The Onion-Cutting Ninja's Secret Crush

35 About to Shake the President's Hand?

The next morning, Qian Huang woke up, turned onto his stomach, and pulled his pillow over his head. Then, he gave a groan. Usually, his first action of the day would be to take his smartphone and check for any news. Maybe he would even go and respond to a few comments. But even though Xiao Ming had already cheered them up a little yesterday, he still didn't feel like taking the chance of seeing something bad. Who wanted to be scolded by the masses? Most likely, there would still be enough idiots who had only seen Misses Youya's blog post and not been in the live stream to find out what the actual viewers had to say to that.

He continued to lie there for a moment but finally, couldn't fall asleep again and also didn't know what else to do, so he threw the pillow to the side with a sigh and then got up. He rubbed his forehead, raked a hand through his hair, and then grabbed his clothes before stumbling into the bathroom. He didn't even bother to take his phone with him and just left it where it had been.

When he came out, he directly went for the kitchen, only to stop in the doorway. "Why are you already up? And why are you cooking again?"

Xiao Ming looked up from the pot he had been stirring in and gave Qian Huang a wide smile. "Morning!"

Qian Huang's brows twitched but he still went and sat down at the counter. Propping his elbows up on it and holding his cheek with his hand, he stared at Xiao Ming. "I can't believe you're for real. Something like that happened just yesterday and you're already back to this. Will you never worry about anything?"

Xiao Ming just continued to stir but there was a thoughtful expression on his face. "It's not that I don't worry. It's just that ... I'll worry about different things than you. You know, I can see where you're coming from. Me worrying about it won't help, right?

"You know, when we got the invitation for 'Golden Spoon', I was worried. Because thinking about it, it was something completely new. Something I had never done before. I didn't know if it was something that I would be good at or if I would fail completely. I know how to cook but I have never been a judge. And I've also never been that much in the eye of the public. That is ... daunting. I admit to that.

"But now ... I'm just cooking. It's the same as usual. What somebody else says ... I don't think it should have that much of an impact on what I do. I should just go on as usual. Whatever she says she believes or others believe, it won't change that I'm able to cook. It hurts a bit that strangers would just judge without knowing me but, at the end of the day, it's not important, is it? They don't know me, I don't know them. That's what I've come to realize through all this. So, let's just focus on us."

Qian Huang lowered his hand and nodded. "If you can see it like that, let's do that. I swear I won't bring it up again."

Xiao Ming nodded and then pulled out a spoon, dipping it into the pot, and having a taste. Nothing changed in his expression when he took a second one and then held it in front of Qian Huang. "You give it a taste!"

Qian Huang naturally didn't need to be told twice. He took the spoon and eagerly swallowed the bite he had been offered right down. His expression turned into a surprised one. "It's sweet." He hadn't expected that for breakfast.

Xiao Ming smiled, his eyes curving up into little crescents. "Isn't it? I thought you would like it!"

Qian Huang smiled and nodded. "Is it marmalade?" It definitely tasted like it.

Xiao Ming nodded and took the spoon back, throwing it into the sink. "It is. I want to use it as an ingredient for another dish though. But this should be enough for us to fill a few glasses with as well if you like it."

Qian Huang's smile immediately turned into a wolfish grin. "I definitely won't complain about that."

Xiao Ming chuckled and then went back to cooking. "Do you want me to make you something for breakfast right now or do you want to wait until Li Shui gets up?"