Are You Trying to Mark Me? (GL, ABO) - Chapter 33
The boss lady requested home-style dishes. Everyone there thought for a moment. The guesthouse was nestled by the mountains and water, surrounded by many farms and ponds. Since they wanted home-style food, the nearby ingredients had to be the freshest.
“Right now, crucian carp is pretty good. How about making crucian carp soup?”
Chu Jiazhi’s assistant, Qiu Yang, was an ordinary-looking Beta but was known to be very capable—almost as good as an agent.
Yu Hongwen nodded in agreement: “But if we only make crucian carp soup, won’t that be a bit too little?”
Seven people and one cat sat around in the living room, discussing the matter.
Viewers in the chat were also sharing their opinions.
“The boss lady said it’s for Ge Ge’s whole family; there are probably a lot of people, so just one soup won’t be enough.”
“Make some more dishes.”
“But if we do, we have to prepare everything ourselves, and there really isn’t that much time.”
Just when everyone was feeling a bit stuck, Yu Ran, sitting next to Min Wenyi, spoke up, “When I arrived yesterday, I saw a lot of radishes growing by the roadside fields. We can bring some radishes over.”
Everyone looked confused, “Radishes are easy to handle, but we can’t just make two dishes.”
Yu Ran nodded, “Crucian carp can be the main dish. Radishes are more versatile than other ingredients. We can make radish rolls, vegetarian meatballs, dumplings, and cold dishes. That way, there’s more variety to eat.”
“Sounds interesting, but isn’t it boring if it’s all radish?”
“Is this Min Wenyi’s assistant? Can she really cook all that?”
“Sounds like bragging.”
Yu Ran didn’t see the chat but noticed people’s doubtful looks. After all, the ones good at cooking here were Yu Hongwen and his assistant. Yu Hongwen had even hosted a cooking show before, so when Yu Ran made this suggestion, everyone turned to look at him.
Yu Hongwen thought for a moment and nodded: “Sounds good. Let’s go dig up some radishes and catch some crucian carp.”
“Great, I’ll catch the fish!” Lu An said excitedly.
Chu Jiazhi thought about it and figured that digging up radishes would get him covered in mud and look messy. So, like Lu An, he decided to catch fish instead.
“No.”
Just as everyone was about to get up and leave, Min Wenyi spoke.
She glanced at Yu Hongwen. If Chu Jiazhi and Lu An both went fishing, wouldn’t that leave her with Yu Hongwen?
She had just scolded her junior assistant yesterday for getting too close to her idol, and now they had to do a task together—it just didn’t feel right. So, she shifted her gaze from Yu Hongwen to Lu An.
“Lu An, you come with us to dig radishes.”
Lu An made a grim face, wanting to refuse. He already brought the cat—how could he be sent to dig radishes? Catching fish was definitely more suitable for their group!
But Min Wenyi’s warning look scared him, so he nodded reluctantly: “Alright, I’ll dig radishes…”
So, the seven of them split into two groups, Chu Jiazhi, Yu Hongwen, and their assistant went to the pond across to catch fish, while Min Wenyi took the two Omegas to dig radishes.
Along the way, Yu Ran and Lu An chatted and laughed. They were quite familiar with each other and happy to work together on this task.
Because it had rained a few days ago, the soil in the vegetable field was soft and muddy. Yu Ran noticed Min Wenyi walking steadily and quickly, so she didn’t pay it much mind. She turned to look at the cameraman carrying the camera, occasionally reminding him where the ground was slippery.
The two cameramen helped each other and barely managed to keep their footing at the edge of the field.
“Min Wenyi looks cold and aloof, but her assistant is so thoughtful!”
“I remember Min Wenyi posted a photo from an awards ceremony before. Isn’t that assistant who you can’t see the face of her?”
“Now that you mention it, it really does look like her!”
“This little assistant is kind of cute, I want to…”
“Please stop your dangerous thoughts!”
When they reached the field, Lu An was carrying his backpack and decided not to let Guazi the cat out. After all, getting covered in mud would make it hard to clean up later.
Min Wenyi glanced at them and decided to start digging on her own.
Meanwhile, over at the fishing group, things were lively and cheerful.
“Even the back of Chu Jiazhi’s head is stunningly handsome!”
“Sweating like this, he’s basically a god. I have to save these pictures in my heart.”
“He’s such a heartbreaker!”
“Cameraman, zoom in closer! I want to slide down Chu Jiazhi’s nose bridge!!!”
Yu Hongwen, a 35-year-old actor not exactly old but also not young, was feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the praise from Chu Jiazhi’s fans.
Chu Jiazhi ignored everything, wearing rubber boots with suspenders and holding a fishing net, ready to catch some big fish.
He threw the net into the water—
“Even when he throws the net, he steals my heart!!!”
“He’s an angel come down to earth!!!”
“Look at his waist! I’m about to faint!”
Chu Jiazhi pulled the net back up and caught a small fish. Smiling, he said to Yu Hongwen, “Hongwen, what do you think about this one?”
The chat exploded with comments—
“Aaaaaahhh I’m that fish! Let me fall into his arms!”
Doing a 360-degree waltz of love for Brother Chu Jiazhi’s good looks!
Yu Hongwen was sweating nervously. He seemed to finally understand why Min Wenyi disliked this guy so much—it was seriously… overly arrogant.
From early morning until noon, Chu Jiazhi and the others caught about seven or eight fish of different sizes. Not bad, they had quite a haul.
But things weren’t going so well for Yu Ran.
Because there were radishes everywhere, and since radishes don’t run or escape… plus Yu Ran had said, “We can pick more radishes,” she ended up carrying back three full baskets of radishes.
At the flat ground outside the guesthouse, Lu An was so tired he didn’t want to say a word, and Yu Ran wasn’t doing much better. But Min Wenyi was still energetic as ever.
“Wow, how did you pick so many radishes?”
Yu Hongwen walked over carrying his two fish and looked at all the radishes scattered on the ground with surprise, “That’s too many for one meal, right?”
Min Wenyi looked a bit troubled—she had definitely gotten carried away.
Yu Hongwen glanced around and then smiled as he walked over to Yu Ran, who was resting nearby. “Little assistant, look at the fish Jiazhi and I caught.”
Yu Ran looked up and smiled happily at the two fish still flipping their tails, “Mr. Yu, you’re amazing!”
After hearing Chu Jiazhi’s nonstop praise all morning, being complimented by this little girl like that made him feel a little shy.
Before Yu Hongwen could say anything, he suddenly felt a sharp glare from behind.
Yu Hongwen: “…I’ll go clean the fish first.”
Yu Ran: “Okay!”
Min Wenyi watched Yu Hongwen and Chu Jiazhi leave, then withdrew her gaze only to realize Lu An had been staring at her the whole time.
She said with a dark expression, “What are you looking at?”
Lu An: “Wenyi, you’re so scary.”
But I like it.
Min Wenyi felt a little uneasy being stared at by Lu An, an Omega, but she couldn’t figure out why it made her uncomfortable. In the end, she decided to ignore it and walked over to Yu Ran.
“Radishes can’t all be cooked as dishes, right?”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
Looking at the pile of radishes everywhere, Yu Ran was a bit unsure.
At that moment, a staff member from the production team spoke up, “No worries. You can sell the leftover radishes at the nearby market. The money can be used to buy other ingredients.”
Yu Ran suddenly understood—there was another way to handle this???
No need to worry about radishes, so it was time to show her skills!
She washed and shredded the radishes, then seasoned them with sugar to make a refreshing appetizer.
Radish rolls were a bit more complicated—making dough, letting it rise, rolling it out, then neatly spreading the seasoned radish strips on the dough, rolling it into a steamed bun shape, and placing it in the steamer.
The leftover dough mixed with radishes and other ingredients was mashed into a paste, then fried in oil. When the aroma came out, it became delicious fried radish balls.
At first, the viewers had mocked Yu Ran for not knowing how to cook, but now the comments were mostly gone. Everyone was surprised by how many different dishes she made from simple carrots.
Wenyi’s luck with food is unreal, these all look so tasty!
I’ve had those radish balls before, they’re seriously delicious!!!!!!
Radish rolls need a name!!!
Once Yu Ran finished cooking, Yu Hongwen served the fish soup and put it on the table.
Since the guesthouse owner’s brother was arriving later that night, everyone decided to eat first.
Looking at the table full of dishes, Yu Hongwen was a bit surprised, “Isn’t this too much food?”
Yu Ran, still putting dishes on the table, replied confused, “Not really.”
At first, Yu Hongwen didn’t get why it wasn’t too much, but when he saw Lu An eating his eighth bowl of rice, he suddenly thought maybe there was some truth to it.
He earnestly said to Lu An, “Kids shouldn’t eat that much. You might hurt your stomach.”
Lu An held his empty bowl, puzzled, “But this bowl is really small.”
“Even if it’s small, you’ve eaten eight bowls.”
“But picking radishes is hard work…”
The busy and lively day finally ended. That afternoon, Yu Ran also took some time to pickle radish strips to give to the guesthouse owners. At night, she made a rich meal, and everyone was happy eating.
It was late, and after a whole day of work, everyone was tired but didn’t really want to rest, since the live stream was still going.
So Chu Jiazhi suggested they watch a horror movie together.
The production team quickly picked a horror film and started it. They turned off the lights, and the little TV filled the room with eerie sounds that were really scary.
Yu Ran looked a bit pale. She glanced at the crowd and finally decided to quietly slip away.
As soon as she got back to her room, she heard someone following.
Min Wenyi saw Yu Ran enter and stood at the door, asking, “What’s wrong?”
Yu Ran looked pale but relaxed when she saw it was Min Wenyi.
“I… don’t really dare to watch horror movies.”
Min Wenyi was silent for a moment, then came inside and sat beside Yu Ran.
“Then tonight, I’ll keep you company and chat.”