So, You’re the Henpecked One? 27

Chapter 27

After Lin Zhao’s words, the study fell into a strange silence.

Chu Xihuan looked at Lin Zhao’s drooping brow and teary eyes and felt a headache coming on. Why was she acting like this? It wasn’t good, so was she not allowed to tell the truth?

Chu Xihuan complained in her heart, but she said, “No, I just thought it would be nice to buy it and learn, to add some new dishes to our meals.”

Forget it, I’ll just let her have this one. If she really starts crying, it’ll be a hassle. I’m not good at comforting people.

“Really?” Lin Zhao looked at Chu Xihuan with teary, expectant eyes.

Chu Xihuan was silent. “Of course it’s true.”

She found that this Lin Zhao really had no self-awareness, and yet she was so sensitive. She looked like she was about to cry at the slightest disagreement. She was really difficult to handle.

Lin Zhao sniffled and gave Chu Xihuan a tearful smile. “Mm-hm, I’ll definitely learn to make more dishes for Xihuan in the future!”

Her appearance, and her words, were both endearing and amusing. Chu Xihuan reached out and ruffled her head, her voice softening a little. “Mm, together.”

This Lin Zhao was like a fool, but a sincere fool.

Chu Xihuan sighed in her heart and held the cookbook in her hand. “Alright, it’s getting late. Let’s go and prepare lunch. We can try what the book teaches.”

When she was with Chu Xihuan, Lin Zhao was very obedient, especially when Chu Xihuan was so affectionate and spoke so gently. She was overjoyed and just wanted to stick to Chu Xihuan’s side all the time.

*

The two of them went to the kitchen together. Chu Xihuan opened the book and found a recipe for stir-fried pork that looked relatively simple. They had all the ingredients at home, so it was convenient to make.

Originally, Lin Zhao wanted Chu Xihuan to read it to her and she would follow the instructions, but Xihuan was unwilling and insisted on trying it herself. Lin Zhao couldn’t win against her and could only watch her nervously from the side.

Chu Xihuan was about to cut the meat herself. Lin Zhao saw that her slightly wide sleeves were inconvenient and, with Chu Xihuan’s permission, helped her roll them up, revealing her slender, fair forearms.

Chu Xihuan pressed her lips together, her face solemn, as if she were studying some obscure ancient text. With each cut, she tried to follow the instructions in the book and cut the perfect slice of meat.

But…

A hint of despair appeared in Chu Xihuan’s eyes.

So greasy, so annoying!

But no matter how much she disliked the feeling, Chu Xihuan finally finished cutting the meat. Although it wasn’t as perfect as she had imagined, seeing this major task completed, Chu Xihuan quietly sighed in relief. She then changed the knife and cutting board and started to cut the side dishes that Lin Zhao had washed.

Lin Zhao watched from the side as Chu Xihuan finished everything without any mishaps, and she also sighed in relief that she hadn’t cut her hand or anything.

“Go and start the fire,” Chu Xihuan said, seeing that she had prepared everything she needed. She then directed Lin Zhao to start the fire.

Looking at the things she had prepared, Chu Xihuan felt a sense of accomplishment. To be able to do this on her first time cooking, how could she not be said to be gifted?

Lin Zhao didn’t dare to make a sound. She silently lit the fire and then watched Chu Xihuan’s movements with a learning attitude, thinking that once she learned, she would be able to make more dishes as well.

Chu Xihuan was very satisfied with the fire. She heated the pot and added oil according to the book’s instructions. But the book’s instructions were so perfunctory, only saying to add oil. How much oil should she add? Chu Xihuan’s face darkened slightly, which scared Lin Zhao so much that she even quieted her breathing, as she couldn’t tell what Xihuan was thinking and was afraid of angering her.

Chu Xihuan took a deep breath. From the corner of her eye, she saw the fatty pieces of meat she had cut off. She put them all in the pot to render the fat. As soon as she put them in, a cloud of white smoke rose, and Chu Xihuan calmly started to stir-fry with a spatula.

Very good, everything is going smoothly so far. Chu Xihuan marveled at her own intelligence.

However, as the fat began to render, the oil in the pot also became restless, splattering from time to time, which startled Chu Xihuan so much that she immediately took two steps back, her eyes fixed on the noisy pot of oil.

Lin Zhao quickly stepped forward, trying to take the spatula from Chu Xihuan’s hand. “Xihuan, let me do it. It wouldn’t be good if it splattered on you.”

Chu Xihuan avoided her and refused seriously. “No need. You go and watch the fire. I can do it.”

Of course she had to do it herself. If she backed down from such a small difficulty, wouldn’t she only be able to cook like Lin Zhao in the future, just boiling all the vegetables in one pot?

She didn’t want that.

Lin Zhao looked at her apprehensively, but at her urging, she had no choice but to go back and watch the fire.

Seeing the fatty pieces of meat in the pot gradually render their fat and shrink, turning golden brown and almost becoming charcoal, Chu Xihuan finally took a deep breath. She mimicked Lin Zhao’s previous actions and scooped out the excess oil, then poured all the meat she had cut into the pot.

The hot oil met the wet meat, and a strong aroma of fat burst out, along with fine droplets of oil that splattered onto Chu Xihuan’s bare arm.

Chu Xihuan was speechless.

After a moment of stinging pain, Chu Xihuan took a deep breath and felt that it was still bearable.

“Lin Zhao, the book says to stir-fry over high heat. Make the fire bigger,” Chu Xihuan said, her voice a little tense.

“Oh, okay.” Lin Zhao now had an instinctive reaction to Chu Xihuan’s words and immediately threw a few more pieces of firewood in as she was told.

Chu Xihuan held the spatula in one hand and the book in the other, reading it carefully, her brow sometimes furrowed, sometimes relaxed. She followed the instructions in the book, but she found that the person who had written this cookbook was not rigorous enough.

How long should she stir-fry over high heat? At what point could she add the seasonings?

Chu Xihuan thought to herself that if she learned how to cook in the future, if she had the chance, she would definitely write a more detailed cookbook.

She didn’t know how long to stir-fry, and she was afraid that if the meat wasn’t cooked through, it would be a problem if they got an upset stomach. So Chu Xihuan stir-fried for a while before adding the side dishes and continuing to stir-fry.

Lin Zhao peeked over from the side, learning, and had great faith in Chu Xihuan.

Chu Xihuan added the seasonings and then pressed her lips together, staring at the dish in the pot. “Do you think I added too little oil? It seems a little dry,” she asked Lin Zhao with some confusion.

Lin Zhao looked at the pot, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Then shall we add a little more oil?”

Chu Xihuan nodded in agreement and added the oil she had scooped out earlier.

With the addition of the oil, the dish, which had been a little dry and difficult to stir-fry, was somewhat relieved. However, this situation didn’t last long. When she saw some black spots gradually appearing in the pot, Chu Xihuan gradually sensed that something was wrong.

“Lower the heat,” Chu Xihuan said as she scooped the contents of the pot out. Finally, she and Lin Zhao looked at the stir-fried pork, which had a faint burnt smell and was full of black spots, and Chu Xihuan fell silent.

It… didn’t look edible.

She was confused and flipped through the book again, reading the instructions from beginning to end. Apart from adding oil in the middle, she was sure that she had followed the recipe exactly!

Lin Zhao was also a little apprehensive. Finally, she looked up at Chu Xihuan furtively, took a pair of chopsticks, and tried a piece of meat.

Seeing her action, Chu Xihuan also stared at her reaction.

Lin Zhao chewed a couple of times, then paused.

Seeing her reaction, Chu Xihuan had a bad feeling. Just as she was about to get a pair of chopsticks and try it herself, she saw Lin Zhao suddenly burst into tears.

Chu Xihuan paused. “What’s wrong?” Could it be so delicious that she cried?

But that didn’t seem right.

Lin Zhao tearfully swallowed the food in her mouth and then, unwilling to give up, took a piece of the side dish. However, as soon as she chewed it, her face froze again.

She cried even harder.

“What is this reaction?” Chu Xihuan had no patience for her series of reactions. She also took a piece and put it in her mouth. However, after chewing a couple of times, she also paused.

Lin Zhao looked at Chu Xihuan with teary eyes and choked, “Xihuan, the meat, so much meat.”

Chu Xihuan silently spat out the meat in her mouth, understanding why Lin Zhao was crying.

The meat was not only tough and burnt, but also very salty. It was so tough and burnt that even re-cooking it in a soup wouldn’t save it.

Lin Zhao felt her heart ache so much she could hardly breathe. She looked at the dish with choked sobs, sniffled, and silently went to cook some porridge, trying to salvage the dish in this way.

Chu Xihuan was speechless.

What went wrong? Didn’t I just follow the recipe!

Chu Xihuan’s face was dark. She picked up the dish and said, “We’re not eating this.”

Looking at it, Chu Xihuan was reminded of her failure.

“No,” Lin Zhao sniffled. “We have to. Meat is very expensive.”

Even if it was a little burnt and very salty now, she felt that it was still edible with porridge. Having come from a hard life, Lin Zhao couldn’t stand to see food wasted.

Chu Xihuan silently looked at her heartbroken, tearful expression, feeling both amused and angry, and also a little heartbroken herself.

Did this person have so many tears? To cry like this over such a small thing. She hadn’t even cried when the members of the Lin clan had barged in and bullied her. The reason for her crying was also something that made Chu Xihuan not know whether to laugh or cry.

Although looking at this dish was like facing her own failure, seeing Lin Zhao’s heartbroken, tearful expression, she couldn’t bring herself to say she would throw it away again.

“Then I’ll try the vegetables again. The vegetables should be fine,” Chu Xihuan compromised. She just wouldn’t cook the vegetables for so long. Besides, even if the vegetables were a little undercooked, they were still edible and wouldn’t cause an upset stomach.

“Let me do it.” Seeing that she still wanted to do it herself, Lin Zhao was really a little scared.

Her heart was still aching.

“I’ll do it myself.” Chu Xihuan’s eyes were fixed on the pile of vegetables. She couldn’t believe that she couldn’t conquer something like cooking!

Hearing that she still wanted to continue, a hint of bitterness appeared on Lin Zhao’s face. She couldn’t understand why Xihuan insisted on cooking.

“Xihuan, why don’t you read it to me, and I’ll learn it, and then I’ll teach you?” Lin Zhao asked tentatively. She believed that when it came to cooking, she still had more of a foundation than Chu Xihuan.

Chu Xihuan was speechless.

Lin Zhao teaching me? Why does that feel so strange?

“Alright,” Chu Xihuan said quietly.

Although it was strange to have Lin Zhao teach her, Chu Xihuan had to admit that at least the things Lin Zhao made were still edible.

Her own cooking… she didn’t want to take a second bite.

**

Author’s Note:

Xixi is expressionless: It seems I’ll have to eat food that makes me want to die for a while longer.