NOVEL SIMPLE
Chapter 24
After making a fuss for so long, dinner had long been digested. They walked out of the room together, heading to the kitchen in search of food.
“Gu Muxi, do you have anything to eat at home?” Yi Feng poured a glass of water and asked.
“I’m not sure, I think we should have some noodles?” Gu Muxi was uncertain, bending over to search in the kitchen cabinets.
“Do you never enter the kitchen?” Yi Feng took a sip of water, curious.
“How, how could that be, I can cook too!” Gu Muxi replied without turning her head, her voice slightly lacking in confidence.
“Ah, I found something to eat! It’s noodles!” She excitedly took out the noodles and flaunted them in front of Yi Feng.
“Yi Feng, I’ll cook these noodles for you!”
“Pfft!!”
Yi Feng spat out all the water in his mouth!
What kind of outrageous statement was that!
“Damn it! Yi Feng, what are you doing, you sprayed me!” Gu Muxi puffed up her pink cheeks, indignant.
“Cough cough, no, nothing, sorry, I just choked on the water.” Yi Feng smiled awkwardly.
“Hmph, serves you right to choke to death!”
“Hurry up and cook the noodles!” Gu Muxi glared at him.
“Alright, hey, didn’t you say you could cook? You should be able to cook noodles, right?” Yi Feng asked.
“I, of course, I can, don’t underestimate me!” Gu Muxi raised her chin.
“Then fine, I’ll leave it to you then, don’t forget, this is your house, I’m just a guest, hehe.” Yi Feng began to morally blackmail.
“You count as what guest!” Gu Muxi retorted.
“So you can’t cook? Then I’ll reluctantly do it.”
“You should have said so earlier.” Yi Feng employed reverse psychology.
Sure enough, Gu Muxi couldn’t stand being provoked and immediately exclaimed: “Who said I can’t, you go outside and wait, watch me show off my skills!”
“Alright, it’s settled then, thanks! Hehe” Yi Feng smirked proudly and darted out of the kitchen.
Gu Muxi: “???”
Damn it! How did I fall for his trick again?
Damn it!
Gu Muxi, holding a roll of noodles, looked at the seasonings in the kitchen, utterly clueless.
How do I cook this?
She indeed had never cooked before, at most only helping out a bit. With her mother cooking at home, and her father when her mother was busy, it was never her turn to cook.
She rarely entered the kitchen and hardly ever handled kitchen utensils; now, even cooking noodles seemed daunting.
What to do?
If it doesn’t turn out well, Yi Feng will surely laugh at me!
No, absolutely not!
How can I let Yi Feng look down on me?
No matter what, I must make it!
It’s just cooking noodles, could it really stump a genius girl like me?
Gu Muxi, you can do it!
Thinking this, Gu Muxi encouraged herself and began to prepare the noodles.
She followed her mother’s instructions, filling a pot with water, then turning on the gas stove to light it.
“Click.”
She successfully lit the stove.
“Haha, lighting the stove was a success, seems not too difficult after all.” Gu Muxi was pleased with herself for managing to light the stove.
“Next… just put the noodles in?”
She became confused again.
She forgot whether her mother used cold or hot water for the noodles.
“Whatever, it’s all water anyway, it will boil anyway, just put it in and cook!”
She tore open the plastic film of the noodles and pulled out a handful.
“This little, probably not enough, right?”
“Yi Feng that guy has a big appetite, eats a lot, then I’ll put in more.”
She then pulled out two more handfuls, almost using up half the tube of noodles.
“Haha, another thing done.” She smiled proudly, dusting off her hands.
“Next, should I prepare some side dishes for him?”
“How about, some eggs and some lettuce leaves?”
She pondered, stroking her chin.
After deciding, she took an egg and picked some lettuce leaves.
“The lettuce leaves are too big, not tasty, let’s cut them into strips like mom does, it’ll taste better!”
Gu Muxi picked up the kitchen knife, one of the few times she handled a knife.
She took a lettuce leaf and began to clumsily cut it.
Meanwhile, outside the kitchen, Yi Feng was sitting on the sofa, legs crossed, having found a bag of sunflower seeds in the living room, leisurely cracking them open.
Soon he would be able to taste the noodles cooked by Gu Muxi himself, truly looking forward to it!
Cooking noodles is such a simple mission, she can definitely do it well, he just needed to wait to eat.
Ah, having a wife who can cook, how blissful!
He cracked the seeds, happily waiting for Gu Muxi to finish cooking the noodles.
In the kitchen, Gu Muxi was cutting the lettuce when she suddenly smelled something burning.
“Hmm? What’s burning?”
“Ah! My noodles!”
She suddenly realized, the pot was cooking noodles!
She quickly lifted the lid, and the sight inside left her bewildered.
How did all the water dry up?
I clearly added a lot of water!
What happened?
She hurriedly turned off the stove, scraped with a spoon, the noodles on top seemed not yet cooked, but the ones at the bottom were already mushy.
“Ah, what was I thinking, seems I forgot to stir after adding the noodles!” Gu Muxi slapped her forehead, annoyed at her mistake.
But it’s okay, it’s just a bit burnt, should… still be edible, right?
Add some water and continue cooking.
Thinking this, she poured two bowls of water in, stirred a bit, and then reignited the stove to cook the noodles.
She continued cutting the lettuce, finally finishing cutting a dozen or so leaves.
“The noodles should be about done, add the lettuce leaves first, then crack an egg into it?”
She couldn’t remember the steps exactly, but it seemed about right.
So, she dumped all the irregularly shaped lettuce leaves into it and stirred a bit.
It seems the water has reduced again, the noodle soup a bit thick, almost like snot.
Gu Muxi didn’t care much anymore, as long as it was edible, how tasty it was, she couldn’t guarantee.
Next, she had to crack an egg into it.
She didn’t know how to crack eggs, trying to imitate her mother, she tapped it on the edge of the pot.
She exerted a bit of force with her wrist.
“Crack!”
The egg split in half, egg liquid and half of the eggshell fell into the pot.
“Ah! The eggshell fell in, quick, scoop it out!”
Gu Muxi hurriedly used a spoon to fish out the eggshell.
But when she scooped it up, it seemed the eggshell had gotten a bit smaller.
“Phew, should be okay now, next is the most important step, seasoning!”
Gu Muxi, serious-faced, decided to start with some peanut oil, then add some soy sauce and salt.
Peanut oil was successfully added, then she poured in soy sauce, this bottle of black liquid should be it, right?
She grabbed it and poured it into the pot.
“Drip drip drip—”
After pouring a fair amount, she suddenly smelled a sour vinegar scent.
She brought the bottle close to her nose and sniffed.
“Uh… this is vinegar! Old vinegar!”
“Oh no, what do I do now?”
Gu Muxi was bewildered, having poured quite a bit of vinegar into it, how to salvage this pot of noodles?
Vinegar… maybe add some sugar, make it sweet and sour noodles?
Right, like sweet and sour pork ribs, that flavor must be very appetizing!
So, she found some white sugar, grabbed a handful of sugar, and threw it in, stirring a bit.
Finally, she planned to add soy sauce and salt.
Hm? The soy sauce made it all black?
Dark soy sauce?
It’s soy sauce, alright!
Could it be that adding a bit more soy sauce would make it this dark?
Hmm… very possible.
Then I’ll just add less salt.
For such a big pot of noodles, two spoonfuls of salt should be enough.
Gu Muxi pondered while spooning two small spoonfuls of salt.
Stir one more time, to blend all the ingredients and seasonings together.
Done!
“Gu Muxi, is it ready yet? I’m almost starved flat!”
Yi Feng shouted from outside the kitchen.
“Ready, ready, don’t rush, I’m just about to bring it out to you!” Gu Muxi hurriedly used chopsticks to pick up the noodles.
Maybe because they were overcooked, the noodles broke as soon as she picked them up, so she had to scoop them out with a spoon.
In no time, a bowl of dark, thick egg noodles was ready.
She carried the large bowl by the edge with a towel and brought it out.
“Come eat noodles, fragrant and steaming noodles!”
Gu Muxi announced as she brought the noodles to the dining table.
“Gaga! Finally cooked, I was about to faint from hunger!” Yi Feng rushed over from the living room excitedly.
When he arrived at the dining table and saw the big bowl of dark noodles on the table, he was instantly petrified!
This sticky liquid…
These dark, slippery noodles…
This weird sheen…
Oh my god, from the top, the bottom, the left, the right, from any angle, it, it doesn’t look like a bowl of delicious noodles at all!
Yi Feng tugged at the corner of his mouth, pointing at the bowl of weird noodles, dumbfounded, asking: “This, this is the noodles you cooked?”
Gu Muxi smiled proudly: “Yes, I even gave it a very nice name just now.”
“Soul-stirring, Invincible Delicious Egg Noodles!”
Yi Feng: “[?_??]……”
“Is it really that delicious?”
Gu Muxi seriously said: “Of course, definitely delicious, after all, it used up all my effort, this is the most heartfelt bowl of noodles I’ve ever made!”
“But… its color, why does it seem off?”
“The eggs turned black!” Yi Feng said in shock.
Gu Muxi placed a hand on his shoulder, pressing him down onto the chair, patiently explaining: “Don’t just look at its appearance.”
“People should not be judged by their appearance, and the same goes for noodles.”
“Don’t think it’s black, you have to carefully savor its taste.”
Yi Feng was stunned: “So philosophical, I’m almost convinced by you!”
Gu Muxi, full of anticipation, said: “Then eat it quickly!”
Yi Feng picked up the chopsticks, shuffled them around, already unable to see clearly what was inside.
Might as well taste how it is first.
Yi Feng picked up a chopstick full of noodles, blew on it, then put it in his mouth.
Chewing.
“How is it?” Gu Muxi bent down, her fists clenched tightly, her expression nervous.
It was her first time cooking noodles, she really wanted to know if Yi Feng liked the taste.
“Mmm, very delicious…”
“Blargh—!”
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