Unfortunately, this was the first time cooking, and Jiang Ning didn't know that their appetites were so small.
The amount of food he made was quite large.
Although Mengmeng was full, she was still young and had a limited appetite.
Su Meng didn't eat much either.
Looking at the table still full of dishes, Jiang Ning felt a little regretful, and at the same time, he was doubtful of his own cooking skills.
Just because he was satisfied didn't mean others were.
It was like how he usually thought his cooking was delicious, but others didn't think it was that great.
The leftover dishes said it all.
"Mengmeng, you play by yourself for a bit, okay? Uncle Jiang will clean up," Jiang Ning said.
Mengmeng nodded obediently, "Okay, Uncle Jiang, you're busy."
Jiang Ning started to clear the dishes, feeling a bit reluctant as he dumped the plates of leftovers.
It seemed he needed to pay attention to the amount of food next time; he'd made a mistake this time.
Such a waste of food.
"System, when will my cooking skills improve to Master level?" Jiang Ning couldn't help but ask.
System: "After 30 hours, you'll reach Master level. After 60 hours, you'll reach Grandmaster level. After 90 hours, you'll reach God level."
"Ninety hours, three hours a day, that's a month. Does it count if I'm doing things like cooking, stir-frying, chopping vegetables, washing vegetables, washing dishes, and clearing the table?"
If it only counts the time spent stir-frying, it usually takes just ten or twenty minutes to stir-fry a few dishes. If that's the case, I probably wouldn't reach the level of a Kitchen God in three months.
And I agreed with Su Meng that it would be three months.
System: "It counts."
Hearing that it counted, Jiang Ning finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He lightly patted his chest: "Thank goodness, thank goodness."
Then, Jiang Ning patiently wiped the dining table, again and again, until it was sparkling clean.
After that, he went to the kitchen to wash the dishes, wash the pots, and clean the stove.
Doing the same thing over and over, without getting tired of it.
You know, before when he was living alone, Jiang Ning liked to cook.
But when it came to washing pots and pans, he was extremely perfunctory.
Whether they were actually clean or not, well, that was debatable.
Soon, Jiang Ning was busy in the kitchen for an hour.
If he kept scrubbing, he figured he'd wear through the bottom of the pots.
The dishes and kitchen were spotless.
Jiang Ning finally sighed helplessly and walked out of the kitchen.
"Uncle Jiang, why were you in the kitchen for so long?" Mengmeng asked, looking puzzled, when Jiang Ning came to the entertainment room.
"Mengmeng, the kitchen is where we cook, right? Uncle Jiang needs to clean it, otherwise, if you and Aunt Su eat dirty food and get germs in your tummy, you'll get sick and catch a cold, right?" Jiang Ning explained patiently.
Mengmeng reminded him, "Yes, Uncle Jiang is right. Uncle Jiang, Mommy said Mengmeng needs to take a nap at this time."
"Alright, alright, come on, Uncle Jiang will take Mengmeng to take a nap." After saying this, Jiang Ning took Mengmeng to Mengmeng's bedroom on the second floor.
Mengmeng's room wasn't big, but the whole room was pink, with a pink rabbit-shaped bed, looking very cute.
The room was filled with stuffed animals, stuffed dogs, stuffed bears, and so on, a dazzling array.
It was clear that Su Meng loved Mengmeng very much, otherwise, she wouldn't have bought so many cute stuffed toys with such care.
"Uncle Jiang, can you tell me a story?" Mengmeng blinked her big, cute eyes at Jiang Ning.
"Oh man, a story?"
Jiang Ning was at a loss.
He was the worst at putting children to sleep, let alone telling stories.
Especially when faced with a three-year-old girl, he didn't know what story to tell her.
In his university years, he lived with six male classmates, and they had plenty of dirty jokes.
But as for cute children's stories, his mind was blank.
He racked his brain, and it seemed he only remembered the story about one monk carrying water to drink, two monks carrying water, and three monks having no water to drink.
That was about it, it seemed.
Oh, right, there's also the "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" story, but that seems more suited for boys and not quite right for girls.
Looks like I'll have to ask "Duniang" for help.
Thinking this,
"Mengmeng, wait a moment, Uncle Jiang will find a nice story for you." Jiang Ning couldn't help but wipe the sweat from his forehead.
"Okay." Mengmeng obediently lay on the bed, waiting expectantly.
"Got it, Mengmeng, Uncle Jiang will tell you the story of 'The Beautiful Rainbow Dress'." At this moment, Jiang Ning found a story called "The Beautiful Rainbow Dress."
He felt this one was very suitable for a little girl.
"Ah, Uncle Jiang, can you pick another one? I haven't heard that one before?" Mengmeng said with some disappointment.
Jiang Ning thought he'd finally found a good story, but Mengmeng had already heard it. He felt incredibly awkward.
"Alright, then, let Uncle Jiang try again. How about The Secret Garden of Moonlight?"
"Uncle Jiang, I've heard that one. Mama Su told it to me."
"What about The Whale Song of the Starry Sky?"
"Heard it."
"How about The Sun Comes Out?"
"Ugh, that's so corny. I've heard it a bunch of times at the orphanage."
"Surely you haven't heard The Pheasant and the Crow?"
Mengmeng rolled her eyes at Jiang Ning. "Uncle Jiang, can you pick another one? I've already heard this one."
Jiang Ning was having a massive headache.
"How about The Secret of the Dream Garden?"
"Yes! Yes! Uncle Jiang, tell me that story! I haven't heard it yet." Mengmeng clapped her hands, finally smiling happily.
Jiang Ning was feeling a bit of a headache.
Being a dad for the first time was really hard on him.
It seemed he needed to prepare more if he wanted to be a good dad in the future.
"In a quiet forest, lived a lively and adorable little rabbit. Her name was Lili. Lili was the happiest rabbit in the forest, and every day she loved to hop around and play with her friends..."
Jiang Ning began to speak slowly, facing the phone.
Mengmeng's bedroom was silent.
Mengmeng listened quietly and attentively.
Five minutes later.
"Ding!"
System: "Congratulations, Host, for obtaining Beginner Fairy Tale Level."
Following that, a large number of fairy tales flooded into his mind.
No way, telling stories can level up?
Jiang Ning felt somewhat bewildered.
But this was good. The fairy tales in his mind were enough to tell Mengmeng for a while.
It would save him the embarrassment of Mengmeng having already heard all the fairy tales he found on "Duniang."
As Jiang Ning slowly spoke into the phone.
Although his expression was stiff and he had no body language, he was just reading aloud.
But Mengmeng listened, and soon fell asleep.
Watching Mengmeng fall asleep.
Jiang Ning then put away the phone, and sighed self-deprecatingly.
My first time as a stay-at-home dad, and I'm terrible.
I played with Mengmeng in the morning and forgot to make her a snack.
I made too much food when I was cooking lunch.
During nap time, I told her fairy tales, but I didn't have many stories prepared, and I was clumsy at telling them.
Even I think it's funny.
Taking advantage of Mengmeng's nap,
Jiang Ning walked out of Mengmeng's bedroom. The villa was very quiet.
Jiang Ning was afraid Mengmeng would wake up and call for him.
Didn't dare to close the door.
Carefully walked to the first floor.