"Why not?"
"I'm afraid of being discovered."
Mu Cheng didn't understand. "Discover what?"
"If my face is exposed on the internet, people will discover that I'm a runaway princess. I'll be caught and forced to marry the prince," Su Miao said with mock seriousness. "Besides, I'm so beautiful that fans might fall in love with me and want to marry me. That would be troublesome."
In reality, she simply believed that fame was a double-edged sword.
Being famous meant every word and action would be scrutinized, which wasn't conducive to her future plans of living life to the fullest.
Future headlines might read: "Celebrity sleeps with ten men in one night" or "Celebrity and male model haven't left hotel room for three days and nights..."
Mu Cheng: "..."
As if he'd believe such nonsense.
Meanwhile, in another place.
Su Yuyan sat quietly at his small desk, flipping through a book. His young, delicate face was cold and expressionless.
"Your mom sent a text, your mom sent a text! Let me see it quick!" Su Miao's cheerful voice came through the children's smartwatch, breaking the silence.
This was Su Miao's handiwork.
She called it a "personalized creation," claiming he was the only one in the world with such a privilege.
Su Yuyan put down his book and raised his wrist. The smartwatch screen lit up, displaying the contact name: "Universe's Most Beautiful Mommy Su Miao."
Another of Su Miao's creations.
He opened the text: "What does my big boy want for dinner? I'm going grocery shopping now."
Su Yuyan thought about replying "anything is fine," but after consideration, he deleted the message he had typed and instead wrote: "Please don't be overconfident. When shopping, choose simple home-style dishes or semi-prepared meals."
Su Miao quickly received the text. After reading its contents, she gritted her teeth in frustration.
"You little brat, who do you think you're looking down on?"
Ignoring Mu Cheng's repeated attempts to stop her, Su Miao hopped on her second-hand electric scooter and sped away.
In the kitchen, Su Miao was in the midst of a culinary battle.
An electronic device nearby played a cooking tutorial video on its screen.
Hearing the occasional clanging and banging from the kitchen, Su Yuyan put down his book, concerned, and walked towards the kitchen.
The kitchen was filled with swirling smoke, like a mystical realm.
Shocked by the scene before him, Su Yuyan pushed open the glass partition door. His young, immature voice was filled with confusion.
"What are you doing?"
Su Miao turned at the sound, confidently declaring, "I'm making braised pork ribs."
Ha! Bet you didn't expect me to know how to make braised pork ribs, kid.
"Oh, so you're cooking," Su Yuyan realized. "I thought you were concocting an elixir."
Su Miao: "..."
This kid would be perfect for Taoist cultivation, given how well he understands the art of passive-aggressiveness.
Waving her hand to disperse the smoke, she said, "It might look a bit dramatic, but this is how braising works, you know."
Su Miao tried to convince herself this was normal.
"Are you sure you're not making an elixir?" Su Yuyan asked again.
Su Miao's face immediately fell. "Kid, you'd better not push it. I'm working hard to cook for you, and all you do is make fun of me."
"But don't you smell something burning?" Su Yuyan looked at her with a complex expression.
"Really?" Su Miao sniffed the air and indeed caught the scent Su Yuyan had described. "Oh crap, it really is burning!"
She immediately rushed to save her braised pork ribs.
A few minutes later.
"Son, why don't you try it? Maybe it's just a bit dark in color, not ruined," Su Miao said, resting her chin on her hands and staring at the plate of "braised pork ribs" on the table.
Su Yuyan rejected the offer without a second thought, his face expressionless. "Are you sure it's just dark in color and not completely carbonized?"
Su Miao: "..."
Was it possible that his eyesight was poor and he was seeing it wrong?
It was just dark in color, that's all.
"But son, this is my first time making braised pork ribs. Can't you give me a little face?" Su Miao persisted.
Su Yuyan remained cold. "This isn't about saving face. If I eat that, it might be a case of attempted murder on your part."
Su Miao: "..."
She couldn't really be blamed for this, could she?
In the post-apocalyptic world, there weren't ingredients like this. They always said the post-apocalyptic world was a place for eating animal feed. Food there consisted of various energy drinks or compressed rations. Otherwise, she wouldn't be so obsessed with the food here.
Before this, she thought she was quite talented, able to pick up anything quickly. Many things she could master just by looking at them once.
She hadn't expected to fail at cooking this time.
It had seemed so simple – just put various ingredients in and heat them up, right?
Just like mixing energy drinks.
"Well, I guess we'll have to order takeout then," Su Miao said resignedly.
Looks like she was destined to eat takeout.
Su Miao excitedly pulled out her phone and opened a food delivery app. "Son, what do you want to eat? I'll order for you."
Hehe! She wanted fried chicken, and maybe add a grilled cold noodle dish.
Su Yuyan glanced at her, his little mouth tightly pursed.
Why did he feel like she had done this on purpose, just because she wanted to eat takeout?
"I don't want takeout," Su Yuyan immediately replied, his tone serious and unyielding.
Su Miao's raised corners of her mouth slowly dropped. "If we don't eat takeout, what are we going to eat?"
"Anything but takeout," Su Yuyan insisted.
Su Miao took a deep breath, put down her phone with a cold smile, and said, "Then what should we eat? The wind from the northwest?"
Not ordering takeout, did he want to starve her? Stupid kid.
No wonder nobody wanted to have children in the post-apocalyptic world.
Kids are just annoying.
"I'll cook," Su Yuyan said as he got down from his chair.
Watching the small figure walk straight into the kitchen, Su Miao suddenly felt his back looked so grand. But a second later, she snapped back to reality.
Grand, my foot. Just a bad kid stopping her from eating takeout.
"Son, don't be too confident in yourself. Why don't we just order takeout?" she called out.
"Cooking might be a high-level skill. Let's give up," she added, suddenly craving the grilled wheat gluten from the north of the city.
Su Yuyan completely ignored Su Miao as he stood on a stool, methodically cleaning up the "battlefield" Su Miao had left behind.
Seeing that she couldn't persuade Su Yuyan, Su Miao could only accept reality.
She pulled up a small stool and sat at the kitchen door, resting her chin on her hands, her eyes fixed on Su Yuyan.
If he wanted to cook, let him. After trying, he'd realize how difficult cooking was.
By then, she wouldn't even need to say anything. He'd give up on his own.
"It's ready. Wash your hands and let's eat," Su Yuyan said as he climbed down from the stool, holding a dish in his hands.
Su Miao stood up at his words and walked into the kitchen.
The kid seemed quite competent, but unfortunately, this dish wouldn't be edible.
In the end, you'll still have to accept takeout.
However, reality disappointed Su Miao. She stared in shock at the plate of delicious-looking stir-fried tofu with minced meat in Su Yuyan's hands.
She took the dish from Su Yuyan's hands, asking in disbelief, "Did you really make this?"
"You saw it with your own eyes, didn't you?" Su Yuyan replied coldly. If one listened closely, a hint of pride could be detected in his cool tone.
It was precisely because she had seen it that she found it even more unbelievable.
She had followed the same steps, so why did hers turn out to be nothing but charcoal?
This wasn't fair.
There must be something sinister in this kitchen.
That malevolent force was targeting her. How else could Su Yuyan's dish turn out so well, while hers was nothing but a plate of ashes?