Jiang Ning was surprised — the other party used to be a SWAT officer, so she felt like she couldn’t really show off her skills here.

But that wasn’t her personality. To improve herself, she had to spar with the big shots. “Alright then.”

In fact, Zheng Weili had long wanted to challenge him but never found the opportunity to bring it up. Unexpectedly, it came to her like this.

After the greetings, Jiang Ning didn’t hold back and started throwing punches to spar with him.

Like a fearless rookie, she struck fiercely.

But in front of Jiang Ning, Huo Yishen was like a master-level expert, skillfully using minimal force to counter much stronger attacks.

No matter how fast and hard she moved, he could always easily dodge and counterattack, putting Jiang Ning in a bit of an awkward position.

Having survived three years in the apocalypse and possessing a stubborn, never-give-up personality, Jiang Ning’s competitive spirit was fully triggered. Her moves became less orthodox.

All her vicious moves were self-taught, rough and unrefined, but especially effective for fighting enemies in the apocalypse.

Kele saw the fight and immediately took sides to protect her owner. Suddenly, the dog pounced from behind and bit onto Huo Yishen’s clothes, pulling him back.

A move like the “Monkey Steals the Peach”…

Because of Kele’s interference, Huo Yishen didn’t dodge in time and got “hit”!

His body instantly stiffened, and his handsome, cold face flushed red.

Jiang Ning was equally shocked. Falling into the nightmare of being cornered in the apocalypse, she instantly unleashed a ruthless and underhanded move out of sheer desperation.

A hit landed!

The air suddenly went silent, and the atmosphere turned eerily tense.

She quickly withdrew her hand and stepped back awkwardly, avoiding his gaze. “Sorry.”

Huo Yishen was silent for a while before saying, “Well done. Just don’t use it on me next time.”

He had dodged, but not completely.

That kind of pain was indescribable.

Jiang Ning was embarrassed, scraping her toe on the ground. That move really was effective — in her past life, she had used such underhanded tactics to escape several ambushes and even successfully counterattacked.

She just didn’t expect to lose her focus and use it on Huo Yishen.

Kele, the one who had taken sides, was also stunned. Why stop fighting now?

Huo Yishen stepped out of the living room and called from the doorway, “Kele.”

Kele cocked its head, looked at Jiang Ning, and only left after getting permission from its owner, carrying its food bowl.

“You did well just now. If you meet bad guys, you have to protect your owner.”

Huo Yishen patted its head approvingly. “But I’m not a bad guy — I’m your teammate…”

Listening to the conversation from outside, Jiang Ning’s face turned red as she covered it. How would they meet again after this?

Huo Yishen said nothing else and handed over Dou Dou.

After teaching her, he left and Jiang Ning noticed his door was locked — he had taken the dog out.

Coincidentally, Grandma Zhong came up for treatment, so Jiang Ning let Dou Dou stay inside to play.

Halfway through the acupuncture, Huo Yishen came back with Kele, holding a bundle of bamboo.

There were outsiders around, so he didn’t greet anyone, just entered the room with a dark expression — probably still angry.

After sending Grandma Zhong off, Huo Yishen came over to take Dou Dou, carrying a black plastic bag. “Caught by Kele.”

Jiang Ning opened the bag and found a three- or four-pound grass carp.

There were many mulberry fish ponds in the outskirts of Fengcheng; it wasn’t strange to have fish after the floods. The impressive part was that Kele actually managed to catch one.

This guy was getting more and more amazing.

“Do you like pickled fish or spicy boiled fish?”

Jiang Ning wanted to apologize for her recklessness earlier. “I — I didn’t mean to, sorry.”

If she hadn’t said anything, Huo Yishen’s face would have stayed red, looking very awkward. “It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

After a moment’s pause, he added, “Dou Dou and Kele can’t eat spicy food, so pickled fish is better.”

Learning about Kele’s prowess, Zhang Chao and the others gave thumbs up. “Awesome dog! From now on, whether it’s soup or meat, we’re counting on Kele.”

Kele was proud. “Woof!”

They hadn’t had a group meal in a few days. Huo Yishen’s cooking skills were poor, so he brought out three pounds of pork belly.

They couldn’t keep cooking in room 1803 because the smell would attract attention.

Jiang Ning couldn’t cook there either, so they moved the “base” to room 1801.

To show her sincerity in apologizing, Jiang Ning not only cooked personally but also brought pickled vegetables and bean sprouts.

Slicing the fish fillets was a bit of a test for her knife skills, but it wasn’t difficult for her, and no one else would complain.

This was fresh fish — who could even eat fresh fish nowadays?

As expected, Kele was praised to unprecedented heights. Zhang Chao and Lu Yu even wanted to worship it. “Let’s take Kele out for walks more often. Maybe it can keep catching fish.”

Jiang Ning didn’t agree — just the two of them? They’d probably need the dog’s protection.

Life outside was rough. If they saw Kele, wouldn’t their eyes light up with greed?

Kele was very excited and wagged its tail at the mention of going out.

Jiang Ning focused on slicing the fish while Huo Yishen washed the pork belly beside her. “Dou Dou loves pork belly. Last time I didn’t cook it well and she had an upset stomach. I’ll do it this time. Can you teach me while I watch?”

“Sure, no problem.”

She was also curious about Huo Yishen’s cooking disasters; this wasn’t the first time Dou Dou had an upset stomach.

After finishing the fish fillets, she cleaned the cutting board and handed him the knife. He was pondering how to start.

“Cut horizontally into mahjong tile-sized pieces.”

With that instruction, the work became easier, and he chopped quickly.

Despite his poor cooking skills, he had all the seasonings: garlic and old ginger. Jiang Ning patiently guided him.

Zheng Weili wanted to come in to help but saw the harmonious scene in the kitchen. Thinking about how they had swapped childcare duties, she sensed something was brewing.

It wasn’t just her being sensitive — Huo Yishen was usually very cold to everyone except Jiang Ning, and he was even more attentive to Kele.

So she wisely didn’t go in to disturb them.

After cutting the pork belly and rinsing off the blood, they boiled it and drained it. Then they stir-fried the meat until slightly yellow.

Jiang Ning stood nearby giving pointers and noticed Huo Yishen looked nervous holding the spatula. She wondered, how could he kill people but not be afraid of cooking?

Seeing her surprise, Huo Yishen explained, “When I was young, I was mischievous and rushed into the kitchen to help. Hot oil spilled on my arm, and I never went back since. I only learned to cook after bringing Dou Dou here.”

No wonder his cooking was so bad — he had a psychological trauma.

After caramelizing the sugar, they added cinnamon, star anise, and chili peppers, then poured in cooking wine and soy sauce, brought it to a boil, and simmered on low heat.

Thinking about the awkwardness earlier, Jiang Ning not only taught him how to cook pork belly but also shared recipes for some other home dishes.

Huo Yishen listened carefully, but then Dou Dou came to spoil things. “Brother can’t remember. He even messed up following the recipe.”

Huo Yishen was speechless.

Dou Dou clung to Jiang Ning, “Sister’s cooking is really delicious. Brother and I want to eat your food every day.”

Huo Yishen stroked her head, “Brother will learn.”

He really had no talent for cooking and found it hard to understand vague instructions like “a little” or “an appropriate amount” in recipes.

“Dou Dou has become much livelier lately, thanks to you.”

After sending his sister off to play with the dog, Huo Yishen asked Jiang Ning, “I can’t cook or take care of kids. Is there anything I should pay attention to with Dou Dou? You can tell me.”

Jiang Ning had wanted to say some things for a while but held back because they weren’t that close. Since he asked, she didn’t hide it anymore: “Dou Dou is fine in most ways, but she might have some personality issues.”