novellhall Chapter 347 Cooking Teamwork
Chapter 347 Cooking Teamwork
Chapter 346 Cooking Teamwork
Chen Xun looked at her, and his heart suddenly clenched.
He knows Christine too well.
This girl, who seems indifferent to everything, always keeps her softness and sensitivity hidden deep inside.
In that instant when their eyes met, he saw it clearly: she had never let go.
But the intelligence clearly stated that she was about to come out as gay and officially announce her relationship with her girlfriend.
What exactly is going on?
If she still has feelings for herself, why did she choose to come out publicly?
Countless questions churned in his mind, but the words he wanted to say were swallowed back down.
He and she had been separated for a year.
They're no longer the close friends they used to be, so what right does he have to ask about these private matters?
What good will asking do?
The two remained silent.
The only sound in the living room was the slow-flowing jazz music from the record player.
"You haven't sold this house yet?"
In the end, Chen Xun broke the silence first, bringing up a trivial topic.
"Not for sale!"
Christine looked up at him, her gaze complicated: "I'm used to living here, I'm too lazy to move. Besides, this place holds a lot of memories, and I feel like if I sell it, I'll have nothing left."
These words seemed to strike Chen Xun like a chord.
Both of them knew perfectly well what memories she was referring to.
Just then!
The glass door opened, and Dakota and Ellie ran in laughing. Ellie, holding up her phone, chattered excitedly, "Brother Chen Xun, Sister Christine, the lemon tree in the backyard has fruit! We picked lemons, and we can make lemon roast chicken tonight!"
Dakota added with a smile, "I had my assistant deliver all the ingredients; we'll eat at home tonight."
Christine stood up, a relaxed smile returning to her face, as if the subtle emotions she had felt when she was alone with Chen Xun had never existed: "Ellie, do you want to bake a pizza with me? I'll teach you how to make the cheese crust."
"Okay, okay!"
Ellie immediately skipped over and followed Christine into the kitchen. As she passed Chen Xun, she turned back and called out, "Brother Chen Xun, come on over! Sister Christine said you used to help out!"
Chen Xun smiled, got up and followed.
In the open kitchen, Ellie and Christine chattered around the oven, while Dakota prepared ingredients, occasionally turning back to tease them.
Chen Xun leaned against the kitchen counter, looking at the lively scene before him, and for a moment, it felt as if he had returned to a few years ago.
They did the same, making a noisy commotion as they prepared dinner in the kitchen.
Life is simple, yet full of warmth and everyday joy.
Christine was helping Ellie put the kneaded dough into the baking pan.
She caught a glimpse of Chen Xun leaning against the kitchen counter out of the corner of her eye, suddenly stopped what she was doing, turned to look at him, her eyes filled with a hint of probing, yet also with a familiar and gentle tenderness: "By the way, I suddenly want to eat your Chinese food."
The moment those words were spoken, the sounds in the kitchen paused for half a second.
Christine herself was taken aback for a moment before realizing what she had said.
This statement was said so naturally, as if they still lived in the house.
The days when he would come home late at night from an audition, and she would casually ask him what he wanted to eat while curled up on the sofa, and he would put on an apron and go into the kitchen without saying a word.
Those years of blank space seemed to be instantly brought back by this simple sentence.
Ellie instantly jumped up, her hands covered in flour, her eyes shining like stars: "I want to eat too! I want to eat the Chinese food that Brother Chen Xun makes!"
"MaiMai told me that Chinese food is amazing! I've only had hot pot in Beijing, and I haven't tried your cooking yet!"
Dakota smiled and leaned closer, holding freshly washed cherry tomatoes in her hand, her tone tinged with nostalgia: "I'm so lucky to have such delicious food."
"I ate your noodles here once years ago, and I still remember it. I always said I would never have the chance to taste them again, but I finally made it today."
""
Seeing the expectation in the three people's eyes, Chen Xun smiled and shook his head, put the suit jacket draped over his arm aside, and rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt: "Alright, then I'll show you what I can do. Let's see what ingredients are in the refrigerator first."
He raised an eyebrow slightly the moment he opened the double-door refrigerator.
Inside, fresh pork belly, sea bass, prawns, and various seasonal vegetables were neatly arranged. Even commonly used Chinese ingredients such as scallions, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and cooking wine were all prepared, indicating that it was not prepared on short notice.
Chen Xun looked back.
Christine was pretending to bend down and teach Ellie how to sprinkle cheese on a pizza, but the tips of her ears were secretly turning red.
He understood perfectly well, smiled but didn't expose it, and took out the ingredients and placed them on the kitchen counter.
"apron."
Chen Xun just turned around.
Christine handed her a black apron.
It's the same one he used to frequent when he lived here.
He reached out and took it, their fingers brushing against each other unintentionally. Neither of them flinched as they had when they first met; they simply smiled at each other.
The awkwardness that had been between the two seemed to dissipate almost entirely with that gentle touch.
Chen Xun tied on an apron, stood in front of the stove, and moved with fluid, graceful movements.
The sharp cleaver landed on the cutting board, making a regular, crisp sound.
The scallions, ginger, and garlic were chopped into even pieces in the blink of an eye, the pork belly was cut into evenly sized cubes, and the sea bass was cut, rubbed with cooking wine, and marinated. The whole process was clean and efficient, without any hesitation.
Ellie had long forgotten about the pizza. She clung to the edge of the counter, staring at him with wide, round eyes, exclaiming repeatedly, "Wow! Brother Chen Xun, you're so handsome cutting vegetables!"
"Don't get so close, you might get splashed with oil."
Chen Xun smiled and pushed the little girl back.
The wok in my hand was smoking hot. I added cold oil, then rock sugar and cooked it until it turned a beautiful caramel color. The moment the pork belly was poured in, the sizzling sound mixed with the rich aroma of meat filled the entire kitchen.
Christine stood beside him, just like countless days and nights before, handing him soy sauce precisely without him having to say a word, and handing him a plate of food as he reduced the sauce.
Their arms would occasionally brush together, so close they could smell each other's scent, yet neither of them flinched, their tacit understanding suggesting they had never been apart.
She looked at Chen Xun's focused profile, the firelight reflecting on his silhouette, a silhouette that overlapped with the young man in her memory, whose eyes were full of tenacity, and also with the radiant Best Actor standing on the Golden Globe stage.
Her heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason, her fingers holding the plate tightened slightly, and the emotions surging in her eyes were something she couldn't even understand herself.
Dakota, on the other hand, was leisurely selecting vegetables.
She would occasionally come over and place the washed vegetables next to him, her arm brushing against his waist intentionally or unintentionally. When handing him something, her fingertips would lightly brush against the back of his hand, leaving a slightly cool touch.
Seeing Chen Xun turn his head to thank her with a smile, the tenderness in her eyes was almost overflowing. She gently rubbed her fingertips together, still warm from his skin.
"Do you remember this?"
Chen Xun tossed the wok, the tomatoes and eggs inside swirling in the flames, releasing a sweet and sour aroma. He turned to Christine and smiled, "When you used to stay up all night filming, you always asked me to make this for you, saying you could eat two bowls of rice with it."
Christine's eyes welled up slightly as she looked at the golden scrambled eggs in the pan, coated in bright red tomato sauce, and memories flooded back.
At that time, he wasn't famous yet. He lived in her second bedroom and spent his days running around auditions and playing extras. Even when he was exhausted, he would make her a bowl of hot soup and a plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes when she came home late.
She always laughed at him, saying that he was a future movie star who spent all his time around the stove, yet he always ate every last bite of the food.