Qiao Yuxian picked up a yam, put on disposable gloves, and started peeling it with a peeler.
After quickly peeling it, she grabbed a carrot. Just as she was about to peel it, she looked at Gu Yanjing standing to the side.
Gu Yanjing’s gaze moved from her hands to her face. After a few seconds of eye contact, he said, "Let me do it."
Qiao Yuxian paused, fearing he might take over, and held the carrot tightly. She thought seriously for a moment and said, "You go ahead and keep busy; I’ll be done soon."
Gu Yanjing looked at her, neither speaking nor moving. Content originally comes from noⅴelfire.net
From her words, he understood she was hinting for him to leave and not disrupt her.
Seeing that he didn’t move, Qiao Yuxian thought again, looked at the ingredients, and after a moment, handed him two cloves of garlic: "Help peel these, please."
Her tone was as if she was assigning a significant and challenging task.
As if without the garlic, they wouldn’t be able to eat at all today.
Gu Yanjing took them, gazing at the two small cloves of garlic in his hand.
Then... he found himself assigned to peel garlic in a corner of the kitchen.
During the time he peeled the garlic,
Qiao Yuxian handled the prawns, sliced the green onions and ginger, prepared the sauce for the braised prawns. She also shredded yam, carrot, and onions, mixed them with flour, and cooked a pancake in the pan.
As she was placing cheese and bacon on the pancake, Gu Yanjing finished peeling the garlic.
He placed the small dish of peeled garlic beside Qiao Yuxian.
Qiao Yuxian looked at the garlic and said, "As expected from Mr. Gu, even peeling garlic so perfectly. Look at this garlic, clove by clove, transformed by Mr. Gu’s hands into something beautiful, like a piece of art, it’s even valuable now."
Listening to her string of compliments, Gu Yanjing was speechless: "......"
Seeing the speechless look in his eyes, Qiao Yuxian started to laugh.
Gu Yanjing washed his hands and watched her laugh.
After laughing for a while, she picked up four cloves of garlic and said, "Actually... I only need four cloves."
Seeing her smug little expression, Gu Yanjing narrowed his eyes.
Qiao Yuxian laughed even more happily.
Gu Yanjing finished wiping his hands with a paper towel, raised his hand, and gently held her chin in his thumb and forefinger, squeezing her small face as he looked at her.
With her face pinched in his hand, Qiao Yuxian couldn’t laugh, and she looked up at him, blinking.
The kitchen wasn’t very spacious, and it was quiet all around, with only a slight sizzling sound from the pan.
Their eyes met, and seeing her clear, still somewhat amused eyes, Gu Yanjing’s gaze slowly deepened.
Noticing the change in his expression, Qiao Yuxian quickly raised her hand to cover his mouth.
Gu Yanjing’s head tilted slightly backwards as she pushed on his mouth, and he looked at her, arching his eyebrows slightly with a meaningful expression.
Qiao Yuxian’s hand quickly moved up to cover his eyes.
Gu Yanjing very slightly curved his mouth upward.
"What are you laughing at?!" Qiao Yuxian’s tone was sharp due to urgency, but with her face being pinched, her words were muffled.
So even though she sounded fierce, it had no impact whatsoever.
Gu Yanjing’s lips curled up slightly again. He let go of her face, pulled her hand from his eyes down, and placed it near his mouth, kissing her fingertips lightly.
Then he looked at her and said, "I’m laughing at why you’re being so cheeky."
His voice was calm, just like usual, without much fluctuation, but on careful listening, his affection was evident through his words.
Qiao Yuxian looked at him blankly, dazed as if she didn’t know what happened.
She only knew that her fingertips tingled as if electrified.
And then they gradually heated up.
Her body felt like something had gone wrong, tense, rigid, and slightly trembling.
Seeing her bewildered little expression, Gu Yanjing touched her face.
His hands were cool from being freshly washed, and her face was too warm.
At the touch, she shivered and returned to her senses, looking at Gu Yanjing. Two seconds later, she suddenly covered her face with both hands and leaned her head into Gu Yanjing’s chest.
"Ah, what are you doing!" she muffled her voice behind her hands.
Gu Yanjing patted her head but didn’t say anything.
Qiao Yuxian muffled again, "Don’t talk, let me be quiet for a while."
Gu Yanjing quietly stroked her head.
After a good while, the pancake in the pan signaled with a ding, and Qiao Yuxian detached herself from his embrace, lowered her head, and walked to the pan to slide out the pancake.
Then she started cooking a new one in the pan.
Gu Yanjing stood beside her, watching her ears turning red enough to drip blood.
With the pancake in the pan, Qiao Yuxian cut the cooked cheese pancake into small pieces. She used chopsticks to pick up a piece, holding a small dish underneath, and brought it to Gu Yanjing: "Want to try?"