Chapter 897 - 896: Finally Got to Eat

Cheng Zhirang rattled off a few dish names.

"Spicy bean paste fish, garlic crayfish, kung pao chicken, three-shreds cold salad, vegetable salad, tomato and fried egg soup."

Half of them were the same dishes as in the pilot, and besides that they had one more trait... they were all Mu Qiu’s favorites.

Just hearing the names was enough to make your mouth water.

Guan Yu leaned in: "So how are we splitting the work? Everyone picks a dish and does what they can?"

Cheng Zhirang nodded, turned, and pointed at the fish in the bucket: "First we need someone to smack that fish unconscious."

"I’ll do it!"

Both cooking stations were a hive of activity, six people squeezed together, bickering as they handled the ingredients.

Someone was whacking away with a knife, thump thump thump, mixed with occasional shrieks.

"Why won’t this fish pass out?!"

"Its tail is so strong!"

"Ugh, what use are you! Give it to me!"

"Shit, this fish just rolled its eyes at me!"

"Ahhhh the fish escaped!!!"

Anyone listening would be torn between laughing and crying.

Mu Qiu couldn’t help glancing back at that chaotic mess of people. Beside her, Cheng Zhirang calmly blanching the vegetables reminded her, "Careful you don’t cut your hand. Do you want the spicy bean paste fish? If not we can switch to braised."

Mu Qiu turned back and kept dicing bamboo shoots: "It’s fine, bean paste fish is pretty good. But I’m more worried whether this fish can actually be made into bean paste fish. Do you know how to clean it? Scales, the line, all the innards and stuff."

"Yeah. Leave a bit of cucumber, don’t you like smashed cucumber? We can add it to the three-shreds cold salad."

"Mm-hmm, can we put more egg in the soup?"

Cheng Zhirang nodded gently: "Okay. After we’re done with lunch, I’ll make you a serving of egg fried rice, how about that?"

She nodded, delighted: "Yes please!"

The others finally managed to catch the runaway fish and Shi Yuhuai finished it off with one smack. But their bickering did not, unlike the stunned fish, quiet down.

"Are you a pig, Li Yang!? We need diced chicken, not mahjong tiles! Why are you cutting them so huge?!"

"You don’t have to peel the tomatoes."

"You must peel the tomatoes."

"...You don’t have to peel them!"

"I’m peeling them anyway!"

"You can add sliced hot dog to the soup... got you! You’re stealing food! You even steal hot dogs, does your agent not feed you?!"

"Why is there soybean paste in the vegetable salad?!"

"Because we don’t have salad dressing or vinaigrette. Why are you hitting me?!"

"Soybean paste has no business being here! I’m making a new one."

"You can just tear the cabbage by hand... okay okay fine, you do it yourself."

"Why are this fish’s scales so hard!"

"Peanuts in, ow! The oil is splattering!!"

"Idiot! You poured in too much oil! You’re deep-frying the peanuts!"

They were noisy as hell, and when someone lost the argument, it would briefly turn into a chase and smack session.

On the other side, the two who were prepping in an orderly way felt like they belonged to a different world—quiet and chill, exchanging a few words when their gazes met, all warm and cozy.

[Dad and Mom and their kids]

[This is what real chaos looks like, I’m dying laughing]

[I can tell now, Li Yang you really don’t know what you’re doing, put the knife down]

[This is the difference between being in Love and being single]

[I don’t think this is about Love anymore, these two clearly look like they’ve been cohabiting very harmoniously]

[The hot dog is almost gone before it even made it into the bowl / dog-head]

[This side is "living life," that side is "tribulation mode"]

[People who are naturally at odds can fight over whether tomatoes should be peeled]

[Yangyang, the way you are, you still want Love? Go date your takeout instead]

[I feel like in the next second Shu Ran is going to smash those peeled tomatoes onto Brother Huai’s head]

[Uwu please give us more of this kind of slow-and-steady everyday life footage]

[Just one request: cook things through. Cook everything through. At least guarantee everyone’s safety]

[I also want to eat Brother Cheng’s cooking / crying-begging.jpg]

[So it’s Brother Cheng who usually cooks at home? Good man, I want one too]

[Brother Cheng’s hands look so good holding a spatula]

[Mu Qiu’s knife skills aren’t bad, she’s clearly helped out in the kitchen a lot]

[Already ordered takeout, going to cloud-dine with everyone later~]

[Guan Yu, keep your voice down when you cuss, Li Yang’s face is all red hahahahahaha]

[Compared to the awkward pilot, this noisy mess is actually really harmonious now, everyone’s so much more familiar with each other]

[The glow-up of a whole group—who watching the pilot would’ve thought Mu Qiu would end up in Love with Brother Cheng? Who would’ve thought Li Yang was like this? Who would’ve thought Shu Ran would go to Tea Liu Xiang?]

[Who would’ve thought Brother Huai would get more and more straight-man?]

[Hahahahahahahaha I just remembered him hoisting his suitcase to prove he didn’t need help, that was so damn straight]

[Still never enrolled in a class on how to interact with humans / dog-head]

After that full-on chaos, the heavy-hitter dishes still ended up on Cheng Zhirang’s shoulders.

The rice was almost done, the three-shreds cold salad was ready, the vegetable salad was Shi Yuhuai and Shu Ran’s job, the crayfish had already been prepped and just needed to go in the pot, all the kung pao chicken ingredients were ready and waiting for the pan, and the tomato and egg soup was Mu Qiu’s task.

They didn’t need that many people at the stove now. Shi Yuhuai, Shu Ran and Li Yang took care of cleaning up and setting the table. Guan Yu watched over the crayfish pot, Cheng Zhirang was making the bean paste fish, and Mu Qiu was in charge of adding the kung pao chicken ingredients step by step and stir-frying, occasionally passing plates to the people on either side.

They actually coordinated pretty well, and they managed to sit down for lunch just before one-thirty.

Li Yang took out his flatbread and sauce, staring excitedly at the spread of dishes on the table.

"Smells amazing!"

"Let’s eat!"

As usual, Cheng Zhirang first served a bowl of soup for Mu Qiu, then picked up some bean paste fish and put it on top of the egg fried rice in her bowl.

"Try it."

Mu Qiu scooped some kung pao chicken into his bowl with her spoon: "Then you try this too."

Guan Yu copied her, picking out the burnt peanuts from the kung pao chicken and dropping them into Li Yang’s bowl, speaking in a fake sweet voice: "You try this too~"

Li Yang: "..." yue.

Mu Qiu ignored them and focused on her fish.

The love-filled bean paste fish was delicious: tender white flesh, glossy red sauce, the outside fried crisp then soaked so the edges went a little soft, and when you bit into it the flavor exploded in your mouth.

Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Cheng Zhirang and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Super tasty."

Cheng Zhirang hadn’t started eating yet. Hearing that, he picked up a bit more for her: "Then eat more. Did you have breakfast?"

"No, it was too early, I didn’t have time. You came from the film set, isn’t that pretty far? You didn’t eat either, right?"

"It is a bit far." Cheng Zhirang didn’t have any rice in his bowl, just soup, and occasionally some chicken and fish. "I have to go back to the set tomorrow; I can’t go home with you."

"That’s fine, you go do your job, I can go back by myself. Once the show finishes airing, I’m planning to go back to Yun City for a bit. I’ll come visit the set in a while?"

Cheng Zhirang kept picking up food for her: "Okay, I’ll be waiting for you."