However, as Xu Lin spoke, the originally nimble Ji Yun started to fumble a bit.
"Don't look at me…"
"Haha, it's fine, don't be nervous."
"I'm not nervous…"
"Take your time."
Xu Lin sat on a nearby chair, holding a camera, and looked at her with a gentle expression.
"Cough… I'll do my best."
After adjusting her mood, Ji Yun's technique became much smoother, and her knife skills were quite good, clearly indicating that she cooked frequently.
She originally planned to make the noodles from scratch, but it was too troublesome with the limited time at noon, so she used store-bought wide noodles and just needed to make a sauce.
Each place has its own sauce recipe, and she chose to use a mix of fatty and lean pork, diced shiitake mushrooms, some minced ginger, and diced onion. For the flavoring, she used yellow bean paste, sweet bean paste, oyster sauce, and dark soy sauce. For the vegetables, she picked what was available at home: julienned cucumber and carrot.
Two minutes later, the rich aroma of the sauce filled the room, and the door opened as several girls immediately caught the scent.
"It smells so good! Can we eat now?" Liu Qinnuan, the little foodie, swallowed her saliva.
"The noodles aren't in yet, please wait a bit."
"Huh? Is Sister Ji Yun cooking?" Chu Qingchan glanced towards the kitchen.
"Yeah, just trying her cooking skills. I haven't tasted Class Monitor Ji's cooking before."
"Ji Yun's cooking is quite good."
Chu Qingchan and Chu Fengyi had eaten Ji Yun's cooking several times before. It was very homey but delicious.
"Please wait a moment, it will be ready soon."
"Take your time."
Finally, Ji Yun successfully finished, and Xu Lin began his photography, taking the noodles out of the steamer. He took the solidified noodles out, added a small piece of butter, and started kneading the dough, turning the sticky dough into a large, slime-like ball.
"Oh, it looks so beautiful. I'll take a photo."
"Mm, let's put it here for now. We should eat the noodles first, or they'll get messed up."
"Okay, let's eat."
Everyone sat down, poured the sauce, added the vegetables and a few drops of chili oil, and mixed the noodles.
Xu Lin took a big bite and instantly felt the sauce's flavor flood his senses.
"Not bad… this flavor is right on point, the timing and seasoning are great. The only thing is, it might be a bit too mild for Chu Fengyi's taste."
"I'm really happy to get praise from a great chef like you."
Ji Yun showed a happy expression without changing her face, and the others smiled as well.
"We are just having a meal and you're still giving professional reviews."
"If it's tasty, that's all that matters. Sister Ji Yun, you're amazing."
Liu Qinnuan said, her chopsticks moving quickly, and soon half a bowl of noodles was already gone.
"Slow down, or you'll choke."
"Sorry, I just let loose at home."
"I'm at home, huh~"
Chu Fengyi teased, and Liu Qinnuan quickly waved her hand.
"I really don't have any inappropriate thoughts about Xu Ge!"
[T/N: Ge=Brother.]
"Even if you don't, he might have thoughts about you~ He's such a scumbag; with your little mind, you can't outplay him."
"Shifu, how am I a scumbag?"
"Aren't a playboy just a scumbag? Let me count for you, the ones I've found so far..."
"Ahem, I'll go make the snow cream now. Try my dessert skills; they're absolutely top-notch."
After saying that, he quickly shoveled the remaining noodles in the bowl into his mouth, then quickly left the dining table, which was a battlefield filled with gunpowder.
It's fine if everyone knows it, but why are you still bringing it up? Really, I, Xu Lin, still want to save face, okay?
He returned to the kitchen dejectedly, picked up the smooth dough and rolled it into a long strip.
Just like making buns or dumplings, cut the dough into small pieces.
Roll it into a round shape and place it in a small round mold next to it to support it. Then squeeze a circle of cream into it and put the fruit pieces in the center.
Then squeeze another layer of cream on it and wrap the snow cream in a way similar to making dumplings, removing and smoothing the extra edges and corners.
Finally it became a round and bulging shape, and then the second and third ones became faster and faster.
After a few minutes, they were packed and Xu Lin quickly checked the quantity.
There are actually 32 of them, more than I expected. It seems I can still give some to Li Bin and the others.
"All done, give it a try!"
Xu Lin prepared a large plate, placed 10 snow cream desserts on it, and brought them out.
The girls' eyes lit up.
"So pretty!"
"They'll taste even better if chilled. You guys eat first, and I'll package some more. There are plenty, so don't worry about running out; feel free to eat as much as you like."
"Everyone, have some."
"Mm, where are the boxes?"
"Over here."
Chu Qingchan handed over the bags, and Xu Lin looked at the boxes. They were quite nice-looking and good quality, but using them all seemed like a waste.
"How much are they each?"
"2 yuan each. I ordered 30…"
"Ugh… I shouldn't have let you three girls who have no concept of price to handle this."
A celebrity and two rich young ladies, they are very extravagant when buying things.
They have 30 of them and if they use them all, they would have to fill only half a box.
"This is the cheapest option they had."
"Really?"
"Really," Chu Qingchan confirmed with a nod.
Chu Fengyi added, "Stop nagging or I'll just buy the whole neighborhood for you."
"Then your dad would probably ground you for a year."
After Xu Lin finished speaking, he felt Chu Fengyi's murderous intent and hurriedly picked up his things and ran away for the second time.
Back in the kitchen, he packaged up four boxes for Bai Xiaoxiao, Su Qingwan, Zhu Zhaoxue, and Jiang Zimeng, then prepared a larger cup specifically for Qin Yunhe.
"There are 8 left. Let's box 3 more, one for Li Bin, one for Ma Zhiyu, and one for Zhuo Yan. The rest can go to Mom and Dad."
Just as he finished, his phone rang. He checked and saw a WeChat message from Ms. Ye.
Could she have remotely smelled the aroma? That seemed impossible.
He opened WeChat with a smile and found it was a voice message, which called out "Big Brother".
"What's up, Shaoyao?"
"Big Brother, Mom accidentally burned her hand while cooking today."
"Eh?! Is she okay?" Xu Lin quickly inquired, surprised that Ms. Ye was cooking herself.
"It's okay, it's okay, Shaoyao..."
At this time, the voice on the other end was replaced by Mr. Ye's passive and seductive voice.
"Are you really alright?"
"It's just a burn. I'll apply some medicine and it will be fine tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."
"Okay. Why did you decide to cook today?"
"I was on break today, and when Shaoyao wanted to try some cola chicken wings, I gave it a try. I didn't expect my hands were so unfamiliar with it, but it was a success nonetheless."
"It just so happens that we have some delicious food here, but it's a pity that you are too far away."
"What did you make?" Shaoyao called out from the background.
"Snow cream desserts, but you won't be able to taste them."
"Woo woo, Big Brother, next time I visit, you must make some for me."
"Sure."
"By the way, I just saw that Miss Chu posted that on Weibo. It turned out to be from your place."
"What Weibo?"
"Check it out, we're going to eat now."
Hearing this, Xu Lin opened Weibo and saw that Chu Qingchan had indeed posted.
"Family made snow cream desserts, so delicious!"
The post included four photos: the dough, the plated dish, holding it in hand, and a bite taken out. The pictures were quite well taken.
It was posted five minutes ago, but there were already 3,000 comments, which was quite overwhelming.
Most of the comments were similar, and Xu Lin couldn't help but smile.
'Oh my god, my missing beauty finally showed up!'
'It's been almost a month without news. Miss Chu's hands are still as beautiful.'
'She's really beautiful! Even if she's not acting in TV dramas or movies, she should still share some gorgeous photos!'
"'xactly! What's on TV these days? All those unattractive faces!'
'My Chu Qingchan's latest ad is out too—stunning looks and acting!'
'Come back, we won't criticize you anymore. Just stand there, we're fine with that!'
'But who are these family members? A boyfriend?'
'Get lost, she's mine!'
'She's mine, my big sister!'
Seeing the flurry of comments, Xu Lin felt how much everyone really missed her.
Meanwhile, the conversation outside seemed to have shifted to this topic.
"Chu Qingchan, is Xu Lin a family member of yours?" Chu Fengyi asked.
"Yes."
"Ji Yun, look at your Sister Chu."
"Mm, the snow cream desserts are delicious," Ji Yun replied, avoiding the topic.
"Sister Ji Yun, then I am also a family member."
"Yes, yes, everyone's part of it."
"I'm not, I'm not. Please forgive me," Liu Qinnuan's voice came weakly.
Xu Lin looked at their smiling faces and couldn't help but think that maybe sweet desserts were indeed a good thing.