Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The next morning, Ji Nuan got up early and accompanied Mrs. Wan Zhu to the kitchen to study a few desserts.
Mo Jingshen had told her that his mother often studied cuisine and had an enriched knowledge of cooking. Although his family had many servants, and she didnât need to do anything herself, she still found every possible chance to study culinary techniques in the kitchen.
Ji Nuan was helping to stir the eggs when a mouthful of sweet and fragrant peanut butter came into her mouth.
âHow does it taste?â Wan Zhu looked at her with her eyes shining and seemed to wait for her daughter-in-lawâs praise.
Ji Nuan smiled, licked the bit of peanut butter on her lip into her mouth and smacked her lips as if she hadnât got enough, saying, âItâs delicious! This is definitely the best peanut butter Iâve ever tasted in my life!â
Although Wan Zhu knew the little girl was fawning on her, she happily fed her another mouthful and turned around to make the cake, saying, âYou and Jingshen have been living in the Yu Garden, havenât you? I know Auntie Chen. She is good at cooking. Do you like the food she makes?â
âThe food Auntie Chen makes is very delicious, and Iâm not picky about food.â
Wan Zhu watched Ji Nuan beating eggs with a blender, asking with a smile, âSo you can... cook?â
Ji Nuan paused, looked down at her hands that were beating the eggs in a somewhat professional way, and answered, âI know a little, but not much. I can cook for myself, but when Jingshen cooks a much better meal than I do.â
Wan Zhu immediately turned to look at her in surprise. â He cooks for you?â
âYes.â
âOh, thatâs unfair. My son has never cooked for his father and me once in his life. I havenât even had a cup of tea from him, not to mention the food he cooked,â Wan Zhu exclaimed. âIf you hadnât told me, I wouldnât have known he can cook.â
Ji Nuan: â...â
Your son could do a lot more than you expected...
â-
Ji Nuan stayed at the Mo family until noon, chatting with Mo Jingshenâs mother and learning how to grind and cook various kinds of coffee from the Mo familyâs servants. She didnât go out when Elder Su and Su Zhilan left. After all, no one called her to see off the guests, and she didnât bother to listen to Su Zhilanâs bullshit before she left.
In the afternoon, Mrs. Wan Zhu urged her to go back to her room and take a nap. When she got up, the sky was already full of sunset clouds.
She had thought she could have supper there, for it was rare that she and Mo Jingshen had such a moment of peace and leisure.
However, Mo Shaoze put down his cell phone and told the servants, âSet up a few more sets of tableware. The An Family people will come soon.â
The servant nodded and went away. There was a sudden silence in the living room.
Ji Nuan raised her eyebrows. Why did they all come together? Miss Su was just sent away at noon, and Miss An was coming in the evening?
She turned her eyes to Mo Jingshen.
The man standing beside her slowly put a hand into his trousersâ pocket. His thin lips curved into a cold smile.
âIt seems that the Mo family is particularly lively this year. Nuan Nuan needs rest, and a noisy environment is not good for her. Iâm taking her away.â
With that, he took Ji Nuanâs hand and turned away.
He left without the slightest hesitation.
Mo Shaoze immediately frowned, but before he said anything, Wan Zhu tugged at his arm and stared at him, whispering, âAre you driving Jingshen and his wife away? The Su family people had come by themselves, but why did you invite the An Family people to our home? Itâs just because itâs Spring Festival that Jingshen brought his wife back home to stay one night. Iâve been coaxing her to stay for a few more days, but you just drove them away!â
Mo Shaozeâs face darkened, and rage gathered in his eyes. âYou keep out of this! The An family people just came by for a visit. Now Ji Nuan is pregnant, what can I do to their marriage?â
âSo, you know Nuan Nuan is pregnant? Then why do you put those people in front of her eyes? Yes, I know you are on good terms with the An family, but the baby in Nuan Nuanâs belly is our biological grandchild! Donât you know which side is closer to you?â
â...â
â-
A black Bentley drove out of the Mo Familyâs villa in the sunset.
Mo Jingshenâs slender fingers held the steering wheel, and he looked straight ahead, handsome yet cold.
Ji Nuan sat in the passenger seat, looking sideways at his face. âItâs getting dark. Where are we going?â
After they came to Los Angeles, they spent most of the time in the hospital, and in the two days after discharge, they were in the XI base for one day and in the Mo family the other day. She felt that she might have to stay in a hotel with Mo Jingshen tonight.
He didnât answer her, and after a short silence, a low, indifferent voice rang. âYou didnât eat much at noon. Do you want to eat out, or for me to cook dinner after we go back?â
âGo back? Where?â Ji Nuan asked confusingly.
He said, âI lived in Los Angeles, so I have my own house here...â
âOkay, but you havenât been back for so long. Can we just move in?â
âIt is cleaned every day. We can move in at any time.â
âI mean, we donât have any food at home, do we?â
Ji Nuanâs tongue had been âspoiledâ by Mo Jingshenâs superb culinary skill. Between going to a restaurant and going home to eat the food he made, she would surely choose the latter.
The black Bentley pulled up in the parking lot of a chain hypermarket. Mo Jingshen took a look at the time and said, âLetâs go shopping for ingredients.â
âItâs getting late. We can buy ingredients, put them in the fridge and cook them tomorrow, and eat out today.â
âWe have enough time to cook.â
âAll right.â
In fact, it was late. It had been more than 50 minutes since they left the Mo family, and they still had to drive to Mo Jingshenâs house in Los Angeles that she didnât know where it was.
But he was obviously not in a very good mood at the moment. Perhaps Mo Shaozeâs attitude had pissed him off. She didnât say anything more, just unbuckled the safety belt, got out of the car, and followed him to the supermarket.
They bought a lot of ingredients and fruits, and Mo Jingshen picked up a box of maternity milk powder from the shelf for her. All sorts of stuff piled up in the shopping cart, and if she hadnât stopped him, heâd probably have been in the maternity section looking for other nutrients and pregnancy essentials.
She finally took him to the cash register and, as she prepared to leave for the parking lot, Mo Jingshen put his arm around her shoulders and led her to the 80-story apartment across the street.
Ji Nuan didnât get why he didnât go to the parking lot. Was he not going to drive? But he was carrying so many things in that hand.
They crossed the street and entered the apartment building. Ji Nuan looked around the blond crowd, and this apartment complex that seemed to be very mature and realized that his house was here.