragments in an instant.

Recalling her sneaking off mysteriously into [Feng Yaoqin]'s car before leaving for the supermarket.

And remembering at the supermarket, she had seemingly casually wandered by the fresh section several times, getting ingredients for one dish in three separate trips.

So it turns out...

All her abnormal behaviors were just to learn how to make his favorite dish to eat.

The man's heart softens all at once. He leans back into the chair.

Eyes clear and eyelashes lifted at the corners.

He types: "Not bad at all, if looking closely can make out..."

Just as he is typing, he suddenly stops halfway, fingers suspended above the screen.

As if thinking of something, his brow flickers subtly, a flash of slyness in his eyes.

He deletes the typed out reply one by one.

And retypes, pretending not to know: "Didn't you say you didn't want to learn before?"

The subtext being, why do you want to learn now.

The message is sent out.

The man stares fixedly at the screen without blinking once.

Wanting to see her tell him the reason.

Greedily wanting to see more possibly expressed moments of her liking him.

"Typing..." appears in the chat.

The man doesn't even blink, anticipation in his eyes growing thicker by the second.

Soon, the typing status disappears.

A new message pops up in the chat box.

[Sheng Mumu]: "Yeah, that's why I gave up. [clueless scratching head emoji]"

[Sheng Mumu] doesn't pick up on the subtle implication behind his words.

She responds to the man's question containing shallow hints in the most straightforward way.

[Qi Mo] is silent. He stares at his phone.

Head lowered, he sighs lightly once.

A chest full of anticipation dissipates into thin air.

Oh well.

The setting sun outside the window shines on the man's distinct and sculpted face, cloaking it in a thin layer of warm light.

The feeling of disappointment only lingers for an instant.

The warm light curves out soft edges.

His fingers lightly glide across the screen as he browses online.

Gaze falling upon that photo of "Half-Way Ruined Dry Fried Beef", the corners of his lips lift up smiling.

Compared to "how she answers", "what she did" matters more.

Slender fingers press against the screen.

Clicking, and clicking again.

Saving the image.

He treasures her first attempt at wanting to learn to cook for him, collecting this heartfelt gesture like a precious jewel.