Gu Li returned quickly. When she came back, two strands of hair on her forehead were stuck together, and there were still some water droplets on her face. However, there was a band-aid on her injured finger.

The band-aids were waterproof. He rummaged through his drawers and pulled out two pairs of transparent gloves, holding one of them up and handing it to Jiang Xu. "Take these. They're waterproof. I forgot about them earlier."

Jiang Xu took it and frowned slightly as he watched Gu Li put it on her wrist. "What else are you planning to do?"

Gu Li: "Cooking? This is nothing."

Jiang Xu said, "Didn't you say you were going to teach me? You've done all this yourself, but your apprentice is going to starve."

Gu Li waved his hand, "That's clearly teaching the apprentice while starving the master."

Jiang Xu said, "I won't let you starve to death. I would feel guilty letting an injured person do this to me."

Gu Li: "Conscience? Where is it? I can't see it."

Jiang Xu pointed to the ground without any hesitation, "Look down, it's all over the ground."

Jiang Xu had already put on his gloves, picked up a knife, and started processing the meat on the cutting board. "Is that how it is?"

Gu Li looked at the slice Jiang Xu had just cut and said, "Not bad, so you've been learning from him all along."

Jiang Xu: "No way, I can hardly imitate a master like you."

Gu Li: "You have good taste, but you're not bad either."

Jiang Xu's knife skills were not only good, but also far superior to Gu Li's rough and bold approach. He meticulously sliced ​​the meat into pieces, and his two slices together counted as one of Gu Li's slices. This shows how careless Gu Li's cutting method was.

After cutting all the meat and putting it into a white porcelain bowl, Jiang Xu looked at Gu Li and asked, "Why are you standing there like that? What's the next step?"

Gu Li said, "You cut it so well, it's a pleasant surprise. For the marinade, just add this and this."

Jiang Xu, "How much more?"

Gu Li: "Just the right amount is fine."

Jiang Xu, "Appropriate amount?"

Gu Li said, “Well, the word ‘appropriate amount’ is easy to understand, right? What does ‘appropriate amount’ mean? How should I describe it? It means the right amount, about the right amount.” He looked at Jiang Xu as he spoke, and added under Jiang Xu’s increasingly unfriendly gaze, “What they said in the video has nothing to do with me. You can add whatever you want.”

Jiang Xu looked away. "You're the most eloquent. No one in the video can out-argue you."

Gu Li: "No, how could that be? Okay, let's move on to the next step."

Jiang Xu saw that the other person had changed the subject and didn't say anything more. Instead, he took the large transparent bowl that Gu Li handed him, which contained freshly washed vegetables.

"Use this cutting board to cut the vegetables again, you can cut them however you like." Gu Li took out a new white cutting board, which looked very new and had fewer signs of use than the previous one.

The sound of chopping vegetables echoed in the room. No one spoke during this time. Gu Li watched Jiang Xu's movements. Jiang Xu was very serious at this moment. His eyes were focused on the cutting board. His movements were not very skilled, but they were still neat and crisp.

Gu Li thought that the idea that men who take things seriously are the most handsome, as depicted in novels, might actually be true, but it could also be that Jiang Xu is just handsome.

He nodded slightly. Jiang Xu had no idea that in just this short time, Gu Li had praised his handsomeness no less than eight times.

Who says that praise in one's heart doesn't count? Those are all Gu Li's completely sincere thoughts.

"Just rinse two more eggs, add some salt and rosemary, and whisk them together. Then you can just stand there and watch your brother Li perform." Gu Li was leaning against the counter where the dishes were placed, his movements were lazy and comfortable, and his tone was also a bit lazy.

Jiang Xu: "I'll do it, you don't need to."

Gu Li: "That won't do, I don't trust your cooking skills."

Jiang Xu almost laughed. If he had initially believed in Gu Li's cooking skills, that trust was washed away by the water used to rinse his wound when she messed up even chopping vegetables.

"You can't even teach me?" Jiang Xu cracked an egg.

Gu Li then immediately heated the oil in the wok, saying, "The first time I teach, I have to set an example. You'd better watch carefully."

He poured the eggs that Jiang Xu had just beaten into the oil, and the aroma of eggs immediately filled the air. Gu Li raised his hand to turn on the range hood, turned back and gave Jiang Xu a confident look, "I guarantee you'll look forward to the next time."

Jiang Xu stood by and watched Gu Li's skillful movements. She was like a different person when she was chopping vegetables. Her movements of adding ingredients and seasonings were meticulous and precise, and she even knew how to toss the wok.

The more he looked, the more at ease he felt. He rested his hands on the table, standing elegantly and relaxed as he looked at Gu Li.

Gu Li is a very beautiful person. The word "beautiful" does not only refer to her outstanding face, but also to the fact that everything she does is pleasing to the eye. Every move she makes exudes a unique aura, relaxed yet powerful.

As Jiang Xu sat down at the table, he looked at the dishes laid out on it and said, "They look very good; they've definitely set a good example."

Gu Li placed the bowls filled with rice on their seats one by one, saying, "Once you taste it, you'll realize that its appearance is just the most unremarkable of its many advantages."

Jiang Xu: "Okay, that's enough."

Gu Li: "Okay, you can do the rest of the praise."

After Jiang Xu tasted it, he realized that Gu Li's words were not an exaggeration. The other party's cooking skills were really good, and every dish was outstanding.

The sense of accomplishment and exhaustion from cooking for himself, combined with the added boost of his culinary skills, led Jiang Xu to praise him.

This time it was Gu Li's turn to speak, "Okay, that's enough."

Jiang Xu smiled and ended the praise, saying, "I really didn't know you could cook."

Gu Li said, "When you have a friend who only knows how to study cooking and a friend who unconditionally supports him, you'll understand. For me, it's a habit and an instinct. After hearing it so much, it's impossible for us geniuses not to know how."

Jiang Xu: "You're talking about those two from that shop last time."

Gu Li nodded, "It's those two. They're like conjoined twins. Where there's one, there's always the other. Two against one, how could I possibly win?"

Jiang Xu, "Really can't win?"

Gu Li said, "As expected of the genius I praised you for, it was all because I let them have their way."

Jiang Xu asked the next question, "What year are they in?" This question was a probe; he shouldn't have asked it, but his curiosity had been piqued. He wasn't sure if Gu Li would be willing to tell him, because it was a roundabout way of asking Gu Li what year she was in.

Gu Li and the others exchanged glances. "They're third-year students," he said, putting down his chopsticks. "They were in the same year as me."

Jiang Xu nodded and didn't ask why. Asking this far had already crossed the line; asking any further would be going too far.

Gu Li, "Have you finished eating?"

Jiang Xu: "Thank you for the hospitality."

Gu Li said, "Then," just as Jiang Xu was about to stand up and leave instead of being kicked out, "go wash the dishes."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xu paused in his act of getting up, then turned to look at Gu Li, who was staring back at him.

"Sigh, I know you're at a disadvantage," Gu Li said, extending her finger covered in a band-aid. "Isn't it a bit inconvenient? I'll let you take advantage next time."

Jiang Xu said, "No need, consider it my way of thanking you for the room." He got up and carried the things to the kitchen.

As Gu Li watched Jiang Xu's retreating figure, the playful expression on her face faded, replaced by a complex look that vanished in an instant.

He carried the plate towards Jiang Xu.