20: Chapter 20: Using Physics to Teach Cooking, the Soldier King's Neighbor Blocks the Door to Investigate His Household Registration!

Su Che felt his cheeks burning, and quickly turned his head, pretending to look at the tracked suspension system in the corner that he hadn't had time to study yet.

"Ahem, that... I can do it myself."

Lin Waner looked at his bright red ears and couldn't help but laugh again.

"Don't move. Your face looks like a little tabby cat, and you can't even see it yourself."

There was an irresistible magic in her gentle voice.

The warm tissue pressed against his cheek again, wiping it carefully.

After wiping his face, Lin Waner seemed to realize something; her face turned red, and she quickly pulled her hand back, crumpling the tissue into a ball.

"All done."

She lowered her head and turned to untie the vegetable basket.

"I... I bought some groceries. Seeing you messing around in the studio every day, I'm sure you haven't been eating properly."

"Teacher Lin, you're too kind. You really don't have to."

"Just consider it... a thank you on behalf of the children."

Lin Waner rolled up her sleeves, revealing a forearm as fair as a lotus root.

"Let me cook. Do you have a kitchen here?"

"Yes, it's over there."

Su Che pointed to the kitchen on the other side of the courtyard.

Lin Waner carried the basket over. As she bent over to enter the room, her jeans, hugging her rounded bottom, were stretched tight, looking very bouncy.

Su Che watched her back and, as if possessed, followed her.

The kitchen in Su Family Village was still the old-fashioned earthen stove type, using firewood.

Lin Waner clearly hadn't used this before. She held a match and struck several, but couldn't get the dry wood in the stove to light. Instead, she was choked by the rising black smoke, coughing continuously, and a smudge of black ash got on her fair little face.

"Cough, cough... Why... why won't this light?"

"You packed the wood too tightly; you didn't leave an air intake."

Su Che took the matches from her hand, rearranged the firewood in the stove to create space, and then lit it.

The flames whooshed up instantly.

"You know about this too?"

Lin Waner looked at him, her eyes filled with stars.

"Basic principles of thermodynamics and aerodynamics."

Su Che explained solemnly.

Lin Waner: "..."

She decided not to talk science with this straight man.

The fire was lit, and Lin Waner began to wash and chop the vegetables.

She clearly didn't cook often; the potatoes were chopped as if gnawed by a dog, some big and some small.

Su Che, standing to the side, really couldn't watch anymore.

"Teacher Lin, if you cut them like that, they won't cook evenly."

"The thick ones won't be cooked yet, and the thin ones will turn to mush. In terms of heat transfer efficiency, this isn't scientific."

As he spoke, he took the kitchen knife from Lin Waner's hand.

"Let me demonstrate what standard operating procedure is."

Su Che's hands moved quickly, and one could only hear a dense sound of "thud, thud, thud."

In less than half a minute, a potato in his hands had turned into a pile of potato slices that were perfectly uniform in size and thickness.

Lin Waner stood by, completely dumbfounded.

"You... you're even this good at cooking?"

"This is called dimensionality reduction strike."

Su Che said, coolly showing off.

The two of them, one tending the fire and the other manning the spatula, cooperated quite well in the smoky kitchen.

Su Pingan returned after delivering the oranges. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he smelled the aroma of food.

He poked his head into the kitchen and saw Lin Waner, blushing, handing a plate to Su Che, while his own brat was tossing the big ladle, stir-frying happily.

Su Pingan's eyes lit up instantly.

He quickly retreated to the courtyard, ran to the well, washed the dust off his face and hands, took off his oil-stained jacket, and changed into a blue Zhongshan suit that he only wore during the Lunar New Year.

Only then did he walk slowly into the kitchen with his hands behind his back.

"Oh my! Isn't this Teacher Lin!"

"What wind blew you here!"

Su Pingan smiled until his face was full of wrinkles, like a blooming old chrysanthemum.

"Hello, Uncle Su."

Lin Waner felt a bit embarrassed by his gaze.

"This... I came to thank Su Che, and by the way... cook a simple meal."

"Oh! How could I let you do the work!"

Su Pingan was polite with his words, but his eyes kept darting toward Su Che, as if saying: Good lad! You've got it!

The meal was soon ready.

A plate of stir-fried garlic sprouts with cured meat, a plate of sour and spicy shredded potatoes, and a green vegetable and tofu soup.

The three of them sat around the small square table in the courtyard.

Su Pingan enthusiastically picked up a piece of cured meat for Lin Waner with his chopsticks.

"Teacher Lin, try this! We smoked this ourselves; you can't get this in the city!"

"Thank you, Uncle Su."

"Teacher Lin..."

Su Pingan rubbed his hands together and began his long-planned "census check."

"How old are you? Do you have a partner?"

"Pfft—"

The soup Su Che had just taken into his mouth sprayed out directly.

"Dad! What are you asking blindly! Eat your food!"

"I'm just chatting with Teacher Lin. What business is it of yours!"

Su Pingan glared at his son, then looked at Lin Waner with a beaming smile.

Lin Waner's face was red to the roots of her ears; she clutched her chopsticks, lowered her head, and said softly.

"I... I'm twenty-four, and I don't... don't have a partner yet."

"Oh! That's great!"

Su Pingan slapped his thigh.

"Look at our Su Che. Although he was expelled from school, his brain is sharp! And he's honest! Since his mother passed away, he's always lacked someone to keep him in check..."

"Dad!"

Su Che felt he had lost all face and wished he could crawl into a crack in the ground.

"If you keep spouting nonsense, I'm going to take the tires off your car!"

Just in this awkward and funny atmosphere, the courtyard gate was pushed open.

Captain Li Jun's unchanging ice-cold face appeared at the door.

He didn't look at Su Che, nor did he look at Su Pingan.

His eyes, sharp as a hawk's, went straight over the table and locked firmly onto Lin Waner.

The laughter in the courtyard stopped abruptly.

Captain Li Jun stepped inside and stood by the table.

He looked at Lin Waner, who was blushing and at a loss, his tone flat but carrying an unquestionable command.

"Teacher Lin."

"I need a few minutes of your time."

"There are some things I want to confirm with you privately."