Chapter 462: The Day Finally Arrives (2)

Looking at Zero quietly holding the bouquet, he stared at it with a look of surprise from the bottom of his heart.

As a lover, it is really gratifying that the other person will think of you when seeing the gift you gave. However, since he has never given flowers to others, Zhuo still feels itchy and a little embarrassed. As the one giving the gift, he couldn't help scratching his cheek.

"...As long as you like it. Um, I'll go prepare the dinner I just made. I won't bother you today."

Using the excuse that the birthday celebration was not over yet, Zhuo stood up, while Ling, still holding the bouquet, watched him walk into the kitchen.

……

Although the distance was only a few meters, Zhuo, who had distanced himself from Ling, was able to suppress his emotions. Then, he plated the dishes that had been prepared in advance and brought them to the dining table one by one.

Through the smell, Ling had already vaguely guessed what the dishes would be today. It would be difficult to give her a sense of freshness and surprise. After all, Zhuo's cooking skills were completely learned from Ling, so even if he wanted to prepare dishes she had never seen before, it would be impossible. However, after all, it was made to celebrate and comfort her, so it would be better to follow the taste she was familiar with.

Zhuo mainly chooses Japanese cuisine, which is lighter than fancy Western food and oily Chinese food. The reason for this choice is that Ling doesn't like food with strong flavors or novel flavors.

"Although it's a little inferior to the one on my birthday, it took a lot of effort to prepare. I hope I won't mess it up."

Thinking of this, he returned to the living room, smiled at Ling who was sitting at the dining table, and sat down in his usual seat.

Although his cooking skills are far inferior to Ling's, in order to make Ling as happy as possible, Zhuo filled the dining table with dishes he thought Ling would like.

Ling eats everything and doesn't particularly dislike any food, but she still has some preferences for flavors. Generally speaking, she prefers light and elegant flavors, or more precisely, dishes that are slightly less salty and can fully showcase the flavor of the ingredients and the flavor of the soup.

It is more difficult to bring out the original flavor of the ingredients than in seasoning dishes.

Zhuo knew how to cook in his previous life because he lived alone, but it was easier to adjust the flower-growing dishes. After all, even things like crayfish and konjac could be cooked with seasonings... Zhuo still remembered that someone cooked with bullet shells. But light dishes could not be cooked like this.

Under the influence of Ling, Zhuo also learned a lot of knowledge from Ling that he did not understand before. For example, he discovered that the original flavor of the ingredients is different from preserving the original flavor of the ingredients. Each has its own cooking techniques and seasoning methods.

Therefore, Zhuo still has a long way to go before he can master Zero's favorite taste.

(It would be nice if I could master it perfectly in the future)
As a partner, Zhuo couldn't even cook what the person he liked liked. Zhuo couldn't help but feel ashamed. What's more, the food made by Ling perfectly hit Zhuo's preferences.

Although he did a decent job, there was still a lot of room for improvement. Zhuo sighed for his shortcomings, while Ling watched Zhuo's expression intently.

"……tastes good."

Ling gracefully brought the bowl to her mouth and drank the broth quietly. Then she let out a breath and her eyes were fixed on Zhuo.

Even a bowl of soup stock was carefully brewed from scratch by Zhuo strictly following Zero's teachings, so the final taste should be to Zero's liking.

Reality did not betray Zhuo's expectations. Ling continued to taste other dishes with a gentle look in his eyes.

"Thank goodness, it looks like nothing went wrong. To be honest, if it wasn't to your taste, I really don't know what I would do."

"Although I usually point out problems in Zhuo's cooking, I don't think I've ever complained to him."

"No, I know that. But that's different from worrying about whether I can satisfy you."

Zhuo was muttering to himself as he used chopsticks to break open the stuffed radish and shrimp balls. For some reason, he heard a faint voice behind his ear saying, "Zhuo has grown to this point."

Observing that Ling seemed to be thinking silently because of some troubles, Zhuo thought that he could roughly guess what she was worried about. After all, a person's character is formed from childhood, and it is difficult to change one's nature - of course, Zhuo would not think this is a bad thing.

Zhuo looked at Ling who was absent-mindedly thinking about something again and said.

"Anyway, after three years of observing you from such a close distance, I have learned something even if I am a nobody. Although I am still far from your level, there is no way I can catch up with you."

"..." Ling turned his head and seemed to be touched by his words. The trouble in his eyes disappeared. "I understand. Zhuo is not allowed to enter the kitchen anymore."

"..."

Zhuo opened his mouth and then closed it again. His original intention was to tell Ling that even if he learned how to cook now, he was still far inferior to her and that he would always need her by his side. He didn't know why it was misinterpreted to mean this.

However, seeing that Ling was relieved and continued to eat, Zhuo had no choice but to bury these complaints in his heart. Seeing that she had completely run out of ideas and focused her mind on this mediocre dinner without any novelty, Zhuo noticed that Ling did not have any dissatisfaction. She did not complain because Zhuo could not do anything to surprise her. In other words, looking at her expression, she could be called satisfied.

Is that enough to satisfy you?

"Hehe, even if I'm not allowed to watch it and I can't catch up in my lifetime, I will still try my best to make the dish that ranks first in Zero's mind. By the way, your dish is already number one in my heart."

"..."

The pair of chopsticks holding the salmon paused, and after a moment of silence, Ling's helpless voice was heard, "...Zhuo likes to say this kind of things more and more", and then they were closed under the control of the slender fingers that were whiter than snow, and the plump red and white salmon was dipped in a little soy sauce and sent into the cherry-red lips.

“It doesn’t matter if you say you got carried away.”

"Ugh……"

Ling's sigh was not out of worry, and her complaints were not reproaches, but meant 'I really can't do anything about you'. Zhuo, who had been with her for such a long time, naturally understood this.

Furthermore, this sentence also contains the embarrassing meaning of "I don't hate it" or even "please don't always do this."

Looking at Zhuo, who could still grin at her even when she blamed and sighed at him, Ling widened her eyes slightly, her lips twitching slightly. She flickered her eyes and looked away as if she was escaping from the dazzling light.

……

"Thank you for the treat." (no intonation)

"I'm sorry for the poor hospitality!!" (Laughing)

The dinner, which was originally limited in portion, was quickly finished by the two of them.

Although Zhuo once suspected that Ling was so slim because he ate too little, the truth was that Ling's appetite was not small, and combined with Zhuo's own appetite, the portion of dinner was roughly equivalent to that of an ordinary family of four.

But even so, if they were to eat a Chinese meal that was mainly "rich" and "full of leftovers", they would definitely not be able to finish it. Because the meals on weekdays were just the right amount, Zhuo also controlled the amount of the dishes without being discovered. Zhuo chose Japanese cuisine not only because of Ling's preferences, but also because Xiaodie's dishes in Japanese cuisine, plus the color, can affect people's judgment of the amount, but Ling didn't seem to notice this.

On the contrary, looking at Zhuo Ling who said he would take care of all the subsequent cleanup, he seemed to be thinking about other things.

"What's wrong."

"...I didn't expect you would change so much for me."

Zhuo forced Ling, the guest of honor, to sit on the sofa and finished cleaning up. When she came back after washing everything, Zhuo expressed her doubts to Ling and received such a sigh from Ling. It seemed that she thought of Zhuo's lazy and unwilling to move before, and thought so sincerely.

There was nothing that could be done about it. After all, she had been a witness to the entire process.

"I can't really say that. I just want to fight for the person I love. You have no right to criticize me for this."

"...That's what I said."

"But, to be honest, I did this because I wanted to do it for you, so it doesn't really count as doing it for you, right?"

In the end, the motivation for his actions was purely self-satisfaction, and Zero never asked for this. Could he really say that he did it "for Zero"? Zhuo was very troubled by this.

"So, all these things are just my unilateral decisions."

"…You're saying that again."

Hearing this, Ling looked up at him, then looked away again with a helpless tone.

She seemed to understand that Zhuo would not give in because of this, and her eyes were complicated, mixed with embarrassment, helplessness, and yet a little happiness.

"I understand. I'm very happy today. I didn't expect..."

"Uh, wait a moment..."

"?"

Ling, who was interrupted, looked over with confusion, but soon he opened his eyes slightly as if he understood. But Zhuo couldn't give in now.

“Although there’s a feeling that it’s almost over, I’m not saying that’s it.”

Although it was impossible to see the expression on Ling's face, her appearance at the moment was enough to let people know her mood at the moment, just like a question mark floating above her expressionless face, or above her head. But for Zhuo, the highlight had just begun.

It would take more than a whole year to decorate the room, prepare the bouquets, and prepare the dinner. In order to make Ling happy, Zhuo ran around with the help of the kind people around him, but he hasn't shown this achievement to Ling yet.

Ling seemed to be satisfied with the changes that Zhuo had undergone because of him, or rather, he was already quite moved. But Zhuo was going to do more than that today. To be more precise, what he was going to do might be enough to break her cold and delicate expressionless face.

"Can you close your eyes again?"

If the eyes were open, the sense of surprise would be half as great, so Zhuo made this request for the second time today. Ling immediately closed his eyes tightly and raised his head.

That look, rather than being able to listen to Zhuo's words and wait obediently, looked more like he was waiting for something to come, mixed with some personal thoughts.

It was obvious that Zero was thinking in that direction. It was really interesting. Zhuo couldn't help but cover her mouth with her hands to hide the corners of her mouth that were about to rise. But Zero couldn't see it, and maybe there was no need to hide it, but Zero's "unauthorized" waiting was really rare and adorable, and it was a scene that she would never see with her eyes open.

"Sorry, I wasn't planning on kissing this time."

Because he couldn't bear to shatter her expectations afterward, Zhuo suppressed his smile and whispered in her ear.

Ling's snow-white eyelids suddenly opened, and his azure blue pupils also appeared, focusing on Zhuo.

Then, Ling understood very well and suddenly clenched his fists that were on the sofa on both sides of his body. It was both cute and looked like he was going to hit someone. He stared at him without saying a word.

Being looked at in such a cute manner by Zero who wanted to kill people with his eyes as a weapon, Zhuo almost couldn't help laughing out loud again. He had to bite the inside of his cheek and endure it. Otherwise, if he showed this on his face, Zero's small but powerful fist would really fall on him.

“Please spare me, Your Highness, please spare me… I want to show you something else, so I asked you to close your eyes.”

"..."

"Sorry."

"…Say it earlier."

Ling, who was even colder than usual, turned his face away and closed his eyes. Then, Zhuo gently put his lips on the pink and tender face that was as delicious as a peach in front of him.

Since they had done it many times, Ling seemed to be able to distinguish it by body temperature and touch. She opened her eyes and was stunned for a moment. "Keep your eyes closed," Zhuo said with a smile, and then Ling's throat trembled but no sound came out.

"This can also be considered a surprise." After adding a surprise that was not originally planned, Zhuo walked towards the kitchen with satisfaction.

The reason why Zhuo prepared dinner and took on all the work himself when Ling wanted to help clean up was to prevent Ling from getting close to the refrigerator.

Zhuo took out the dish he had prepared over the past few weeks from the box along with the plate, and held it steadily in both hands.

Zhuo carefully and slowly placed the plate on the low table.

Sensing Zhuo's return from his voice and breath, Ling turned his face towards him. Seeing this, Zhuo couldn't help but chuckle to himself, looking forward to Ling's reaction later.

"Speak first, I'm not ready yet."

"The preparations are not over yet." Zhuo whispered, took out a candle that was thinner and more colorful than ordinary candles, and carefully inserted it into the white cream.

One... Although she looks between a little girl and a young girl, Zero is actually not young anymore. If you really want to be picky, the candles should almost cover the entire cake, which is inappropriate no matter how you think about it.

In the end, there was only one candle on the cake, but the matter was done, and after reflecting on his own shortcomings, Zhuo still lit the candle with a lighter.

(End of this chapter)