The landlord has multiple personalities and wants everyone to pay him.

High-end ingredients often require only the simplest cooking methods. After working hard for more than two hours to prepare braised pork, Chef Xia finally got to enjoy a delicious chicken hot pot.

At the dining table, Xia Qing held her bowl and chopsticks, but didn't move for a long time.

She frowned as she stared at the piece of chicken in the bowl, her expression complex.

After a while, she finally put the piece of chicken in her mouth and chewed it a few times.

But at this moment, what she was chewing was not chicken, but her unfinished braised pork business, and even more so, her future as a virtuous wife and loving mother.

Ye Shu sat opposite her, looking at her dejected appearance, and found it somewhat cute, but he held back from laughing and encouraged Xia Qing:

"Actually, I think you're just a little bit away from success. Your control of the heat is pretty good, and the meat is stewed until very tender. For your first time making this kind of dish, it's already very good, really."

His words of comfort weren't entirely false; at least the meat was indeed cooked thoroughly.

Although the main reason was that Ye Shu was keeping time and stopped Xia Qing from rushing to finish cooking.

As for the caramel color that's white with a hint of red, and red with a hint of black, the rich and layered taste after it enters your mouth, and the massive amounts of soy sauce and salt that you pour in because your hands are shaking from nervousness...

Ye Shu still felt that these details should not be brought up again, after all, cooking had already gone through many trials and tribulations.

The meat is good meat, that much is true. As for the rest... let's just consider it a bold and personal attempt in Xia Qing's culinary art.

However, Xia Qing didn't feel much better after hearing Ye Shu's words of comfort; on the contrary, she seemed even more aggrieved.

She gave a muffled "hmm," put down her chopsticks, picked up the chilled beer next to her, and took a big gulp.

He put down the beer can, sighed, and stared blankly at the pot of chicken stew.

At this moment, the potato chips must have woken up and, smelling the aroma of the chicken stew, came running over excitedly.

It approached Xia Qing's feet and scratched at her slippers with its little paws. Then it raised its little head, stared at Xia Qing's face, and wagged its tail back and forth, humming softly.

"No, potato chips."

Xia Qing lowered her head and looked at the little nose at her feet:

"You're too young. This has a strong flavor, you can't eat it, it's too spicy."

But the puppy didn't care about any of that. It only smelled the fragrance and became even more anxious when it saw that Xia Qing didn't intend to feed it. It scratched at Xia Qing's slippers even faster with its two little paws.

Xia Qing was already in a bad mood, and this little guy's antics only made her more helpless.

She picked out a tender piece of chicken, broke off a very small piece with her chopsticks, and then bent down to put it on the ground.

"You can only eat a little bit."

Potato Chip immediately went over, but just as it licked the chicken, it seemed to be startled by something, spun around on the spot, turned around and ran to its water bowl, buried its little head in it, and drank several mouthfuls of water.

Having drunk its fill, it lost its appetite, glanced back at the small piece of meat on the floor, turned around, went back to its little nest, and lay down without moving.

Seeing that the potato chips were begging for mercy, Xia Qing's mood did improve a bit, but she still didn't seem very interested.

Ye Shu thought for a moment and said:

"Um... how about we take some potato chips downstairs for a walk later? To relax a bit."

Upon hearing this, Xia Qing raised her head and looked at Ye Shu with an expression that seemed to say, "Do you want to listen to what you're saying?" and said:

"Are you kidding me? With legs like yours, you think you can even go downstairs?"

"Well……"

Ye Shu had only mentioned it casually, trying to change the subject, but after Xia Qing said that, he was indeed speechless.

I glanced at Xia Qing furtively, then decided to let it go.

Ye Shu lowered his head and took a bite of meat. Since things had come to this, he decided to eat first.

A hot pot of chicken satisfied her rumbling stomach, but it did nothing to soothe Xia Qing's low spirits.

Although we ordered takeout, the battlefield of braised pork in the kitchen hasn't been cleaned up yet.

After finishing her meal, Xia Qing got up without saying a word and went into the kitchen to start washing the pots and pans.

Ye Shu leaned back on the sofa, holding the hamburger toy in her hand and teasing the potato chips beside her.

The puppy was full of energy and was playing happily, wrestling with Ye Shu's hand on the sofa.

After a while, Xia Qing finished washing the dishes, dried her hands, and came out of the kitchen. Her face was expressionless, and she simply said to Ye Shu:

"I'm a little tired, I'm going back to rest now."

After saying that, she didn't say anything else and went back to her bedroom.

Seeing her like this, Ye Shu stopped shaking the toy in her hand and turned to look at the door of Xia Qing's bedroom.

The potato chips, which had been playing happily, seemed to sense that something was off at home. They stopped playing and sat there obediently, looking up at Ye Shu.

Ye Shu reached out and ruffled the potato chip's head, then placed the hamburger toy next to it:

"You play by yourself for a while."

Ye Shu, leaning on his cane, slowly moved to the door of Xia Qing's bedroom.

He stood at the door for a few seconds, hearing no sound from inside, before gently knocking.

"Xia Qing, are you alright? Are you feeling unwell?"

"no."

Xia Qing answered quickly.

Ye Shu frowned slightly. If there really was nothing wrong, she definitely wouldn't have given such a dry reply of just two words.

He had a feeling from the beginning that Xia Qing's low spirits probably wasn't due to that pot of braised pork.

Based on his understanding of Xia Qing, that little thing would at most make her feel wronged for a while and grumble a few words, but it would never be as bad as she is now.

He thought for a moment, then asked again:

"Is something on your mind? Tell me, it's so hard to keep it to yourself."

Before he could finish speaking, Xia Qing's annoyed, irritated, and somewhat impatient voice came from inside the door, slamming against it through the door:

"Oh, I told you I'm fine! Can you please stop asking?"

This startled Ye Shu, who blinked and turned to look at the sofa.

Potato Chips seemed startled by the shout, and forgot about playing with its toys, looking up at this side.

Ye Shu sighed. It seemed she had come at the wrong time, catching her when she was in the worst mood.

Are they just asking to get shot?

He thought for a moment, then said to the door:

"Okay. Then...you should get some rest. I'll go back to my room now."

After saying that, he didn't say anything more, turned around and went into his bedroom, gently closing the door behind him.

Only a small dog remained in the living room, lying on the sofa, looking somewhat bewildered.

Potato Chip tilted its head, looked at the closed door on the left, then at the closed door on the right, and finally climbed down, nudging the hamburger toy with its head.

It seemed to be wondering why the once warm and lively dance had suddenly become so quiet.