I really like your sand sculpture group friends

Su Mengli thought with some regret.

But it's too late to regret it now. I'll apologize to him properly later.

Su Mengli looked at him with mixed feelings, wondering what to say later.

Mo Xiangwen, lost in thought, was naturally unaware of Su Mengli's thoughts, and didn't even notice that Su Mengli was staring at him, nor did he notice that he himself...

It's not necessarily that he did something wrong, but it must be related to some behavior of his that caused Su Mengli to get angry so suddenly.

Without warning? Is Su Mengli that kind of girl?

No, really? He had never seen Su Mengli like this before.

Su Mengli was the girl among them who had the most of the refined and elegant air of a lady from a wealthy family, just like in TV dramas.

Even so, she is not entirely like that kind of girl.

Even though she is different from me and Yan Nuoya, she is someone who knows how to control her emotional thoughts. She won't keep things bottled up inside and sulk by herself from beginning to end.

Yes, yes, she's angry. Su Mengli must have a reason for being angry.

If he did something wrong or poorly, even with a good reason, shouldn't Su Mengli have reminded him?

Angry, or a reminder?

Mo Xiangwen's mind suddenly lit up as he remembered a sentence Su Mengli had once said.

"If you keep being so polite, I'm going to get angry."

"sorry!"

Three minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and Mo Xiangwen had no time to argue whether his answer was correct or not. At this point, he had no choice but to believe the first answer.

Su Mengli pursed her lips and said softly, "No, you have nothing to apologize for. Everything you did was quite reasonable."

“However, you’re not feeling well right now, so let’s talk about this tomorrow.” Su Mengli regained her usual smile: “Let’s cook this meal together first.”

It was as if he was encouraging himself, or as if he was convincing himself.

"This meal is in your hands..." Mo Xiangwen finally sighed heavily: "Although I really want to say this, it's hard for me to sleep now if I go back to lie down."

"Can I help you out? Even just being an assistant will do."

Chapter 142 Helping Su Mengli Tie Her Hair (4k5)

In the kitchen, Mo Xiangwen stood by the sink, carefully washing vegetables, the water gurgling.

Su Mengli occupied the area in front of the stove, wearing a light pink apron, and focused on finely chopping scallions, ginger, garlic, and soaked shiitake mushrooms.

She moved nimbly, and seemed to be in a much better mood. A gentle smile played on her lips, and she even hummed a light, unknown tune.

Mo Xiangwen placed the washed vegetables in a basket, while side dishes such as green peppers were placed in bowls and plates next to her.

He intended to prepare the ingredients as well, but as soon as he picked up the knife, Su Mengli, as if she had eyes in the back of her head, said softly without turning her head, "Put it down, I'll take care of it later."

She paused for a moment, then explained, "It's dangerous for someone with a fever to perform surgery."

Mo Xiangwen froze, then reluctantly put down the knife.

Su Mengli is absolutely right; he has no reason to refute her.

The risks are real, especially given his current unsteady state.

He glanced at Su Mengli, who was carefully cutting peeled potatoes into even pieces. Her profile looked gentle under the kitchen light, and the tune she was humming conveyed a sense of ease.

It seems that his previous "polite" behavior towards Noah probably really disappointed her? Mo Xiangwen thought with some confusion.

Su Mengli was cutting potatoes when a few unruly strands of hair fell in front of her eyes, swaying back and forth and getting in the way.

Su Mengli endured the discomfort of her hair swaying in front of her eyes as she finished chopping the potatoes. She washed her hands in the sink and was about to go to the bathroom to tie her hair before coming back to cook when she suddenly remembered Mo Xiangwen, who was leaning against her, lost in thought.

When Mo Xiangwen saw her passing by, he quickly stepped aside to make way for her.

Speaking of which, she never forgets to tie her hair up before going into the kitchen.

To be honest, the main reason I forgot to tie my hair today was because I was feeling a bit conflicted.

And the culprit that caused her complicated feelings is right here.

...Never mind, he didn't do anything wrong, and he's still a patient right now.

Su Mengli shook her head and decided to go back to her room to deal with it.

She hurried back to her room, sat down at her dressing table, and took out her usual rubber bands from the drawer.

As I raised my hand in front of the mirror, I caught a faint, pungent smell of scallions and ginger that I hadn't completely washed off during my handwashing.

She frowned slightly. Wouldn't the smell get on her hair if she tied it up like that?

She went out of the room to see if anyone was in the living room to help, but found that Su Mengyao had gone to Yan Nuoya's place and hadn't returned yet, and Bai Shishi, who should have been in the living room, was also absent...

She noticed that Mo Xiangwen's room was open and thought that Bai Shishi must be tired and went to his room to rest.

So, her gaze unconsciously turned to the figure leaning against the kitchen doorway.

Su Mengli, clutching the rubber band, walked back into the kitchen and stopped in front of Mo Xiangwen.

"Huh?" Mo Xiangwen was brought back to his senses by her sudden movement and looked at her somewhat blankly.

Su Mengli didn't say anything, but simply took two clean tissues from the tissue box next to her and handed them to him: "Wipe your hands."

Mo Xiangwen glanced at her, puzzled, but still took the tissue.

His hands were actually quite clean, except for a little water, which would be perfect for wiping them dry.

After wiping his hands, he had just thrown away the tissue when Su Mengli shoved an ordinary black rubber band into his hand.

"Help me tie my hair up," she said, turning around naturally to reveal her cascading, smooth black hair and slender back to him.

Mo Xiangwen was completely stunned, holding the small rubber band in his hand as if it were a hot piece of charcoal.

Help Mengli tie her hair? Is that something he's supposed to do?

He instinctively wanted to refuse, but felt it was really inappropriate.

But the words of refusal were on the tip of his tongue, and he swallowed them back.

Never mind, Mengli is in a good mood, there's no need.

She was just angry that I was too distant and polite, so if I refused her now, wouldn't that be asking for trouble?

Besides, tying your hair up on the left or right is a trivial matter; he's overthinking it.

Mo Xiangwen's weary mind chose to give up thinking and silently put away the thought of rejection.

He took a deep breath and reached out to gently gather Su Mengli's fallen hair.

The touch felt even smoother and silkier than he had imagined.

His long, smooth, black hair slipped through his fingers like a piece of fine silk.

He clumsily tried to gather them all together, his fingertips inevitably brushing lightly against the delicate, warm skin on the back of her neck. The subtle touch made them both freeze almost imperceptibly.

Fortunately, Su Mengli didn't blame him for anything, but silently maintained her posture and waited for him to finish tying his hair.

"Uh... how do I tie it?" Mo Xiangwen's voice was a little dry and somewhat embarrassed.

He had absolutely no experience.

If you really want to talk about it, he only touched a girl's hair once, when he was patting Bai Shishi's head.

Tying up a girl's hair? That's really beyond his knowledge.

"Just gather it up like this and hold it in your hand... Yes, as high as possible, in the middle of the back of your head..." Su Mengli gently instructed, tilting her head slightly to cooperate with his movements: "Then just wrap a rubber band around it a few times to tighten it... Don't make it too tight, or it will feel uncomfortable."

Mo Xiangwen tried his best to calm himself down and did as he was told, but his movements were awkward and restrained.

He carefully gathered the soft strands of hair, trying not to let them slip away, and clumsily wrapped them with rubber bands.

It was just a simple task of tying up hair, but due to nervousness and unfamiliarity, it took quite a while to complete.

With great difficulty, a crooked and unevenly tight ponytail was finally formed in his hands.

Although it was far from aesthetically pleasing, at least I managed to tie my hair up.

Su Mengli raised her hand and touched the back of her head where she had clearly done her hair rather clumsily. She turned around and looked at Mo Xiangwen with a mischievous smile in her eyes: "So inexperienced? Have you never helped a girl tie her hair before?"

Mo Xiangwen looked away somewhat uncomfortably and answered honestly, "No."

"Huh?" Su Mengli was genuinely surprised. She blinked. "Don't you have a younger sister or an older sister?"

"No, not at all." Mo Xiangwen shook his head: "This is the first time I've ever helped a girl tie her hair."

Upon hearing this, Su Mengli's beautiful eyes widened slightly, and then the corners of her lips couldn't help but curve upwards into a deeper arc, letting out a soft hum that carried both understanding and a strange undertone: "Hmm~"

She didn't say anything more, but turned around, picked up the cleaver again, and continued to process the ingredients.

With her hair tied up, Su Mengli's movements became even more clean and efficient without the interference of her hair.

She deftly blanched the chicken pieces she had bought to remove any fishy smell, her movements fluid and efficient.

While waiting, Mo Xiangwen opened the soy sauce, oyster sauce, and various other sauces and mixed them in a small bowl in appropriate proportions.

While waiting for the chicken to finish blanching, Su Mengli looked at his actions curiously. Her cooking skills were indeed quite good, but the techniques she inherited from her mother were more for everyday dishes and had a lighter flavor. She rarely dabbled in dishes like braised chicken, which required rich sauces and caramelized sugar.

After finishing the seasoning, Mo Xiangwen had nothing else to do, so he leaned against the side.

Watching Su Mengli prepare the ingredients, as she was draining the blanched chicken pieces, he reminded her: "Mengli, when you're making the caramelized sugar later, don't let the oil get too hot, just use a low flame."

Su Mengli paused, turning back to look at him with some surprise: "Caramelizing sugar?"

Although he had specifically requested the dishes and asked her to buy them, Su Mengli never expected that the process of caramelizing sugar would be necessary.

Caramelizing sugar can indeed enhance the aroma and color of meat, but because this step is quite troublesome and prone to failure, even if it is successfully done, the difference is not significant.

Therefore, this step is not usually performed in ordinary home cooking.

Mo Xiangwen felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze, so he looked away slightly and coughed lightly: "I learned it online. You have to know one or two dishes that you usually eat to ensure your survival."

Su Mengli blinked her beautiful eyes.

Guarantee survival? You have pretty high requirements for survival here.

"Really?" Su Mengli clearly didn't believe it, but she didn't press for details. She simply turned around and started heating the pan and pouring oil.

Faced with Su Mengli's obvious disbelief, Mo Xiangwen had no choice but to accept that he was telling the truth.

Following his instructions, Su Mengli heated the oil until it was warm, then picked up the rock sugar, hesitated for a moment, and then carefully crushed it with the back of a knife before sprinkling it into the pot.

The rock sugar slowly melted in the warm oil, and tiny bubbles began to appear around the edges, gradually darkening in color.

Su Mengli stared nervously at the pot, feeling a little tense, which made her hand holding the spatula stiff.

This was completely unfamiliar territory for her, but she had questioned Mo Xiangwen like that before, so it would be quite embarrassing if she didn't do well this time.

“Yes, like that, low heat, stir slowly to let the sugar heat evenly.” Mo Xiangwen’s voice sounded behind her, slowly and clearly saying, “Don’t rush, wait until it turns this amber color... yes, this is the color now, then you can add ginger slices and blanched chicken pieces, be careful of oil splattering.”

Mo Xiangwen hesitated for a moment before saying, "This step is a bit dangerous. How about I do it?"

Su Mengli shook her head and rejected his suggestion, then quickly poured the drained chicken pieces into the pot as instructed.

Although she had never actually caramelized sugar before, who hasn't experienced oil splattering when cooking? She'll just be more careful.

With a loud "sizzle," the scalding hot sugar and oil mixture reacted violently with the residual water from the chicken, sending oil splattering everywhere.

Su Mengli had taken a step back the instant the chicken went into the pot, but she didn't expect the reaction to be so intense.

"Watch out!" Mo Xiangwen's urgent warning rang out almost simultaneously with the splash of oil.

In that instant, having anticipated this, he suppressed his dizziness, leaned forward instinctively, grabbed Su Mengli's wrist, and pulled her back forcefully.

At the same time, his other hand instinctively reached for the pot lid next to him and slammed it onto the restless pot, successfully preventing the oil from splattering.

Su Mengli was pulled backward by his sudden movement, taking several small steps until she bumped into his arms and regained her balance.

"Are you... alright? Did you get burned?" Mo Xiangwen asked, slightly out of breath, his fingers trembling as he gripped her wrist.

Still shaken, Su Mengli looked down at her wrists and forearms, examining them carefully several times, but found no signs of burns from the oil.

She quickly shook her head and raised her arm to indicate, "It's okay! I wasn't burned! I was just startled, thank goodness you reacted quickly."

Mo Xiangwen, who was somewhat concerned about her, grabbed her arm and looked at it carefully several times before he felt relieved.

"It's really nothing." Su Mengli shook her head slightly, her tone reassuring. "Let's hurry up and cook the vegetables, or they'll burn."

As she spoke, she gently pulled her hand away from his and opened the pot lid, releasing a rich aroma of caramel mixed with the fragrance of chicken.