"Jiang Ning, have you been home the whole time?" Lu Yan suddenly asked.
Zhuang Yan subconsciously glanced back and saw Jiang Ning standing quietly in the courtyard. He didn't know how long she had been there, but her eyes were filled with melancholy.
Jiang Ning stepped forward: "Did I disturb you?"
Lu Yan: "Of course not, we're just cooking a meal."
Jiang Ning tried hard to maintain her facial expression and make herself look generous and proper, but the slight twitching of her lips still betrayed her emotions.
Jiang Ning knew that Lu Yan had discovered her long ago. Lu Yan made no attempt to hide her possessiveness towards Zhuang Yan, and only a straight man like Zhuang Yan could not see it.
Yesterday she saw Lu Yan tying an apron for Zhuang Yan, and she refrained from disturbing her. Unexpectedly, she saw the two of them together again today, even more intimate than yesterday. Should she remind Zhuang Yan to stay away from Lu Yan?
If Zhuang Yan knew that Lu Yan liked him, he would definitely want to stay far away from her.
Thinking about it, she walked over to Zhuang Yan and said, "Is there anything else you need to do? Let me help you."
Lu Yan smiled generously: "Okay."
As expected of an award-winning actress, she remained calm and composed, quickly regaining her composure and acting as if nothing had happened.
Lu Yan sat to the side, resting her chin on her hand, her gaze towards Jiang Ning revealing interest.
Lu Yan asked, "Where are An Xinrong and the others?"
Jiang Ning said, "An Xinrong is a bit slow because she's afraid of bugs, but with Fang Chen helping her, she should be back soon."
Lu Yan glanced at her watch: "Two hours have passed. If they don't finish cutting, we'll be short of living expenses for the rest of the time."
Just then, a noise came from outside. Ling Xuan returned. "You've all started cooking?"
"Where are Fang Chen and An Xinrong?"
"They're still behind us, it might be a while. I'm going to take a shower first."
A dozen minutes later, An Xinrong's tearful voice came from behind: "I never want to harvest rice again. Can you give me a different job next time? The fields are dirty and smelly, and to make matters worse, there are snakes too."
"That's not a snake, that's an eel!"
"What's the difference if they look the same! Keep that thing away from you, it's disgusting to look at."
Zhuang Yan, who was cooking, was covered in sweat, and Lu Yan came over and took a wet wipe to help him wipe it off.
Zhuang Yan dodged the question: "No need."
"You keep cooking, look at you, your sweat is practically dripping into the food."
Now that you mention it, it seems like sweat dripping into the food is quite unpleasant. Zhuang Yan stopped moving and let Lu Yan wipe his sweat.
Before Jiang Ning could react, she saw Lu Yan start touching Zhuang Yan inappropriately again.
Lu Yan clearly had ulterior motives, but her face remained calm, as if she were simply wiping away sweat.
Zhuang Yan's nape and earlobes are sensitive areas. After wiping his forehead, Lu Yan moved down his jaw to his earlobes, touched his Adam's apple with her fingertips, and then moved to the back of his neck.
Jiang Ning looked at Zhuang Yan's stiff back and gripped the bowl tightly.
Lu Yan looked at Jiang Ning and smiled with a hint of provocation.
Who can't demonstrate?
Zhuang Yan swallowed hard and asked in a hoarse voice, "Are you done?"
"alright."
Zhuang Yan quickly took the food out of the pot and plated it. Lu Yan took the plate from his hand and said, "I'll take it out."
Zhuang Yan saw An Xinrong and Fang Chen enter the courtyard: "You're back? What are you carrying?"
Fang Chen held it up and said, "It's a yellow eel and a few loaches. Do you know how to cook it? It can be a meat dish."
"Sure, no problem."
An Xinrong looked disgusted: "This thing is so disgusting, how can it taste good? I don't want to eat it, and Zhuang Yan, you're not allowed to make it either." The thought of the pots and pans in the kitchen being used to hold this stuff made her not even want the kitchen anymore.
Fang Chen looked at her helplessly: "This is really delicious, you can try it."
"I don't want to. If you dare to do it, I'll smash the pot."
Of all the people in the room, only Fang Chen would have the patience to coax her; Zhuang Yan simply wasn't in the mood.
"Go take a shower, and you can eat after you're done."
Fang Chen placed the bucket at the kitchen door. Zhuang Yan glanced at it and saw that there were two yellow eels and four loaches. They were quite large and heavy, enough to fill a large basin.
Eels are a rare delicacy and an indispensable part of Sichuan cuisine.
Their living expenses will be reduced in the future, and they will have less and less meat to eat. If they don't eat well, they won't have the energy to work.
Zhuang Yan was determined to eat eel. He took the bucket outside, sharpened his knife, gutted the eel, and removed the bones as well. His knife skills were comparable to those of some restaurant chefs.
Zhuang Yan hadn't eaten this for a long time, and when he thought of that taste, he asked Lu Yan to help prepare some seasonings.
A dish of fresh eel with young ginger is ready to serve; you can tell how delicious it is just by the smell.
The viewers in the live stream were practically drooling.
[An Xinrong is so pretentious! She's got a princess complex. Nobody likes her except Fang Chen. I don't know what she's doing on this show. She's useless at everything. Wouldn't it be better if she went back to being a rich heiress?]
[Can someone who's tried it tell me, is eel really delicious?]
[Eels really look disgusting, and people who are afraid of snakes wouldn't touch them, so I can understand why An Xinrong was afraid.]
[Over the past two days of live broadcasting, my impression of Zhuang Yan has improved more and more. I didn't expect him to be able to handle eels; his knife skills are so good, you'd think he was a chef.]
I just finished eating, but I'm hungry again.
[I'm totally shipping Lu Yan and Zhuang Yan! Younger man/older woman is the best! I swear on my life, Lu Yan definitely likes Zhuang Yan. We'll see them exchanging sweet text messages the day after tomorrow, I can't wait!]
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