Chapter 199: Dinner
Li Mu had bought a wig before. It was just that from a distance, people can't really see any flaws, but if they observed them up close, it looked obviously fake.
This time, the wig was ordered by Yu Fan. It was from a nearby city, and even with express shipping, it wouldn’t arrive until the next morning.
So, Li Mu decided not to go back home for now. If she could avoid cutting her hair, of course that would be better.
After that call from her grandpa, and with the bed being too soft to sleep well, Li Mu couldn’t fall asleep at all in the afternoon. She played a few rounds of games with Yu Fan, then got up to make dinner.
Even though she had said at lunch that Yu Fan would cook this time too, she still went to the kitchen to help, adding seasoning and giving him a hand, just to make sure he wouldn’t make the food too bland again.
If Yu Fan hadn’t ordered fried rice for lunch, Li Mu wouldn’t have been full at all.
By evening, Yu Fan had already set up bedding in the living room. He laid out three mats side by side and added three blankets.
His bed was a single bed, and the sofa was also a one-person sofa. So only one person could sleep in the bedroom. In the end, it made more sense for all three of them to sleep on the floor together.
While Li Mu and Yu Fan were cooking, Xiao Jing quickly found her spot and picked out her pillow and blanket.
“Xiao Jing! Come set the table!” Li Mu turned her head and shouted toward the living room.
“Coming!”
Xiao Jing happily ran into the dining room to set up the table. She was way more helpful now than when she was alive. It was like she got upset if she wasn’t allowed to do chores.
“Tonight’s New Year’s Eve,” Yu Fan said, glancing at the busy Xiao Jing while stir-frying some food. “Should we order something special tonight? Like BBQ or something tasty?”
“There's plenty of food now.”
“But I’m not a great cook…”
Yu Fan scratched his head awkwardly. He had spent over 100 yuan on groceries that morning, hoping to cook a feast for lunch, but it turned out worse than the cheapest roadside restaurant.
Li Mu thought for a moment, then nodded. “Alright then. Just stay out of the way. I’ll make everything your kitchen can handle.”
“I thought I was the chef and you were just helping me?”
“You wish.”
Yu Fan had no choice but to leave the kitchen. He watched as Li Mu tied on an apron and got serious about cooking.
He had tasted her food once before at her place, but by the time he got there, everything had already been prepared.
This time, he just stood there quietly, watching her work efficiently in the kitchen. Without realizing it, a smile appeared on his face.
Anyone looks cool when they’re focused, regardless of gender.
And Li Mu was already very good-looking to begin with.
“If someone married you, they’d never have to worry about housework again.”
“You’re the one who said you’d do the cooking in the future.”
Yu Fan joked, “So does that mean you’re going to marry me in the future?”
“Depends on how you behave.”
Once he stopped getting in the way, Li Mu’s cooking got much faster. Two stoves going, one for stewing ribs, one for stir-frying, plus the microwave and oven all running at the same time.
“So you never cook at home by yourself?”
“Does eating instant noodles during late-night gaming count?”
“Nope.”
Li Mu muttered, “You go around flirting with girls outside, seeming so capable. But at home you’re just a lazy couch potato?”
“What? Regretting your decision?” Yu Fan casually defended himself, “Besides, I don’t flirt with girls, they flirt with me!”
“Fine. From now on, I promise I’ll ignore them!”
Xiao Jing suddenly spoke up, “You should’ve stopped talking to them a long time ago. Sister might be getting jealous!”
Yu Fan laughed and pinched Xiao Jing’s cheek. “Yes, yes, it’s all my fault.”
“And by the way, I’ve made the sleeping plan! Tonight, I’ll sleep in the middle, and you two will sleep on either side of me!” Xiao Jing said seriously with her hands on her hips. “I also need to check if you’re really good enough to be my brother-in-law…”
“Okay then, you two sleep together tonight. I’ll sleep in the corner.” She happily accepted a red envelope on her phone.
Yu Fan noticed that she was getting more and more greedy. In the past, she used to try to match him and Li Mu just for fun. Now she wanted money for it.
Li Mu glanced over at the two of them doing some kind of “secret deal” in the dining room, but didn’t say anything.
She had slept next to Yu Fan before. The floor setup made with several mats was big enough for them to sleep together without touching, so it wasn’t a big deal.
Just the crabs Li Mu brought were enough to make three or five dishes. By the time it was past 7 p.m., more than ten dishes were already on the table.
The square marble dining table was packed full of food.
Yu Fan was amazed. A table full of dishes like this was something you’d usually only see at a wedding or on Chinese New Year. And Li Mu had made all of it in just four or five hours since about 3 in the afternoon.
“Your oven works really well,” Li Mu said as she sat down and looked toward the TV in the living room. She was already thinking if she should get one for her own home.
She used to think an oven wasn’t really necessary, but today she realized it was actually pretty useful.
Just spread some garlic chili sauce on shrimp, crab, or shellfish, throw them in the oven, and it’s way easier than cooking everything in a pan.
If that’s still too much work, she can even just cut the crab in half and put it straight in the oven. Grilled crab tastes great too.
“I’ll ask what brand my family’s oven is later.”
Yu Fan picked up a steamed crab and asked, “With this much food, don’t you think it’d be a waste not to have a little drink?”
“Ooh~ Brother-in-law is trying to drink with Sister tonight! Gonna turn into a wolf tonight, huh?”
“Can you shut up?” Yu Fan shot her a look.
Li Mu didn’t hesitate and shook her head. “No, thanks. I don’t like drinking.”
She pretty much stayed away from smoking and drinking. As a kid, she had been tricked into trying a puff of a cigarette by a relative, and it gave her such a bad reaction that she got a mental block.
As for alcohol, once when she was in middle school and staying at her grandpa’s, she got thirsty and drank what she thought was plain water on the table, only to be burned by the taste so badly that he still hasn't quite recovered.
When her parents passed away, some people might have used alcohol to cope, but she got through it by playing games non-stop.
Yu Fan noticed her strong dislike and hesitated for a second before asking, “Do you also not like it when other people drink?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I won’t drink either.”
He put down the phone he was using to order alcohol and quietly started eating again.
“I’ll take you to your grandpa’s tomorrow, okay?”
“Sure.”
Li Mu ate a few bites. Once she confirmed her cooking was still as good as always, she looked up at Yu Fan.
He looked like he was really enjoying the food. Every bite brought a little smile to his face, which made her feel even happier.
She liked the process of cooking, and she especially liked seeing someone truly enjoy the food she made.
“Is it good?”
“Of course!” Yu Fan gave a big thumbs-up. “This is the best food I’ve ever eaten in my life!”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“Not at all! No one’s ever cooked for me so seriously before. Only you.”
To be honest, as long as it was made by Li Mu, it always tasted amazing to him.
Li Mu couldn’t help smiling brightly at the compliment. “What about your family?”
“At my place... we usually just order takeout.” Yu Fan sighed.
“My dad doesn’t know how to cook, and my stepmom’s cooking is terrible. After a while, we just gave up and ordered food every day.”
“Even the boss of the snack shop downstairs knows our family.”