92: Chapter 92 Household chores! I can do a little bit, it's nothing, nothing at all!

Second floor.

Walk-in closet.

Xia Ning stood in front of the mirror, looking at herself in the reflection, her face visibly turning red.

She pressed her lips together tightly.

She knew Qin Xun had seen.

And she knew that Qin Xun knew that she knew he had seen.

But the two of them tacitly avoided acknowledging it, lest the situation become even more awkward.

Xia Ning subconsciously crossed her arms over her chest, but... this ended up pushing out an exaggerated curve, almost bursting out of her top.

She pulled her hands away as if electrocuted, her heart pounding wildly.

"Too scary!"

After calming down for a long while.

Xia Ning began to pick and choose from her closet.

From a pile of pajamas, she set aside those that were backless, low-cut, revealing of her legs, sheer, or lace-up, and picked the most conservative pair.

She was just reserved by nature, not a prude.

As a woman, she was willing to try any beautiful clothing, regardless of the style.

Usually, there were no men here, so she dressed however she felt comfortable, but today, an uninvited guest had intruded.

Xia Ning sighed and began to slowly take off her clothes, preparing to change into her pajamas.

Suddenly.

Qin Xun's voice came from downstairs, muffled through the door.

"Little Xia, where is the... fish...?"

Xia Ning shouted back loudly.

"In the fish tank in the kitchen!"

She had loved eating fish since she was a child, especially fresh, live-caught fish.

After her father bought her this villa, he had partitioned a room off the large kitchen and set up several fish tanks, keeping fish and shrimp there year-round.

It was convenient for the nanny to prepare live fish.

You could see it by pushing open the innermost door of the kitchen.

A muffled voice came from outside the door again.

"What?"

Xia Ning was already half-undressed and couldn't open the door, so she had to strain her voice and shout.

"In the fish tank!"

Outside the door.

"Got it!"

...

Downstairs, in the living room.

Qin Xun stood before the fish tank in the living room, looking at the blood-red, gracefully swimming Arowana, and sighed.

"Who told you to be so precious!"

"At only 20 yuan a jin, you've reached the end of your life!"

Just now, he had wandered around downstairs and found the kitchen, feeling a bit shocked by the size of the large kitchen, and then searched the refrigerator for a long time.

He found many high-quality ingredients, but there was just no fish.

That was why he had called out to Xia Ning upstairs.

Qin Xun looked at the leisurely swimming Arowana in the fish tank.

"So this little poor thing was kept here."

He circled the fish tank, studying it for quite a while, before he finally lifted the lid, grabbed the slippery fish with a ruthless iron grip, and walked into the kitchen with a swagger.

...

Xia Ning had changed into a set of pure black pajamas and looked left and right in the mirror, turning around and even bending over to check, confirming that there was no risk of a wardrobe malfunction.

Only then did she walk downstairs, hearing movement in the kitchen.

When she walked into the kitchen to look.

She saw Qin Xun wearing an apron, having already processed the fish and arranged it on a plate on the counter, and she couldn't help but be startled.

So fast?

Although she hadn't cooked before, she knew that gutting, scaling, filleting, and marinating a fish took a lot of effort.

Usually, only the masters at large supermarkets who killed fish all day until they were numb had this kind of skill.

Xia Ning walked in quietly and stood behind Qin Xun to watch him cook, her mouth gradually opening in surprise.

She saw Qin Xun skillfully add oil, sear the fish bones, pour in boiling water, and boil it into a pot of milky white fish soup.

Five minutes later, he ladled the fish soup into a basin and set it aside.

He blanched the bean sprouts and wood ear mushrooms.

Then he heated the pot with oil, added scallions, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, numbing peppercorns, and bean paste.

He stir-fried it over low heat until fragrant.

Then he poured the fish soup back in.

He seasoned it.

He added the fish fillets.

After ladling it out, he sprinkled on scallions and minced garlic, and poured a spoonful of hot oil over it.

The entire process was done in one smooth motion.

...

Smelling the enticing aroma, Xia Ning clapped gently.

"Impressive, impressive!"

Qin Xun turned around and saw the look of disbelief on Xia Ning's face.

Xia Ning asked.

"How are you so good at cooking?"

Qin Xun puffed out his chest, carrying the basin as he walked out.

"I remember I said before, ever since I was a child, my mother told me that children of poor families take on responsibilities early."

"Household chores, I can do a little bit."

"It's not worth mentioning, really not worth mentioning."

Xia Ning: "..."

...

He brought the boiled fish to the dining room and placed it on the table.

Xia Ning sat down, looking at the steaming hot boiled fish, a smile appearing on her face.

But suddenly, she saw Qin Xun looking at her with a look of surprise.

"What's wrong?"

Xia Ning was a bit nervous, fearing that he had seen a wardrobe malfunction from some special angle again.

She saw Qin Xun's gaze slowly fall onto her hands.

Xia Ning looked down at her hands, found nothing wrong, raised her head, and asked with some confusion.

"What exactly is wrong?"

She saw Qin Xun raise an eyebrow.

"Where are the bowls and chopsticks?"

Xia Ning: "..."

She didn't have the habit of setting the table, felt a bit embarrassed, stood up, and went to the kitchen to bring back two sets of bowls and chopsticks.

She placed one set in front of Qin Xun.

Xia Ning sat down, and seeing that Qin Xun had already started, she picked up her chopsticks, picked up a piece of fish, and put it into her mouth.

The fish was fragrant, bouncy, and smooth.

The flavor was rich.

She couldn't help but squint her eyes, chewed carefully through one piece, spat the fish bone onto the bone dish, and then looked at Qin Xun, praising him.

"Delicious!"

After saying that, she felt this evaluation wasn't enough, and increased her volume slightly.

"It's really, really delicious!"

She picked up another piece, finished eating it carefully, and couldn't help but shake her head in admiration.

"How can it be this delicious?"

"Where did you learn your culinary skills?"

Qin Xun smiled, not as elegant or careful as Xia Ning, and with fish in his mouth, said.

"When I was slacking off at work, didn't I watch a lot of cooking videos?"

"If you watch enough, you naturally learn it."

Xia Ning: "..."

She suddenly felt that the fish didn't taste quite as fragrant anymore.

Then, she picked up another piece and put it in her mouth, squinting her eyes.

After finishing this piece.

She sighed with some regret.

"It's a pity, there's no rice."

She saw Qin Xun immediately put down his chopsticks.

"Little Xia, wait for me a moment."

Xia Ning watched Qin Xun stand up, turn around, walk through the living room, and head out the front door; she immediately thought of something, her expression changed slightly, and she hurriedly shouted loudly.

"Qin Xun, there's no need for that!"

She saw Qin Xun stop in his tracks, turn around, and smile.

"That takeout, although the fish was cooked like trash—probably a trainee's practice work—the rice was actually quite good."

Xia Ning waved her hands repeatedly.

"No, no!"

She couldn't bring herself to eat rice picked out of the trash can.

Qin Xun walked back, lowered his head, and ate silently.

Suddenly, she heard Xia Ning say.

"Qin Xun, we've secured that ten-million-yuan contract from Dudu Tea."

He looked up and saw that there was no change on Xia Ning's face.

"The chairman of Dudu Tea cursed your shop to close down, so you let him go out of business yourself; why bother taking this contract?"

She saw Xia Ning lower her head, pick up a piece of fish, put it in her mouth, and say indistinctly.

"I'm not angry because he cursed my shop to close down, but because he looked down on my ability."

She kept her head down, her tone deepening.

"I just want to prove my ability."

Qin Xun shook his head, not quite understanding this woman's somewhat saint-like line of thinking.

If someone looks down on you, just destroy them!

What else do you need to prove to him?

Xia Ning seemed to notice something, looked at Qin Xun, her face looking a bit troubled, and said with a bashful tone.

"Actually... I have an ulterior motive."