253: Chapter 253 Dinner

"I didn't realize you had this skill in you."

"Mm... I know a master chef who's an expert at cooking; he taught me a few tricks."

"Ooh... Is this some kind of secret family technique?"

"It's not as grand as a family legacy. Usually, those are martial arts, military strategy, or politics. While family culinary secrets exist, they're quite rare—at least in my experience."

"Wow, you Eastern Radiance people really do hide the good stuff."

"Heh," Li Ming scoffed suddenly. "The truly good things were either taken or destroyed by you people."

"Uh..." Ushakov shrank back; that remark had truly caught her off guard.

There was simply no way to respond to that!

Of course, Li Ming didn't intend to pursue the topic. He skillfully lit the stove and began heating the oil.

Speaking of which, what was Uncle Wang doing now? He suddenly thought of Wang Yuan; that middle-aged man carried quite a heavy burden...

"Achoo!"

Oronia, Longchuan Workshop.

Wang Yuan was studying the contract from the Hurricane Chamber of Commerce when he suddenly sneezed for no reason.

He looked around in confusion. It wasn't cold in the room; could he have been hexed?

Due to the passage of time, by the time the focus returned to Li Ming, he had already finished plating his first dish and was preparing to clean the pan for the second.

"Suka, it smells amazing."

Ushakov picked up a fork and reached for the eggplant Li Ming had stir-fried.

"Chopsticks... never mind." Li Ming was about to remind her, but then he gave up on the idea.

After all, there weren't any chopsticks here to begin with.

The eggplant entered her mouth.

"Mmm? Mmm-hmm! It's salty..."

"It's supposed to be salty..." Li Ming hesitated. "Did I put in too much salt?"

"It's fine... Kuzya!" Ushakov shouted.

"What is it?"

From outside the door came the Marshal's characteristically flat and somewhat cold tone.

"Kuzya, come try this. See if it's too salty," Ushakov said.

"Tch... coming."

She rose from her rocking chair and slowly walked into the kitchen.

She first looked at Li Ming, who was reheating the pan. His gaze flickered toward her as if he thought his observation was discreet.

In truth, she had heard his entire conversation with Ushakov, and she hadn't missed the aroma wafting from the kitchen either.

Her curiosity had been piqued; she was just waiting for someone to call her.

"What's wrong?"

"Come and have a taste." Ushakov held a fork to her lips. "How does it taste?"

After a moment's hesitation, she opened her mouth and ate.

"Mm..." Kuznetsov began to chew.

"How is it? How is it?" Ushakov asked.

Kuznetsov swallowed. "Not bad."

"If it's delicious, just say so. Why say 'not bad'?" Ushakov patted her on the shoulder.

Li Ming shrugged and continued his work, but he seemed a bit more lighthearted.

Kuznetsov blinked. "What do you think?"

"Me?" Ushakov was a bit surprised. "I think it's quite good."

"If it's delicious, just say so. Why say 'quite good'?"

"Uh, ahaha..." Ushakov was taken aback, then she burst out laughing. "Kuzya, you haven't been this happy in a long time."

"Huh?"

Only then did she realize that, at some point, the corners of her mouth had curled upward.

"I am not. You saw wrong."

"How could I?"

"You saw wrong." Kuznetsov looked at her expressionlessly. "You saw wrong."

"Mhm, right, right. I saw wrong. Pfft..." Ushakov stifled a laugh.

"Admiral Ushakov." Kuznetsov remained expressionless.

"Gulp, my mistake." Ushakov immediately backed down.

Kuznetsov gave a small huff and slowly left the kitchen. "Just call me when it's done."

She's clearly looking forward to it! Ushakov grumbled internally.

Li Ming said nothing, just focusing on his own tasks.

In the blink of an eye, Kuznetsov saw that the little brat had already finished three dishes and a soup. He and Ushakov were standing in front of her, pointing and whispering.

"What are you two doing?"

"Nothing, mm, nothing. Hehehe..." Ushakov left while stifling her laughter.

Kuznetsov looked at Li Ming.

"It's time to eat," Li Ming simply said.

She sat up, only then belatedly realizing that something about her seemed to have changed.

There was a cooling patch on her forehead with a little cat face drawn on it.

Incidentally, there was also a cat-ear headband on her head.

She took off the headband and the cooling patch.

"U-sha-kov..."

"It wasn't me!" Ushakov quickly raised her hands in surrender. "These are all Li Ming's!"

Kuznetsov tilted her head, looking at Li Ming expressionlessly.

"She said she wanted to see... how 'Little Kuku' would react to being dressed up like this," Li Ming replied, just as expressionlessly, selling out Ushakov without hesitation.

Lit-tle Ku-ku?

"Li Ming! How could you... Marshal! Boss! I'm sorry!"

Kuznetsov tilted her head and looked at her, seemingly deep in thought.

Ushakov took two steps back and turned to run.

In the next instant, a rocking chair was hurled at a speed Li Ming couldn't even track, slamming into Ushakov. It carried her through the bathroom door, embedding her into the wall inside.

Looks like I'll have to buy a new rocking chair tomorrow, Li Ming thought.

He shook his head. "It's getting cold. Come and sit down for dinner."

The formidable Marshal shot him a glare but sat down obediently.

Since there was no rice—it seemed Europe didn't have a habit of eating rice—the staple was still black bread. However, Li Ming had prepared a soup, following his self-proclaimed father's style of eating in the Northeast.

Seaweed and Egg Drop Soup, kid.

The seaweed was a pre-packaged product; one couldn't expect Li Ming to conjure it out of thin air.

A standard meal of three dishes and one soup: Stir-fried Eggplant, Tomato and Scrambled Eggs, and Stir-fried Potatoes with Meat.

No one here was Halal, so it was naturally pork.

"There are no chopsticks." Li Ming prepared three bowls. "We'll have to make do with spoons and forks."

He pried Ushakov out of the wall, tossed her onto a chair at the dining table, and then sat down himself.

Seeing the look of bliss on Ushakov's face, Li Ming began to wonder if she was a masochist. How could she feel so good after being taught a lesson?

Kuznetsov ignored the two of them. She gestured at the tomato and eggs with her fork, then looked at the potatoes and meat before pulling back and staring at the fork in her hand.

This... was a bit difficult.

But seeing Li Ming skillfully use a spoon and fork to gather the food into his bowl, she swallowed her words and chose to engage in a fierce struggle with her dinner alone...

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