Crossing over, and then being blocked by a rich JK.

Chapter 477 The Nature of Loving Gossip

In fact, the saintly young lady was right. On Thursday, Eda-nee didn't send any messages. It wasn't until Watanabe Yu called her the next day that she sent what she wanted to eat.

However, this 'menu' is somewhat too special compared to the usual 'menu'.

"Say it again, what do they want to eat?"

The following day, at 2 PM, inside the largest department store near the Watanabe family's residence.

Ryoko Hamabe put down the red and green chili peppers in her hand, turned around, and looked at Yu Watanabe with a surprised expression.

Because they were having guests over today, she and You both took half a day off and went to the supermarket to shop during the afternoon when it was less crowded.

"They said we should eat whatever we usually eat tonight."

Watanabe Yu shrugged slightly, looking somewhat helpless, and repeated it again.

If he could, he would have preferred it to be a joke, but unfortunately, after confirming it repeatedly, it turned out that Ikumi Eda meant it literally.

This is similar to when you go out to eat and someone asks what you want to eat, and everyone else answers "anything is fine".

Things often start to get 'complicated'.

If nothing unexpected happens, "whatever" means that the person who makes the suggestion will be rejected by others again and again until the person who made the suggestion is completely out of breath.

"What if it doesn't suit their tastes?" Hamabe Ryoko paused. "It's easy to understand Yumi-nee's tastes, but it's mainly her cousin. If we really follow our usual diet, can she handle it?"

To put it bluntly, while the Watanabe family's meals were indeed good, the selection of seasonings and the intensity of flavor in their dishes were much greater than those of other traditional families.

This can be seen from Yuki's reaction to Yu's cooking for the first time, and her reaction to Yu's cooking after being assimilated by Yu.

Their food is really spicy.

"I don't know about that." Watanabe Yu pouted indifferently, then lowered his eyes and picked up a fresh chili pepper as well. "They said to make it according to our taste, so let's make it according to our taste."

If the adjustments were made to suit Eda Ikumi's tastes, given his observations of the short-haired policewoman's temperament, he would probably be unhappy.

Therefore, he genuinely believed that there was no need to think so much.

To put it bluntly, if someone actually suggested making a sweet and savory Mapo Tofu, he would most likely be unhappy about it.

This is the bottom line for people from Sichuan and Chongqing.

"you sure?"

Ryoko Hamabe asked again, still somewhat uncertain.

"I am sure."

Watanabe Yu nodded, giving an affirmative answer.

"if……"

She hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.

"There aren't that many assumptions. I think you should be thinking more about what you're planning to eat tonight."

Yu Watanabe interrupted Ryoko Hamabe and turned to look at the vegetable shelf in front of him.

"This……"

Upon hearing this, Ryoko Hamabe fell silent.

When you know how to cook too few dishes, you always feel like you'll get tired of eating the same thing after a few meals, and over time you lose the motivation to cook. But if you know how to cook too many dishes, you start to worry about what to eat every day.

For example, right now, everyone is worrying every day about what to eat today and what to eat tomorrow.

Previously, everyone would discuss and plan the daily menu, but now the daily menu is decided solely based on what's in the fridge and what you suddenly want to eat that day.

It can only be said that what to eat every day is indeed one of the most timeless topics for humankind.

"How about Kung Pao Chicken?"

She thought for a moment and then gave her an answer.

Upon reflection, they realized that it had indeed been a while since they had eaten this dish.

“Yes.” Watanabe Yu nodded. “We’ve made a big step forward compared to before.”

At least now they have a starting goal.

"And another thing, how about we have some rabbit?" Ryoko Hamabe paused. "We watched a food show before, and they specifically mentioned roasted rabbit meat."

If she remembered correctly, the young lady of the Holy Maiden's eyes were quite focused at the time.

She casually asked a question then, and received an affirmative answer.

"I don't know how to do that."

Watanabe Yu has always been outspoken. If you ask him to recreate the classic cold-served rabbit or the "diving rabbit," he has no problem at all. But if you ask him to recreate roasted rabbit meat, that would be asking too much of him.

One of the three great lies in TV dramas is that the male and female protagonists fall into a valley, catch a roast chicken, skewer it with a stick, and roast it casually. In reality, a wild pheasant, under the conditions of a fire in the wild, would need to be roasted for at least three minutes to be cooked.

If you just grill it casually and take a bite, your mouth will definitely be full of blood.

Similarly, roasted rabbit meat is the same thing.

As for why he didn't use an oven, it's because he watched a food show where people used a grill to cook the food, and it took them more than three hours to get it almost done.

Theoretically, if they buy rabbits now, set up the grill and start roasting them immediately, they should be ready around dinner time. But the problem is how to control the heat.

Grilling whole animals like this is much more difficult than grilling beef skewers.

Even setting aside the whole eggplant, just a simple roasted eggplant dish is enough to stump 98% of people.

"Then do you want to try it?"

Hearing him say he couldn't, Ryoko Hamabe immediately became interested.

This kind of exploration together, doing things that neither of us knew before, is extremely interesting and extremely memorable.

"We can try it, but we'll need to make at least a few more dishes."

Watanabe Yu didn't think of objecting. Since Ryoko wanted to do it, he would let her do it.

"Besides Sister Yu Mei and her cousin, who else is coming?"

Ryoko Hamabe, however, was quick to pick up on the subtext in his words.

"Sister Risa."

This is the 'price' he had to pay in order to get leave.

To quote Risa, it's just a matter of adding a pair of chopsticks, and she couldn't even figure that out.

However, after agreeing, he thought it was no big deal. Firstly, it was just one more person eating together. Secondly, Jiang Tian's cousin was not familiar with them. When eating at a stranger's house, the more familiar people are present, the faster the sense of unfamiliarity will disappear.

Therefore, strictly speaking, this counts as winning twice, winwin.

After all, if Risa comes to eat, she'll definitely help with the dishes.

In this way, the Holy Maiden, Ryoko, and Yuki can take a break.

"Then we definitely need to prepare more dishes."

Upon hearing the title "Risa-nee," Ryoko Hamabe immediately recalled the scene from their last meal where Risa Yasuhara and Ikumi Eda were dancing with their chopsticks in the wind.

She always thought she had a pretty good appetite, but after comparing herself to the two of them, she realized that there are always people better than you, and there's always something beyond your reach.

Just in terms of eating alone, Risa and Ikumi, when they have a big appetite, are already equivalent to Risa, Ayana, and Yuki combined.

To be fair, before I was very familiar with Risa, she wasn't so unconcerned about her image when she ate, or rather, she was much more restrained.

"Then let's have boiled beef, curry chicken, braised duck with konjac, stir-fried vegetables, fried fish, and a soup. For dessert, we'll have crepes made by Ayana, and for fruit, a whole watermelon."

Watanabe Yu made a quick decision.

He is not an indecisive person, especially when he decides to get something done, he becomes much more decisive.

"no problem."

Ryoko Hamabe nodded and wrote down all the dishes.

Just ...

"Isn't this a little strange?"

She packed the selected chilies into bags, sealed them, and then went to the weighing machine next to her, handing the bags to the staff. "What's strange?"

Watanabe Yu pushed the shopping cart to her side and asked a question.

“Chinese cuisine mixed with Japanese cuisine.” Ryoko Hamabe moved closer to him, closing the distance between them while also making way for an elderly woman in the aisle. “To other people, this is very strange.”

Even she, who was already used to it, felt a strange, indescribable feeling after she came to her senses.

This kind of thing can only be seen in their family.

"That's because they haven't tried your cooking."

Watanabe Yu readily agreed and uttered those words.

This isn't just empty praise; it's based on facts.

Recently, after figuring out the approximate amount of chili peppers to use, Ryoko's cooking skills have improved to a new level.

Although this isn't the first time I've been amazed, this girl's talent in life skills is truly astounding.

Calling him a genius in domestic affairs is no exaggeration.

"It's no use praising me."

As Ryoko Hamabe said this, a smile appeared between her brows.

"I'm not praising you, I'm just stating the facts."

Watanabe Yu corrected her statement in a serious tone.

"The two of you have such a good relationship."

The woman in the staff uniform handed the weighed chili peppers back, making a casual remark.

Although she wasn't entirely sure about the actual relationship between the two high school students in front of her, judging from their mannerisms and the naturalness of their physical contact, she guessed that they were childhood friends who lived close by.

As for the situation of high school students living together, she never even considered it.

To put it bluntly, even if the two high school students themselves agreed, their guardians would not.

Everyone is in the restless, curious period of adolescence when it comes to the opposite sex. If you're not careful, things can easily escalate into something serious, and it could even lead to someone's death.

Not to mention that the school uniforms they were wearing were from a private high school in the south of the city.

She knew about this private high school, and was even more aware of its high admission standards and its ridiculously high college entrance rate.

After all, her son had tried for two years but still failed the exam.

"Of course, she's my future 'boss,' how could our relationship not be good?"

Watanabe Yu wasn't so easily embarrassed; he smiled, nodded, and put the weighed chilies into the cart.

"lead?"

The woman in charge of weighing the items was stunned for a moment, then she came to her senses, smiled, and shook her head.

Sure enough, she was out of touch with the times; she was stunned for a moment before she realized what these little romantic gestures between young people meant.

"Don't listen to his nonsense!"

Ryoko Hamabe glared at someone with annoyance, then began to explain.

Even if others couldn't hear it, couldn't she hear the teasing in his words?

"I know." The weighing lady smiled and nodded slightly, then pointed to the shelves not far away, "When you finish paying and leave, you'll see a milk tea shop. They're having a couples' discount event there. You can buy two milk teas for the price of one."

Of course, to gain this 'advantage,' you have to pay a price.

That is, you need to kiss it while the shop assistant is watching.

Meanwhile, the staff at the bubble tea shop will take photos with the couples' permission. If they wish to display the photos, they will be displayed on the wall of the bubble tea shop; otherwise, the photos will be returned to the couples.

"I understand, thank you!"

Ryoko Hamabe nodded, making a mental note of it.

Although they no longer need to worry about cost-effectiveness in their lives, she is still happy, or rather, extremely willing to join in the fun of saving every little bit.

"You're welcome."

"Please weigh it."

"coming!"

The aunt waved her hand, then turned around and weighed the other waiting customer.

*
At the same time, in the corridor outside the teachers' office of a private high school in the south of the city.

"How about that? Surprised? I'll be there tonight too."

Risa Yasuhara smiled as she chatted with her best friend on the phone.

"Not surprisingly."

Eda Ikumi's nonchalant response came through the receiver.

She knows her own family best. Having spent so much time with Risa Yasuhara, how could she not understand the latter's personality?
Aside from her love of food, Risa's biggest hobby is joining in on excitement; she loves to go and watch whenever there's something interesting going on.

This has remained unchanged from my student days until now.

She remembers it very clearly: when boys from two different classes had a conflict and were about to fight, she threw down her notes, rushed to the front, and watched the fight with great interest.

Afterwards, the man smacked his lips and offered his comments.

She couldn't remember the exact words, but one sentence in particular stuck with her.

—They weren't fighting hard enough; they were both holding back and not going all out.

In other words, this person genuinely hoped that the two would actually fight.

Why isn't it surprising?

Risa Yasuhara asked, unconvinced.

She believed that this matter had definitely exceeded Eda Ikumi's expectations.

"Because you're naturally inclined to join in the fun."

Ikumi Eda gave a concise answer.

"This reason doesn't convince me."

"Are you sure?"

"How can I not be sure?"

"That's what you said."

"hold head high."

"When this person was in school, they dragged me along to watch the excitement more than once, including but not limited to looking at love letters others had given me, watching boys from other classes confess their feelings, and then commenting on how the other person behaved, and..."

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Risa Yasuhara immediately stopped Ikumi Eda from bringing up old grievances.

This is the consequence of being too familiar with someone; they know a lot about your dark past, which makes it impossible for you to be stubborn even if you want to.

Anyway, see you tonight!

Eda Ikumi didn't intend to use this opportunity to tease her; after saying that, she added another sentence.

"I've got a job coming up, I'll hang up now."

"Ah."

beep.

Hearing the busy tone from the other end of the receiver, Risa Yasuhara raised her eyebrows, squinted her eyes, and looked over the eaves of the office building, landing on the azure sky.

Aside from joining in the fun and getting a free meal, she mainly wanted to see her best friend's cousin's actual situation and see if there was any way to help turn things around.

After all, she really couldn't bear to watch her best friend go on so many blind dates.

(End of this chapter)