Chapter 104: The Kitchen
Nuonuo, hearing his papa’s words, lowered his little head, his little hands wringing the corner of his clothes. He whimpered like a little pig for a long while and didn’t say a word.
Fei Zhiyan carried the timid little cub and, after taking two steps forward, his nose caught a whiff of a burnt smell.
Closing his eyes slowly, Fei Zhiyan’s fingers tightened slightly, trying his best to maintain his calm expression.
Sure enough, just as he passed through the living room, he saw the kitchen, which was filled with black smoke.
Time rewound half an hour ago.
The sunset had just set, and the thoroughly red clouds still lingered in the sky. A large patch of dark blue-black slowly covered the last bit of brightness on the horizon.
Nuonuo, having finished his meal, was lying on the dining table, writing and drawing with his fingers, his mouth still mumbling in a low voice.
Every once in a while, he would lift his head, prop his little face in his hands, and ask his brother, “Brother, are you done eating?”
Fei Luo shook his head, his little curls swaying a couple of times, and quickly buried his head in his food.
Fei Luo had always been a slow eater. He liked to chew his food slowly. Every time he was halfway through his meal, Nuonuo would have already shoveled all the rice into his mouth with big bites, his cheeks puffed up as he finished his meal.
When it came to eating, no one else in the family could compare to Nuonuo.
If one had to say, Lei Xiaoyan could barely fight Nuonuo.
But Nuonuo ate much more fragrantly than Lei Xiaoyan. Every grain of rice in his mouth was like some kind of delicacy, making him crinkle his little eyes with delight, shaking his little head as he ate with gusto.
Watching him eat was more appetizing than many food bloggers.
But today, neither Fei Han nor Fei Jing was at home, so only his third brother, Fei Luo, was eating with Nuonuo.
Nuonuo, having finished his meal, was eager to go out and play. But seeing his third brother still holding a piece of pancake with his little hands and chewing slowly, he had no choice but to sit in his baby chair and wait for his brother.
Swinging his little feet, Nuonuo was still reciting the piano score Lin Mian had taught him, his mouth mumbling, repeating the same note for a long time.
But Lin Mian was not present, and no one corrected him. Nuonuo was quite happy reciting by himself.
Fei Luo, at the end of his meal, finally had only half a bowl of porridge left. He couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief and took up his spoon, drinking it sip by sip.
For Fei Luo, who only treated eating as completing a task, every meal was very difficult.
Before Nuonuo came, he would eat alone every noon and evening, often taking two hours for one meal. But now, seeing Nuonuo eat so heartily, his eating speed had also quickened a lot.
Nuonuo had recited “do la” more than a dozen times and finally broke free from the world of the piano. He smacked his little lips and tilted his head to look at his brother. “Brother, my little tummy is rumbling.”
Covering his chubby little belly, Nuonuo’s little face blushed with embarrassment.
Fei Luo was stunned for a moment. He looked down at the empty bowl of porridge in front of him, his little mouth unconsciously open, as if he were thinking about what to do.
Tonight, there were few people in the Fei family for dinner, only Fei Luo and Nuonuo, two little ones, so the chef hadn’t made that much food.
Usually, he would make more porridge or buns, but today, there was nothing left.
The chef uncle had taken his apprentice to the building behind to cook for the employees and was not at home at this time.
But Nuonuo, not giving up, still took his brother’s hand and ran to the kitchen counter to see if there was any food.
Holding onto the edge of the stove with his little hands, Nuonuo stood on his tiptoes, trying his best to see the situation above. But he struggled for a long time, and his little head still didn’t peek out from the stove, only a tuft of hair swaying above the height of the stove.
Fei Luo, on the other hand, could see the situation above clearly, but with a rough glance, he could see that there was indeed no food left.
“There’s no food left.”
Fei Luo opened the rice cooker, looked at it, and then said to Nuonuo.
Nuonuo and his brother looked at each other, and the two little ones couldn’t help but sigh at the same time.
Crouching on the ground with his chubby little face in his hands, Nuonuo frowned his little brow and thought for a long time. His gaze swept over the rice and bowls on the shelf, and his little tuft of hair suddenly stood up. “We can cook our own rice!”
Nuonuo stood up abruptly, but because he got up too quickly, his chubby little belly pulled his center of gravity down, and he almost fell to the ground.
Nuonuo, who had bumped his knee, didn’t even bother to rub it. He ran to the shelf where the rice was placed and, with a slightly happy expression, pointed with his little finger. “Papa also has to eat when he comes back! I’m going to make a lot, a lot, for Papa to eat, and for brother to eat too!”
Fei Luo wanted to say that he was already full, but seeing Nuonuo’s sparkling eyes, he finally nodded. “Alright.”
The two, who didn’t know how to cook, even ran upstairs, took the tablet, and placed it on the kitchen counter, preparing to follow the instructions online.
Fei Luo already knew how to read, so he was in charge of standing there and reading to Nuonuo.
Nuonuo, on the other hand, toddled with his short little legs, like a little dog running around, busily getting things, his little legs a blur of motion.
“To cook rice, you need a bowl of water and a bowl of rice, put them in the rice cooker…”
Nuonuo’s little ears were perked up. The moment he heard his brother’s words, he took the small bowl he used for eating and got a bowl of water from the water dispenser.
Holding the bowl full of water with his little hands, Nuonuo walked very carefully, his little eyes fixed on the bowl, afraid it would spill.
But his walking was not very steady. He would fall on a flat surface, let alone holding a bowl.
By the time he reached the kitchen stove, there was only a little bit of water left in the bowl.
But Nuonuo didn’t even notice. He let out a big breath and carefully placed the bowl in the rice cooker. “Alright, one little bowl is in!”
Nuonuo looked at the bowl placed in the rice cooker and happily looked at his brother.
Fei Luo also went over to have a look. He pursed his lips, feeling that something was not right.
After a long while, he finally let out an “oh” and said with a sudden realization, “There’s a little less water in the bowl.”
He was wondering why it looked strange.
And so, holding a cup, Fei Luo filled the bowl with more water.
Seeing the full bowl of water, Nuonuo nodded his little head with a sense of accomplishment. “What else should I put in?”
Fei Luo remembered very clearly. He put the cup aside and said, “We also need to put in a bowl of rice.”
Putting in the rice was simpler than the water. Nuonuo followed the previous operation, found a small bowl, stretched out his little arm to scoop up more than half a bowl of rice, and ran over, putting the bowl in.
And so, a bowl of water and a bowl of rice were neatly placed side by side in the rice cooker.
Nuonuo even reached out his little hand and specially adjusted the distance between the two small bowls to make them look neater.
“Alright, close the lid and cook for half an hour.”
Fei Luo lowered his head and fiddled with the rice cooker for a while before he finally managed to start it.
Nuonuo, who was watching on the side, also let out a long breath, jumped off the small stool, and took his brother’s hand. “Let’s go and drink some milk!”
Having run for so long, Nuonuo’s little forehead was covered in sweat, and he urgently needed milk to rehydrate.
Fei Luo took out a tissue to wipe his little brother’s sweat, took Nuonuo’s hand, and went to the cabinet in the living room to get milk.
The refrigerator was much taller than Fei Luo, so Nuonuo again held a small stool and ran over, placing it at his brother’s feet.
Fei Luo also skillfully opened the refrigerator door and took out a bottle of milk from inside to hand to Nuonuo.
The moment Nuonuo’s little hands touched the milk bottle, a loud boom suddenly came from the kitchen.
The sound was so loud it was as if it had exploded right next to his ear. The floor even trembled a little, and the milk bottle in Nuonuo’s hand also trembled slightly.
Nuonuo was so scared his little shoulders shrank together. He couldn’t even hold the milk bottle steady, and it fell directly to the floor.
Fortunately, it was plastic, so the bottle didn’t shatter into pieces but rolled to the corner of the wall with a gurgle.
Fei Luo quickly got down from the stool, reached out his little hands to cover his little brother’s ears, and his head was also a little dazed as he looked at the kitchen.
After things had calmed down, Nuonuo and Fei Luo finally looked at each other with dazed little faces and carefully went to the kitchen with their hands held.
Two little heads peeked out from the kitchen door. Nuonuo even held onto the door frame tightly with his little hands, his heart pounding fast.
It was only when they saw the burnt and messy state of the kitchen that the two of them blinked their eyes and quietly retreated from the kitchen.
“What should we do?”
Now Nuonuo’s little face was completely wrinkled, and his furrowed little brow was full of sorrow.
Fei Luo didn’t know either. It was his first time encountering this situation, and he couldn’t help but feel a little puzzled.
“But we clearly did everything according to the instructions online?” Fei Luo said, unable to figure it out.
Nuonuo quickly nodded his little head. “That’s right! Is it… is it that the wice cooker is bwoken?”
Fei Luo thought for a moment and felt it was possible. “It should be.”
After figuring out it wasn’t their fault, the two of them couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.
Nuonuo even propped himself up on his knees and stood up, running to the kitchen. “Let’s clean this place up, ya?”
Having made a mistake, he had to quickly clean up the “crime scene.” Nuonuo had seen Lei Xiaoyan do this several times before and was considered to have some experience.
And so, the two of them, one with a broom, the other with a rag.
But who would have thought that before Nuonuo could even start working, Fei Zhiyan had returned early.
It wasn’t that he had returned early, but that he had a rare day without overtime and wanted to come home and have a good meal with Nuonuo.
But as a result, he was met with such a big surprise from the little cub.
Taking two deep breaths, Fei Zhiyan still couldn’t hold it in and tapped Nuonuo on the forehead.
“You’re really a handful.”
Nuonuo wrung the corner of his clothes, lifted his little face, and smiled at his papa, both well-behaved and fawning.
“Still smiling? You’re so young, and you already dare to cook by yourself?”
Seeing Nuonuo’s soft smile, more than half of the anger in Fei Zhiyan’s chest dissipated, but he still kept a straight face, wanting to teach the little one a lesson.
After circling the kitchen, Fei Zhiyan came out and placed Nuonuo on the floor, having the two little ones stand side by side, and looked down at them with his arms crossed.
Nuonuo rubbed the tips of his little feet, not even daring to breathe loudly. After a long while, he secretly lifted his head to look at his papa.
“Papa, I know I was wrong.”
Last time Nuonuo had caused trouble, it was because of his good attitude that he had escaped.
Fei Zhiyan shook his head lightly and said with a cold face, “Fei Luo, you take your little brother…”
“Write a self-reflection. Father, I know.”
Having made so many mistakes, Fei Luo was already skilled at it and could directly answer.
Fei Zhiyan’s originally dark face now turned even darker.