PDLP Chapter 228 Cooking for His Wife and Children
Chapter 228 Cooking for His Wife and Children
Hearing the noise, Yunxia looked towards the kitchen and saw that Zhou Chiye had taken out all his wine.
"Why did you touch my wine?" Yunxia asked unhappily.
Zhou Chiye looked at her with a serious expression: "How can a pregnant woman drink alcohol? No, you can't drink anymore."
Yunxia only then remembered that she couldn't drink alcohol because she was pregnant. She rolled her eyes at him and continued, "I never said I would definitely keep this child. Don't worry about it."
Zhou Chiye replied, "As long as he's still in your belly, you can't touch this wine."
After saying that, he continued to fiddle with the ingredients in his hands and searched for various recipes on his phone.
Yunxia didn't reply, curled up on the sofa and stared at his back. She saw him open the cabinet and rummage through the cookwares, his movements clumsy but earnest, and she sighed softly.
Zhou Chiye was cutting broccoli according to a tutorial on his phone. The blade made a soft crackling sound as it hit the cutting board. Occasionally, he would make a wrong cut and then frown and correct it.
The water in the pot was bubbling, and he hurriedly poured in the broccoli. The splashing water burned his fingertips, but he just pursed his lips and quietly wiped them on his apron.
Looking at his clumsy movements, Yunxia unconsciously curled her fingertips, then suddenly got up and walked to the kitchen door: "Just boil it for three minutes after the water boils, otherwise it will become mushy."
Zhou Chiye forced himself to remain calm: "I know you're not needed here. You should get some rest."
Then he moved to the side, blocking the view of the seated person, and clumsily cracked an egg. Eggshell fragments fell into the bowl, and he spent a long time picking them out with his fingertips before he could barely clean them up.
Yunxia didn't leave; she leaned against the doorframe and watched. Seeing his wrist stiffen as he cracked the eggs, his hands covered in egg white, she couldn't help but scoff, "It's truly rare to see such a big star like Zhou actually cooking in the kitchen."
"If I take a picture of you like this and post it online, do you think it will become a trending topic tomorrow?"
Zhou Chiye paused for a moment: "Go ahead and film it. At worst, we can change the trending topic to 'Zhou Chiye personally cooks for his wife and children' tomorrow, which will let them know that I'm taken."
Yunxia glared at him: "Who's your wife and kids? Stop trying to make yourself look good."
Looking at the still-unmixed eggs in the bowl, she couldn't help but continue to berate, "You're so stupid! You can't even crack an egg properly, and you want to be a father?"
Zhou Chiye's chopsticks didn't stop; he stared at the uncooked egg whites in the bowl and stubbornly said, "Who doesn't know how? It's just that I don't make it often."
He stirred the egg whites vigorously with his wrist, not caring that they splashed onto the stove: "Once I've mastered it, I'll make you different dishes every day, and you'll have to praise me then."
After boiling the broccoli for three minutes, Zhou Chiye took it out, drained it, put it on a plate, and then turned around to heat the pan again.
He poured some oil, and as soon as the oil started to steam, he hurriedly poured the beaten eggs into the pan. With a "sizzle," he couldn't help but pull his hand back.
The egg mixture solidified quickly in the pan, with the edges slightly charred. Only then did he realize he hadn't flipped it. He clumsily tried to scrape it with a spatula for a long time, breaking the egg into several pieces.
Yunxia leaned against the doorframe and looked on, then couldn't help but say, "Turn the heat down, do you want to fry the eggs into charcoal?"
Zhou Chiye hurriedly turned on the small gas valve, staring at the charred eggs in the pot. He poked them with a spatula; they were hard and had a burnt smell. He simply poured the charred eggs into the trash can and turned around to crack two more eggs.
"What a waste of money," Yunxia complained.
Zhou Chiye wasn't annoyed. He just stared at the freshly cracked eggs and said seriously, "You and the kids can't eat burnt food. If you're going to throw it away, then so be it."
This time he learned his lesson and turned the heat down to the lowest setting, waiting for the oil temperature to rise slowly before carefully pouring in the egg mixture.
The oil stopped splattering, and the egg mixture slowly puffed up in the pan, forming a golden-brown edge. Following the instructions in the tutorial, he gently pushed it with a spatula and finally managed to fry a decent-looking egg.
Zhou Chiye placed the fried eggs on a plate, then arranged some bright green broccoli on top, and even drizzled a spoonful of light soy sauce to enhance the flavor. When he brought it to the table, his fingertips were still slightly warm.
He wiped his hands, his tone carrying a barely perceptible hint of expectation: "Eat this first to fill your stomach. The broccoli is cooked until soft, and the fried egg isn't burnt. I'll go fry the steak; it'll be ready soon."
Yunxia walked over and sat down, her fingertips touching the edge of the plate; the temperature was just right.
She picked up a piece of broccoli, and its subtle sweetness made it taste even better than she had imagined.
Looking up, I saw Zhou Chiye rushing into the kitchen again, thawing a steak, his fingertips repeatedly pinching the packaging, as if checking if it was completely thawed.
"Don't overcook the steak." Yunxia said, biting into a broccoli, without turning around, but her voice was softer: "Medium-well is fine, otherwise it'll be too tough to chew."
Zhou Chiye replied, "I understand."
He placed the thawed steak on the cutting board, followed the instructions to pat it dry with kitchen paper, and then hurriedly looked for black pepper and salt. When he was sprinkling the seasonings, his hand trembled and he added too much salt, so he could only quickly blot it with a paper towel.
He heated the frying pan until it was very hot, poured in some butter, and waited for the butter to melt and turn golden brown before carefully placing the steak in.
With a sizzle, the aroma of meat mixed with the scent of butter wafted out. Zhou Chiye followed the instructions in the tutorial, pressing down on the steak with a spatula and watching the surface slowly turn a deep brown. He couldn't hide the caution in his eyes.
When it was time to flip it over, he frowned nervously, carefully lifted the steak with a spatula, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the other side was golden brown.
After searing the steak until golden brown on both sides, Zhou Chiye poked at its thickness with chopsticks, estimating it to be about medium-rare, before turning off the heat and plating it.
He quickly served the steak, drizzled it with the black pepper sauce he had prepared beforehand, and then thoughtfully sliced it, placing half a strawberry on the side of the plate. The red fruit, brown meat, and green broccoli made up a reasonably presentable dish.
Yunxia looked at the neatly cut steak on the plate, picked up a piece with her fork and put it in her mouth. The medium-rare meat was just right, and the salty and savory black pepper sauce coated the meat juices. It was perfect.
Zhou Chiye sat opposite her, his hand resting on the edge of the table, his eyes fixed on her reaction, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly: "How is it? Not burnt, and not too overcooked either?"
Yunxia didn't look up, paused in her action of forking the steak, and said in a voice so soft it was as if she were holding it in her mouth: "It's alright."
He immediately breathed a sigh of relief and pushed the fruit plate towards her: "The strawberries have been washed, they're sour, they'll cut through the richness."
Yunxia glanced at the bright red strawberries, picked one up and took a bite. The sweet and sour juice spread, suppressing the greasiness of the steak.
When she looked up, she saw Zhou Chiye staring blankly at her lower abdomen, his eyes soft and tender.
Yunxia pinched a strawberry, her fingertips digging into the flesh, bright red juice dripping down between her fingers. She looked up and questioned, "Zhou Chiye, tell me honestly, is the reason you're treating me like this because of this child?"
Zhou Chiye snapped out of his daze, looked at her, and replied, "The child was just an accident. It was a decision I made a long time ago to win you back. I would have treated you the same way even without him."
Yunxia simply lowered her head and continued eating the food on her plate.
Zhou Chiye sat down next to Yunxia, his tone becoming more serious: "I made you feel insecure before, but now, regardless of whether we have children or not, I want to live a good life with you. I'm serious."
He paused, then added, "If you still don't believe me, I can transfer the studio's shares to your name, or... let's get our marriage certificate first, and then have the wedding when you want to."
Yunxia suddenly looked up and glared at him: "Who wants to get a marriage certificate with you? Zhou Chiye, can you stop jumping around like that?"