Chapter 123 (First Release)...
Ansel, wearing an apron and holding a pot, was trying hard to suppress her anger, deliberately keeping a cold expression that said, "I'm super aloof, but I'm still angry..."
But that smug, praise-seeking air still couldn't be suppressed and overflowed.
Ning Wanwan was genuinely shocked.
Ning Wanwan: "You finished so quickly? But, what was that sound just now...?"
Ansel looked somewhat awkward: "Of course! I said I only needed to wait a moment, it would definitely be done! It's just..."
"That's it," Ning Wanwan repeated, a bad feeling rising in her heart.
"Well... the salt shaker broke by accident, and it seems like I put in too much salt..."
Ansel stammered out the words, then placed the soup pot on the table, lifted the lid, and Ning Wanwan finally saw the true appearance of the fish soup.
I don't know how to describe the fish soup, which is black with a hint of white, white with a hint of yellow, and yellow with a hint of red. The fish, with its white eyes wide open and its mouth agape, lies on its back in the strangely colored soup, which is indescribably terrifying.
Ning Wanwan: "!!!"
Ning Wanwan: "..."
"Want a sip? The presentation might be a bit off, but the soup is absolutely delicious!" Ansel praised himself enthusiastically.
Ning Wanwan: "..."
Seeing Ning Wanwan hesitate, Ansel became a little anxious: "Why aren't you drinking? Drink some while it's hot, I'll go get two bowls."
Ning Wanwan: "..."
Ning Wanwan glanced again at the pot of horribly mangled, inhumane fish soup, and said with difficulty, "I didn't mean to doubt you..."
"But... is this soup really safe to drink?"
Ansel: "Of course you can drink it! Why can't you drink it! I specially learned the recipes from the best cook in the village!"
Ning Wanwan was taken aback: "Did you learn this on purpose?"
Ansel realized he had let something slip, bit his lip in annoyance, and, for some reason, a little temper flared up. He pouted and said stubbornly, "I didn't learn it on purpose! I just learned it casually."
Ning Wanwan definitely didn't believe that. No wonder Ansel had been coming back late these past two days... Turns out he was learning recipes.
Wait, could it be that his own work was too perfunctory and shoddy, so Anseil couldn't help but learn to make it himself?
Thinking of this, Ning Wanwan felt a little guilty and couldn't help but glance at Ansel a few more times.
Meanwhile, Ansel remained completely oblivious to Ning Wanwan's wild imagination, still confidently boasting about the fish soup he had made himself.
"Don't worry, Wanwan. Although I accidentally added a tiny bit too much salt, I've got a fix! I also bought sugar and vinegar! I added them in together, so it'll be fine!"
Ning Wanwan: "..."
Wait a minute, even if you can't cook, you should know how terrible it would be to add salt, vinegar, and sugar all together, based on common sense! Ning Wanwan absolutely did not believe Ansel's description of only "a tiny bit" of the amount!
Ning Wanwan, who had always thought her cooking was just so-so, couldn't help but puff out her chest, feeling no less guilty.
"Wanwan, have a sip while it's hot."
Faced with Ansel's bright, expectant eyes, Ning Wanwan was thinking that she might as well just take a sip.
But glancing at the fishpond again, the constant warnings in her mind made Ning Wanwan instinctively refuse: "No, I suddenly don't feel hungry anymore, you eat..."
I have this feeling that if I just take one sip, I'll collapse and never get up again!
"You really don't want to eat?" Ansel said. "If you're not sure, I'll take a sip and show you."
Ansel was probably too excited to let Ning Wanwan try it, as it was his first time cooking.
He held a small bowl, filled it with a little fish soup, and wanted to save the rest for Ning Wanwan.
Then, without any hesitation, he gulped down the remaining fish soup in the bowl.
Ning Wanwan watched as Ansel's face turned green, then blue, then red, then black, and finally blank.
"Ansel, how are you..." Ning Wanwan asked worriedly, "Do you need me to call the village doctor for you..."
Ansel slowly turned his head, his voice seemingly floating.
"Late, late, I think I'm seeing another world."
"What other world?" Ning Wanwan suppressed a laugh and asked curiously, following his words.
“For example, the abyss, monsters, alien races... they’re all ugly things…” Ansel’s voice seemed unreal as he suddenly fell backward.
Ning Wanwan panicked: "Ansel!"
She rushed forward and carefully helped Ansel up: "Ansel, how are you? Are you alright?"
Ansel slumped against her, his body limp, his weight pressing down on her, looking extremely weak.
"Oh no... I feel like I'm going to faint."
"Then what should we do? I'll go and call the village doctor right now!"
"No need, Wanwan. It's so late, calling a doctor would be too much trouble." Ansel pulled Ning Wanwan back down as she was about to get up.
Then he rested his head on her knees and continued weakly, "But I've heard a fairy tale where a princess kisses a prince, and the prince wakes up from his coma, cured of his illness..."
Then, Ansel closed his eyes and waited peacefully.
Ning Wanwan: "..."
This story sounds so familiar.
Ning Wanwan said expressionlessly, "Ansil, stop pretending and get up."
Ansel: "..."
The blond-haired, purple-eyed boy sprang up from Ning Wanwan's body with a somersault.
His delicate eyebrows drooped, and he accused her angrily and resentfully: "Wanwan, you'd rather laugh and joke with that little boat than kiss your companion, me!"
His angry tone seemed to carry a hint of resentment.
"Who would kiss their own companion?" Ning Wanwan couldn't help but complain.
Ansel shouted loudly, "I can!"
Ning Wanwan: "...Shut up."
Ning Wanwan sighed and said seriously, "Ansel, stop making trouble."
Ansel was also confused: "I'm not joking, I'm telling the truth. If you don't believe me, Wanwan, kissing you now would be almost the same as kissing you now."
As he spoke, Ansel was about to lean in. Ning Wanwan could even feel his slightly rapid breathing and his burning gaze fixed on her lips.
Ning Wanwan quickly pushed him away, afraid that given Ansil's personality, he might suddenly kiss her.
Ansel, who had been pushed away, looked somewhat innocent, blinking his jewel-like purple eyes at her with a wronged expression.
Ning Wanwan: "Stop fooling around! Kissing... would never happen between friends."
Ansel, eager to learn, pressed on, "Why?"
"There's no why... I just don't know how!"
Ning Wanwan glared at him, genuinely suspecting that he was doing it on purpose.
But Ansel's expression didn't seem intentional; instead, he appeared more concerned with another aspect, persistently asking, "Wanwan, do you feel the bond between companions isn't strong enough?"
"What kind of relationship would it take for you to be willing to kiss me?"
Ning Wanwan blurted out, "No."
Ansel: ""
Ning Wanwan took a deep breath and said softly, somewhat flustered, "Anyway, I don't want to talk about these things now, Ansel. We shouldn't be dwelling on these things right now."
Ansel: "Okay."
After a while, he looked at Ning Wanwan pitifully with his violet eyes.
"Wanwan, can't you really give me a kiss? Just one, even if it's not on the lips, a kiss on the cheek is fine too."
Ning Wanwan was a little annoyed that he still cared about this: "...No way!"
Ansel: "Sigh, alright."
He looked dejected and listless, like a child who couldn't get candy.
However, after Ning Wanwan firmly refused twice, things finally calmed down.
Next, it's time to deal with dinner.
Ning Wanwan touched her stomach, which was already showing signs of hunger, and then glanced at the fish soup on the table that emitted a strange color and smell.
Even if I'm starving, I can't just eat whatever I can find.
Ansel, what a kitchen killer.
Even a seemingly perfect pretty boy can't do everything.
Noticing the girl staring at the pot of fish soup with a complicated expression, Ansel swiftly snatched the pot away and hid it behind his back. Ning Wanwan didn't even see how he did it.
"I think we shouldn't eat this. I'll go throw it away and then go buy something to eat... Wait for me!"
After tasting the fish soup himself, Ansel changed his previous behavior of pestering Ning Wanwan for wanting...
As he spoke, Ansel quickly ran to the kitchen, clearly intending to completely destroy the evidence of this "dark history".
When Ning Wanwan walked into the kitchen, she could still see Ansel busy cleaning up the messy "evidence" of his cooking, muttering through gritted teeth, "As expected, the recipes he taught were unreliable," and "What 'the way to win someone's heart is through their stomach'..."
Ning Wanwan: "..."
What a load of nonsense!
After Ansel finished dealing with these matters, probably worried that Ning Wanwan would have to wait too long, he quickly bought some food from outside, wrapped it in his clothes to block the wind and prevent it from cooling down too quickly, and brought it back home.
Ansel shoved the bag of food into Ning Wanwan's hands: "Eat up, you must be starving at this hour."
Upon opening the bag, the aroma of the still-warm flatbread wafted out. Ning Wanwan ate a little and found it to be very fragrant, crispy, and delicious.
"Thank you...aren't you going to eat?"
"No need, I've already eaten." Ansel waved his hand and went back into the kitchen, presumably working on some secret.
Ning Wanwan vaguely heard him complaining as he worked at the stove, saying things like, "Cooking is really hard to understand" and "Human stomachs are too fragile, we have to be careful."
Ning Wanwan: "..." So he hasn't given up on cooking yet.
"Don't add too much salt... Wanwan! What brings you here!"
Ansel suddenly noticed Ning Wanwan standing behind him and quickly stuffed a small notebook-like object into his pocket, not wanting her to see it.
Having already guessed that it was probably a book about cooking techniques, Ning Wanwan pretended not to see anything: "It's okay, it's so late, why don't you go and rest?"
Ansel, full of energy, said, "It's okay, I'm not tired yet."
Ning Wanwan said "Oh," and looked at Ansel with a strange expression.
She had thought that after what happened with the small boat, the angry Ansel might have a big fight with her, or even ignore her for a long time.
However, it's not quite what she imagined.
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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2024-03-17 14:58:58 and 2024-03-18 13:24:43!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Eternity is a Moment (10 bottles); and Cute Little Drama Queen (2 bottles);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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