Mr. Ji and Mrs. Ji rushed into the kitchen.
I saw my daughter holding a spatula in one hand and a bowl of chopped tomatoes in the other, ready to put them into the pot.
I must say, it looks pretty decent.
Ji Qingqian was also stunned by her parents' commotion.
“…”
Three people, six eyes, you look at me, I look at you.
Then Ji Qingqian saw Lu Yibei following behind her parents.
"Hey, I've watched the tutorials and practiced a bit these past couple of days, and I think I can make tomato and egg stir-fry that tastes pretty good now!"
As she spoke, she poured the tomatoes into the oil pan.
The sizzling sound of hot oil pounded in their ears.
Immediately afterwards, Ji Qingqian stirred the mixture with a spatula in a very professional manner.
Old Man Ji looked at Old Man Ji.
—No, when did your daughter learn to cook?
Mrs. Ji looked at Mr. Ji.
—How would I know? I thought she was playing with hot oil.
However, the expected incident of their daughter being scalded by hot oil did not occur, which relieved the parents.
Lu Yibei walked to his girlfriend's side, looked at her red and yellow outfit, and sniffed it.
Ji Qingqian raised her slightly sharp eyebrows smugly: "Smells good, doesn't it~"
"Xiang, you've improved again." Lu Yibei smiled.
Ji Qingqian smiled faintly: "That's right~"
"Qingqian, when did you learn to cook?" Ji's mother couldn't help but ask.
"Just recently."
Ji Qingqian not only greatly improved her skills, but also mastered the ability to multitask.
If this had happened back when she was still in Chaocheng, she would definitely have gotten anxious if someone spoke to her in this situation.
"Don't talk to me! Ugh, it's all your fault—it's all burnt!!"
"That's what Abei taught me."
Ji Qingqian said that at first, but then she felt it wouldn't be good if her parents—especially her father who was always looking for trouble—thought that it was because Abei was too lazy to cook and forced her to learn. So she added, "I wanted to learn myself, and Abei taught me. But now, besides scrambled eggs with tomatoes, the only other dish I know how to make is steamed hairy crab—"
As she spoke, she glanced at Lu Yibei out of the corner of her eye.
"Lu Yibei's teaching pace is indeed a bit slow," Ji Qingqian said with a glance.
Take your time. Don't rush things, Ji. Haste makes waste. Lu Yibei's eyes answered.
"You can even steam hairy crabs?"
Old Master Ji's thoughts were completely different from his daughter's: "Two dishes, that's plenty. Little Lu, you're quite capable, actually teaching Qingqian to cook. Her mother is over forty and can't even cook one dish—"
His tone was initially cheerful, but after sensing the stern yet firm gaze of his wife beside him, he coughed lightly twice:
"Xiao Lu! What kind of talk is this! How can a guy let his girlfriend cook!"
Even though Old Master Ji was giving his wife face, Ji Qingqian, a naturally filial daughter, couldn't see the sudden change in her mother's expression.
"The last time my mom wanted to cook, she almost blew up the kitchen—in a physical sense, she almost had to call 119 (the emergency number)," she said casually.
Lu Yibei: ...
He glanced at Mrs. Ji, whose face was ashen.
Seeing the awkward expression on his face, he knew the matter was unresolved, but he still insisted on bringing up Old Man Ji.
Comparing the two, he decisively sold Old Man Ji.
"It's obvious that Uncle Ji didn't teach him well!" Lu Yibei said righteously.
“Yes,” said Mother Ji, “it’s Master’s problem.”
Even though Old Man Ji had some complaints, he could only nod in agreement when faced with his wife's kind eyes.
"Yes, yes, I'm not good, I'm not good."
After Ji Qingqian finished her initial battle, the rest of the kitchen battle was left to the two men to handle.
Lu Yibei glanced at Ji's mother out of the corner of his eye as she watched TV on Douyin (TikTok) in the living room, then whispered to Ji's father:
"Uncle Ji, you've worked hard, it's not easy... So Qingqian's inability to cook is a gene inherited from Auntie."
Old Man Ji was suffering inside, but he didn't say anything, he just sighed.
"well."
“If I had known about her past record, I wouldn’t have dared to let Qingqian into the kitchen either…” Lu Yibei added.
Old Man Ji glanced at Lu Yibei, then silently shook his head.
Men really do understand men better!
…
The two men worked for most of the afternoon.
By the time all the dishes were served, it was already dark.
Fortunately, there were no guests at home, and since it was Chinese New Year, we didn't go hungry because of the various dried fruits and snacks that were always kept on the coffee table.
After Lu Yibei served the last fish head tofu soup.
After picking up a piece of stir-fried shrimp with her chopsticks, chewing it, and swallowing it, Mrs. Ji commented:
"Your skills are really good, Xiao Lu. You're much better than Lao Ji."
Old Man Ji: ...
Even if it's true.
Can you praise me when I'm not around?
Lu Yibei picked up his chopsticks without any hesitation:
"Uncle Ji, did you hear that? This is Aunt Ji's revenge for telling you that she can't cook."
Old Man Ji: "...Oh."
A sudden enlightenment.
It turns out it was revenge, not that it was actually better than his cooking.
Hey, look at Xiao Lu's comprehension skills.
Mrs. Ji rolled her eyes at her husband.
They just listen to what they want to hear.
"This sweet and sour fish is delicious," Ji Qingqian said.
She was born to be a filial daughter and never served food to her parents, but today she acted as if her parents were the guests.
Lu Yibei also tried a bite of the stir-fried potatoes, eggplant, and green peppers made by Old Man Ji.
"Uncle, your cooking skills are really good. You must have won over Aunt Ji with these skills back then, right?"
Old Man Ji smiled confidently: "That's one of the reasons, one of the reasons. Haha."
Mrs. Ji said again, "Xiao Lu, stop bragging about your Uncle Ji. He's so arrogant. I just think the younger generation surpasses the older. You're better than your Uncle Ji."
"That's right."
Lu Yibei casually replied, "Auntie, you've been eating Uncle Ji's cooking for so many years. Even if Uncle Ji is a master chef, after eating it for over twenty years, you're probably getting a little tired of it. Let Uncle Ji learn a few new dishes, and he'll give you the same feeling as before. Uncle Ji, don't you think?"
"Yes, yes."
Old Man Ji nodded repeatedly.
Look at this child, so humble and sensible.
"But your sweet and sour fish is really good. I'll have to study it sometime," said Old Man Ji.
"Then please eat more," Lu Yibei said.
Ji Qingqian was not a talkative girl, even when facing her own parents.
It's rare for their family to get together; even on New Year's Eve in previous years, they mostly just eat quietly.
But with Lu Yibei joining us today, the dinner table was much livelier as everyone chatted and ate slowly.
Even though Ji Qingqian was still not very talkative, she would glance at Abei and then at her parents, her curved eyebrows revealing a bright smile.
It's as if they were born to be a family.
The topics were very lively.
We started talking about cooking, then about television, and then about family. Since we got to the topic of family...
Mrs. Ji was quite curious:
"By the way, Xiao Lu, I've never heard Qing Qian mention what your parents do?"
As he spoke.
She was afraid that this topic was too heavy for young people—after all, talking about each other's families was about marriage.
She added, "Auntie was just asking casually."
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