Chapter 17: Convincing Gu Ye to Learn How to Cook

“Where’s your big brother?” Baoni suddenly remembered Gu Ye’s older brother. It had already been a whole day.

“Ah, he went back.” Gu Ye replied casually. It was fine that he left; it spared Gu Ye from having to deal with those strange, judgmental looks. It was creepy.

“He left? Why did he leave so soon?” Baoni had been hoping that sometimes his older brother would bring some seafood back.

“He’s busy. It’s hard for him to get time off.” Gu Ye said. His older brother was at the center of a political storm and had to tread carefully.

“By the way, before he left, he said I should take you home to meet grandpa for the New Year. He said if we didn’t go back, people might talk behind our backs. I think he’s just trying to get me to go back.” Gu Ye added, showing no attachment to his family or desire to encounter people he disliked.

Baoni caught on. Gu Ye’s older brother was using her relationship with Gu Ye to try to get Gu Ye to return home.

“Go back? Why don’t you go back?” Baoni felt it. Gu Ye rejected the family in Beijing, or more precisely, he rejected certain people in Beijing.

“Let go back then. I haven’t been to Beijing yet. You can take me to wander around.” Baoni said in a manner as though she had never seen the world.

“We’ll talk about it at the end of the year. If there’s no mission, We’ll go back.” Gu Ye replied. Want to see Beijing? It would be easy. He would take her to eat good food then.

“Big brother left. Did you bring him any seafood?” Baoni thought he should have brought something. He came all the way from far away, so he must have brought some seafood back.

“I didn’t bring anything. He left in a hurry. When I got up to see him, he was already getting ready to board the ship. It’s fine. We’ll bring it when we go back.” Gu Ye said indifferently. He didn’t bother with being polite to his brother, and no one else deserved to eat his stuff.

“You really are something! Besides your brother, there’s your sister-in-law! She bought me a skirt. I should at least give a gift in return, right?” Baoni didn’t understand family matters, but she still knew about human relationships.

“Fine, just give me your sister-in-law’s address, and I’ll prepare something and send it over myself.” Gu Ye agreed. Baoni thought his brother and sister-in-law were pretty good. They had put a lot of effort into his brother’s wedding, and she needed to maintain the relationship well, without letting it grow distant.

“Got it.” Gu Ye said. He really didn’t care about these things.

Over the years, he hadn’t gone back, nor had he sent anything, except for the gift for his little nephew. On the contrary, he often received things.

“Are we eating at the canteen tonight?” It felt like they hadn’t done much, and yet the day was already getting dark.

“What else?” Gu Ye knew that Lin Baoni couldn’t cook, and he couldn’t either. If they didn’t eat at the canteen, what else could they eat?

“I want to eat the food my grandmother makes!” Baoni couldn’t cook, and she was picky with food.

“Seems like we can’t go back today. It’ll probably have to be tomorrow.” Gu Ye said. He had heard from Xiao Chaoyang about the three-day visit back home.

“Ugh, why are there so many things to worry about?” Baoni complained.

“Comrade Gu Ye, is it that you’ve never cooked before, or did you try and just can’t cook well?” Baoni wanted to ask if Comrade Gu Ye had any talent for cooking, and whether he could improve.

“I’ve never cooked before. Well, I’ve made a big pot of rice during outdoor training, just throwing in all the edible things I could find to make a soup.” Gu Ye admitted. He had never properly cooked.

“Great! Comrade Gu Ye, I’m giving you a task. Tomorrow we’re going to my place. You will go to my grandmother and learn to cook! I believe you can do it!” Baoni said excitedly, feeling that hope was right around the corner.

“Why don’t you learn? I’ve never stepped into a kitchen since I was little.” Gu Ye thought cooking wasn’t something a man should do.

“If I could learn, would I need you? My grandmother and my mother, both have inherited cooking skills. Neither of them taught me how to cook, they said the food I make could poison someone!” Baoni replied. They had failed repeatedly before finally giving up.

“Well, I’ve never stepped into a kitchen either. Never thought about learning how to cook.” Gu Ye said, still struggling, not wanting to give in.

“You said you would never get married in this life? How come I didn’t see you holding back last night, and this morning you were still reviewing.” Baoni said, feeling annoyed when she remembered that she had slept through the whole morning.

Gu Ye noticed Lin Baoni was getting upset again, and then he thought of those unspeakable beautiful things.

Learning to cook didn’t seem like such an unacceptable idea after all.

He needed to make sure Lin Baoni was well-fed; she couldn’t get too skinny, or else picking her up would be uncomfortable.

What Gu Ye didn’t know was that, while he was calculating in his mind, Baoni was still trying to convince him to learn how to cook because she didn’t want to eat at the canteen every day.

“Alright, I’ll learn. I’ll make sure to learn well.”

Gu Ye thought to himself. It was just cooking, he could conquer it. The People’s Liberation Army soldiers never encountered a high ground they couldn’t take!

The two of them teased each other for a while before standing up to go to the canteen for their meal.

The canteen was located on the west side of the Family Residential Compound, not far from Gu Ye’s house.

It was Baoni’s first time going to the canteen. On the way, they encountered Gu Ye’s sister-in-law and others who were also going to the canteen, but Baoni didn’t know them.

Gu Ye didn’t greet them either. They seemed to dislike Gu Ye. As they passed by, they even rolled their eyes.

“What’s with them? Have you offended them?” Baoni asked curiously.

“Don’t worry about them. A bunch of idle people who are full and have nothing better to do.” Gu Ye replied lazily, not bothering to engage further.

The canteen was very large, and it was said that there was another one inside the Military Unit, which was a place even the families of soldiers couldn’t easily enter.

As soon as Lin Baoni and Gu Ye entered, many eyes turned toward them.

“Colonel Gu’s new wife really looks young. Is she even an adult?” One sister-in-law in a blue coat whispered to the sister-in-law next to her, who was wearing a floral top.

“Must be an adult, or how could she have gotten a marriage certificate?” The sister-in-law in the floral top guessed.

“Gu Ye, over here.” Xiao Chaoyang, who had sharp eyes, spotted the newlyweds entering and called them over.

Gu Ye led Baoni over to their table. “Baoni, this is our battalion instructor, Xiao Chaoyang, and his wife, Lin Wan.” Gu Ye introduced.

“Hello, should I call you Sister-in-law or Sister?” Baoni wasn’t sure who was older, Xiao Chaoyang or his wife.

“Comrade Lin, we meet again. Just call me Sister-in-law, I’m older than Gu Ye!” Xiao Chaoyang said enthusiastically.

“You can call me Sister-in-law, or Sister, it’s up to you. We both have the surname Lin, maybe we were family five hundred years ago!” Lin Wan was cheerful and spoke with a sense of humor.

“Hello, Sister Lin, you can just call me Baoni, that’s what my family calls me.” Baoni said with a smile, not being shy.

“Gu Ye, go get the food, today they have braised pork. It’ll be gone soon.” Xiao Chaoyang said, clearly coming to the canteen for the braised pork.

As soon as Gu Ye and Baoni heard that, they were excited and quickly went to buy food.

“Two servings of braised pork, three servings of rice, and one serving of stir-fried shredded potatoes.” Gu Ye handed over the meal tickets, then returned with the food with Baoni to their table.

“Gu Ye, your appetite is growing, huh? What’s this, you growing taller too?” Xiao Chaoyang teased when he saw Gu Ye carrying three servings of rice.

“Eat your own food. No matter how dissatisfied you are, you’ll never reach my height.” Gu Ye replied lazily, choosing only the tender pieces of meat.

Height had always been a sore spot for Xiao Chaoyang. He had stopped growing at 1.75 meters, and standing next to Gu Ye, who was over 1.80 meters, he looked a head shorter.

Baoni didn’t care about them. She was starving and quickly dug into her food.

Baoni, no matter how hungry she was, would never gulp down her food like a wild animal. She took small bites, eating elegantly, but the frequency was high!

Before long, half of her meal was gone.

Lin Wan watched Baoni eat and found it especially appetizing, which made her question whether her own food was from the same pot as Baoni’s.

“What’s wrong, Sister Lin?” Feeling someone’s gaze, Baoni looked up and asked.

“Nothing, I just think you look like you’re enjoying your food so much.” Lin Wan explained, a little embarrassed.

“It’s nothing, a lot of people say that.” Baoni replied, then continued eating.

After Baoni finished her portion, she split the other portion in half and put it into her bowl. Everyone, except Gu Ye, was stunned.

Her appetite was no joke.

After the meal, Gu Ye and the others walked home together with Xiao Chaoyang.

“Baoni, my house is just one courtyard away from yours. Come over and hang out when you have time.” Lin Wan invited.

“Okay, Sister Lin. I’ll come over after I finish tidying up.” Baoni replied enthusiastically before entering her own courtyard.

The day passed just like that, and Baoni was still very happy because tomorrow, she would be able to return home.

—