On the way home, Wu Shen held Wu Yi's hand.
Fortunately, Wu Yi didn't call him Papa again along the way, and passersby just assumed they were a harmonious brother and sister.
"Wu Yi, remember not to call me Papa when we're out," Wu Shen whispered, checking that there were no passersby around.
"Why not? Does Papa not acknowledge me as his daughter?"
Wu Yi looked at Wu Shen pitifully, her eyes misting over.
However, recalling Wu Yi's incredibly lifelike, Oscar-worthy acting from this morning, Wu Shen wasn't so easily fooled.
"It's not that I don't acknowledge you, but a six or seven-year-old girl calling a high school student 'Papa' would lead to some very unpleasant assumptions from passersby. And it would be hard to explain if we met anyone I know."
You have to know that people's imaginations and ability to fill in the blanks are very rich these days.
"Then what should I call you?" Wu Yi blinked, looking confused.
"When people are around, just call me Nii-chan. When it's just the two of us, you can call me whatever you want," Wu Shen suggested after a moment of thought.
"Okay, Papa!"
Hmm… talking to a brick wall, indeed.
But then again, she'd been using that address for at least four years, so it wouldn't change overnight.
And the address Nii-Chan sounded pretty strange too.
Imagine if your own dad suddenly asked you to call him Nii-Chan, that scene would be utterly unsettling.
Just thinking about such a scenario made Wu Shen shiver.
Halfway there, Wu Yi's stomach suddenly rumbled.
"Papa, I'm hungry," Wu Yi said, lowering her head, her little face turning red.
"It's only a little past four, and you're already hungry?"
"I didn't eat breakfast or lunch," Wu Yi pouted, looking very wronged.
"Ah…"
Wu Shen slapped his forehead; Wu Yi's words reminded him that he had been in too much of a hurry this morning and hadn't arranged breakfast or lunch for Wu Yi.
This was a major dereliction of duty as a guardian.
Now was precisely the time when she needed nutrition to grow, and he absolutely couldn't neglect this issue.
Thinking of this, Wu Shen stroked Wu Yi's soft, long hair.
"Sorry, that was my mistake. What do you want for dinner? I'll make whatever you want, as compensation for today."
"Hand-pulled noodles, sweet and sour pork ribs, shumai, beer chicken wings (omitting 1980 words)…" Wu Yi gesticulated wildly, rattling off a long list.
"Why don't you just say you want the Manchu Han Imperial Feast?" Wu Shen's mouth twitched.
However, from what his daughter said, he could tell that he would likely be the one doing the cooking in their future married life.
"Didn't your mother ever make you any Japanese food?"
Could it be that Kasumigaoka Utaha's cooking skills were surprisingly bad? Wu Shen wondered.
"Mama's cooking is good too. But we both agree that Papa's cooking is better, so dinner will be entirely Papa's responsibility."
Hahaha, my great Heavenly Dynasty's culinary skills are the best in the world!
"There aren't enough ingredients in the fridge at home; I need to replenish some at the supermarket." Recalling the meager ingredients left in the kitchen, Wu Shen decided to go to the supermarket to stock up.
So the two changed their route again, detouring to a convenience store.
Looking at the exquisitely plastic-wrapped, exorbitantly expensive meats, vegetables, and fruits in the supermarket, and then at the meager living expenses left in his pocket, Wu Shen suddenly missed the lively, bustling wet market at his old home.
"I'm sorry, living expenses are a bit tight lately. Let's just have hand-pulled noodles tonight."
He had originally wanted to make sweet and sour pork ribs, but seeing the sky-high price of the ribs, the unavoidable financial issue forced Wu Shen to concede.
From now on, it would be two people's food expenses, and single-person living expenses would definitely be very tight.
It seemed he needed to find a part-time job soon to earn some extra income.
No matter what, his daughter's nutrition couldn't be neglected.
So Wu Shen picked out a bag of cucumbers and a box of cheap promotional pork, then headed to the checkout counter.
He still had other ingredients at home, so he didn't need to spend any more.
As he passed the beverage aisle, Wu Shen felt a small hand tightly grasp his; he turned around to find Wu Yi looking at him pitifully, putting on that adorable expression again.
"What is it?"
"Papa, buy me some milk! I want to drink it!"
"Milk? That's right, drinking more milk helps with calcium absorption and growing taller."
Wu Shen thought for a moment, then picked out a large bottle of milk and put it in the shopping basket.
"This is good. Drink more milk, I also want big boobs like Mama's." Wu Yi looked down at her small chest, pouting, clearly not very satisfied with her development.
"…" Hearing this, Wu Shen almost stumbled and fell.
"You're still a child. You can't rush these things."
Loli with big breasts is something only exceptionally gifted people can achieve, Wu Shen mused inwardly.
Carrying the plastic bag and holding Wu Yi's small hand, they set off for home again.
Upon arriving home, Wu Shen didn't rest for a moment; after changing into his loungewear, he immediately went into the kitchen.
First, he kneaded the dough, then used a rolling pin to flatten it into a disc of a certain thickness, and used a cleaver to cut thick strips—everything was done in one smooth motion.
Next was the most crucial step: holding both ends of the noodle with both hands, he began to gently rotate his wrists at the same frequency, and the noodles, like jump ropes, stretched in length with each rotation.
This process is more intuitive than descriptive; if you rotate too quickly or apply too much force, the noodles will break.
If you rotate too slowly, the noodles won't be chewy enough, and they won't stretch very long, becoming uneven in thickness.
When Wu Shen first learned, he ruined them more than a dozen times before truly mastering this technique.
Once the noodles were stretched to a certain length and felt sufficiently elastic, he immediately dropped them into a pot of boiling water.
Then he repeated this process until all the dough was used up.
The sauce for hand-pulled noodles isn't much different from that for zhajiangmian, but the different noodle preparation methods give it a completely distinct, rich texture.
"Speaking of which, Papa, why are you so skilled at cooking? Did you used to train as a chef?" Wu Yi watched from outside the kitchen door, asking curiously.
Why was he so good at cooking? Wu Shen began to recall the past.
Because his parents were often not home, he had to take care of his own meals… Did you think I'd give such a cliché answer?
Actually, he had watched an anime and mistakenly believed that boys who could cook were popular with girls.
So Wu Shen sought out his mother's guidance and diligently practiced his culinary skills, ultimately inheriting his mother's true cooking prowess.
However, the result, as his continued single status showed, was that it was utterly useless.
Tears in his eyes, anime lies!