Chapter 236 - 203: Obligated by a Meal

Chapter 236: Chapter 203: Obligated by a Meal

Zhou Qian propped up the bicycle with his long legs. The rear seat’s support brackets had already been swiftly detached. Only after Huai Yu carefully sat down, holding the large basket in her arms, did he finally speak.

"Bringing some meat over works too."

Since they were hosting them with such good meat and vegetables, those guys were absolutely top-notch in their abilities, if nothing else. Since accepting a free meal always created a sense of obligation, it would be only natural for them to bring back any meat or fruit they stumbled across during future missions, right? Besides, they wouldn’t eat things with a high Mutant Value anyway.

As for what excuse to use... Zhou Qian pedaled the bike, enjoying the breeze as he thought it over carefully.

The distance between the two houses was quite far on foot, but Zhou Qian pedaled with fierce energy, easily outpacing Huai Yu. It didn’t take long for them to arrive.

Huai Yu carefully slid off the bike seat while hugging the heavy basket. Her hands trembled, and she nearly dropped it. Ouch! She had packed far too many yams and mature cucumbers. It was simply too heavy!

Zhou Qian parked the bike, turned to see her struggling, and quickly scooped up the basket. He chuckled. "You eat quite a lot at every meal. When are these skinny arms and legs of yours going to put on some weight?"

Then he played the same old tune: "How about you listen to me and run ten kilometers with me tonight?"

They had to dig the vegetable patch in the morning and had no time, so they could only run at night. They wouldn’t run far, just along the main road toward Golden Yuan District—it was perfectly safe and secure.

Huai Yu’s face turned pale as she shook her head frantically. "No, no, no!"

She grew anxious because Zhou Qian genuinely didn’t seem to think ten kilometers was a big deal. Her small face immediately fell.

"Brother Zhou Qian, look at me now—farming, cooking, foraging for wild vegetables, cleaning game meat—I can do it all. I know how to do everything, which proves I really suffered a lot in the past. I’ve endured so many years of hardship, so it’s not too much to enjoy a little comfort now, right? I can’t run. I absolutely cannot run."

Why did everyone love urging people to run? Back then, Lin Xuefeng had also urged her, saying she should run more in her free time so she could escape faster when fleeing for her life. Good advice really was a bitter pill to swallow!

She looked so pitiful, what could Zhou Qian say?

He had no choice but to carry the basket and stride ahead. "Forget it. Come help wash the vegetables."

Though he asked her to wash the vegetables, this task was actually left to the stronger Zhou Qian. He dumped all the vegetables into a basin, cranked the well handle with a CREAK to pull up a bucket of water, and poured it in with a SPLASH! Then he used his brute strength to scrub and wash. Aside from the leafy greens, which were spared his heavy hand, the mature cucumbers nearly had a layer of skin scraped off by his straw brush.

This violent method of washing vegetables made Huai Yu’s eyelids twitch. But regardless, she didn’t have to do the work, so she just pretended not to see it.

As he worked, Zhou Qian recalled, "I remember that in the past, when entertaining guests, one had to start preparing at noon. Now, however, we’re only starting when the sun is setting."

The reason was so simple!

Huai Yu cast him a glance. "In the past, you had to stew meat."

Meat that needed blanching, meat that needed to be stewed in advance, and meat that needed marinating... all required several hours of preparation. Now... looking at this basket, there were only vegetables, vegetables, and more vegetables. Even if they wanted to stew something, they had nothing to stew.

Zhou Qian froze for a moment, suddenly looking annoyed with himself. "I should have had them bring the meat over earlier. If they only bring it over tonight, there won’t be enough time to cook and eat it!"

He sighed, then suddenly remembered something. Quickly tossing aside the half-washed vegetables, he turned and headed to the vegetable patch by the door.

Huai Yu had transplanted quite a lot of scallions, garlic, and ginger into the plot by the house. At the time, she had over-stimulated their growth, and now the ginger had sprouted lush, one-meter-tall green shoots. Taking advantage of the fact that the guests hadn’t arrived yet, Zhou Qian quickly pulled them all up. It didn’t matter if they couldn’t finish the tender ginger beneath; they could take it to Huai Yu’s house to pickle.

The scallions and garlic, however, weren’t as conspicuous, so he simply estimated the amount they needed and casually pulled up two handfuls.

Upon returning indoors, Huai Yu had roughly planned out the dishes for the night.

"I’ll go boil water. Make sure you wash the peanuts clean."

Time was tight, and the peanuts were tender, so boiling them directly in salted water was the easiest option.

Zhou Qian agreed. He poured the peanuts straight into the bucket, stuck his arm in, and stirred them up with a SWISH, acting like a ruthless top-loading washing machine.

Next were the yams.

"You’re not allergic to this, are you? If you aren’t, then wash and peel them. If you are, just wash them. I’ll steam them directly in the pot and peel them after they’re cooked."

Zhou Qian stared at the stick-like yams for quite a while, unsure if he had ever come into contact with such a thing in his life—after all, he had spent the first half of his life bouncing between various cafeterias. However, he wasn’t the reckless, show-off type. Since he was uncertain, he opted for the safest route.

"Let’s just steam them," he immediately said.

During the intervals of steaming the yams and boiling the peanuts, he didn’t stay idle. Huai Yu directed him around in circles with just a few words.

Slice the mature cucumbers; smash and chop the tender cucumbers into sections; roughly chop a large basin of leafy greens; mince the scallions, ginger, and garlic; wash a basin of tomatoes to serve as fruit; and cut the eggplants—half into slices and half into chunks. Select the thick-fleshed green peppers and wash them clean to make tiger-skin peppers; slice the remaining half of the green and red peppers into julienne strips and chunks to use as side dishes later...

She arranged everything methodically. Before it was even five-thirty, the entire kitchen was already filled with pots and basins. All the vegetables that needed prepping and all the chores that needed doing were already completed.

Zhou Qian cast a somewhat surprised glance at Huai Yu. Now he really wanted to sigh. "To organize the prep work for so many people’s food so methodically..."

He now believed even more that Huai Yu had truly suffered a lot in the past.

But Huai Yu blinked blankly. "Me?"

The workload sounded heavy, but apart from boiling water for the peanuts and peeling the steamed yams, she hadn’t actually done anything! Didn’t Zhou Qian do it all? In fact, because the yams were already steamed, the skin peeled off effortlessly with a gentle tug. It hadn’t required any exertion at all.

But since he felt she was working hard, then she must have truly been working hard.

"Yes, thankfully I have you here now, Brother Zhou Qian," she nodded, acting soft and delicate.

"What would I ever do without you?"

Visibly, the hairs on Zhou Qian’s exposed arms stood on end as a dense layer of goosebumps quickly broke out across his skin.

He wiped his face and offered a sincere suggestion, "If you want me to do something, just say it straight. Don’t use that tone of voice next time."

He really couldn’t stand it.

Huai Yu was deeply devastated!

Her spiritual sustenance—the female protagonists from those three books—might have had different personalities, but at critical moments, every single one of them would act weak and coquettish just like that! She had even learned this exact phrasing from them!

Did she miss the essence somewhere? Shouldn’t Zhou Qian’s correct response have been to pat his chest and promise, "Rest assured, I’ll handle all these chores from now on!" Or perhaps, "With me here, I’ll never let you suffer again!"

...Wasn’t he supposed to promise that?

She blinked, feeling a bit bewildered herself.