Qin Yuyan's anxious heart finally sank.
"Oh, oh, oh."
Fine.
She thought she could finally beat her brother for once, but she lost again.
Qin Yuyan scooped a handful of celery from the sink and started prepping it—
Peeling the celery, tearing the skin off its surface.
Jiang Yaoxue called out to stop her, "Yanyan, that's not how you prep celery."
Qin Yuyan: "Then how do I do it?"
Jiang Yaoxue picked up a stalk of celery to show her. "Just pluck the leaves off."
"Oh, okay." Qin Yuyan started plucking the celery leaves.
Jiang Yaoxue didn't cook often, but she learned everything quickly, including cooking.
She looked like a pro when cooking, her movements brisk and neat.
Removing the fish bones, scoring the flesh, marinating, deep-frying, and stir-frying the sauce.
Before long, a plate of sweet and sour mandarin fish, perfect in color, aroma, and taste, was ready.
Qin Yuyan looked on with admiration. "Wow, Mom, you cook so well. I want to learn how to cook from you. Men all like women who can cook. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I need to learn this trick to please men."
Jiang Yaoxue's expression suddenly changed, and she abruptly stopped what she was doing. "Yanyan, who told you this?"
Qin Yuyan: "My dad told me. My dad said that only women who know how to please men can make a marriage last, and women who don't even know how to coax their husbands will live unhappy lives forever. My dad also said I should learn more ways to please men in the future."
Qin Hanxiao, that good-for-nothing man who was addicted to smoking and drinking and spent his days and nights messing around with women, was educating his daughter like this.
Jiang Yaoxue's hands balled into fists, her knuckles turning white from the force. Trying hard to suppress her surging emotions, she asked, "Yanyan, do you think that's right?"
Qin Yuyan's little face tightened in deep thought as she replied, "I'm actually skeptical of what Dad said. Because if everyone is equal, and men and women are equal, then why should I have to please men instead of men pleasing me?"
Jiang Yaoxue stroked Qin Yuyan's head and said earnestly, "Yanyan, you can cook for your parents, your husband, your children, and everyone you love, but you must never cook with the intention of pleasing a man. Respect your own wishes. You can refuse to do things you don't want to do, and don't force yourself to do things you can't. Don't try to please anyone. If there is anyone in this world you need to please, that person can only be yourself."
"Yanyan, don't learn those tricks of using seductive glances and soft words to maintain a relationship with a man. That is too flimsy; it cannot support a long life. Go learn a skill, learn medicine, learn things that are helpful to the progress of human development. Only by constantly improving yourself can your life be bright."
"When your world is big enough—big enough to hold your ideals and human progress—you won't need to exchange flattery for love, because you yourself will be the light."
"Yanyan, don't be a dodder flower that clings to men; be an independent red rose with thorns."
Jiang Yaoxue had graduated with a Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School. She was an internationally renowned surgical expert, respectfully known in the medical community as the "Hand of God."
Her words were full of reason and sound advice.
Although seventeen-year-old Qin Yuyan couldn't fully understand these words yet, her misguided values were set straight.
Song Xinya walked over and pinched Qin Yuyan's cheek. "Always love yourself, little one."
Qin Yuyan looked up at Song Xinya, then at Jiang Yaoxue. "I also love Mom, and I love my sister-in-law."
She turned her head to glance at Qin Yuhe. "I don't love my brother. He's always mean to me and calls me stupid."
Song Xinya: "If you don't love him, he won't give you money to spend."
Qin Yuyan: "Then I guess I'll love him."
Qin Yuhe curled his lips into a nonchalant smile. Who cared about this little brat's love anyway.
Song Xinya assisted Jiang Yaoxue, while Qin Yuyan stood aside and was a hindrance.
The little princess mistook sugar for salt and soy sauce for vinegar. She was enthusiastically unhelpful, making a huge fuss.
In the time it took Jiang Yaoxue to turn around and chop some vegetables, she looked back and saw Qin Yuyan pouring half a bag of salt into the pot.
She quickly snatched the salt bag back. "Yanyan, you'd better stop helping Mom cook. Hurry up and go out."
Qin Yuyan: "I can't. It's too hard for Mom to cook all by herself. I can't bear to see you work so hard."
Jiang Yaoxue: "Baby, it's even harder for Mom when you're here."
Qin Yuyan: "Well, alright. I won't help then. I'll just stand aside and watch."
Song Xinya tasted a bite of the spicy stewed ribs from the pot, her pretty eyebrows knitting tightly together. "It's too salty, unbearably so."
Qin Yuyan: "It would be a pity to throw this food away. Wasting food is shameful. I have a good solution."
"Let's make another delicious pot for the three of us to eat, and give this bad pot to my brother."
Qin Yuhe lifted his eyes and shot her a sidelong glance. "Thank you so much."
Qin Yuyan: "You're welcome. It's what a sister should do."
Without the little princess's help, the cooking speed was indeed much faster.
After the corn and chicken wing stew was done, Jiang Yaoxue reached for a plate. Because her hands were oily, her fingers slipped, and the plate fell to the floor. With a crash, the plate shattered into pieces.
The shards scattered around their feet.
Worried that the ceramic shards might hurt Qin Yuyan and Song Xinya, Jiang Yaoxue didn't think much and crouched down to pick up the pieces near their feet.
As her fingers touched a shard, the sharp edge sliced through her skin, and fresh blood welled up.
Qin Yuyan cried out in panic, "Mom, you're hurt!"
Jiang Yaoxue: "It's nothing. Just a small cut. It'll be fine in a few days."
Song Xinya: "I'll go get the first-aid kit."
The moment she reached the kitchen door, she saw Qin Yuhe standing there holding the first-aid kit.
Qin Yuhe walked into the kitchen, opened the first-aid kit, and took out cotton swabs and iodophor to treat Jiang Yaoxue's wound.
His handsome face was cold and serious. "There are servants at home. You shouldn't cook yourself from now on."
Jiang Yaoxue looked at his serious, frosty expression and replied, "It was my momentary carelessness. I didn't hold the plate properly and startled you all. I'm sorry."
Qin Yuhe: "I don't mean to criticize you. I know that as a surgeon, your hands are very important to you. I was worried you'd get hurt."
The joy in Jiang Yaoxue's eyes surged up like a rising tide.
After Qin Yuhe finished disinfecting Jiang Yaoxue's wound, he gently applied a Band-Aid.
"Go sit in the living room and rest. My wife and I will cook the rest of the dishes."
Jiang Yaoxue was a little worried. "Little He, do you know how to cook?"
Qin Yuhe: "No, but I have a wife with excellent culinary skills."
Song Xinya chimed in, "I'll do it."
Before she married Qin Yuhe, she cooked every day at home, getting up at six in the morning to steam two large pots of beef buns.
Now that she was married to Qin Yuhe, living in the 1200-square-meter detached villa he had given her, and driving the luxury car he had gifted her, Song Xinya wasn't so pretentious. She wouldn't eat someone else's food, live in their house, wear their clothes every day, and still be unwilling to cook a single meal for them.
All relationships in this world are reciprocal. If someone gave her a piece of candy, she would give them a cupcake in return. If someone pulled her along to stargaze, she would take them to bask in the sun.
Any relationship capable of remaining stable over the long term must be built on mutual effort.
Song Xinya rolled up her sleeves and got ready to cook.
The moment her fingers grasped the spatula, her slender, fair arm was caught in his grasp.
Qin Yuhe completed the sentence he had left hanging just moments ago.
"I have a wife with exceptional culinary skills, so I want my wife to guide me while I do the cooking."
Song Xinya: "Huh?????"
Qin Yuhe tapped her nose with his finger. "Mr. Qin can't bear to let Mrs. Qin cook."
...
I have never asked you darlings for gifts before, but today I am going to ask just this once.
Begging on my knees for some small gifts!
"Generating Power for Love" is completely free, and you can send it three times a day. My darlings who are tight on money can send three "Generating Power for Love," and those who have some to spare can send a few small gifts. Thank you~~
If the gifts exceed two hundred yuan, I will drop a massive update of over 6,000 words!
Thank you to every little princess who sends a small gift. Your support is my greatest motivation to write. Thank you!
