Zhong Feng felt a sense of loss when his delicious prey escaped. However, the puffed up cheeks and embarrassed appearance put him in a good mood.


    "It seems that you are really helpless without me around. I will make you something to eat." He spoke in an amusing condescending tone while petting her head.


    She immediately escaped from him and turned to re at him fiercely. He could not help thinking she looked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.


    "You are the one who is helpless." She pointed at him in anger.


    "You are right, you are right. What would I do without my Xiao Lei?" He humoured her with a softugh.


    "It is good that you know." She felt satisfied with his capittion, even though it was obviously a false surrender. "You should take a shower. I will make you something to eat."


    Hu Lei dered, turning her nose in the air with pride. She wanted to hear Zhong Feng''s shock and disbelief. Zhong Feng lifted a brow at the words. Naturally, he had long realised that Hu Lei did not know how to cook. However, when he saw how confident and proud she looked, he did not want to ruin the moment by expressing his doubt.


    "Alright, I am looking forward to it." He patted her head lightly before taking his suitcase and going upstairs.


    Hu Lei looked at him with annoyance. ''Did he not know when to make a big deal out of something or how to tter anyone?'' She grumbled in her heart. He could have at least asked about her newly found cooking skills. He had just epted it as if it was normal.


    She sighed to herself before going to the kitchen with determination and excitement. She would make him gasp in shock and awe at her prowess in the kitchen. He would soon realise that he had gotten a bargain by capturing an exceptionaldy like herself, gifted in all aspects.


    With these fanciful thoughts, she opened the refrigerator with ir. Of course, her n to cook was not an impromptu suggestion. She had nned on making a simple meal for Zhong Feng from the beginning. Therefore, she had prepared appropriate ingredients and practised diligently for this meal.


    In truth, she had not yete close to being even an apprentice cook. However, she was not a self-recognised genius for nothing. In just a few days, she had learned to prepare a few simple dishes with eptable results.


    When Beatrice had begun teaching her, Hu Lei was almostpletely certain that she had no talent in cooking. And then she realised that her teacher was the problem. She was one of those people who did things by harnessing ''feelings''.


    Her advice ranged from ''just watch, you will know when it is ready'' and ''add enough salt to taste''. For Hu Lei, these words were uneptable and iprehensible. However, after watching Beatrice cooking, reading a couple of books and experimenting for a few days, she had figured a simple way to begin her journey as an immortal chef.


    When Zhong Feng came down, he found Hu Lei stir frying vegetables with unusual focus. She looked at her watch intermittently while stirring the contents in the sauce pan. Her eyes seemed to sparkle in a strange manner as she shifted from the pan to a cast iron skillet. Before long, she switched off the burners.


    "It''s done. Sit down." She ordered pompously without looking at Zhong Feng.


    She turned to reach into the cab for tes but found it was too high. She stood on her tiptoes in her attempt to reach. Herrge linen shirt rose with the movement, exposing her too much. Her mind was elsewhere, so she did not feel self-conscious. However, Zhong Feng felt the fire which had been quenched by the cold shower burn fiercely once again.


    "Let me get that for you." He spoke in a deep voice as he reached from behind her for the tes.


    Though he liked the show by his little wife, he did not know how much more of her teasing he could take before he devoured her clean. Hu Lei looked up at him with a smile as she took the tes from him. The entire scene felt so domestic and natural.


    Finally, Hu Lei presented her simple meal of rice, seared beef medallions and stir fry vegetables. She served Zhong Feng and stood beside him, prompting him to taste. He looked at her anxious face and decided topliment her thoroughly, regardless of the results. He tasted a piece of the beef and chewed on it thoughtfully. Then, he tasted some of the vegetables and then the rice.


    "What do you think?" Hu Lei could not bear it anymore.


    "The food is delicious." He responded honestly.


    "You are not lying to me?" She looked at him suspiciously.


    Zhong Feng coughed a little.


    "I would have lied if it was bad. But I mean it. It is remarkable." He was not stingy with hispliments.


    Hu Lei felt that there was a paradox somewhere in his words. However, he was eating and seemed to be enjoying the meal. So, she decided to believe him and sat down to eat beside him. She tasted her cooking with a little fear. Though she had tried her own cooking before, it was different when she was cooking for him.


    "This is freaking delicious." Sheplimented herself generously with a look of pleasure.


    She felt that she could be a chef if her career as an author failed.


    "I already told you so." Zhong Feng looked at her tly.


    "Who would believe you easily?" She grumbled in a low voice.


    "How did you learn to cook so suddenly?" He asked in genuine curiosity.


    "Kufufufufufu… Would you really like to know?" She asked with a look of superiority, hiding her evilugh behind her small hand.


    Zhong Feng''s lips twitched a little at her ego. She was behaving like someone with the middle school disease. Still, he nodded.


    "This, my sweet ignorant FengFeng, is the power of science." She lifted her hands as if there was an explosion behind her.


    She put her chopsticks down and leaned towards him.


    "Each ingredient is essentially apound with different physical and chemical properties. The key to cooking is finding the perfect temperature, treatment processes andplementarypounds to maximise the taste and nutritional value." She exined with zing eyes. "It is essentially not different from manufacturing medicine or poison."


    Zhong Feng had mixed feelings now that poison was mentioned. However, he could not deny that there was something amazing about the food. He nodded and continued eating. Hu Lei also turned back to her meal and took a couple more bites of food.


    "You know, I could do so much more if I had a cookingb." She mused. "I read that homebs are pretty trendy in gastronomy."


    She pushed her half-eaten bowl of rice away while thinking about the possibilities. She became distracted by her own thoughts.


    "Ab is no problem. You should eat more." Zhong Feng said cing her bowl in front of her again.


    She took a few grains of rice and then looked at him withrge watery eyes.


    "Ah Feng, I am already full." She could not eat more.


    Zhong Feng was speechless and ced his hand over his forehead in a rare face-palm. He could not believe the girl. Even with all her excitement about food, she still ate like a small cat, a small cat on a strict diet.