Chapter 95: Chapter 89: Zhan Qipei Cooks Noodles for Qiao Jing for the First Time
 

Qiao Jing looked at Zhan Qipei’s shoulder, her face showing an unexpected expression.

Was he comforting her?

Though to her, Zhan Qipei was just a relative with a legal relationship, her husband in name, he was also the most familiar stranger.

Yet, it was this person who brought her an indescribable warmth at this moment.

“Thank you,” she said hoarsely, sincerely.

Listening to her, Zhan Qipei’s already furrowed brows tightened even more.

He didn’t want to hear her thank you; he would rather have Qiao Jing lean on his shoulder.

That still wasn’t enough for him; he really wanted… really wanted to hold Qiao Jing in his embrace to comfort her.

Though he wanted to, Zhan Qipei ultimately did not do so, because… after all, their marriage was only a contract, and he had no place to do such a thing to her.

Just then, “gurgle gurgle gurgle—” a stomach sounded its drumbeat.

Zhan Qipei looked towards Qiao Jing’s stomach, and as soon as he did, his own belly also “grrr—” grumbled.

Now nobody was embarrassed anymore; no one had room to talk about the other.

Qiao Jing stood up, “There’s still some noodles and tomatoes in the fridge, I’ll whip up a tomato and egg noodle dish, and we can just eat something simple.”

“I’ll do it,” Zhan Qipei said, seeing the tear stains that hadn’t fully dried on Qiao Jing’s face, and he couldn’t bear to have her cook again.

“You know how?” Qiao Jing asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

Zhan Qipei nodded, “Yes.”

“Oh, then you do it.” She wasn’t in the mood for cooking right now, and if it were just her, maybe she wouldn’t even eat.

After taking out the ingredients from the fridge, the first thing Zhan Qipei did in the kitchen was to take out his phone and look up how to make tomato and egg noodles.

He had never cooked before; him saying he could was entirely for the sake of his male pride.

“First, pour the oil, then crack the eggs into the pan…”

Zhan Qipei followed the steps and started to make the noodles.

How much oil to pour?

Is that a question?

At that moment, Qiao Jing’s voice came from outside the kitchen.

“Are you sure you don’t need my help?”

Suddenly hearing this, Zhan Qipei’s hand slipped, and he poured half a wok full of oil.

Uh… that seemed a bit too much, didn’t it?

Zhan Qipei wasn’t sure either.

“No need, I can do it.”

“Oh,” Qiao Jing stopped walking towards the kitchen and instead went to her suitcase, taking things out one by one, placing them in her room.

Qiao Jing was busy in the room, while Zhan Qipei battled in the kitchen.

Twenty minutes passed, and Zhan Qipei brought out a bowl of noodles.

“Eat up.”

“How come there’s only one bowl? Aren’t you eating?” Qiao Jing asked, puzzled.

“I’ve been trying to lose weight lately.” Actually, he had made too little, just enough for one bowl.

You couldn’t blame him; it was his first time making noodles, and he didn’t know how much to use to get it just right. To have managed to make a bowl of noodles was already quite an accomplishment.

Qiao Jing glanced at Zhan Qipei’s figure, “You have indeed gained some weight recently, it’s time for you to lose some weight.”

Zhan Qipei’s face changed in an instant.

He didn’t like hearing that; whose fault was it that he’d gained weight? Wasn’t it your cooking that was too tasty, making him unable to resist eating an extra bowl of rice every time?

Zhan Qipei quietly touched his own belly, was he really that fat?

Qiao Jing noticed the man’s action and found it somewhat amusing.

“Actually, you’re not that fat, just slightly heavier than when I first met you. I think you look better now; you were too skinny before. You have more of a manly presence now, and you seem safer,” she said.

Zhan Qipei was pleased by Qiao Jing’s words.

“So, you’re saying, I give you a sense of security now?”

“Not at all,” Qiao Jing answered truthfully.

Zhan Qipei’s face stiffened.

“My sense of security comes from myself; I meant for other girls.”

Although Qiao Jing explained this, Zhan Qipei was still not happy. His gaze shifted, landing on Qiao Jing’s belly.

“You eat a lot every day, how come you don’t gain weight?”

Zhan Qipei had long noticed that Qiao Jing was different from most girls. Nine and a half out of ten girls he saw were always fussing about losing weight, being particularly picky with their food—never eating anything with high fat or high calories, not eating sweets, this not eaten, that not eaten.

Qiao Jing was different; she wasn’t fussy at all, eating heartily at every meal, consuming as much as, if not more than, him.

He had started to put on weight, how come she hadn’t changed at all?

“I have a special constitution; I don’t gain weight no matter what I eat,” Qiao Jing replied.

Hearing this, Zhan Qipei expressed his envy.

“You should eat your noodles quickly; they’re getting cold.”

He didn’t want to continue the topic anymore, thinking to himself how lucky he was to be a man. If he were a woman, he’d probably be dead from the stress.

“Mhm.” Qiao Jing nodded, lifted the noodles with her chopsticks, blew on them, and put them into her mouth.

Stopped.

Three seconds later, Qiao Jing just slightly furrowed her eyebrows and then began to eat heartily.

Zhan Qipei watched Qiao Jing intently, seeing that she had no particular reaction, which was the best response.

It was his first time making noodles; he didn’t set his expectations too high. As long as they weren’t disgusting, it was fine.

Just as Zhan Qipei was thinking this, Qiao Jing received a call from the research institute.

“Hello?” Qiao Jing, holding her phone, stepped out onto the balcony.

Zhan Qipei looked at the bowl on the table still more than half full of noodles, his Adam’s apple moved slightly. More than being hungry, he wanted to taste what the noodles he made were like.

Zhan Qipei glanced at the balcony, where Qiao Jing was still chatting on the phone. He decided to take a bite, and she probably wouldn’t notice.

With that thought, Zhan Qipei quickly grabbed the bowl and chopsticks, lifted some noodles, but stopped just as he was about to eat and stared at the chopsticks.

These were the chopsticks Qiao Jing had used. Although he didn’t have severe germophobia, he wasn’t used to using utensils others had used, and he never ate food that someone else had left behind.

But now—

He didn’t feel repulsed at all.

Zhan Qipei couldn’t figure out why but decided to eat the noodles first and think later.

Zhan Qipei put the lifted noodles into his mouth.

The next second, he was stunned.

They were salty, sweet, sour, and oily…

In short, four words—

Incredibly disgusting!

They were absolutely inedible.

How had she managed to eat more than half a bowl of this terrible concoction? How had she managed to swallow it?

“What are you doing?” As soon as Qiao Jing came out, she saw Zhan Qipei eating noodles from her bowl.

Zhan Qipei put down the bowl and chopsticks and turned to look at Qiao Jing.

“Don’t you find it really disgusting?”

Qiao Jing nodded honestly.

“Indeed, it’s extremely disgusting.”

Zhan Qipei frowned, “Then why do you still eat it?”

Qiao Jing walked over and took the bowl and chopsticks from Zhan Qipei’s hands.

“Although it’s disgusting, it’s still food laboriously grown by farmers. Besides, it’s just disgusting, not poisonous; it’s not going to kill anyone. If it’s made, it shouldn’t be wasted.”

Having said this, Qiao Jing sat down to continue eating the noodles.

Was she afraid of wasting food?

Were the days she lived through before really that tough?

He knew that Qiao Jing had grown up in the countryside, but he hadn’t realized her days had been so hard. If not, how could she have developed such a persevering and hardworking character?

“Stop eating!” Zhan Qipei snatched the chopsticks out of Qiao Jing’s hand.