Chapter 329 326. Cooking
When she returned to the rented apartment that evening, An Han immediately got busy cooking.
This meal was Su Peng’s birthday dinner, and Su Peng’s cousin would also be attending. She absolutely couldn’t make it too poorly, or it might ruin the good impression Su Yichang had of her.
At home, she would occasionally cook, but back then her mother would pick the vegetables, slice the meat into strips, and season everything beforehand. All An Han needed to do was toss the ingredients into the pan, stir-fry them, and add some seasoning while her mother guided her from the side.
But this time everything had to be handled by her alone.
It left An Han flustered and scrambling. While cutting meat into strips, she suddenly remembered there were frozen chicken wings in the fridge that needed thawing. She had already started stir-frying the vegetables before realizing she hadn’t even turned on the range hood.
Oil splattered everywhere. Startled, she hurriedly grabbed the pot lid as a shield, timidly stretching out her arm to control the spatula. The back of her hand got burned, and she nearly dropped the spatula and knocked the wok over.
The door opened just then. Su Peng, who had just come back from the fitness club, leaned against the wall as he walked in, his body sore and tired.
“Need help?” He immediately noticed An Han fighting a battle in the kitchen. He shut the door behind him and glanced at the time. “It’s already past seven. My cousin will probably arrive around eight.”
“Help?”
An Han hesitated and looked at him, but then shook her head rapidly.
She was already overwhelmed by herself. If Su Peng joined in, they might end up flipping the entire kitchen over.
“Oh right, what did the doctor say?”
“No problem. I was just too nervous.”
“I knew it~”
An Han suddenly realized there was actually a little bit of relief in her heart. At the same time, she felt a bit regretful that she could no longer keep using that excuse to tease Su Peng.
Being called a “one-minute man” by his girlfriend was about as painful to Su Peng as being stabbed in the chest.
She caught a faint burnt smell and quickly focused back on cooking, casually reminding him, “Go take a shower. You smell like sweat.”
“Alright.”
Less than ten minutes later, Su Peng had already showered and changed clothes.
Feeling a bit hungry, he eagerly wandered over to the kitchen entrance and stared inside at An Han.
“If you’re hungry, there’s still cake in the fridge. I bought it for you last night.”
The cake had been sitting in the fridge for a full day.
An Han still felt a little uneasy and added, “If it tastes off, just throw it away. You throw it away—you won’t feel bad about it.”
She kept focusing on cooking, but after a moment she turned to look at Su Peng, who was still standing motionless at the kitchen doorway.
“What’s wrong?”
Su Peng was clearly tempted but slightly embarrassed. “Tonight…”
“Tonight we’re having shrimp with scrambled eggs, stir-fried water spinach, pan-fried tofu, braised pork, and green pepper with pork,” An Han sighed helplessly. “I don’t know if it suits your taste… but I think it’s okay.”
“That’s not what I meant. I mean… want to try again tonight?”
That sentence instantly made An Han recall the terrifying feeling from before. Her face flushed bright red, and she shook her head without hesitation.
“What are you thinking!”
“It’s my birthday today.”
“So what if it’s your birthday? Don’t push your luck!”
“This time I’ll definitely last longer!”
“Get lost! Pervert!”
Su Peng looked disappointed and went to tidy up the coffee table in advance.
Men really couldn’t be given even the smallest advantage. Give them a little sunshine and they shine brilliantly!
An Han grumbled in her heart, but suddenly remembered the reward she had obtained.
A skill for techniques… Could it be referring to that?
She didn’t think about it further. For now, her main focus was finishing the cooking.
Close to eight o’clock, the dishes—containing everything An Han had learned about cooking over the past twenty-plus years—were finally placed on the table.
Looking at the full table of food, she felt a strong sense of accomplishment. She straightened her back proudly, hands on her hips, and asked Su Peng with a smug expression,
“Try it. How does it taste?”
“It actually looks pretty decent.”
Su Peng had assumed An Han’s cooking would be a disaster, but the appearance wasn’t bad at all—at least it didn’t look like inedible dark cuisine.
“Then why did you cook so badly when I was sick last time?” he muttered while picking up a piece of meat with his chopsticks.
“There was only an induction cooker back then. What was I supposed to do?”
An Han’s eyes seemed to sparkle. She had just been looking proud and confident, but now that Su Peng was tasting the food, she suddenly grew nervous. Her fingers clenched slightly as she stared at him with anticipation and unease, even rising onto the tips of her toes as her body leaned forward unconsciously.
The feeling was almost like waiting for a teacher to grade an exam.
She stared at Su Peng eagerly and asked impatiently, “Well?”
“Hmm…”
Su Peng looked up at her with hesitation.
“Is it not good?”
“I’ll try the other dishes.”
An Han nodded vigorously. “The scrambled eggs must be fine. Try the eggs.”
She had been making scrambled eggs since she was five years old, standing on a stool. It was the dish she was most confident about.
Even if no seasoning was added, scrambled eggs couldn’t possibly taste that bad, right?
Su Peng tried every dish on the table with a serious expression. Finally, he sighed, sat down on the sofa, and frowned deeply.
“Not to your taste?”
An Han didn’t even know why she cared so much about Su Peng’s opinion. In fact, she had tasted every dish before serving it. Maybe they weren’t amazing, but they were definitely passable.
Besides, Su Peng was from southern Fujian. Their tastes shouldn’t be too different.
Su Peng looked up at her nervous face and suddenly smiled.
“It’s actually fine. Not bad.”
“Then why are you frowning!”
“I was just thinking… you hardly cook at home, yet your cooking is still okay. Meanwhile, I can’t cook at all,” he shrugged helplessly. “I can’t even help without being rejected.”
“Well, you’re a young master after all…” An Han muttered.
Su Peng excelled in academics, sports, and everything else, but he was completely lacking in practical household skills. He had never invested any skill points in the “domestic chores” skill tree, making housework unusually difficult for him. Often, he even made things worse when trying to help.
As for An Han, she was more balanced—able to do a bit of everything, though not particularly great at anything.
“Perfect timing, my cousin’s here.” Su Peng suddenly answered a call and hurriedly stood up from the sofa. “I’ll go downstairs to pick him up.”
“Go ahead…”
But after only a few hurried steps, his legs suddenly gave out and he collapsed onto the ground on his knees.
An Han froze in shock for a moment, then rushed over almost instantly.
“What happened?!”
Su Peng tried several times to stand but couldn’t. He looked up and saw An Han staring at him with eyes full of worry.
“It’s nothing. I trained legs for an hour at the gym. Not being able to walk is normal.”
“….”
“My legs are just sore and weak.” He rolled over and simply sat on the floor.
“So why do you go to the gym for no reason… Long Ge’s bodybuilder look isn’t even that good,” An Han complained.
Only then did she relax, rolling her eyes at him disdainfully.
“Then I’ll go downstairs. Where’s your cousin now?”
“At the entrance of the complex.”
———
Happy New Year.
Life fell into a low point over the past year, but fortunately I still had everyone’s company.
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