Chapter 415: Sweet Romance

Jiang Muye lowered his head and gave Leng Ruoli's pink cheek a kiss. "Alright, then stay here," he said.

Leng Ruoli was overjoyed, capering about and following Jiang Muye around like a little shadow.

Jiang Muye began to marinate the fish slices. After adding cooking wine, he added salt, pepper, and egg white to remove the fishiness, then mixed it all together evenly.

Next, Jiang Muye began coating the fish slices in cornstarch. The plump, translucent slices turned a powdery white once coated. Once everything was ready—

Jiang Muye started on the base soup. This soup was the most important part of the whole dish. If it wasn't savory and couldn't bring out the aroma, then it was a failure.

After the oil in the wok was hot, Jiang Muye added the scallions, ginger, and garlic.

The scallions, ginger, and garlic had already started giving off their fragrance. After all, once they'd been stir-fried to release their aroma, the wok was still sizzling. Jiang Muye struck while the iron was hot and stir-fried them together with some millet chili.

The ingredients had all been fried to a slight golden color, and the oil was fragrant too. The flavor looked rich and mellow. Jiang Muye then added clear water and a packet of sour soup seasoning.

He wasn't actually too sure about the ratio of water to seasoning packet, so he just eyeballed it according to his talent skill. Once he'd added roughly the right amount, he let it simmer for a while to boil the soup.

Before long, the pot was bubbling away with a gurgle.

The aroma spread out, incredibly enticing. This smell was too much for Leng Ruoli, who was standing nearby. She wrinkled her nose and looked at Jiang Muye softly. "So fragrant~ I really want to eat."

"The fish isn't even in yet, it's just the soup," Jiang Muye said to Leng Ruoli with a smile.

Leng Ruoli licked the corner of her lips. "But it must be really delicious."

Jiang Muye lifted the lid, and steam billowed out. Beneath the cloud of vapor was a golden dish—the pickled cabbage had been stewed to an appetizing color, and the soup base had already turned a thick, creamy yellow. It looked sweet and mellow.

"Take a sip and see if it's good," Jiang Muye said, scooping up a spoonful of soup and bringing it to Leng Ruoli's lips. "How is it, too salty?"

Leng Ruoli took the spoon and drank a mouthful, then said excitedly, "So good, not salty at all."

"That's good." Jiang Muye now had a good idea of where things stood.

So Jiang Muye began adding the side ingredients he liked, such as mushrooms and green peppers. After bringing it to a boil for a bit, he slowly slid in the fish slices.

After the fish slices had been blanched for a few dozen seconds, the sauce could be reduced.

"Done, complete!" Jiang Muye ladled out the fish.

This bowl of fish soup looked quite presentable—it didn't need any filters at all to look beautiful. The golden soup base surrounded the snow-white fish slices, and the aroma filled the air.

Leng Ruoli could no longer resist picking up a slice of fish with her chopsticks. Her eyes were dazzlingly bright. "Delicious!"

She picked up another piece and fed it to Jiang Muye. After eating it, Jiang Muye felt the flavor was excellent—very formidable.

"Way better than I imagined!" Jiang Muye nodded.

"I don't even know how to cook fish, you're amazing~! I'm so lucky, I'll have good food to eat from now on." Leng Ruoli said happily, "It's way better than what those chefs make."

"Now you know how happy it is to be my girlfriend, huh." The corner of Jiang Muye's mouth quirked up.

His girlfriend's praise naturally made him happy.

Of course, cooking also gave him a sense of accomplishment—he felt very proud.

Jiang Muye went on to make several more dishes in a row—five dishes and a soup, three meat and three vegetarian, very sumptuous.

"Alright, wash your hands and let's eat~" Jiang Muye called out to Leng Ruoli.

Leng Ruoli was overjoyed. "I'm going to eat two bowls of rice today~"

"Sure, eat as much as you want," Jiang Muye said with a smile. But his happiness didn't last long—he noticed that Leng Ruoli had stopped in the middle of opening the rice cooker.

She opened it, then quickly shut it again.

Jiang Muye seemed to realize there was one very important thing he hadn't done.

"Um, I think I forgot… to cook the rice." Jiang Muye scratched his hair a bit awkwardly.

Everything had been perfect, but it had all come crashing down over the lack of rice.

Jiang Muye was a bit embarrassed, but Leng Ruoli started to smooth things over for him. She shook her head emphatically. "It's fine, I'm on a diet, I don't eat rice."

Jiang Muye knew she was doing it so he wouldn't feel so awkward. Thinking quickly, he said, "I'll order delivery, get two portions of rice sent over quick."

"Okay!" Leng Ruoli had no objections.

Soon a delivery worker brought the order.

After getting the delivery, Jiang Muye finally sat down with Leng Ruoli to eat together.

"Ahem ahem, today is still a bit imperfect," Jiang Muye said, pretending to cough.

He could tell that Leng Ruoli was clearly trying to lighten the mood—her chopsticks never stopped, and she even praised Jiang Muye. "Your cooking really is delicious, I want to invest in you opening a restaurant~"

Watching her keep eating nonstop, Jiang Muye felt very satisfied.

"I'm glad you like it. Just say the word and I'll cook it for you," Jiang Muye said. He only wanted to satisfy his girlfriend's appetite.

Leng Ruoli's eyes brightened. "Then that's great!"

She ladled a bowl of soup for Jiang Muye and handed it to him. "This isn't seafood—crucian carp lives in rivers, so you shouldn't be allergic."

"You even remember I'm allergic to seafood." Jiang Muye was rather surprised.

Leng Ruoli replied with sweet charm, "When it's about you, of course I remember everything."

Jiang Muye chuckled and happily drank the soup, feeling very pleased.

He suddenly stood up, and Leng Ruoli asked curiously, "Where are you going? Not eating?"

"Wait a bit." Jiang Muye was being mysterious.

This made Leng Ruoli very curious.

She waited obediently in her seat. After a while, she saw Jiang Muye come back.

But in his hands were several candlesticks, which left Leng Ruoli puzzled. "What are you doing with those? Don't tell me you want a candlelit dinner."

The corner of Jiang Muye's mouth quirked up, and he smiled at Leng Ruoli. "As expected of my wife, how are you so smart."

Jiang Muye set the candlesticks on the table, lit the candles with a lighter, and then turned off the lights.

The surroundings went dark, and now with the candlelight, it looked especially quiet and romantic.

Especially Leng Ruoli's beautiful face, enveloped in the candlelight—very lovely.

Jiang Muye never tired of looking at her, his eyes full of adoration.

He sat down across from Leng Ruoli, rested his hands beneath his chin, and gazed at her with deep affection.

Under Jiang Muye's gaze, Leng Ruoli's cheeks turned delicate and rosy. She couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Don't look at me like that, you're making me embarrassed."

"What, do you want me to glare at you fiercely instead?" Jiang Muye pretended to glare at Leng Ruoli. Seeing his exaggerated expression, Leng Ruoli covered her mouth, suppressing her laughter.

Seeing her happy and joyful, Jiang Muye reached out and took Leng Ruoli's hand. "This is my first time having a candlelit dinner with someone, and also my first time spending New Year's Day with someone. I hope we can be together day after day, year after year—next year's New Year's Day, the year after, and every New Year's Day after that, the two of us together."