Since he wanted soup, Julian had Aurora add a lot of medicinal herbs to it. Aurora, not skilled in soup-making, didn’t have much concept of cooking with medicinal herbs. Seeing Hayden’s bitter face, Julian was delighted, having his own ways to deal with him. Aurora, oblivious to their scheming, noticed Hayden’s grimace and asked, “What’s wrong, doesn’t it taste good?”
“This soup is good for your health, of course it won’t taste great. They say good medicine tastes bitter. Hayden, this was specially made for you by Aunt Aurora, so try to drink more,” Julian said, effectively silencing any complaints from Hayden.
Hayden knew Aurora didn’t mean any harm and wouldn’t blame her.
“No, it’s delicious, I’m just a bit overwhelmed. It’s been a long time since you’ve cooked for me.”
“Look at you, I owe you one this time. If it hadn’t been for you saving me, I’d probably be the one lying in the hospital. The injuries you got were because of me. As long as you like, I’ll make it every day.”
Hayden was nearly scared to death by Aurora’s words. Although he wanted to eat her cooking, the thought of drinking such bitter soup every day was madness.
“You don’t need to do it every day. You’re also busy with work, and I’m already grateful for what you’ve done today,” Hayden quickly declined.
“I just took a week off, so I’ll take good care of you this week until you’re almost better, then I’ll leave. So, you can tell me anything you want to eat,” Aurora said gently.
“Okay.”
Looking at her gentle smile, Hayden felt his heart melt. If losing a hand meant seeing her like this again, then what was there to lose?
Still immersed in Aurora’s tenderness, Aurora opened another lunchbox, “Julian, I was in a hurry, so I just prepared two simple dishes for you.”
Seeing the delicate lunchbox with scrambled eggs and braised beef, dishes he had enjoyed before, Julian said, “I’m hungry now, come, have some too.”
He offered Aurora some food. Already full, Aurora couldn’t refuse Julian and took a bite.
“Is it a bit too salty? I was in a rush and got a bit flustered,” Aurora tasted it carefully.
“It’s not salty, it’s perfect. Try this,” Julian fed her another spoonful, which she accepted.
Watching the two exchange words like newlyweds, Hayden admitted he was jealous, even to the point of madness.
“Aurora, my hand is quite inconvenient, I can’t hold a spoon. Could you help me?” Hayden tried to assert his presence.
Aurora nodded, “Of course.”
Just then, Susan entered the room, “Hayden, I’ve made some soup for you, try it and see if it’s good?”
Noticing Aurora also had soup, Susan’s expression changed, “Where did that come from?”
Seeing Susan arrive, Aurora felt it was safer for her to handle things, to avoid Susan causing a scene that would disturb the entire ward.
“I made it, but since you’ve also made some, you can feed him,” Aurora tactfully stepped aside, considering Julian might not be pleased.
Susan scoffed, holding back because of Hayden’s presence, and threw Aurora’s soup aside.
“This is pitch black, almost like poison. Come on, Hayden, drink mine instead.”
Hayden, finding the chicken soup too bitter, didn’t stop Susan’s action.
Originally, Julian wanted Aurora’s chicken soup to help heal Hayden, but now that Susan called it poison, as a protective husband, Julian was not about to let Aurora be mistreated.
“I was just getting thirsty, I’ll drink this soup if you won’t,” Julian said, noticing Hayden’s grimace and realizing the soup must taste awful, but he didn’t care.
“Julian, I’ve put a lot of tonic in there; you’re not injured, so don’t drink too much,” Aurora warned, pleased that her efforts were respected.
“Don’t worry, I don’t drink it every day,” Julian replied with a smile, taking a few sips and commenting that calling it soup was a stretch-it was more like medicine. To keep Aurora from feeling down, he pretended it was nothing and took a few more sips.
Hayden watched Julian drink with a casual air, knowing from his own experience how bad the soup tasted, yet Julian seemed to enjoy it! At that moment, Hayden felt even more annoyed; Julian was proving that no matter how bad it tasted, as long as Aurora made it, he would happily drink every last drop. He felt he had lost this round.
“Julian, is it really that good? Let me try some,” Aurora said, curious to see him enjoying it so much.
Hearing Aurora wanted to try it, Julian quickly finished it off in a few gulps, “It’s so delicious, I forgot to save you some.”
Aurora doubted her soup was that tasty. She skeptically tried a piece of the meat and immediately spat it out.
“Yuck, so bitter!” Even the chicken tasted bad; how terrible must the soup have been? No wonder Hayden frowned at first-he hadn’t expected it to be that awful.
“Here, drink some water to rinse your mouth,” Julian quickly handed Aurora a bottle of water.
Susan mockingly said, “I told you, what kind of soup looks as black as ink? It looks like poison, no wonder no one can stomach it.”
Julian glanced at her coldly, “She’s not a chef. Why should she have to please anyone else? As long as I like it, that’s all that matters.”
Aurora felt deeply moved by his supportive words. From this small incident, she could tell who truly loved her the most. No matter how nicely Hayden spoke, he simply couldn’t show the unconditional acceptance Julian did. He thought the chicken soup tasted bad, and although he didn’t say it outright, his silence when Susan offered to feed him spoke volumes.
Meanwhile, Julian had finished the bitter soup to not waste Aurora’s effort, showing his deep affection. How could she not respond to such love?
“Julian, when I’m free, I’ll take some cooking classes so I can make whatever you want, okay?” Aurora said, feeling guilty about not catering to Julian’s tastes.
“That’s not good. You should just be yourself. I don’t want you to change anything for me; I like everything you make just the way it is,” Julian reassured her as he started eating from his lunchbox again.
Susan rolled her eyes, “It’s just scrambled eggs. I thought it was something special. Here, Hayden, I’ve also prepared shark fin and abalone for you, try these.”
Aurora bit her lip, realizing she hadn’t been as thoughtful, and felt outdone by Susan. She vowed to hone her cooking skills after this incident, determined never to embarrass Julian again.
“Silly bunny, what are you worrying about now? I’ve told you, only the food you make suits my taste best,” Julian said, supporting Aurora by eagerly finishing everything in his lunchbox.
While Hayden enjoyed the delicious chicken soup and the luxurious shark fin and abalone, these delicacies tasted like wax to him. Perhaps what he truly wanted was the simplicity of the scrambled eggs in Julian’s lunchbox, valuable simply because she made them.