chapter 137 Grand Meal Planned
After agreeing to go shopping after dinner, Kaede started thawing the steaks and cooking rice. The vegetable preparation was left to Eriri.
Compared to Eriri's skill, Kaede, although he had studied for a while, only knew some simple dishes.
Fortunately, things like steaks become easy after making them a few times.
Hmm... should he really study cooking properly again in the coming days? He couldn't always let Eriri be the head chef; such things definitely feel better when two people complete them together.
Decided! He'd look for recipes and cooking videos to learn later!
With the rice cooking, the pan-fried steaks sliced into strips, plus Eriri's miso soup and mixed vegetables, tonight's dinner was complete.
Sitting face to face, looking at the dishes in front of her, Eriri said happily, "Hehe, although it's not as lavish as lunch, I don't know why it makes me hungrier!"
"Is it because it's just the two of us now?"
Eriri's face turned slightly red, and she whispered, "Possibly. Ugh... Alright, let's eat!"
"I'm eating."
"I'm eating!"
Although the dishes were simple, just as Kaede said, as long as the person cooking across from you is the right one, your appetite will be as good as if you were eating a grand meal.
Of course, the ingredients for dinner weren't bad either; just these two steaks weren't cheap, and the vegetables were all carefully selected by Asakura Reiko from a nearby supermarket.
After dinner, all the dishes were put into the dishwasher. After a short rest, the two went out.
Unlike Eriri, Kaede had passed through some nearby areas when he visited Takasu Ryuji's house last time and knew there was a shopping street near the apartment, so the two headed there first.
Holding Kaede's hand, Eriri looked at the scene of the shopping street and said, "Kaede-kun, it's very lively here."
Although it was already past dinner time, nearly 6:30 PM, many shops were still open here.
"Because the shops on the shopping street are mostly run by residents living here themselves, they decide when to close."
As he spoke, Kaede saw that there were still two butcher shops open here, so he led Eriri towards one of them.
The owner was a middle-aged man with a buzz cut, a bit overweight, who had just finished eating and was happily sipping tea from a cup in his hand.
Seeing the two young customers approach, he immediately stood up and said, "What would you two like to buy?"
"Hmm..."
After looking at the meat in the shop, Kaede asked, "Boss, do you have large pork ribs?"
"Oh? How big do you want?"
Kaede gestured with his hands and said, "About two footballs big, like the kind that's taken out of the shop but not yet cut for sale."
"We don't have that size today; they've all been cut and sold. There's only a little bit left."
Saying that, the boss pointed to a small portion of ribs left in the transparent display case.
"Will you have stock tomorrow?"
The boss saw that they really wanted to buy, so he immediately said, "A batch of meat will arrive early tomorrow morning. If you want it, young man, I can reserve a piece for you."
Nodding, Kaede said to Eriri beside him, "How about it, let's buy a piece tomorrow and make roasted ribs in the oven, as a main dish."
"Roasted ribs, huh? That sounds good. It'll be convenient to make if everyone is eating together," Eriri thought for a moment and readily agreed.
"Then, boss, please reserve a piece for me. When can I pick it up tomorrow morning? Because we're hosting friends tomorrow, we need to prepare early."
The boss heard this and patted his chest, saying, "Don't worry, deliveries usually arrive very early, around six o'clock. You can come after that, I guarantee I'll save it for you."
The timing was sufficient, so Kaede placed the order, and also pre-ordered some other ingredients like beef and chicken wings.
Seeing that Kaede still had other things to buy, the boss simply said, "How about this, since you're buying quite a bit, leave me your phone number and contact information, and I'll deliver it to you at seven tomorrow morning."
"That would be perfect."
Kaede smiled and nodded, telling the boss his address and contact information.
The boss looked at him and said in surprise, "This apartment, are you new here?"
"Yes, we bought the house a few days ago and just moved in."
The boss seemed to be very aware of the price of that apartment building and couldn't help but sigh, "You really are young and promising."
Bidding farewell to the boss, the two continued to stroll.
The meat had already been selected, and vegetables would definitely have to be bought tomorrow morning, so the two went directly to a small supermarket here, bought a lot of snacks and drinks, and then, before it got completely dark, returned to the apartment.
After putting the drinks in the refrigerator and stuffing the snacks bag by bag into the pantry, Eriri immediately walked over and pulled out two bags of potato chips.
"Hehe, I'll eat it later while working!"
Seeing this, Kaede did not refuse.
After putting the items away, the two returned to the workshop and continued working.
As mentioned before, because they had a gathering tomorrow, the reduced work time for tomorrow had to be distributed between today and the day after tomorrow.
However, while working, Kaede noticed something.
That was, Eriri seemed a little distracted.
After thinking for a moment and glancing at the time in the bottom right corner of the computer screen, Kaede realized what was happening.
So that's what this was about!
It was already past ten in the evening. Although work was important, sleep was equally important. They absolutely had to rest before midnight, which was just over an hour away.
With this situation looming, even if Kaede wouldn't do anything impatient, this was their first night living together, so Eriri was definitely nervous.
What should he do about this?
Kaede thought about it. Since there was no good solution, he could only continue drawing storyboards.
The night passed slowly, and finally, it reached 11:15.
Eriri had just finished the manga page she was working on. Kaede also stopped what he was doing at the right time and said to her, "Eriri, time is almost up. It's time to rest!"
Eriri snapped out of her daze, looked at the clock in the workshop, and involuntarily sat up straight.
Kaede couldn't help but laugh. While shutting down his computer, he said, "Do you want to take a bath first, or should I? Or perhaps..."
"I'll go first!"
She didn't bother shutting down her computer, immediately got up, and rushed out of the workshop. But just as she stepped out of the room, she turned back, blushing, and said, "No peeking!"
"...I wouldn't peek."