Chapter 40: Learning to Cook
“Bai Sha-jie, could you teach me how to cook?”
This was the question Lily had posed the previous day while shopping with Bai Sha.
“What suddenly sparked this interest in culinary arts?” Bai Sha asked, her gaze playfully suggestive. “Oh, don’t say it! I understand, I understand completely!”
Lily’s small face flushed crimson, wondering what exactly Bai Sha thought she understood.
Thus, in Bai Sha’s kitchen, both Bai Sha and Lily donned aprons, while Zhou Haochen and Sun Weijie were relegated to the role of guinea pigs.
“Do you recognize any of these seasonings?”
Bai Sha gestured towards a row of bottles and jars, questioning her.
Lily found herself in a predicament; the original packaging was easy enough, as the labels were clear, but some seasonings Bai Sha had transferred into generic bottles were utterly unrecognizable.
“Is this salt?”
“Just taste it, and you’ll know.”
Lily dabbed a tiny bit with her finger, then touched it to her tongue, exclaiming in surprise, “It’s not salty at all!”
Bai Sha smiled, “Doesn’t it also have a hint of umami?”
Lily paused, savoring the taste, then hesitated. “It does seem to have a little, but this isn’t salt?”
“Of course not, that’s chicken bouillon.”
“Bai Sha-jie, why do you have so many different seasonings?” Lily inquired. “My mom only has a few bottles.”
Lily’s expression as she gazed at the seasonings now mirrored Bai Sha’s own bewilderment when she first encountered cosmetics.
‘Weren’t there just lipstick and foundation? How could there be an entire box full?’
“Perhaps it’s a case of a ‘bad student having too many stationery supplies’?”
In the living room, the two men and the child were engrossed in watching Ultraman, its ‘hmph-hmph-ha-heys’ proving universally appealing.
Zhou Haochen teased, “Will we still see you in the dorms during your third year?”
Sun Weijie chuckled, “Anyway, besides sleeping, your shadow is nowhere to be found in the dorms these days.”
“Are you two planning to live together?”
“No,” Sun Weijie refuted, shaking his head. “Living at school saves so much money. She just had a sudden whim to learn how to cook.”
Zhou Haochen scoffed, “And isn’t she cooking it for you?”
Sun Weijie recalled the meals Lily had prepared for him during the holidays—they were invariably burnt black because she would bolt far away the moment ingredients hit the pan and oil began to splatter.
The timing of turning off the heat was entirely mood-dependent, and even flipping food required immense courage. He suspected that Lily seeking Bai Sha’s help was utterly futile.
“Your wife isn’t going to serve us something bizarre, is she?” Seeing Sun Weijie’s grim expression, Zhou Haochen’s heart sank.
Sun Weijie clapped Zhou Haochen on the shoulder, declaring passionately, “Next life! We’ll still be brothers!”
Zhou Haochen’s mouth twitched. ‘Surely, even with her cooking, it wouldn’t be utterly inedible? Bai Sha is right there supervising. If it’s still unpalatable, then Lily is truly a genius in another sense.’
Removing Sun Weijie’s hand from his shoulder, Zhou Haochen stated expressionlessly, “Forget next life. I don’t even want to be brothers with you right now.”
Sun Weijie buried his face in his hands, desperately trying to avoid recalling the time Lily cooked, adding too much sugar, then too much vinegar, then too much salt, then too much MSG. It had culminated in a stew that invoked the horrors of Cthulhu.
In the kitchen, Bai Sha watched Lily, who had grabbed a pot lid and retreated to the kitchen doorway. “What are you doing?”
Lily replied, her face contorted in distress, “Sis, there’s oil!”
“? How do you cook without oil?” ‘This girl is even more exaggerated than I was back then! At least I stayed in front of the pot with the lid; she’s practically out of the kitchen!’
“Aren’t you scared, Sis? The oil will splatter.” Seeing the pot about to burn, Bai Sha quickly turned off the heat, but Lily continued to tremble beside her.
“You’ll get used to it.” Bai Sha pondered for a moment, then walked into the living room and, under the bewildered gazes of the three men, retrieved a motorcycle helmet.
“Here! Put this on, and you won’t be scared anymore. Should I get you a pair of gloves too?”
Lily was wearing long sleeves today, so she was already fully armored, with no skin exposed to the air except her palms.
“No need to bother, this is fine!” Lily marched towards the stove with the resolve of facing death.
“Oh! Sis! You’d better get me a pair of gloves after all!” She had chickened out.
****
At the lunch table, observing the somewhat shredded potato strips and the heavily seasoned-looking braised pork, Zhou Haochen found himself at a loss for where to begin.
“Actually, Lily is quite talented. With more practice, she’ll definitely be able to cook wonderfully!”
Sun Weijie, however, brightened instantly. After taking a bite, he immediately gave a thumbs-up. “Not bad at all!”
At the very least, there were no other strange, peculiar flavors; it was simply a rich, aromatic potato taste!
Realistically speaking, it was rare for someone to mess up potatoes so badly.
“Really?” Lily looked at her supportive boyfriend. Whether he was being truthful or not, she certainly appreciated the compliment.
Zhou Haochen took a bite with his chopsticks, concluding it was edible. “It’s alright! She truly has talent!”
The little one had also wanted a taste but was swiftly scooped up by her mother.
“Huh? Mama, what are you doing? I want to eat.”
“This is Auntie Lily’s cooking for Uncle. You’ll eat Mama’s food later.” Even though the little one was observant, it was probably best not to let a child participate in this particular discussion, just in case.
The little one whispered in her mother’s ear, “Is Auntie Lily’s cooking not good?”
‘I can’t just say that.’
“It’s not that it’s not good, it’s just that she’s not very practiced yet,” Bai Sha explained, fearing her daughter might not be accustomed to it. ‘Not being a picky eater doesn’t mean having pica.’
“Then I’ll wait to eat Mama’s food. Mama’s cooking is the best!”
****
After Sun Weijie and Lily departed, Zhou Haochen collapsed onto the sofa.
“It can’t be that bad, can it? I tasted it too. Was it really that unpalatable?” Bai Sha asked, walking over to him.
“The first few bites were fine, but the potatoes were too bland. The more I ate, the more it felt like chewing paper.”
Bai Sha crossed her arms. ‘At least Lily didn’t blow up the kitchen; she knew to turn off the heat the moment something went wrong.’
“If it comes down to it, you can always order takeout. It’s not like cooking at home is a strict necessity in today’s society.”
Cooking was merely a bonus, not a requirement. It was good that Lily was willing to learn, and even if she couldn’t master it, it wasn’t as if Sun Weijie would despise her for it.
“Stop lounging around, go wash the dishes,” Bai Sha urged, patting him.
“? Didn’t the boss wash them already?” Zhou Haochen looked bewildered. ‘Where did more dishes suddenly appear from?’
“Your good daughter’s. She ate later, remember?”
“Alright, I’m going right now.” Zhou Haochen sprang up instantly, kissed Bai Sha, and then dashed to the kitchen to wash the dishes.
Bai Sha wiped her face, playfully grumbling with a smile, “So cheesy!”
“Xiao Yu! Stop watching TV! Go read today’s storybook! Don’t make your dad read it to you again; you need to understand it yourself, alright?”
The little one by the sofa heard her mother call her name, immediately turned off the TV, mimicked her father by planting a kiss on Bai Sha’s face, and then scampered off to her bedroom to read.
Bai Sha laughed merrily. “Those two, father and daughter!”
****
On the afternoon street.
Lily held onto Sun Weijie’s waist as the two rode a small electric scooter on their way back to school.
“I truly admire Bai Sha-jie.” Lily knew Bai Sha’s identity; she was someone who could ‘grace the halls and manage the kitchen’ (TL Note: A Chinese idiom describing a woman who is both beautiful and capable, excelling in both social graces and domestic skills), with an excellent personality—simply a perfect person.
“Sun Weijie.”
“Huh?”
“How about we elope?”