No? Can I read the mind of my mortal enemy?

Pei Jingnian led Shi Qiao inside, and she discovered that he had completely renovated the place.

The fireplace, which had not been used for a long time, was also cleaned and burned with specially treated oak.

The whole room was filled with a faint aroma of sweet wine, and if you sniffed carefully, you could also smell the aroma of meat.

Shi Qiao sat on the sofa, casually picking up a small reindeer figurine. "Pei Jingnian, have you been decorating all afternoon?"

"Yes, but there are still some things that haven't been set up yet."

"Waiting for my wife to come back so we can get together."

Just as Pei Jingnian finished speaking, a ding sounded from the kitchen.

Shi Qiao's eyes lit up, and she immediately ran towards the kitchen, "What?"

She looked left and right and found that one oven was still working, while the light on the other oven was off.

"Wait a moment before opening it, otherwise the cream puff will collapse." Pei Jingnian tied an apron on Shi Qiao from behind.

After waiting for about five minutes, Pei Jingnian opened one of them, and a milky aroma wafted out.

Shi Qiao took a closer look and realized that this was not an ordinary cream puff, but a flaky cream puff that was very popular a while ago!

Only half the size of a regular cream puff, perfect for one bite.

Pei Jingnian put on kitchen gloves and took all four trays of puff pastry cream puffs out and placed them on the worktable.

He opened the refrigerator and took out the cream puff fillings that had been chilled in advance. "I made two kinds of fillings, one is blueberry dark chocolate and the other is sea salt vanilla."

Shi Qiao looked excited. "Then the job assigned to me is..."

Pei Jingnian smiled and said, "Yes, once we've made these little desserts, we can have dinner together."

Shi Qiao washed his hands clean, intending to sneak a taste first.

The man anticipated this first, using a seasoning spoon to dab a small amount and then offering it to Shi Qiao's lips.

Shi Qiao was a little embarrassed, but she still obediently took a bite. The classic vanilla flavor was just average.

She tried another one; the dark chocolate cream was whipped to a fine consistency, almost melting on her tongue, mixed with cool blueberry sauce, which nicely balanced the bitterness of the dark chocolate without being too sweet.

"Delicious!" Shi Qiao couldn't wait to take the two bowls of filling from Pei Jingnian and walk towards the kitchen counter.

Pei Jingnian followed behind her, assisting her by filling two kinds of fillings into piping bags, tightening them to expel excess air, and handing them to Shi Qiao.

"Then the rest is up to you, honey. I'm going to check on how dinner is coming along."

He gently pinched Shi Qiao's cheek. "No stealing food allowed."

Shi Qiao scoffed, "Who do you think you are?"

Next, she mostly filled the cream puffs with blueberry and dark chocolate filling. Practice makes perfect, and in no time she had finished filling the first batch of cream puffs.

Shi Qiao stared at the round, plump cream puffs, her mouth watering.

It shouldn't be a problem to try just one, right?

Moreover, the key is to seize the moment and squeeze the chilled cream into the freshly baked cream puff pastry for the best flavor.

Seeing Pei Jingnian busy in the kitchen again, she silently moved closer, grabbed a piece, and popped it into her mouth.

I took a careful bite; the pastry was really crispy, making a crunchy sound. I had no idea what Pei Jingnian had added to it.

Shi Qiao, keeping watch with one eye, nervously ate one.

Pei Jingnian was still busy.

She reached out her evil claws again.

The last one doesn't count; the one that was busy being wary of Pei Jingnian didn't really savor the taste.

Then it evolved into—

This one doesn't count; the cream puff filling wasn't fully filled.

This one doesn't count; the outer skin is a bit cold.

This one doesn't count; I ate it too fast.

And this one, and this one, none of them count.

Finally, she ate all the cream puffs she had painstakingly squeezed out.

Shi Qiao stared at the remaining half plate and silently picked up the piping bag.

A little more...

"Why does it feel like there's so much less?" Pei Jingnian's voice rang in his ears as he picked up a piece of beef with his chopsticks.

Steaming hot, it's made with carefully selected beef brisket, soaking up all the broth.

Shi Qiao coughed lightly, "I don't know, it's probably just your imagination."

Pei Jingnian blew on the meat on his chopsticks and held it to Shi Qiao's lips.

"Maybe one of the little mice couldn't hold back and stole some?"

Shi Qiao pursed her lips, no longer pretending, "It was Puff who seduced me first."

"How could this cream puff be so bad?" Pei Jingnian asked with a clear smile. "How about we tempt you with an even worse beef brisket now?"

He used a small dish to catch the dripping broth. "Braised beef brisket in Burgundy red wine, slightly modified so it's not sour. Wife, have a taste."

When you take a bite, after the alcohol has completely evaporated, a subtle sweet and sour grape flavor lingers, tightly enveloping the tender beef brisket, with a hint of onion sweetness.

She couldn't help but give a thumbs up, and before she could even swallow what was in her mouth, she exclaimed:

"Delicious! So delicious!"

"Pei Jingnian, you're an amazing chef!"

Pei Jingnian wiped the soup from the corner of her lips with a tissue. "Then eat more later."

Shi Qiao nodded, "But cream puffs... I'm sorry, I ate a lot."

"It shouldn't matter, right?"

Pei Jingnian gently wrapped his arms around her from behind. "It's okay, I was just teasing you."

"I'm just worried that if you eat so much, you won't be able to eat your main meal later."

Shi Qiao patted her stomach, "Don't worry, Pei Jingnian, I'll definitely finish it!"

"Okay." Pei Jingnian nudged Shi Qiao. "Sigh, but I didn't get to taste a single one of the cream puffs I made myself."

Hearing the pitiful tone in his voice, Shi Qiao quickly squeezed out another cream puff and handed it to Pei Jingnian, resolutely:

"The rest is yours."

Pei Jingnian obediently lowered his head, took the cream puff ball from her fingertips, and rubbed his lips against her fingertips.

He bit one side, pinched Shi Qiao's chin, and pushed it back into her mouth.

"Can I have all my other wives feed me like this?"

Suddenly, he drew closer again, and all Shi Qiao could see were Pei Jingnian's clear, dark eyes.

She hurriedly stepped back a little.

"We'll talk about it later!"

"Okay, I'm going to continue piping the cream puff filling."

*

About an hour later, all the dinners were ready.

For Shi Qiao and Pei Jingnian, the usual Christmas turkey was simply unacceptable.

Pei Jingnian replaced the dish with regular roasted chicken, but made two flavors: salt-baked and Orleans-style.

The rest were mostly home-style dishes, such as mashed potato salad, Mediterranean fish fillet tomato soup, and French orange chicken wings.

Shi Qiao sat at the table, watching Pei Jingnian magically produce dish after dish, as if there was no end to it.

When the last bowl of stuffed bell peppers was served, Pei Jingnian handed Shi Qiao a glass of non-alcoholic grape sparkling water so she could enjoy it.

I simply drank a glass of wine.

For the rest of the time, Shi Qiao's mouth was almost constantly moving; she was either busy eating or talking.

Pei Jingnian served as a listener and a servant who assisted in cutting the meat.

We ate so much food in one meal that we still left quite a bit uneaten.

Shi Qiao collapsed onto the sofa, completely unable to eat anymore.

Pei Jingnian tidied up quickly, "We can eat the rest if we get hungry tonight, honey."

Shi Qiao nodded, reached for her drink, and found it was empty.

Seeing Pei Jingnian tidying up the table, she decided to get up and walk around to digest her food, so she went to the kitchen by herself.

Open the refrigerator and open a jar yourself.

He put his hands on his hips and gulped it all down.

Cool!

Eh...

Why do I feel dizzy?

(This chapter is expected to be completed before 1:30 PM)