Chapter 193: Date

Su Peng sat on the bed with one leg crossed over the other, holding a bowl of porridge. He looked at An Han with a smile, curious where her sudden confidence came from.

She couldn’t even cut ginger properly, and now she wanted to slice soft tofu?

An Han opened a package she had just received. Inside was a round-shaped tool. After studying it for a bit, she picked up a cylinder-shaped Japanese tofu from the pile of ingredients she bought earlier that morning.

She filled a bowl with water, then placed the tofu into the top of the round tool. Within two minutes, the tofu had passed through the thin blades inside and came out as fine strips that fell neatly into the bowl.

“......”

An Han’s eyes were full of pride as she handed the bowl of water to him.

“Look, like this! It’s fine enough, right?”

Su Peng was stunned. He stared at the tofu strips in the bowl, then looked up at her smiling face.

“Isn’t this… kind of cheating?”

“How is that cheating?” An Han shook her head quickly. “I didn’t ask anyone to help me. So it’s not cheating!”

“What is that thing?”

She couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore. Watching Su Peng’s surprised face, she proudly said, “It’s a Japanese tofu slicer. Only twenty yuan.”

Su Peng was speechless, he didn’t even know such a tool existed.

“I was going to order half-prepared tofu online last night,” she continued with a grin, “but then I found this. It works really well! The slices are so thin!”

Her eyes curved into crescents as she took out another small box and gave him the final blow.

“And this is the soup base cube I mentioned before! Just throw it in water and boil it, it becomes soup stock. So now, the hardest knife skill and the trouble of making broth are both solved!”

“Admit defeat, Su Peng!”

Su Peng scratched his head, looking at her proud, hands-on-hips pose. He sighed helplessly and raised both hands.

“Alright, alright—you win.”

Even though this version of the dish was obviously “cheating,” he had no intention of arguing. He didn’t want to ruin her good mood.

“See? You should’ve admitted defeat earlier!”

An Han said excitedly. But as soon as she turned her back to him, she secretly let out a sigh of relief.

After all, Wensi Tofu also required cutting mushrooms and vegetables into the same fine threads, and her knife skills were nowhere near good enough. The tool only worked for tofu.

She casually poured the tofu strips into the pot and quickly changed the subject.

“Anyway, you promised, treat me to a meal!”

“Where do you want to eat?”

Su Peng had finished his porridge and set the bowl aside. He thought for a moment about the fancy restaurants in the city…

“Barbecue!”

“Sure,” Su Peng nodded cheerfully. “Let’s pick a time to go eat. Maybe walk around the restaurant area afterward?”

“Restaurant?”

His smile froze. “Wait, you mean…”

“Order delivery, of course! There’s a great barbecue delivery near campus, I’ve been craving it for ages.”

An Han leaned against the table, arms crossed, and gave him a judging look.

“You’re not seriously thinking of taking me to some steakhouse, right? It’s tasty but expensive, and I’m not used to it.”

She said naturally, “Besides, I’m lazy. Going all that way just for a meal isn’t worth it. Eating at home is way better! The money I save can go to games or clothes.”

Su Peng sighed quietly. He thought she was just being shy and had used the cooking bet as an excuse for a date. Turns out, he had misunderstood completely.

“You don’t want barbecue anymore?”

An Han frowned, misunderstanding his silence.

“But I’ve been craving it for so long…”

“I’ve been stuck in my apartment these days,” she muttered softly, “I just want to eat out somewhere.”

“Then… how about we go to a barbecue place?” Su Peng suggested.

She hesitated, her face turning slightly pink. She had originally wanted to order takeout to avoid the “date” feeling of going out with him, but he was right. After staying home sick for several days, she was starting to feel dull and restless.

“Alright, fine.” She nodded reluctantly, though deep inside, a small feeling of happiness began to rise.

It was just a meal with Su Peng. She couldn’t understand why that made her feel so happy. Maybe… she really was starting to like this guy?

“I’ll check for a nearby barbecue place with good reviews then?” Su Peng said.

“Don’t pick anything too expensive,” An Han added quickly. “I’d feel bad spending too much.”

Su Peng looked up and teased her with a grin.

“Why would you feel bad? It’s my money. Or have you already decided my money is yours?”

Looked like she was almost fully recovered. Even though she had spent most of her time messing around, the medicine from the hospital seemed to be working well.

An Han rolled her eyes and turned to glance at the pot of tofu soup boiling on the stove. No matter how she looked at it, that dish could never really be called Wensi Tofu...

“Then let’s go now?” Su Peng stood up eagerly.

An Han froze. She had planned to let Su Peng rest over the weekend and only think about eating out next week. But clearly, he was in a big hurry.

She wasn’t ready at all!

She couldn’t possibly go out for a meal with him dressed in her usual boyish clothes, looking messy and plain!

At the very least, she needed to ask Lin Yi for help, maybe borrow some makeup and a nice outfit.

Feeling flustered, she quickly shook her head. “I’m busy today~”

Su Peng stopped by the door and looked back in confusion. “Busy? You look pretty free to me.”

“Yes!” An Han nodded hard. “Busy! You were snoring last night, so I didn’t sleep well. After I make you breakfast, I need to take a nap!”

She came up with the most reasonable excuse she could think of.

“For lunch, just order takeout yourself. I’ll probably sleep until four or five in the afternoon!”

“Then tonight,” Su Peng said naturally. “You can’t still be busy tonight, right?”

Since they both had free time now, he didn’t want to wait until next week. If he delayed, there was a chance An Han might suddenly change her mind.

That girl could turn cold at the drop of a hat. If she got in a bad mood or distracted, she’d probably refuse to go and even start distancing herself again.

Right now, she seemed to have a bit of affection for him, and he didn’t want to lose that chance.

“But, but…”

An Han still felt uncomfortable about the idea of going out dressed as a guy. Whenever she wore men’s clothes, she subconsciously still thought of herself as male, so the idea of going on a “date” with another man just felt wrong. But when she wore women’s clothes, that awkward feeling disappeared completely.

[Option 1: Refuse the date invitation. Reward: Advanced Cooking Skill]

[Option 2: Delay until next week, go wearing makeup and women’s clothes. Reward: Makeup Skill]

[Option 3: Accept the invitation right away. Reward: Random Attribute Point]

As always, the system just had to show up whenever something interesting happened.

An Han froze for a second, glancing quickly at the three options. All of them looked tempting…

Option one would give her better cooking skills. Next time Su Peng got sick, she could really make him some healing meals.

Option two matched what she was already thinking, and the reward skill was something she wanted.

Option three… was what Su Peng wanted most.

“Stop thinking about it.”

Just as she was hesitating, Su Peng suddenly grabbed her wrist and started pulling her toward the door.

“What’s there to think about? It’s just a meal!”

“It’s not just a meal!”