Chapter 21 Picky Eaters: A Gourmet Version of the Princess and the Pea
twenty one
The air remained frozen for several seconds.
Fang Huaixu coughed twice and slowly put down the spoon. His figure was still handsome and upright, but his slightly reddened ears and stiff waistline clearly revealed that he was not as calm as he appeared.
Meng Yao didn't speak. She crossed her arms, put away her smile, and walked over to him, pretending to be serious, and sat down. Her reproachful gaze fell silently on his feigned calm face.
Finally, Fang Huaixu couldn't withstand the silent interrogation any longer. His Adam's apple bobbed, and he avoided her gaze, apologizing softly, "...I'm sorry."
"Apologize for what?"
Meng Yao then spoke up, drawing out her words with a deliberately difficult tone: "Are you apologizing for wasting food, or are you letting me down for the loving lunch that took me an hour to come and go?"
"Yes, we have both."
Fang Huaixu's ears turned even redder, and he pursed his lips, trying to explain: "But I didn't waste them on purpose, it's just... I don't really like potatoes."
"oh?"
Meng Yao pondered meaningfully, raising her eyebrows and leaning forward, pretending to investigate, but actually admiring his serious demeanor.
For some reason, ever since she met Fang Huaixu, she gradually came to understand the fun of teasing honest people. These old-fashioned people, who take things so seriously and wear their hearts on their sleeves, would elicit an unexpected and intense response from the slightest teasing.
Another wicked idea popped into her head, and her beautiful peach-shaped eyes narrowed, like a fox that had discovered a new toy: "So you deliberately tried every means to get me away, making me drink water and asking Assistant Chen to cooperate, just to secretly throw away my lunchbox."
"Not all of them were thrown away."
Completely exposed, Fang Huaixu mechanically answered the points he could still refute, his mind becoming increasingly resolute: he absolutely had to deduct half of Chen Jie's bonus this month, since everything he did was full of flaws.
If Fang Huaixu doesn't respond, it's pointless. Meng Yao leaned back and sighed, "Oh, I'm so heartbroken. He said he liked my cooking, but it was all just talk. He promised to be my business partner and close friend, but it was all just for show."
"I don't dislike your cooking."
Her threat immediately took effect. Fang Huaixu spoke quickly, just in time to meet those cunning, smiling eyes. Knowing he couldn't get away with it today, a hint of helplessness crept into his voice.
“Your cooking is very good,” he emphasized again, his voice lowered, “I just don’t really like… the texture of the potatoes.”
"Taste?"
Fang Huaixu placed his hand on his throat, trying to describe his feelings: "It's...very dry, and my throat feels very uncomfortable."
Meng Yao tilted her head: "Is it because your senses are more sensitive?"
"I don't know, but it's always been like this since I was a child, and there are no problems with my physical examinations. But my perception of the presence of food after it enters my mouth is stronger than that of ordinary people."
Fang Huaixu paused for a moment, his voice stiff: "However, apart from potatoes, I can barely tolerate most foods."
Meng Yao became even more curious, and even started to think, smacking her lips as she savored the memory: "Let me think, what does a potato taste like again..."
Fang Huaixu was silent for a moment, but decided to explain more clearly: "The main reason is not the potatoes...it has more to do with my mother."
Meng Yao looked over again, and Fang Huaixu also recalled, calmly explaining, "I told you before, she's a medical researcher, and she's usually very busy with work. She flies all over the country for certain projects, and it's common for her to only come back to see me once every year or two. But even so, she still tries her best to make time for me... However, because she's a bit absent-minded, she often does things in a way that's better than doing them right. Like buying the wrong size clothes, falling asleep while telling me stories, going to the wrong classroom during the school sports meet..."
Fang Huaixu recalled the past and shook his head helplessly: "The most outrageous time was when she took two different flights to pick me up from school, but she forgot that I was already in high school. So she waited for me at the junior high school gate and I waited for me at the high school gate. By the time we met, it was already evening."
Meng Yao was surprised and couldn't help but laugh. She couldn't believe that such a lively and unconventional mother could give birth to such a quiet and reserved child as Fang Huaixu.
Fang Huaixu smiled too, his eyes softening considerably: "But I know that was one of the few times she could spare to rest. She was doing her best to love me, so I was happy no matter what she did. She would feel guilty if she did something wrong, and I was afraid of disappointing her, so I would try my best not to spoil her mood if it wasn't a serious mistake."
He sighed after he finished speaking, a helpless smile playing on his lips: "So, after the nanny told her I was a picky eater, she was worried I'd miss out on my growth spurt because I didn't eat. I never expected I'd listen to her so much, and every time I came home she'd try to cook all sorts of dishes to help me overcome my allergies. But she's hardly ever cooked, and her culinary skills..."
He struggled to find the right adjective, finally managing to squeeze out four words: "...not very good."
Seeing his hesitant expression, Meng Yao roughly guessed that it was more than just a little bit bad.
It wasn't just bad; when Fang Huaixu thought of that memory, his eyes dimmed: "Potatoes are the least likely ingredient to go wrong when cooking, so she tried all sorts of ways to cook them. Slicing, mashing, stewing... Plus, we were apart for a long time, so her memory of them wasn't very good either. She would always forget how many times she had cooked potatoes. But she cared a lot about my feedback. Every time she found out I had left some potatoes uneaten, she would feel guilty. Later, I simply stopped being picky and said they were delicious no matter how she cooked them."
He suddenly stopped and sighed deeply, as if he had aged considerably overnight: "It turned out that she really thought I liked potatoes. Whenever she came back to see me, she would cook potatoes for every meal... I don't even remember how many potatoes I ate during that time. For a long time, I had nightmares about potatoes. And because I was always eating potatoes, I gradually stopped disliking other foods as much."
Fang Huaixu was a little embarrassed after he finished speaking, and he cleared his throat awkwardly: "So it's really not a problem with your taste, I just have a bit of a reaction to potatoes."
The office fell silent. Meng Yao was both amused and exasperated, looking at his height of over 190 cm. Fang's mother had indirectly achieved her goal.
She hadn't expected that Fang Huaixu's previous comment about being picky about food was no exaggeration. She was also touched by the unique way the mother and son interacted. Thinking about how she had teased him about his "nightmare" potato earlier that day, she couldn't help but feel a little apologetic.
So she smiled and eased the tension: "Okay, I really didn't understand, I shouldn't have made you potatoes."
“It’s none of your business, and it’s my fault for not telling you beforehand,” Fang Huaixu also pulled back his wandering thoughts: “I know cooking is hard work. You specially came home from the hospital to make this for me, and I was worried that you would be disappointed if you saw that I hadn’t finished it.”
"What's there to be disappointed about? The hospital is very close to home. How long can it take? I was just joking."
Meng Yao was truly defeated by his honesty, and her tone was unusually gentle from the bottom of her heart: "I've already made a promise to help you get rid of your boring days, so it's only right that I take the time to understand your likes and dislikes."
Fang Huaixu's gaze focused on her face, his expression filled with awkwardness: "Thank you... for not finding it pretentious or hard to understand."
His words of thanks were sincere.
Over the years, he has become accustomed to being looked up to and relied upon, embarking on a journey to solve all sorts of grand and obscure problems, but few people have the patience to understand and explore his somewhat childish hobbies.
Meng Yao was a little embarrassed by his politeness: "What's there to be so fussy about? Everyone has their own taboos. I don't eat fatty meat or cilantro either, so it's perfectly normal."
Fang Huaixu felt good about being recognized, and he turned his gaze to Meng Yao, making no attempt to hide the joy in his eyes.
Meng Yao's gaze froze: it was truly a very beautiful face.
Fang Huaixu was already fair-skinned and handsome, and now his eyes, which originally carried a hint of coldness, were as gentle as the water in a pool where pebbles had been thrown in.
Meng Yao met his gaze for only once, and her heart felt itchy as if it had been scratched by a cat. For some reason, her mood became more and more cheerful, and she kept talking: "It's normal to have some special hobbies. Besides, the point of a surprise is the joy. If it makes you feel awkward, what kind of surprise is that? So of course I need to know about these... uh, minefields?"
A brilliant idea struck her, and without hesitation, she pulled out her phone's memo app, ready to put it into action: "Come on, Fang Huaixu, please continue your statement. Besides potatoes, what else do you dislike?"
Fang Huaixu's gaze followed her movements, and he smiled faintly: "No need. If I told you everything, I probably wouldn't be able to make most of the dishes. Besides, I can accept most of the other ingredients to some extent, except for potatoes..."
"Shhh."
Meng Yao made a shushing gesture to indicate that he didn't need to say anything more, and raised an eyebrow smugly: "No need to say more in front of the God of Cookery. The culinary world losing me is like the academic world losing Huang Wenjun."
Fang Huaixu struggled to search for information: "Who is Huang Wenjun?"
Meng Yao snorted: "He's my neighbor's kid. Last time he did a math word problem in elementary school and figured out that a car should be able to seat 3.2 people."
"..."
Fang Huaixu's expression was a half-smile. Watching her regain her energy, he gradually began to understand her outrageous jokes and cooperated by recalling, "Okay, let me think... animal organs won't do."
It's just a regular flavor. Meng Yao didn't think anything of it and typed seriously, "Okay, is there anything else?"
"I don't really like overly soft or mushy foods, like sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and all sorts of mushy things."
"Okay." (This is a taste-oriented approach.)
Fang Huaixu frowned, as if he really remembered the taste of those foods: "I can't really accept foods with a special aroma, like cilantro, ginger, mango, blueberries..."
Meng Yao gradually sensed something was wrong, and her typing became hesitant: "These won't work either?"
Fang Huaixu seemed to have not finished recalling: "Lamb, raw tomatoes, seaweed, celery..."
At first, Meng Yao was excitedly nodding and trying to understand that these requirements were within the normal range of acceptance.
But as Fang Huaixu continued to list more items, her finger movements became slower and slower, and the expression on her face gradually changed from understanding to surprise, finally settling on a look of utter astonishment.
Fang Huaixu noticed that she had stopped taking notes and asked, very perceptive of the atmosphere, "Stop taking notes... I know my tastes are special, so I don't have any expectations when it comes to food. As long as you make it, I can eat it."
Meng Yao took a deep breath as she looked at the long list, her voice filled with disbelief: "Are you the food version of The Princess and the Pea...?"
Fang's mother's worries were entirely justified.
This isn't just being picky about food; it's practically starving themselves!
Author's Note: Ahhh, I'm late! I'll be spending the National Day holiday with my family and won't have much time to write, but as long as I don't announce any leave requests in the announcement before 9 PM, I'll try my best to update before midnight!
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