Chapter 135: Then I Look Forward to Your Guidance in the Future

"Well, somehow it feels like you're not sincere at all when you say something like that!"

Gazing at Chen Zhe as he lowered his head slightly with a gentle smile playing at the corners of his mouth and a soft look in his eyes, holding a champagne-colored rose in his hand, Krystal Jung first pressed her lips together slightly.

Then, pretending to be deep in thought, she put her hands behind her back and began pacing back and forth in place, as if she were contemplating whether or not to accept someone's less-than-sincere confession.

Hearing Krystal's words, Chen Zhe felt a surge of tension in his chest, worried that she might reject his request to date because of how abrupt and insincere he had seemed.

Noticing Chen Zhe's nervous expression, Krystal didn't answer right away. Instead, she continued pacing, moving back and forth right in front of him, to the left and then to the right.

It wasn't until Chen Zhe's smile became somewhat stiff and forced, and his legs began to feel slightly numb from standing still, that Krystal finally stopped pacing.

"However, given that the situation is a bit special this time, I won't hold you to the normal procedures. So, please take good care of me from now on, my idol boyfriend!"

With her hands intertwined behind her back, she stepped right back in front of Chen Zhe, bent down slightly, and tilted her head to look up at him as he maintained his posture with his head bowed.

Dragging out her syllables on purpose, she delivered the answer Chen Zhe had been waiting for, and at the same time, she reached out and gently took the champagne rose from his hand.

"Then please take good care of me from now on, my girlfriend!"

Krystal's deliberate dragging out of her words had truly made Chen Zhe's heart leap into his throat; in that fraction of a second, he felt as though his heart rate must have soared past two hundred miles per hour.

Fortunately, Krystal didn't keep him in suspense for too long and finally gave him the answer he had been longing for—the answer he wanted most of all.

The moment he heard those words, Chen Zhe froze for a brief second. Once it registered, the curve of his smile widened, and the joy on his face became utterly impossible to conceal.

He straightened his posture, took a step forward, and pulled Krystal—who was standing there lightly sniffing the champagne rose—straight into his arms. Pressing his lips close to her ear, he lowered his voice as if whispering a sweet secret meant only for the two of them.

"Alright, we only ate that little bit tonight, so you probably aren't full yet! The dinner menu you prepared must have more to it than just that!"

After the two of them had embraced tightly for a long while—perhaps out of shyness, or perhaps because pressing so close together had made them warm—Krystal, nestled in Chen Zhe's arms with her cheek pressed against his chest and listening to the steady beat of his heart, couldn't help reaching out to gently pat him, urging him to continue cooking.

"Yeah, I'm definitely not full. I'm probably only about twenty percent full. So let's get right to work on the remaining soup and dish!"

Though the feeling of holding Krystal was wonderful, after holding her for so long, Chen Zhe was beginning to feel warm; after all, combined, their body temperatures felt just like a giant furnace.

Just as Chen Zhe was about to give in and bring it up himself, he hadn't expected Krystal to beat him to the punch and ask if he was still hungry.

Hearing her question, Chen Zhe deliberately put on a deadpan, serious expression as he answered her with his exact current level of fullness.

"One dish and one soup. So, what dish and what soup are you planning to make next?"

As Chen Zhe released his hold, Krystal finally regained her freedom. She stretched her body with a hint of laziness, displaying her newly blossomed, lovely figure completely before Chen Zhe's eyes.

After thoroughly stretching, Krystal noticed that the Chen Zhe standing in front of her was staring at her in a daze. She waved her hand in front of his face, snapping him back to reality, before asking him what dishes he intended to prepare.

"As for the soup, it has to be our province's absolute classic: corn and pork rib soup. And for the dish, we can't let this leftover A3 Angus steak go to waste, so I'm planning to make stir-fried beef with Chinese kale."

Coming back to his senses, Chen Zhe lowered his head to ponder for a moment before picking the ideal dish from the original menu to accompany the steamed rice and Mapo tofu.

The corn and pork rib soup was the only soup included in the menu he and Bai Fan had originally discussed, so no extra thought was needed; after all, when eating a meal, Chen Zhe still felt somewhat uncomfortable if there was no soup.

As for the stir-fried beef with Chinese kale, the purpose of choosing this dish was precisely to make use of the Angus steak they had just thawed.

Although he could have made a more appetizing hot and sour sliced beef, that would have duplicated the corn and pork rib soup, so he ultimately chose a stir-fry, and picking Chinese kale with beef was purely a matter of personal preference.

Come to think of it, he had been in South Korea for nearly a month and hadn't tasted home-style cooking in a long time. Since Bai Fan happened to have Chinese kale in the refrigerator, stir-fried beef with Chinese kale deservedly became Chen Zhe's top choice.

"So, does my dear girlfriend need any help with anything?"

After finishing discussing the menu with Krystal, Chen Zhe took the required ingredients out of the refrigerator, stepped up to the sink, and began focusing on prepping the food.

Watching Chen Zhe's concentrated expression, Krystal slowed her steps, walked up softly behind him, wrapped her arms around his waist, and playfully leaned around from the side to peer at what he was doing.

"Well, let me think. Oh, right, I've already washed the corn, so how about you help me cut it into pieces!"

Surveying the washed and unwashed ingredients, Chen Zhe thought for a moment before locking his gaze on the two ears of corn he had already cleaned, and gently tapped Krystal on the forehead.

Then he motioned with his chin toward the plate holding the corn, signaling for her to look over there. Those two ears of corn would be entrusted to her, because as for prepping the other ingredients, Chen Zhe simply didn't trust her with them.

Therefore, he believed Krystal could handle this simple task of cutting the corn into chunks without turning it into a disaster resembling cubed tofu.

"Oh, right, don't cut the corn pieces too small. Just make a cut roughly every five or six kernels. That should be about the right size."

Seeing that Krystal had washed her hands and was getting ready to pick up the corn, Chen Zhe still felt a bit uneasy and added one final instruction.

After giving the corn a quick, general glance, he told her clearly and simply how to cut it to the desired size.