Chapter 17: Food Poisoning

Su Yunqi nodded foolishly, her face as rosy as a peach blossom. Her almond-shaped eyes were clear and bright, yet she trusted the man before her without hesitation.

Even though she felt shy, she still bit her red lips, shamefully agreeing, and even took the initiative to reveal her fair and beautiful shoulder and neck line.

“Good girl.” Lu Zhao’s eyes turned red as he looked at her, his pupils becoming even deeper.

Su Yunqi was very cooperative, determined to change Lu Zhao’s fate.

She had been kept busy until nightfall, and by the time she finally fell asleep, she had missed dinner.

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The next morning, when she woke up, Lu Zhao was no longer in sight. In a rush, she hurriedly got out of bed, only to bump into Lu Zhao, who had just returned.

“Did you go to the Public Security Bureau? Did you go to pay them the money?”

“Yes, I gave each of them thirty yuan, so this matter is settled.”

Lu Zhao nodded, making a different choice from what Su Yunqi had imagined.

“That’s great!”

Altogether, it was a little over three hundred yuan, which wasn’t too much.

Su Yunqi let out a sigh of relief, then sat back down on the bed. Her face was flushed, her hair was disheveled, and as she sat there in a daze, she looked cute and innocent.

The image she had in her mind was of Lu Zhao refusing to compromise, not paying a single cent, and instead, he had Zheng Ye and the others brought in and detained along with him, all of them being locked up for seven days.

Afterward, the conflict had escalated, eventually reaching an irreversible point.

But now, the first step had already been changed. She optimistically thought that things would get better from here on out.

“Get up and have breakfast. Today, I’ll show you my cooking skills.” Lu Zhao directly picked her up.

Su Yunqi was petite, so it was effortless for him to carry her, which is why he particularly enjoyed carrying her around like a doll.

Su Yunqi obediently let him carry her out, then washed up. She watched as Lu Zhao worked in the kitchen, eventually making two dishes and a soup.

Egg drop soup, stir-fried cabbage with pork, and chicken stewed with mushrooms.

It looked alright. Su Yunqi bravely picked up her chopsticks and took a piece of meat.

Hmm… it was hard…it’s a bit hard to chew.

It’s fine, it’s fine, the cabbage is still edible. Su Yunqi silently comforted herself, then poured a bowl of egg drop soup to drink.

This one was simple; it shouldn’t go wrong.

Then, with a snap, she bit into an eggshell…

“Chicken stewed with mushrooms must be delicious!” Seeing the expectant look on Lu Zhao’s face, Su Yunqi encouraged him and, with a sense of resignation, extended her chopsticks toward the chicken and mushrooms.

Fortunately, although it was a bit salty, it was still edible and was probably one of the better dishes!

“It’s delicious! You should try some!”

Su Yunqi, with a smile in her eyes, eagerly served Lu Zhao some food, like a devoted little wife.

Lu Zhao took a bite, and his brow immediately furrowed.

The taste was alright, but it was far worse than what his mother made. What went wrong?

“It’s really delicious, just don’t expect too much.” Su Yunqi gave him a look as if to say she was easy to please.

“Really?”

Seeing that he was still frowning and not looking very impressed, she hurriedly changed the subject. “There’s so much chicken and mushrooms. We won’t be able to finish it. You should take a bowl to your parents. It’s just about time for dinner.”

“We’ll finish it. There’s another meal tonight.”

“Ah, but our parents have been so good to us. We’ve been eating at my mother’s place these past few days, and we made something good; we should share it with them too. We’ll do that from now on, so hurry up!”

Su Yunqi insisted on giving some food to Lu Zhao’s parents, and Lu Zhao couldn’t resist, so he went.

The little wife was more filial than he was.

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When Lu Zhao’s mother first received the meal his son personally brought, she was a bit touched. When she heard that it was Su Yunqi who insisted on sending it, her affection for Lu Zhao immediately vanished.

Her face immediately turned stern.

“I said it, a daughter is always more considerate.” Perhaps they should have another one, after all, she was only in her sixties…

While Lu Zhao’s mother sighed and picked up her chopsticks to taste the chicken stewed with mushrooms, she couldn’t help but think that their family was doing relatively well. Lu Zhao often provided for the elderly couple, and they ate meat more frequently than most families.

But, having once known hunger, they still craved the taste of meat.

However, as soon as she took a bite of the meat, she found that something was wrong with the flavor.

She smacked her lips and immediately called out to Lu Zhao, who was about to walk out. “Damn it! Old Eight! What did you do to the chicken? Where did the chicken flavor go?!”

She felt heartbroken. What had been a perfectly good chicken was now ruined and turned into something like old tree bark!

“Indeed, it only tastes like mushrooms.” Lu Zhao’s father also took a bite.

It wasn’t that it tasted bad, but it just felt like a loss—there was chicken, but no chicken flavor.

“What do you mean no chicken flavor? Are you eating the mushrooms? If you dig through the chicken, there’s meat underneath.” Lu Zhao didn’t believe it. These two were just talking nonsense.

He had killed a plump chicken to make this dish, and even the pot still had the smell of chicken, for heaven’s sake!

“Could you stop ruining the ingredients? Next time, you bring the ingredients, and I’ll cook for you two. This is such a waste!” Chen Cuilan, feeling both exhausted and distressed, couldn’t bear it.

A good chicken had been turned into this, and she truly felt like she couldn’t die in peace with such a thing.

Lu Zhao stormed off in a huff, too annoyed to deal with his mother. He had even messed up learning to cook!

But this was just the first blow. When he returned, he received another strike from Su Yunqi.

Su Yunqi was nibbling on mushrooms while weakly suggesting: “How about I go learn to cook from my mother tomorrow? I think maybe men shouldn’t be in the kitchen after all. Perhaps I have more of a talent for cooking.”

She had tried to be as tactful as possible. Su Yunqi could manage to eat the dishes Lu Zhao made once or twice, but if she had to eat them every day, she wouldn’t be able to take it.

“Can’t you have a little faith in your man? I just started learning! After I cook a few more times and get the hang of it, it’ll taste better, okay? The food today wasn’t bad either. You have to give me some room to improve!”

Lu Zhao, annoyed, immediately picked up Su Yunqi and held her in his arms, then playfully roughed up her little face, turning it pink.

Su Yunqi thought to herself, By the time you learn to cook, I’ll probably have food poisoning.

Yes, Su Yunqi recalled the scenario in her mind: it was the same story again.

Lu Zhao was insistent on learning to cook, and Su Yunqi, lazy and delicate, thought that since he wanted to learn, she let him take over while she reaped the benefits.

But one time, Lu Zhao failed to cook the green beans properly, and Su Yunqi, who loved green beans, ended up with food poisoning and had to be rushed to the hospital for IV fluids.

She ate so much of it that she was lucky to be sent to the hospital quickly; otherwise, things could have turned much worse.

After all the trouble, Su Yunqi had an epiphany and finally decided to learn to cook herself.

Perhaps adversity really does lead to growth—within just two days, Su Yunqi had mastered five major dishes, successfully managing daily meals that were healthy and reassured both of them and their families.

If she guessed right, Lu Zhao was probably going to make stir-fried green beans the next day. In the end, she would have to learn to cook anyway, so she might as well skip the food poisoning step!

Su Yunqi shed a bitter tear for her past self in the imagined scenario, then asked with a clear and precise tone. “If I give you the chance, what dish are you planning to make tomorrow?”