Su Han’s words instantly made the previously harmonious and pleasant atmosphere turn a bit awkward.
To be honest, Bai Baozhu and Su Han’s cooking skills were worlds apart.
Back when no one knew how to cook, everyone was grateful and happy that Su Han was willing to cook for them.
But now, with Bai Baozhu as a comparison, it wasn’t just about the taste. Just looking at the variety, compared to Su Han who only knew how to make western food, Bai Baozhu, the all-rounder, was the clear winner!
So when Su Han suggested taking turns cooking with Bai Baozhu, the others’ reactions were naturally less than enthusiastic, and they were even a bit puzzled.
They had only eaten a few meals of Bai Baozhu’s delicious food! They wanted to eat more!!!
But they couldn’t voice their ‘disappointment’. After all, she was kindly offering to cook for them to share Bai Baozhu’s workload.
So, they really felt awful! Why did Su Han have to jump out and make such a suggestion? QAQ
“It’s fine, I really…” am not tired.
Before Bai Baozhu could finish her sentence, Xia Tiantian interrupted her.
Xia Tiantian subtly tugged at Bai Baozhu’s sleeve, gave her a meaningful look, and then said to Su Han with a smile.
“I think taking turns cooking is a good idea too, Xiao Han. You and Zhu Zhu can figure out how to split it.”
Seeing her plan succeed, Su Han didn’t care what the others thought.
She never even considered the vast gap between her cooking skills and Bai Baozhu’s.
After all, the overly confident Su Han’s self-delusion was just too strong! She thought western and Chinese food were two completely different categories, and that her western food was delicious and nutritious, in no way inferior to Bai Baozhu’s Chinese food.
And most importantly, Bo Shenyu grew up abroad and had a foreigner’s stomach. Between Chinese and western food, he must prefer western food!
“Today is Monday. From now on, Zhu Zhu can cook on odd-numbered days, and I’ll cook for everyone on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.”
In the end, Su Han happily made this decision.
However, this decision of hers only made her happy and satisfied. Everyone else felt no joy whatsoever!
Not only did the dating guests of Love Cottage feel dismayed, even the staff who followed Bai Baozhu around daily to mooch food and shoot gourmet footage were unhappy!
The goodwill they had previously felt towards Su Han also took a hit after she ‘kindly’ suggested the cooking rotation.
Yet, Su Han was completely unaware of all this. At that moment, all her attention was on Bo Shenyu.
She only thought about quickly pulling Bo Shenyu’s attention back to her.
“Brother Shen, I’m cooking tomorrow. Is there anything you’d like to eat?”
Suddenly questioned by Su Han, Bo Shenyu fell silent for a moment before replying—
“…Anything is fine.”
Faced with Bo Shenyu’s cold attitude, Su Han didn’t lose any enthusiasm. After all, this was exactly the Bo Shenyu she knew.
It’s fine! Once she warmed up this stone, Bo Shenyu’s attitude towards her would be completely different!
Having regained control of the kitchen, Su Han felt full of confidence and motivation as she cheered inwardly.
…
“Sister Tian Tian, why didn’t you let me speak earlier?”
Back in the bedroom after leaving the dining area, Bai Baozhu finally asked the question that had been bothering her.
She really didn’t understand why Xia Tiantian had stopped her from speaking.
“Su Han wants to help share the load. Taking turns cooking is good, why refuse?”
Seeing Bai Baozhu’s confused expression, Xia Tiantian shook her head helplessly.
She thought to herself that Bai Baozhu was just a simple, silly girl!
“But I’m really not tired, and I really love cooking.”
Most importantly, cooking more often helped her advertise herself and pave the way for her future!
“Are you stupid? You came to this show to date, not to be their chef. Why cook three meals a day for everyone? It’s too tiring.”
“But I’m really not tired.”
Being called stupid by Xia Tiantian, Bai Baozhu felt like crying. With her divine strength, what was so tiring about just cooking? QAQ
Besides, she had zero interest in dating! She only wanted to focus on her career!
“You might not be tired, but I feel bad for you!”
Xia Tiantian was so exasperated by Bai Baozhu’s silly attitude it made her liver ache. While she was a foodie and loved Bai Baozhu’s cooking, she felt even worse seeing Bai Baozhu get up early every day and busy herself alone preparing meals for their large group.
One had to remember, the old Bai Baozhu used to sleep until the sun was high in the sky, only getting up for lunch.
The current Bai Baozhu was so diligent it made her a bit heartbroken.
“Sister Tian Tian, thank you for caring about me so much.”
Bai Baozhu truly hadn’t expected Xia Tiantian to be so concerned about her, and to imagine her as so fragile. This feeling… was really wonderful!!!
“You, don’t be so silly all the time. Actually, Su Han wanting to take turns cooking with you isn’t purely to help you. She probably just wants to interact with Bo Shenyu and foster feelings.”
“Mhmm! I know.”
“But, if you like Bo Shenyu, next time you cook, you could ask him to cook with you…”
Hearing Xia Tiantian suddenly shift the topic to Bo Shenyu and herself, Bai Baozhu, who had zero interest in Bo Shenyu, immediately changed the subject!
“Ah, I just remembered, Sister Tian Tian, didn’t you tell me yesterday you were completely giving up on Lin Dong? Why did you use your Sun Date on him today?”
Xia Tiantian, who had been chattering away worriedly about Bai Baozhu’s love life, fell silent upon hearing this.
After a long while, she slowly spoke.
“I just wanted… to formally say goodbye to Lin Dong.”
From the first day she entered Love Cottage, she had fallen in love at first sight with Lin Dong among all the male guests.
So she thought she could break her usual patterns and make an effort. Maybe she could obtain the love she had always longed for?
But now she realized that not all efforts yield rewards…
“Huh? Say goodbye?”
Upon getting this answer, Bai Baozhu was full of question marks.
Ah! Romantic feelings between men and women were truly the most confusing things in the world!
Forget it! She wasn’t going to date anyway, so she didn’t need to understand these things!
At noon, Lin Dong and Xia Tiantian didn’t stay to eat at the villa and went out on their date.
When they returned in the evening, Bai Baozhu saw that Xia Tiantian’s eyes were red, clearly having cried, but her overall aura seemed much lighter.
Not knowing how to comfort people or what to say, Bai Baozhu could only silently start making dessert for Xia Tiantian.
Milk, light cream, sugar, coconut milk…
She mixed these together in a saucepan, stirring constantly with chopsticks until all the ingredients were fully blended and melted, cooking into a syrup.
“Bubble, bubble—”
Listening to the sound of the boiling syrup in the pot, Bai Baozhu found it peaceful and beautiful, feeling utterly content.
She ladled out the cooked syrup, gradually poured in the beaten eggs in six batches, mixing them in, filtered the mixture four times through a sieve, poured it into several small pudding mold bowls, and placed them in the oven…
Watching the oven’s yellow light turn on, Bai Baozhu sat at the kitchen island, propping her chin in her hands, her eyes gazing blankly at the oven in a daze.
The dim yellow light reflected on her face, adding a touch of gentleness. Her bright, clear, yet vacant eyes added a silly, innocent charm to her.
She looked adorably clueless and cute.
This was Bo Shenyu’s thought as he walked into the kitchen and saw Bai Baozhu.
It was also the first time he found a member of the opposite sex adorably clueless and cute.
“Making something again?”
Bo Shenyu slowed his steps as he walked to Bai Baozhu’s side, his gaze curious as he looked towards the oven with its glowing yellow light, currently in operation.
This girl wasn’t making… dessert again, was she…
Bo Shenyu’s heart immediately panicked a little!
Why did he, seeing the kitchen light on and a photographer, wander into the kitchen like a ghost possessed!
“Mhmm, crème brûlée. A dessert with a hint of bitterness.”
Bai Baozhu nodded and smiled, naming the dessert she was currently making.
When Bo Shenyu heard the dessert was crème brûlée, he was momentarily stunned.
Crème brûlée?
Wasn’t that the dessert Bai Baozhu mentioned in her text message to him yesterday? Could it be… Bai Baozhu was in the kitchen so late making dessert… for him?
Thinking of this, the heart of a certain sweet-tooth male guest instantly became flustered!
Could it, could it really be made specially for him…
Would it be bad if he left now, or refused to eat it…
However, while Bo Shenyu was tangled up and panicking inside, he had no idea Bai Baozhu was thinking to herself—
Crème brûlée, with its slight bitterness but more distinct layers of sweetness, would definitely suit Xia Tiantian, who was currently in a heartbroken state!
After eating it, Xia Tiantian’s mood would definitely improve!
As for that text message about crème brûlée she sent to Bo Shenyu yesterday?
Sorry, the heartless, carefree Bai Baozhu, who even chose her text message recipients using the ‘Green Head Plaque’ system, had just sent it randomly and hadn’t given it a second thought!
And so, these two people with completely different trains of thought silently watched the operating oven. Neither spoke, simply quietly enjoying the peace and comfort, surprisingly without any sense of awkwardness.
It even gave the photographers a strange sense of CP vibe.
“Ding—!”
The crème brûlée was done baking, breaking the quiet between Bai Baozhu and Bo Shenyu.
Bai Baozhu put on oven mitts and took out the crème brûlée.
Skillfully, she evenly sprinkled a layer of powdered sugar on the surface of the pudding, then turned on the blowtorch. With a light blast, she caramelized the surface of the yellowish crème brûlée until it was slightly charred.
Watching Bai Baozhu’s series of actions, Bo Shenyu added another label for her—cool.
Bo Shenyu suddenly realized that someone making dessert could look so cool.
“All done! Do you want to try some?”
Seeing Bai Baozhu smilingly invite him, Bo Shenyu remained calm on the surface, but inside he was already panicking.
This dessert smelled so good, with a faint milky aroma. He wanted to eat it! QAQ
No! His persona couldn’t collapse! He didn’t like sweets at all!
But it looked really delicious…
“…”
Bo Shenyu: To eat or not to eat, that was the question!
Watching Bo Shenyu stare at the crème brûlée in her hand with a pained, conflicted expression, the corner of Bai Baozhu’s mouth twitched. If she didn’t know she had made a delicious dessert, she might have thought she was handing Bo Shenyu a dose of poison!
It’s just a dessert! Did he need to think about it for so long! o(╯□╰)o
“It seems you really don’t like desserts.”
Bai Baozhu muttered. She was just about to take back the crème brûlée she offered to Bo Shenyu and eat it herself when Bo Shenyu suddenly snatched it from her.
“Since you made it, I guess I’ll eat it.”
With a look of reluctance, as if facing a great ordeal, Bo Shenyu began eating the freshly baked crème brûlée, bite by bite.
“…???”
What the…? What’s his problem? If he didn’t want to eat it, then don’t! No need to force himself like this! She wasn’t holding a gun to his head!
The soft, tender custard melted in the mouth. Because the surface had a bitter caramelized flavor, it wasn’t cloyingly sweet. Especially when combined with the right amount of sweetness and milky fragrance, one bite slid smoothly down the throat. The taste was unexpectedly, beautifully gentle…
It was so delicious that a certain sweet-tooth male guest nearly broke character, almost letting out a sigh of satisfaction that would have exposed his fondness for desserts!
……
Late at night, nearly 11 PM, it was once again time for the Love Cottage residents to exchange their anonymous love text messages.
And on this day, Bai Baozhu once again felt that her phone must be broken!