Arrogant and domineering because of his good looks: His Majesty always pretends to be righteous

Xia Zhanxin didn't seem to mind, he just smiled without saying a word, while Xia Rongliu felt even more uneasy.

"Alright, stop looking at me like that. What's wrong with me pinching your cheek? The meat we raise is for us to care for. No one else is allowed to pinch it, you hear me?" Xia Rongliu said, and then reached out her hand again.

Xia Zhanxin simply smiled and nodded, "I know." (She'll only make it for you.)

It was almost time, and the children woke up one by one. After everyone around them woke up, Xia Rongliu took Xia Zhanxin out.

Master Zhang sat by the door, his little head bobbing up and down. He was sleepy, but he couldn't sleep. He had to keep an eye on those little rascals. If even one of them ran away, he would be exhausted. Why hadn't that nagging Xia Zhishu returned yet?

Master Zhang yawned, and the next second, the door was suddenly pushed open with a 'bang', and Master Zhang fell directly to the ground from the small stool.

Xia Rongliu pushed open the door and found that there was another person next to her, it was Master Zhang.

"Oh dear, who is this?" Master Zhang, holding onto the small stool with one hand and covering his bottom with the other, looked up and exclaimed, "Oh ho, Xia Rongliu? Why are you, a girl, always so clumsy?"

Xia Rongliu was a little embarrassed. "Ahahaha, it's Master Zhang who's safe. What's Master Zhang doing sitting here?"

Master Zhang scoffed, "Isn't it all to keep an eye on you naughty kids? If I'm not careful, you'll run away. I can't take the responsibility. I'm working so hard, not sleeping in the middle of the day, and you're the one scaring me."

Once Master Zhang got into the conversation, his little mouth would chatter away.

"Oh, really? Then why didn't you stay inside and keep watch? Why did you have to stay outside?" Xia Rongliu asked.

This question stumped Master Zhang. Why didn't he go inside and keep watch instead of sitting foolishly outside?

"Isn't it all your father's fault? He made me sit outside, and I didn't think much of it," Master Zhang said, shifting the blame.

Xia Rongliu looked around. "Oh, Master Zhang, do you know where my father went?"

"Your father... went to cook..." Master Zhang said somewhat guiltily.

"Huh? Cooking?! Did I hear that right?" Xia Rongliu chuckled inwardly. His father, Xia Zhishu, was a terrible cook.

In her early years, when she was still young, Xia Zhishu complained that her mother was too tired taking care of her and wanted to help Lin Yue take care of Xia Rongliu. Lin Yue was so thoughtful.

Not trusting Xia Rongliu, Xia Zhishu didn't take her with her. Instead, Xia Zhishu took it upon herself to cook, hoping to make things easier for Lin Yue. The result... the kitchen exploded...

Recalling the mess at the time, Xia Rongliu shook her head. Not only did she not help, but she also made Lin Yue clean up for an entire afternoon. That afternoon, she and Xia's mother stared at each other face to face.

From then on, Xia Zhishu became more self-aware and never mentioned cooking again.

Xia Rongliu felt her mind was a little foggy and asked blankly, "You mean my dad went to cook?"

Master Zhang found it strange. "Yes, what's wrong? Although your father can't cook, everything takes time. He can learn slowly."

"You dare let him cook?!" Xia Rongliu exclaimed in shock, her voice rising.

Master Zhang was puzzled. "What's wrong? Is it so precious that even the kitchen can't cook?"

"How could you let him cook?!"

"He wanted to go himself."

Xia Rongliu couldn't explain, and asked, "Didn't we just have lunch? Why are you cooking?"

"For dinner, we ate out because we spent too much money at lunch. I said I would pay, but he said he wanted to come. I said wait, but he said he was afraid we wouldn't be able to cook then."

Master Zhang continued, “Besides, that kitchen is quite big, it has everything, what are you worried about? Are you worried that I’ll bully your father?”

"Big kitchen?" Xia Rongliu thought to herself. "So her carefree father is using someone else's kitchen as practice."

"Where's the kitchen?!" Xia Rongliu asked anxiously, her expression serious. Zhang Fuzi didn't waste any words. "It's next door, behind us. What's wrong? Hey! Wait for me!"

Upon hearing this, Xia Rongliu immediately ran off, and Xia Zhanxin naturally followed. Master Zhang also went to see what was going on.

"Oh ho ho...no...is it really that bad? The cost of going out..." Before Master Zhang could finish speaking, Xia Rongliu interrupted him, "If you ask him to cook, the cost will be even greater!"

"So what if it's a little bigger? Why are you running so fast?!" Master Zhang asked, panting heavily, as he ran alongside Xia Rongliu.

Xia Rongliu didn't speak. "No rush, or the person will be gone."

Xia Rongliu ran to the kitchen and stopped at the door. The door was open, but she couldn't see what was inside. Thick black smoke was billowing out of the door.

Xia Rongliu was anxious and ran inside first. Xia Zhan thought to himself that he couldn't stop her, and he couldn't possibly go in himself, otherwise all three of them would be in trouble.

Master Zhang ran over and was dumbfounded by the scene before him. He had thought that Xia Zhishu might fail at cooking, but at most it would just be a little unpalatable or inedible.

But... seeing the scene before him... Master Zhang suddenly understood Xia Rongliu's anxious expression.

"Sister! Sister!!" Xia Zhanxin called anxiously at the door, but there was no response from inside.

Seeing this, Master Zhang understood immediately and called out, "Xia Rongliu! Old Xia! Answer me if you hear me, give me a reply..."

There was still no response from inside. Xia Zhanxin said to Master Zhang, "Master Zhang, you stay here and watch over things. I'll go find someone to come and help."

Master Zhang nodded, and in the blink of an eye, Xia Zhanxin disappeared.

The kitchen was filled with thick smoke, so thick that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Xia Rongliu heard the noise outside and tried to respond, but as soon as she opened her mouth, thick smoke choked her and made it impossible for her to open her eyes.

Xia Rongliu had no choice but to grope her way forward, but this was her first time in the kitchen, and she was unfamiliar with its layout, so she quickly tripped and fell.

Xia Rongliu braced herself on the ground. She felt like she was blind and couldn't do anything. When she stood up, she bumped into something and hit her forehead again.

"Ah—cough cough...cough cough..." The pain made her open her mouth, but the next moment she was choked by the smoke, and tears streamed down Xia Rongliu's face.

Oh no, I was so reckless! Xia Rongliu was annoyed. Not only did she not know what had happened to Xia Zhishu, but she had also gotten herself involved.

Xia Zhishu was standing in front of the chopping board without any problems, just like Xia Rongliu, unable to speak or open her eyes. However, Xia Zhishu had already covered her mouth and nose with a wet handkerchief, which made her feel a little better.

Although the kitchen was large, it was still quite small. Xia Zhishu naturally heard Xia Rongliu's commotion and immediately became worried. What could a little girl possibly do?

"Yinyin...cough cough...cough cough cough..." As soon as she opened her mouth, she coughed violently, so Xia Zhishu had to cover her nose and mouth again.

Xia Rongliu naturally heard it too, but she didn't make any rash moves. She tried to find a way out based on her intuition, at least she was certain that Xia Zhishu was inside and that he was safe now.