Michael carefully placed the vegetables into the carrier bag with the watermelon, relieved to find that the bag was sturdy enough to hold up the weight of today’s haul.
The women in the crowd watched in awe as Michael carried the bag with one hand and picked up the piglet with the other. He held the piglet over his shoulder as he quickly jogged toward his courtyard.
All everyone paid attention to was his lean and long physique; they did not miss the way his biceps curled beneath the smooth skin and they stared openly at his perfect shoulder blades.
He was built like a model—it was such a shame that he was carrying a pig!
At that moment, everybody wished they were the piglet instead.
By the time Michael had reached home with the groceries and the piglet, he noticed that there were filthy marks on him, courtesy of the piglet. He rinsed those off, having little regard to how the water splashed against his trousers, then quickly proceeded to thoroughly wash the vegetables and the rice. He also did not forget to put the piglet somewhere confined so it couldn’t run off while he was busy.
They lived in a courtyard that was not equipped with gas or an electric rice cooker; there were only woodfire stoves, on which Michael was expected to cook their meals.
Fortunately, they were given two stoves and two pots. Michael used one of the pots to make some porridge and the other for a spicy stir-fry hotpot.
When Carmen finally sauntered back home at her own leisurely pace, she immediately started helping Michael with the preparation. It was comfortable as the father-daughter duo worked together to make lunch.
Seeing as unauthorized persons were not allowed in the vicinity when the cameras were rolling, Sophia had had no choice but to disguise herself as part of the crew. She looked sheepish now as she took hold of a camera, angling to get closer up front as she kept her eyes on Michael’s pots.
Michael had never cooked or cleaned a day in his life, but he had picked up basic cooking skills from survival training during his military days. The food he made was by no means restaurant quality but it was edible, and—at the very least—no one had ever died after eating his cooking.
His head was bowed as he focused on his task at hand but when he looked up, he saw Sophia. She was wearing her contacts and she stared at his pot with such intensity that he thought her eyeballs might fall right in.
Michael resisted his urge to laugh.
Once he was done slicing the vegetables, he asked Carmen to keep an eye on the porridge while he followed the instructions that came with the stir-fry paste. The paste turned out better than he thought it would; it was fragrant and he could tell it was flavorful despite the lack of chilli.
It wasn’t long before the aroma of stir-fry wafted through the courtyard. The fragrance prompted Carmen to abandon her post by the pot of porridge so that she could stand by her father, and she watched intently as he cooked.
Michael glanced up to find both mother and daughter staring at him.
The pressure he felt was insurmountable.
Lunch was at half-past noon and the five dads were meant to bring the dishes they made to a designated area where they could all eat together. By the end of this segment, the five babies would vote for the dad with the best dish.
Sophia tailed after the crew. There were dozens of crew members surrounding the dining table, which had been set for ten.
Her gaze swept over the dishes laid out on the table. There were pies, dumplings and rice. Michael’s stir-fry hotpot and porridge definitely looked the best out of all the dishes; plus, he had brought half of the watermelon for everyone to share too.
Sophia found herself salivating at the sight of her husband’s cooking. She then happened to turn and look into Harry’s bowl, which featured a very suspicious looking blackish-green substance.
Harry appeared proud as he announced, “My son and I made this Eight Treasure Congee with lotus root, century egg, cucumber, pulled pork and lotus seeds.”
Everyone stared and remained quiet.
Sophia was so horrified that she quickly turned away from Harry, focusing on her husband instead.
As the celebrities started to dig into their meals, the crew began to work in shifts as half of them continued working while the other half went to retrieve lunch boxes.
Having taken a lunch box as well, Sophia sat in the corner and began to eat but her gaze lingered on Michael’s stir-fry hotpot.
I really want to try his cooking…
Sadly, she did not even have a chance to taste Michael’s cooking because it was polished off within mere moments of being set on the dining table.
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