Once Scarlett entered the kitchen, she tied on an apron and arranged everything she needed.

Regardless of her cooking skills, at least it needed to look professional.

First, she prepared the ingredients, water, honey, and a few optional additions like lemon slices and a hint of ginger for flavor.

Scarlett carefully sliced the lemon, trying to make the pieces uniform. When she noticed they weren’t as neat as in the tutorial, she frowned, discarded them, and started again.

"This time, I must follow the tutorial exactly. It definitely won’t turn out bad again."

After wasting several lemons, Scarlett finally managed to prepare a neat bowl of slices.

Following the tutorial, she added rock sugar, poured in water, set an alarm, and started simmering over low heat.

To avoid ruining it, Scarlett stayed in the kitchen the entire time, checking it repeatedly.

Even when she was sweating from the heat, she just wiped it off with a tissue.

After nearly an hour, she poured out the finished honey syrup.

However, its appearance was completely different from the tutorial.

The honey syrup in the video looked clear, golden, and smooth, like a perfect, soothing drink.

But what she made looked slightly dark and cloudy, far from appealing.

"Why? I followed every step exactly..." Scarlett’s confidence wavered. Was she really that bad in the kitchen?

She hesitated for a moment before taking a small sip. It tasted sweet, warm, and actually quite good.

"...Then why does it look like this?" She stared at it, thinking carefully. "Could it be... I heated the honey too much?"

Scarlett thought, deciding to have Andrew taste it first. If Andrew found it hard to drink, she would go remake it.

Scarlett went to the study and saw Andrew chatting on his phone.

"Didn’t I tell you to review? Why are you playing on your phone again?"

Scarlett’s delicate eyebrows furrowed as she feigned anger.

"I have #@%...&..."

Andrew, still slurring his words, mumbled halfway through before quickly switching to typing on his phone.

"Mark Vane needed me for something, so I was discussing about the Luna with him. I really did study hard just now, Scar, you have to believe me."

For Andrew, making money was the second most important thing. He could put off the soreness in his mouth, but he definitely had to earn money, especially since he still owed Professor Scarlett money.

"Scar, if this event goes well, I can pay you back the money I borrowed last month very soon," Andrew typed for Scarlett to see.

After reading it, Scarlett sat down next to him, "Don’t rush to pay the money back. I’m not short of cash. Your mouth still hurts now; you should rest well first."

Actually, even if Andrew didn’t repay the money, Scarlett wouldn’t care; she considered it practice for him.

She brought the honey syrup in front of Andrew, "Drink this first. It can relieve the inflammation in your mouth."

Looking at a bowl of black, unknown liquid with a few dyed red pear chunks floating in it, Andrew instinctively widened his eyes.

Can this really be drunk? I remember honey syrup is supposed to be golden, and smooth, like a perfect, soothing drink. Isn’t this poison?

Andrew mentally fired off three rapid-fire questions.

Scarlett saw Andrew’s expression and understood his worry, explaining, "I heated the honey too much, so it turns red when stewed for a long time. I tasted it; it’s sweet."

With that, Scarlett held the spoon and brought it to Andrew’s lips.

Andrew hesitated for a moment but then opened his mouth and drank it down.

To be honest, it was indeed sweet, but excessively so, almost bitter, and the taste was very unpleasant.

If Andrew had to praise something, he could say the lemons were cut quite neatly; that was acceptable.

"How is it? If it doesn’t taste good, I’ll go cook it again. There’s no need to force yourself to drink it."

Scarlett took back the spoon and quietly asked Andrew.

Andrew opened his mouth, intending to tell her his true inner thoughts.

But when he saw the sweat beads on Scarlett’s forehead and her damp neck, he held back the thought.

’Scarlett didn’t mind the heat and stayed in the kitchen for so long to stew this rock sugar snow pear soup for me. If I say that now, I’d be inhuman.’

After some thought, Andrew didn’t answer.

He couldn’t force praise; it would seem untrue and hypocritical, which would backfire.

After a moment of hesitation, Andrew reached out, directly snatched the bowl from Scarlett’s hand, and downed all the dark liquid in one gulp.

Scarlett watched Andrew’s actions, assuming she had brewed it very well. Her happy face was instantly covered in smiles.

At that moment, Andrew was irreplaceable in her heart!

The instant Andrew finished drinking, his whole body convulsed from the sweetness, and his fingers involuntarily curled up, making him look like a zombie. However, he quickly regained his composure.

But as soon as Scarlett saw Andrew’s reaction, her recently smiling face instantly fell.

Seeing this, Andrew quickly said, "Scar, your honey syrup actually turned out quite well."

"Then why did you react so strongly just now?" Scarlett’s face fell, her lips pouted, and she muttered.

"Didn’t that reaction clearly show it tasted awful?"

"That was because it was a bit hot; I was scalded," Andrew explained with a smile.

His words gave Scarlett a little hope, "So, the one I just cooked is really delicious?"

At this moment, she looked like a discouraged little girl who needed encouragement.

But she was too smart and could easily tell if someone was lying, making Andrew difficult to fool.

"It is, but you added the honey when the temperature was too high, which made it lose its clarity. And overheating honey slightly changes its flavor, making it a bit off."

"But overall! Scar, what you made is still great! Especially the lemon slices you cut, they look really nice!"

Andrew deliberately emphasized the latter half of the sentence.

However, Scarlett’s expression didn’t change much upon hearing this; she still looked disappointed.

"It tastes a bit off, so how can it be delicious? Doesn’t that contradict itself?"

"Because... because..." Andrew’s mind raced, and then an idea struck him.

"Because after drinking the honey syrup you made, Scar, I can speak normally again."

"That... seems true."

Hearing this, the disappointment on Scarlett’s face gradually faded, and her mood slowly improved.

But she also understood that she couldn’t improve her cooking skills on her own, she still needed Andrew to teach her.

For the next few days, Andrew’s diet became very light and mild. Inflammation wasn’t a serious illness, but when it flared up, it was extremely uncomfortable.

Scarlett took care of him while also urging him to study.

It wasn’t until the weekend, when she saw that Andrew had recovered, that she asked him to teach her cooking again.

However, Andrew told her he had something to do and needed to go out, so she had no choice but to give up and stay home alone.

Sitting alone in the study, holding a book, she couldn’t focus on a single word.

Though she had long been used to being alone, as she looked at the empty room, she found herself quietly hoping that Andrew would return soon to keep her company.

When will this little fellow come back?