Chapter 511: Chapter 530: With Someone’s Company, Even Time Becomes Gentler

But he held back.

He just said, "You need to be more careful in the future. Don’t wear this so casually in front of others. You’re a young woman, and it could be dangerous."

"Sometimes you have to know how to protect yourself."

After saying that, he casually asked, "Did you buy it because it looks nice? Besides this one, did you buy any others?"

"No, just this one."

"Mm." Suddenly, he was happy.

The clothes were changed, and the topic was dropped. Jiang Qiuqiu returned to the first question she’d asked when she opened the door. "Black Hole, why did you suddenly come to Starry Sky Wander today? I thought you went home for the New Year?"

After hearing her question, the usually calm and composed Admiral Mo fell silent for a moment before saying, "Aren’t you making eighteen dishes for New Year’s Eve dinner this year? I remember you seemed a little flustered just making three dishes by yourself..."

"You probably won’t be able to manage, so I came to help."

Their eyes met. The reason Mo Si gave was completely illogical.

But after he said that, Jiang Qiuqiu’s eyes sparkled. As unreasonable as his excuse was, she didn’t question it at all.

Mo Si breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time felt a twinge of disappointment. ’Why didn’t she ask?’

-

With just one more person—only one—Jiang Qiuqiu felt the festive spirit of the New Year wash over her.

They had a sumptuous lunch together. Looking at the table filled with his favorite dishes, Mo Si added naively, "I didn’t come here just to freeload."

Jiang Qiuqiu burst out laughing. "I know! I wanted to make all this for you!"

’Something’s not right about that,’ Mo Si thought, a blush creeping onto his face as he enjoyed the hearty meal.

In the afternoon, the cooking officially began.

Jiang Qiuqiu put small aprons on both herself and Mo Si.

Mo Si didn’t know how to cook, but Jiang Qiuqiu discovered his knife skills were excellent. Whatever she asked him to cut, and however she wanted it cut, he could basically do it.

His hands were fast and steady. The livestream wasn’t on, but the sensors faithfully recorded all the aromas in the kitchen.

Jiang Qiuqiu started with the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, as it took the longest to prepare and required the most ingredients.

All the seafood she had ordered had arrived. The abalone needed to be boiled for a while to get rid of its fishy taste, the shrimp were easily shelled, and other things like sea cucumbers and razor clams all needed to be prepped in advance.

This was the first time Mo Si had been so close to Qiuqiu while she cooked.

Mo Si was dicing pork belly for braising when he saw her preparing so many ingredients. He couldn’t help but ask, "What are you making? Does it really need so many things?"

"Yup." Jiang Qiuqiu pointed to the containers beside her. "And this isn’t even all of it. Everything over there is for it, too."

"..."

"Will it taste good with so many things mixed together?"

"You can try it and see. When it’s ready, I’ll give you the first bowl."

Mo Si’s hand, which was holding the knife, paused for a moment.

Jiang Qiuqiu smiled and looked down. ’He thinks this is a lot of ingredients?’

’If I could find all the ingredients, this Buddha Jumps Over the Wall would be even more delicious.’

What she was making now was already a simplified version. Based on the ingredients she could get, she’d had to cut some things from the original recipe, but she was still doing her best to make the flavor profile center on pure savoriness.

As they talked, she put a chicken stock on to simmer. While it was cooking, she started on the braised pork belly. During a lull in that process, she put Mo Si to work slicing pig ears.

He was like a curious child. "What’s this?"

"You can eat this?" 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Is it good?"

Jiang Qiuqiu always answered him patiently. "Yes, you can. It’s good. It’s delicious. You’ll be the first to try it when it’s ready."

With someone else there, the long afternoon seemed to pass in a flash.