After She Fell for Me, I Lost My Memory (GL) - Chapter 47

The trash can was full, with some trash bags overflowing from the top.

In reality, there was still some space in the middle of the bin.

It seemed no cleaning staff had come yesterday, leaving the stairwell environment a bit messy and cluttered.

Jian Mu hesitated for a moment, then reached out to adjust the trash bags, trying to make some room.

Her gaze suddenly froze.

Inside the bag was a box that looked familiar.

It was the New Year’s gift she had given Cen Luo last night.

Jian Mu pursed her lips and slowly reached into the trash to pick the box up. There were a few potato chip crumbs stuck to the surface.

She didn’t seem to find it dirty at all, merely murmuring to herself: “I forgot to teach you how to use it.”

She then tucked the box away as if nothing had happened.

It was as if she didn’t even remember the words she had said to Cen Luo yesterday.

Cen Luo planned to boil a bowl of porridge for breakfast.

Making porridge should be easy; you just put rice and water in the rice cooker.

At least, that was Cen Luo’s theory.

But reality didn’t align with her thoughts. When she opened the rice cooker, it had turned into steamed white rice.

Because of the lack of water, it was even cooked a bit hard.

Cen Luo: “…”

Suddenly, she felt a trace of admiration for her former self.

In the end, Cen Luo added two cups of boiling water to the white rice and ate it alongside some cold side dishes she had bought.

Halfway through, it dawned on her: why was she so insistent on adding boiling water to turn it into porridge?

It was a bad start, but it didn’t dampen her spirits.

She had simply put in too little water while cooking.

No big deal.

After breakfast, Cen Luo went out to play for a while and had lunch while she was at it.

Might as well procrastinate as long as possible.

It wasn’t until evening that Cen Luo began to seriously tinker with recipes and cooking videos.

Her learning attitude was very earnest, and the materials were quite useful.

Except… this oil was terrifying.

The video said to wait until the oil got hotter so the food would taste better.

So Cen Luo waited and waited.

The more she waited, the more scared she felt, especially when the occasional drop of oil started jumping in the pan.

Cen Luo had an ominous premonition: if she put the vegetables in now, the oil would definitely splash onto her hands.

Save her! Her fair, jade-like hands couldn’t handle oil burns.

Worse yet, it might splash not just on her hands, but her face too.

The mere thought made her feel suffocated.

But then she remembered she had mastered this before, so it shouldn’t be that hard now.

She picked up the plate of greens, gathered her courage, and poured them in.

As soon as the vegetables hit the pan, the hot oil went wild. A few drops landed on her hand, making her cry out in pain.

She reflexively threw the plate away; it hit the ground with a loud clatter.

The plate shattered on the floor.

Cen Luo couldn’t care about the shards right now; she just held her hand under the faucet to rinse it.

The phone she had set aside was still playing the video, with the sweet, pleasant voice of the blogger echoing through the kitchen.

Feeling frustrated, Cen Luo reached out and shut off the phone.

What use do I have for you?

The kitchen was filled with popping sounds. It wasn’t until she smelled something burning that she realized she hadn’t even stirred the vegetables she threw in.

By the time she went to stir them, they were scorched.

Cen Luo suddenly felt that the rice she made today was actually quite fragrant—at least compared to these vegetables.

Determined not to give up easily, Cen Luo tried to make a few more dishes.

The food never quite turned out, but she inhaled a lot of cooking fumes. Once, the pan was so hot when she added oil that it almost caught fire, which scared her half to death.

Some fumes were sucked away by the hood, while others drifted out the window.

Cen Luo plated the stir-fry and coughed twice.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Coughing, Cen Luo walked to the door and checked the peephole.

It was the security uncle from downstairs.

Cen Luo opened the door slightly and poked her head out: “Is something wrong?”

The guard looked at her, then took a step to the side, trying to peek through the crack in the door to see the situation inside.

Cen Luo stood on her tiptoes to block his view: “What are you doing?”

“Your house isn’t on fire, is it?”

Cen Luo instantly understood what he meant. She felt a bit awkward and gave a light cough: “No.”

“You aren’t… doing anything rash, are you?”

Cen Luo: “?”

“It’s like this: before, someone was feeling hopeless and tried to commit suicide by gas, but it accidentally caused a fire and endangered the whole building.”

Cen Luo: “…”

Seeing the genuine concern in the security uncle’s eyes, Cen Luo hesitated but eventually opened the door fully so he could see the interior.

“I’m just not practiced at cooking. The smoke was a bit much, but it’s not what you think.”

The security uncle glanced at the kitchen and asked: “Is your range hood broken?”

Cen Luo then realized—maybe it was?

Otherwise, why was the smoke so thick and drifting out the window?

Cen Luo was about to answer when she suddenly spotted Jian Mu standing behind the guard.

Jian Mu was observing her.

Cen Luo looked away. She had previously looked down on Jian Mu’s cooking, and now Jian Mu had overheard that she couldn’t even make a basic dish.

It was a little embarrassing.

Whether she noticed she was being watched or not, Jian Mu actually left before she even closed the door.

Cen Luo thanked the guard a few more times and closed the door. She looked at the kitchen, then sat down on the sofa.

She couldn’t help but sigh; cooking was truly hard.

Maybe she should just order takeout for Zhao Zhao. A big star eating takeout sounds very “down-to-earth.”

Thinking this, she sent Zhao Zhao a message.

Cen Luo: [I have an idea.]

Just after sending it, the doorbell rang.

In just one minute, Cen Luo couldn’t imagine it being anyone other than the security uncle.

She opened the door directly.

“I—”

Cen Luo was about to say she was really fine, only to find that the person standing there wasn’t the security uncle—it was Jian Mu.

Seeing the change in Cen Luo’s expression, Jian Mu quickly pulled out a paper bag she was holding:

“These are your old things. You said this was your ‘secret weapon for victory.'”

Cen Luo’s hand paused. She glanced into the bag and saw a few notebooks and books, along with a white box. She couldn’t tell exactly what they were.

Seeing Cen Luo not moving, and thinking she didn’t believe her, Jian Mu pulled a book out of the bag.

She held it up so Cen Luo could see the name written on the cover.

Cen Luo took a look; it was indeed her handwriting.

There was nothing wrong with taking back her own things.

Cen Luo took the bag and looked inside, then added: “I was in a rush last time and forgot to say—please mail my things to me, or I’ll come pick them up myself sometime.”

Cen Luo’s expression suggested she should pick one option.

Mailing them, but not giving them to her directly; picking them up alone—Jian Mu knew Cen Luo was trying to avoid meeting her.

“But the courier station is just downstairs,” Jian Mu said.

So what if it’s downstairs? Isn’t that convenient? Cen Luo was speechless.

Not wanting to talk anymore, Cen Luo prepared to close the door.

“Wait,” Jian Mu stopped her. She pursed her lips and said: “Don’t let the oil get too hot before putting the food in. Try to use a low flame. And don’t leave water on the vegetables, or it will catch fire easily.”

Cen Luo froze for two seconds before reacting. Was Jian Mu trying to tell her how to do things?

And saying “it will catch fire easily”—was she cursing her?

“Who are you cursing?” Cen Luo was annoyed. Without caring if the door would hit Jian Mu, she slammed it shut.

Inside, Cen Luo was still a bit upset.

Who is that stupid? Who doesn’t know to use a low flame? Who starts a fire while making a dish? How ‘great’ is that person?

After being angry for two minutes and cursing Jian Mu a thousand times in her head, she belatedly realized: she hadn’t used a low flame just now. She had just dumped the vegetables straight in.

That’s why the oil splashed on her.

Just now… there actually were some sparks.

Could it be that Jian Mu wasn’t cursing her, but talking about something that had already happened?

Terrifying.

To dispel her wild guesses, Cen Luo took a notebook out of the bag. It turned out to be a diary.

The name was quite ambitious: Chef Cen’s Crash Course Diary.

[October 8, 2020]

To catch a woman’s heart, you have to catch her stomach. We’re moving in together soon; I have to make sure Jian Mu eats the best food in the world.

Seeing the first page, Cen Luo finally understood why it was called her secret weapon.

So she learned to cook for Jian Mu.

She should have guessed.

Cen Luo initially thought it was a diary about Jian Mu, but found that the subsequent entries were serious records of cooking steps and insights. She flipped through a couple more pages.

Her eyes stopped on an entry from October 13.

[October 13]

I burned the kitchen today, haha, I’m so ‘great.’ I thought Jian Mu would be angry, but she asked me if I was hurt first. Hahahaha, she even praised me, saying I’m the first person to burn a kitchen while learning to cook. Who would have thought? I got praised because I burned the kitchen.

Sure enough, she really had burned one before.

Cen Luo was a bit speechless.

The handwriting from a few years ago was still clear.

However, the paper seemed a bit wrinkled; she must have flipped through it many times.

She didn’t know where this notebook had been kept, as there were oil stains and dried watermarks on the pages.

She looked at the paper bag again and pulled out the box.

It was a first-aid kit with her name on it.

Her box?

Opening it, she found burn ointment and bandages inside, along with another unknown medication.