"That, you guys keep playing, I have an urgent matter so I'll head back first."
Andrew finished speaking, and without waiting for the others to react, he rushed out of the dormitory building. While running towards the school gate, he was already calling for a ride-share on his phone.
He had to get back before Scarlett blew up the kitchen.
A woman who had never touched cooking utensils, and couldn't even boil noodles, suddenly wanted to cook.
Andrew didn't dare imagine what terrible things might happen.
He could already picture tomorrow's top news headline: A resident in the Talent Apartment complex in Blackthorn City caused a gas leak explosion while cooking at home, resulting in * * * economic losses.
Andrew didn't dare to think further. As soon as he got into the car, he told the driver, "Driver, please hurry, something happened at home."
"Did someone fall ill?"
"Sort of. It might cost someone their life, so please hurry."
Upon hearing this, the driver immediately floored the accelerator, running red lights precisely, even surpassing the speed of the time when Scarlett rushed him to school.
As soon as he got out of the car, Andrew ignored his motion sickness and stumbled back to the apartment to open the door.
No smoke, no fire, no smell of burning, and no smell of gas.
Andrew saw everything inside was normal and breathed a sigh of relief, "That's great, it seems the situation isn't as bad as I imagined."
"What bad situation?"
Scarlett heard Andrew return and walked out wearing an apron. She was still barefoot, having changed into a modest, conservative nightgown for home, with an apron tied over it.
This added a touch of domesticity to her cool and aloof aura, or perhaps gave her the feeling of a wife.
Seeing Scarlett neatly dressed, Andrew completely let go of the anxiety he had been holding, "Nothing."
Looking at the nicely presented dishes on the table, Andrew was still somewhat incredulous: Could she really cook? Was she not a kitchen disaster?
"Since you're back, let's eat. I'll get you a fork and spoon."
Scarlett handed a spoon, knife and fork to Andrew, then held hers without moving, instead watching him.
This was her first time cooking, and she was somewhat eager for someone's evaluation.
Andrew was already a bit hungry. He picked up a strand of shredded potatoes and put it in his mouth. As soon as he started chewing, his expression instantly stiffened, and he instinctively wanted to spit it out.
But a glimpse from the corner of his eye showed Scarlett watching him. Andrew felt that doing so wouldn't be good; regardless of whether Scarlett would get angry, it would certainly crush her spirit.
So, Andrew forced himself to swallow the shredded potatoes in his mouth.
"How is it?"
Scarlett asked Andrew with some anticipation.
"It's alright. The presentation is quite good, and the shreds are cut quite finely."
"What else?"
"Also..."
Andrew truly couldn't find any other merits.
"You can also tell me directly if there are any bad parts. I won't get angry."
"You really won't get angry?"
Andrew turned to confirm with Scarlett.
"I won't get angry."
Having received the assurance, Andrew stated his true feelings, "It's too salty, salty enough to be slightly bitter, and the potatoes are practically raw, completely uncooked."
"That shouldn't be. I only added three spoonfuls of salt."
"You think that's too little?"
Andrew was stunned; it seemed he had just eaten salt.
"Are there any others? Try them?"
Scarlett was a bit disappointed but still wanted to hear what else Andrew had to say, perhaps the others were decent.
Andrew also picked up the rest with his chopsticks and took a bite of each, "This braised eggplant is not bad."
"Really!"
Scarlett became slightly excited but quickly composed herself.
"Everything except the eggplant is pretty good. The eggplant has turned into mush."
"..."
"This tomato soup is also okay! It just has tomato left, no soup."
"The rice is cooked quite well too. Next time, add a bit more water; it's a little undercooked."
Andrew ate while speaking. Except for the initial difficulty swallowing, after a few more bites, he didn't care anymore.
After all, he had eaten worse things.
After speaking, Andrew suddenly realized something and nervously looked towards Scarlett. He saw her face was calm, without a ripple, though her disappointment was evident.
"Um... Teacher Scarlett, don't be too down. It's your first time cooking; it's actually quite good."
Andrew quickly comforted her, fearing Scarlett would get angry or become overly dejected.
However, Scarlett said nothing, just watched silently. She wasn't angry or blaming Andrew; after tasting it herself, she knew it was indeed terrible.
Her heart was filled with a sense of loss. She had worked hard on this dinner, preparing very seriously, but still messed it up.
Since childhood, everything she did was perfect and excellent; she had almost never failed.
Yet, she had ruined this seemingly simple task of cooking, and done it terribly, making a dinner so unpalatable it couldn't be swallowed.
When Scarlett came back to her senses, she noticed Andrew was still eating and felt a bit confused.
"Why are you still eating? We can just throw it away later."
"No need to throw it away. It's really fine, much better than many people's first attempts at cooking."
Andrew kept eating as he spoke.
He wasn't lying. Although Scarlett's cooking skill was poor, it was much better than Catherine's.
Andrew would never forget the first meal Catherine made for him; it had become the nightmare of his life. Although he hadn't eaten slop, he figured it wasn't much different from what Catherine cooked.
Scarlett watched Andrew eat more than half of the meal she prepared, bite by bite. She didn't know what to say; her feelings were complex.
She felt a pang of guilt making Andrew eat such a terrible dinner, but more than that, she was pleased that he was eating her cooked food.
This was far more useful than any verbal encouragement.
However, Scarlett also firmly decided not to cook again in the future. Tormenting herself was fine, but she couldn't let Andrew suffer along with her.
---
At night, Andrew was in front of his computer. He wasn't playing games but continued thinking about building a website.
But the first steps to building a website were buying a domain name and renting a server.
Andrew checked online; the two together cost around six hundred or seven hundred dollars. Where would he get that much money?
He first tried contacting his father. His mother was too stingy; she definitely wouldn't give it to him.
"Dad, do you have any extra money?"
"Where would I get extra money? Isn't all the money managed by your mom?"
"Don't think I don't know. You have private savings."
"What private savings? I warn you, don't slander me!"
"In the lining of that old suit deep inside your closet, there should still be quite a bit of money. Don't think I don't know."
"Hey? What did you say? The signal is bad here... Beep beep beep—"
Before Andrew could continue, the line went dead.
"Damn it! Even more cunning than me?"
Andrew exclaimed and tried calling his dad again, but the line was unreachable.
"Hateful, Dad. Since you are unjust, don't blame me for being unrighteous."
Immediately, Andrew sent a message to his mother, "Mom, Dad has a lot of private money hidden in his old suit. It's all for buying cigarettes; he never actually quit."
After sending it, Andrew felt relieved. He knew his dad would be sleeping on the floor again tonight.
But the issue of where to get the money continued to trouble him. As a college student, he couldn't get a loan, and online loans were out of the question; no normal person would take those out.
Just as he was worrying, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.