I was approached by a cat-eared girl.

Chen Shuo brandished the knife a couple more times, then cut along the grain. His other hand, which was holding the green pepper, unconsciously pulled back. He was a little scared of this thing; what if he cut it and got his hands on it?

"Bend your fingers."

"What?"

Seeing that he didn't seem to understand, Wu Yulan simply took the kitchen knife from his hand and demonstrated, "The knife should be held at the joint, so you don't have to worry about cutting your hand."

"oh...."

Chen Shuo suddenly realized that his posture seemed wrong. He realized that the problem was that he had to use his joints to measure.

He tried cutting it a couple of times as Wu Yulan had taught him, and it was indeed much safer, and he no longer felt scared.

"Mom, how long will it take me to learn to chop vegetables like you?" Chen Shuo had barely learned to hold a knife before he started fantasizing about becoming a chef.

"It's too early. You want to run before you can walk?"

Chapter 293 Newly Acquired

She was alright at chopping vegetables, but she definitely couldn't let Chen Shuo, a complete novice, cook. After preparing all the ingredients, Wu Yulan cooked the dishes one by one, while Chen Shuo kept muttering that he wanted to try it.

Finally, Wu Yulan got annoyed by his nagging, so she took a carrot, washed it, and shredded it into strips, asking him to stir-fry it as practice, since her daughter-in-law had never liked carrots anyway.

It doesn't matter how it's cooked or not, he'll eat it himself anyway. He can eat carrots raw or cooked.

Chen Shuo was very excited to be cooking for the first time and had no intention of being treated perfunctorily. He heated the oil in the wok, put all the remaining chopped green onions and garlic cloves from the condiment bowl into the wok, then poured in the shredded carrots and began to stir-fry slowly with the spatula.

Wu Yulan carried the dishes to the outdoor dining table one by one. Bai Xiaoqi wanted to help, but was unsurprisingly refused. So she ran to the kitchen to watch Chen Shuo cook.

I didn't dare get too close, I just kept a few feet away and peeked out.

She found it strange. She was perfectly fine yesterday, without any nausea or vomiting, but today was completely different. She felt uncomfortable just from the smell of cooking oil, and even the range hood didn't help.

Bai Xiaoqi was a bit far from the wok, and Chen Shuo, the chef, wasn't close either, standing a step away with his long arms outstretched, not daring to get close to the sizzling wok at all.

Why are you standing so far away? Move forward a bit.

"No need, my arms are long enough to reach it." Chen Shuo, who was cooking for the first time, thought this was fine. The crackling sound of the spatula was a bit scary, and he had even burned himself when he was adding garlic cloves.

"It won't burn you, why are you so scared?"

Do you think I'm scared?

"Isn't that so?"

"No, it's a matter of height. This stove is so low, and I'm so tall..."

Then Chen Shuo started spouting nonsense about height, distance, triangle fulcrum, and saving effort, but Bai Xiaoqi didn't believe his ramblings. She ran behind Chen Shuo and pushed his back with her hand.

"Move forward a little, it really won't burn you."

Chen Shuo didn't dare to compete with her at all. He took the initiative to lean forward and looked at the sizzling oil in the wok. He was terrified for a moment. He calmed himself down and said in a low voice, "You just wait."

"Waiting for what?" Bai Xiaoqi was not intimidated by his threat at all. She glanced into the living room and, seeing that the elderly couple hadn't noticed them, whispered, "I'm pregnant now. You want to bully me...?"

As she was speaking, her cheeks suddenly puffed out slightly, and she shut her mouth and silently took a few steps back.

"..."

"..."

"Go outside and stay there. You can't stand the smell of cooking oil."

"I'll be fine as long as I stand here."

"Ok."

Chen Shuo stopped trying to persuade him, looked at the stir-fried carrot shreds in the pot, which were limp and seemed about right, and asked, "How much salt should I add?"

"One spoonful."

Chen Shuo tossed a small spoonful of salt into the pot and shook it. "Is that enough?"

"A little more."

"now what?"

"That's enough. Add a little more MSG, just a small half spoonful."

Chen Shuo added another half spoonful of MSG as instructed, then picked up the spatula and continued to stir-fry, afraid of not mixing it evenly. He stirred for quite a while, and just as he was about to turn off the heat, he instinctively asked, "Can it be taken out of the pot now?"

"Stir-fry it a little longer."

"Oh..." Chen Shuo stirred it a few more times, "Can I do it now?"

"No, we still need to stir-fry it."

"Are you sure you want to stir-fry it again? It tastes a bit burnt to me."

"There's no burnt smell, don't turn off the heat, stir-fry it a little longer."

"is it?"

Chen Shuo was a little stunned. Even if it was his first time cooking, he knew that shredded carrots would cook quickly, not to mention that there was a faint burnt smell in the air.

He felt that his silly wife might be bluffing him, so he wanted to ask her. But when he turned around, he found that she had somehow gotten close to him again, her fair little nose twitching.

Combined with her slightly narrowed eyes, she seemed somewhat intoxicated.

At this moment, Wu Yulan came into the kitchen to bring out the chicken soup. As soon as she came in, she smelled the obvious burnt smell and quickly went over to turn off the stove. "It's all burnt. Why didn't you turn off the stove?"

As she spoke, she scooped the slightly burnt carrot shreds from the pot onto a plate. Without the intense heat of the pan, the burnt smell was significantly reduced.

Chen Shuo had been observing his simple-minded wife, and then he noticed that as the burnt smell lessened, she looked visibly disappointed.

I've heard that pregnant women sometimes develop a craving for unusual smells, like paint, gasoline, or even sweat.

It's confirmed! It's confirmed! Little A Miao is pregnant and likes the smell of burning.

This discovery made Chen Shuo straighten up instantly. "Mom, I actually burned it on purpose."

"You are sick?"

"No, Qiqi is pregnant and likes the smell of burning. You can ask her if you don't believe me."

Wu Yulan paused for a moment, then turned to look at Bai Xiaoqi, "You're pregnant and you like the smell of burnt food?"

Bai Xiaoqi hesitated for a moment and then nodded, "...Yeah, I think the burnt smell is quite nice."

Seeing that she admitted it, Wu Yulan was a little embarrassed, but she understood perfectly. When she was pregnant with Chen Shuo, she liked to smell cement, and it had to be cement that hadn't hardened yet and was still being mixed. Cement that had just hardened wouldn't do, because it didn't have that smell.

Ordinary people don't mix cement when they have nothing to do, so she went to the construction site every day with her big belly. At that time, many people thought that her husband had an accident and the boss would not give her compensation.

In those years, the laws governing this area were not yet sound, and it was common for migrant workers not to be paid wages, let alone compensation.

But regardless, smelling cement doesn't seem to have any harmful effects on the body; at most, it might cause misunderstandings when visiting construction sites. But this burnt smell...

Wu Yulan paused and said, "...Daughter, you'd better not smell this. Let me tell you, smelling burnt smells too much is bad for your health. I've heard it can even cause cancer."

"Mom is right this time. This is definitely not a good smell. It can really cause cancer. Why don't you smell something else?"

"How does the cement smell?" Wu Yulan interjected, saying she thought the cement smell was great and worth recommending.

When she and Chen Jianwen drove over, they saw a construction site nearby. They didn't know what they were building, but they certainly didn't lack cement.

"I think the smell of cement is worse than the smell of burnt food. Okay, Mom, I'll take Qiqi out for a walk tomorrow. Maybe we'll find a new flavor she likes. Let's eat quickly, I'm starving."

Chen Shuo brought the plate of stir-fried carrot shreds, which had no color, aroma, or flavor, to the table. The old man came out after washing his hands and saw this thing mixed in with the pile of dishes on the table, looking quite out of place. He frowned and asked, "What is this?"

"I stir-fried these carrot shreds, Dad. You should try my cooking."

"...I am allergic to carrots."

"Dad, you're not lying to me, are you? When did you get this disease? How come I didn't know?"

"Just got it."

Chapter 294 A True God

A plate of shredded carrots sat untouched at the table. Wu Yulan took a bite, frowned, but not wanting to hurt Chen Shuo's pride, she said it was alright. Bai Xiaoqi also picked up a few slightly blackened carrot shreds and put them in her mouth, saying, "It's delicious."

"You're in a special period right now, and your appetite is unusual, so your word doesn't count."

Chen Shuo was clearly not satisfied with the result. Even his own mother didn't eat a second bite after taking a bite, let alone his own father, who even suddenly developed a carrot allergy.

"Don't touch your chopsticks, this dish is all for me."

He quickly finished the ribs in his bowl, then shoveled all the shredded carrots into his own bowl, leaving nothing behind.

"It's really delicious, and it will definitely get better and better in the future."

To prove she wasn't just going through the motions, Bai Xiaoqi reached her chopsticks into his bowl, ready to taste it again, but Chen Shuo stopped her, saying, "You're not allowed to eat that. It's burnt and unhealthy to eat."

Chen Jianwen didn't join in the conversation. He sat calmly in his seat, eating his own food while watching the documentary on the projection screen.

After a fairly pleasant dinner, the old man didn't linger and prepared to head home alone. His back view was so desolate that it was heartbreaking to see. Bai Xiaoqi couldn't help but ask, "Dad, can't you live here with us?"

"That's okay..."

Chen Jianwen loosened his grip on the doorknob, pushed up his glasses, silently turned around and walked back, sitting on the sofa to continue watching his documentary.

When Wu Yulan came out after washing the dishes, she saw Chen Jianwen still sitting there watching a documentary without moving an inch. She was a little surprised. "Hey, Lao Chen, why haven't you left yet?"

"Oh.."

The old man pushed up his glasses and smiled calmly, "I couldn't refuse such kindness."

Speak like a human.

"Qiqi asked me if I could live here with her, and I said yes."

Chen Shuo shook the water off his hands and came out of the kitchen, saying, "Then Dad, why don't you live with us? It'll save you from having to stay alone in your empty room when you go back. It's so lonely."

After saying that, he prepared to pull his wife back to the room, saying, "You two sit here, we'll go back to our room and sleep first."

"It's only this late and you're already going to bed? Come sit here and chat with Mom for a while." Wu Yulan patted the sofa next to her, gesturing for the two of them to sit down.

"...Alright, I'll chat with you for ten minutes then." Chen Shuo was a little reluctant. What was the point of chatting? It would be much better to go back to his room, close the door, lie on the bed, and kiss and hug Little Meow.

"What did the doctor say when you went to the hospital today?"

"Just tell her to get more rest, take her for walks when you have time, and keep her in a relaxed and happy mood."

"Didn't they say whether the child is healthy or not?"