OBS Chapter 12 Top Idol: I'll eat steak! Lin Zhou: I'll eat a banquet.
Chapter 12 Top Idol: I'll eat steak! Lin Zhou: I'll eat a banquet.
After a satisfying meal, Lin Zhou led Nuonuo by the hand, with Su Qingge following behind. The family of three strolled leisurely like elderly folks taking a post-dinner walk to house number one in the center of the village.
It has to be said that the gap between the rich and the poor is ridiculously large.
Before me stood a small villa with its own garden, white fence, neatly trimmed lawn, and even a small European-style gazebo.
At this moment, top star Lu Ming was wearing an extremely flashy lace apron, standing in front of a portable barbecue grill in the courtyard. He was swirling a glass of red wine in his hand, his posture so elegant it was as if he were taking a picture of a wine bottle, if you didn't look at the frying pan billowing with black smoke.
"Oh, Brother Lin is here?"
Lu Ming caught a glimpse of Lin Zhou out of the corner of his eye, and a half-smile immediately appeared on his lips.
He feigned surprise and put down his glass, his voice deliberately lowered, carrying the magnetic quality of a male lead in an idol drama:
"I heard you're still struggling to find ingredients? I'm so sorry, but the production team here has given me way too much—M9-grade tomahawk steaks and two bottles of 82 Lafite. It's hard for me to keep a low profile."
The taste of this Versailles is even stronger than the burnt taste of the steak.
Lu Ming's fans in the live stream instantly went wild:
"Brother, you're so elegant! That's true aristocratic grace!"
"I feel sorry for Lin Zhou for a second. This is the vicissitude of the world."
"M9 steak with Lafite, my brother's life is my dream!"
Lin Zhou raised an eyebrow, his gaze falling on the piece of meat that was sizzling and steaming in the pot, now a strange dark brown.
"M9?" Lin Zhou sniffed, his expression sincere. "Teacher Lu, if I may ask, are you planning to refine pills or cook steak?"
Lu Ming's smile froze for a moment.
He elegantly flipped it over; the other side was even darker, looking like a honeycomb briquette fresh from the kiln.
"Brother Lin, you don't understand."
With an air of arrogance that seemed to say "you can't talk about ice with a summer insect," Lu Ming slowly sprinkled black pepper. "High-end ingredients often only require the simplest cooking methods. This top-quality steak must be cooked well-done to lock in the juices. This is called 'American browning,' and it's the latest trend at Michelin three-star restaurants."
It has a really special American burnt brown look.
Su Qingge, standing behind, couldn't help but roll her eyes. Although she didn't go into the kitchen, she knew that steak cooked like this was destined for the trash.
"Come on, Zixuan, try your uncle's cooking."
Lu Ming confidently cut off a piece of "coke," forked it, and offered it to his little nephew Lu Zixuan, who was eagerly waiting beside him.
Lu Zixuan was a chubby boy wearing a suit. He was used to being pampered and had long been starving.
He opened his mouth wide and took a big bite.
Three seconds later.
Lu Zixuan's expression froze.
His chubby little face began to contort, his features scrunched up, and he strained his jaws frantically, but he couldn't bite down on the piece of meat in his mouth that was as hard as a rubber tire.
"Gulp."
The chubby boy swallowed it with tears in his eyes, choking so hard his eyes rolled back.
"How is it? Isn't it full of layers?" Lu Ming was still admiring himself, striking a handsome profile pose for the camera. "The crispy outside and tender inside texture is amazing."
Just then, Nuonuo, who had been staring at the steak, suddenly tugged at Lin Zhou's trouser leg.
The little girl pointed at Lu Ming's "masterpiece" on his plate, her big eyes filled with fear and confusion, and asked in her childish voice:
"Dad, why did that uncle eat meat made with dishwater?"
The entire room fell silent.
Lu Ming's hand holding the wine glass suddenly trembled, and the wine almost spilled onto his shirt worth tens of thousands of yuan.
Lin Zhou almost burst out laughing. He squatted down, suppressing his laughter, and asked, "Nuonuo, why did you say it was made from dishwater?"
"Because it's black!"
Nuonuo gestured seriously, "When Daddy burned the pot before, the water that came out when he washed it was this color! And..."
The little girl wrinkled her nose and fanned herself in disgust: "And it smells stinky, like Daddy's socks that haven't been washed for days!"
Crit!
This is simply a case of being outmatched!
The chat in the live stream exploded with laughter:
"Hahaha! Kids say the darndest things! I'm dying of laughter!"
"Meat made with dishwater! That's such a perfect description!"
"It's like an unwashed sock, Nuonuo, you know how to use metaphors!"
"Lu Ming's face turned green; I'm on Nuonuo's side this time!"
Lu Ming's composure completely crumbled; his facial muscles twitched violently as he glared at Lin Zhou through gritted teeth.
"Brother Lin, I don't blame the child for being young and immature, but some things..."
"Oh, he's just a kid, he should just tell the truth."
Lin Zhou interrupted his spellcasting and casually pulled an oil paper package from his pocket.
That was a piece of "wild vegetable tempura" that I had deliberately saved earlier.
"I think Zixuan doesn't seem to have eaten enough. Luckily, I have a wild vegetable pancake left. It's not M9, but at least I can chew it."
Lin Zhou smiled and handed the wild vegetable pancake to Lu Zixuan.
The golden, crispy crust, the tender green wild vegetables, and the domineering aroma of pork lard instantly outshone the so-called "tomahawk steak".
Lu Zixuan's eyes widened in disbelief.
He looked at the black meat on his plate that resembled a shoe sole, then at the fragrant wild vegetable pancakes in front of him.
"I want to eat this!"
The chubby boy snatched the wild vegetable pancake and took a big bite.
"Snap!"
The crisp sound echoed in the courtyard.
"Wow! Delicious! So delicious!" Lu Zixuan exclaimed indistinctly as he wolfed down his food, "It's a million times better than Uncle's charcoal!"
After saying that, he disgustedly pushed the steak on his plate onto the ground: "I don't want to eat that black stone! I want to eat this!"
The sound of the plate shattering was like Lu Ming's broken self-esteem.
Now, even the last fig leaf has been torn off.
Lu Ming stood there, holding a wine glass, unsure whether to drink or put it down. He felt like he'd been struck by lightning, so embarrassed he wanted to die on the spot.
Lin Zhou clapped his hands, concealing his accomplishment, took his wife and children's hands, and turned to leave.
"Let's go, honey, let's go back to sleep. The lives of the rich are too 'tough,' our poor stomachs can't handle it."
Su Qingge suppressed a smile, glanced back at Lu Ming who was still bewildered in the wind, and for the first time felt that her cheap husband was truly exceptional at making people angry.
……
When I returned to room number four, it was already completely dark.
Although Lin Zhou had made extensive changes to the house during the day, it was still an old house that had been there for decades, and the conditions remained harsh.
The dim light bulb swayed overhead, and the chirping of insects rose and fell outside the window.
The family of three stood in the bedroom, staring blankly at the only bed.
It was an old-fashioned four-poster bed, barely 1.5 meters wide. It was usually just enough for two people, but now it had to accommodate a family of three, plus Lin Zhou, who was over 1.8 meters tall…
This is very embarrassing.
"How do you sleep?"
Su Qingge crossed her arms, her eyes scanning back and forth between the bed and Lin Zhou, her vigilance heightened. "There are no extra blankets or sofas here."
Lin Zhou touched his nose and glanced at Nuonuo, who was nodding off in sleepiness.
"How else can we sleep? We'll just have to squeeze in."
He pointed to the bed, "Nuonuo will sleep in the middle, you sleep on the inside, and I'll sleep on the outside to block the way so the baby doesn't fall to the ground."
"No!"
Su Qingge refused without hesitation, her cheeks slightly flushed. "Who wants to share a bed with you? Don't you know men and women shouldn't be so close?"
"Sister, we are a legally married couple, and our child is four years old. Are you telling me we shouldn't be intimate?"
Lin Zhou looked speechless. "Then what do you suggest? Me, sleep on the floor? The floor is all damp; I'll end up in the hospital with rheumatism tomorrow. Or do you want to sleep on the floor?"
Su Qingge bit her lip, looking at the uneven ground; it was indeed impossible for anyone to sleep on it.
"Then...then you'd better behave yourself while you sleep tonight!"
She finally gave in, blushing as she warned, "We're going to draw a 38th parallel in the middle! If you dare cross that line... I'll kick you off!"
"Don't worry, I'm not interested in washboards."
Lin Zhou muttered something that nearly made Su Qingge lose her temper on the spot.
After a quick wash, the three of them went to bed.
The space was indeed incredibly cramped.
Nuonuo was sleeping in the middle, already fast asleep, making soft breathing sounds. Su Qingge was pressed against the wall, her whole body tense like a board, not daring to breathe too heavily.
Lin Zhou lay on the outside, half of his body dangling in the air.
In the stillness of the night, our senses are amplified.
Su Qingge could even clearly feel the heat coming from behind her; it was a man's body temperature, and even through her small, delicate body, it was still incredibly hot.
This was the first time in seven years that she had been so close to this man while fully conscious.
I was so close I could smell the faint scent of soap on him, so close I could hear his steady, powerful heartbeat.
"Lin Zhou..."
In the darkness, Su Qingge suddenly called out softly, as if possessed.
"Um?"
Lin Zhou's voice was sleepy and a little hoarse, "What's wrong? Are you afraid of the dark?"
"no……"
Su Qingge turned over and, by the moonlight, looked at the man's blurry profile. That strange feeling welled up in her heart again.
Lin Zhou is so different today.
He can cook, fix houses, dare to talk back to directors, and even flirt with her in public... Is this really the same man who was a coward for seven years?
"Are you... really Lin Zhou?"
She couldn't help but ask the question that had been lingering in her mind.
Lin Zhou closed his eyes, a slight smile playing on his lips:
"Absolutely genuine. What, is Queen Su captivated by my charm today and wants to repay me with her body?"
"Dream on!"
Su Qingge spat, turned over so her back was to him, but her heart inexplicably skipped a few beats.
Just as she was drifting off to sleep, she suddenly felt the mattress behind her move.
Immediately afterwards, a warm, large hand reached over the sleeping Nuonuo and gently rested on her waist.
Su Qingge instantly snapped back to reality, her body stiffening: "Lin Zhou! What are you doing?!"
"Don't move."
Lin Zhou's voice was right beside my ear, deep and magnetic, carrying an undeniable air of authority:
"The bed is too narrow, I'm going to fall off. Can I borrow a little space from you, just a little?"