Chapter 169: I Want to Eat What You Cook Yourself

Li Jun wasn't joking when he said that — he was being completely serious.

The facts were right there.

If Yu Dazhang hadn't gone to help the Qingpu branch, the body-snatching case would have been cracked sooner or later anyway — it would just have taken longer.

Even if it never got solved in the end, at worst it would have become a cold case.

Squad Leader Ji Bin wouldn't have been transferred because of it either.

Besides, which district branch doesn't have a few cold cases piling up?

The "goddess detective" did have a hundred-percent solve rate, but that was just a man-made miracle.

Ji Bin's bad luck this time was that the moment the case was transferred, the Hongkou branch cracked it right away.

It was like a piece of fat meat right at his lips, handed over to someone else with both hands.

In criminal investigation, the game is all in the head — whatever he's thinking, anyone can see it at a glance.

Once a person's character is exposed, that person basically has no secrets left.

There's nothing wrong with requesting instructions, but you still have to pick the right moment.

Director Liu naturally couldn't let someone who brushed things off like that stay on an enforcement post.

If you solve cases by asking for instructions, you'll never catch up on any dish.

Seeing there was nothing else, Yu Dazhang stood up and prepared to leave.

He did want to treat Squad Leader Li to a meal — he just worried the money wouldn't get spent.

With Li Jun's straightforward personality, if he went out to eat with a subordinate, he'd definitely insist on paying himself.

"Did you get your sidearm back?" Li Jun glanced at his waist and asked, frowning.

"I was just about to go." Yu Dazhang gave an awkward little smile.

Li Jun could tell he'd forgotten about it and reminded him curtly:

"Go now. Don't take it lightly. Also, your car has been brought back — it's downstairs."

Saying that, he tossed him the car keys.

Leaving the detachment commander's office, Yu Dazhang let out a long breath.

Looks like there'd be no psychological counseling this time.

If it had been necessary, Li Jun would have already notified him just now.

In the afternoon, he finished writing up this report and uploaded it.

Now only the internal investigation remained — once he answered the inspector's questions, this matter would be wrapped up.

Afterwards he went to the technical section to retrieve his sidearm.

Leaving the branch, he called Qu Tuotuo.

"What do you want to eat tonight? My treat."

This time being attacked, Qu Tuotuo had effectively been dragged into it.

Even if she was bolder than the average girl, that was only relative to ordinary people.

Getting a fright was inevitable, so Yu Dazhang planned to calm her nerves tonight.

That is, calming her nerves in the form of treating her to a meal — don't read it the wrong way.

"Did you get paid?" Qu Tuotuo asked from the other end.

Her voice sounded a bit weary, but her tone carried an unmistakable joy.

"No, but treating you to a meal is still no problem."

Yu Dazhang said this with full confidence.

An individual second-class merit isn't just a medal and a certificate — there's a material reward too.

A bonus of ten thousand yuan.

The day it was paid out, he gave his mom five thousand and kept the rest for himself.

With money in hand, naturally you speak with more confidence.

"I want to eat something you cook yourself," Qu Tuotuo said, a little reproachfully:

"Last time you said it yourself — that you'd personally get in the kitchen and cook for me. You haven't forgotten, have you?"

There was such a thing... with her reminder, Yu Dazhang immediately remembered.

Cooking was no problem, but where would he do it?

Bring Qu Tuotuo home?

That would be a bit presumptuous.

Their relationship didn't seem to have developed to the stage of meeting the parents yet.

In fact, it wasn't just Qu Tuotuo who was traditional — Yu Dazhang was traditional to the bone as well.

In his view, two people only met each other's parents when they were at the stage of discussing marriage.

Last time going to the Qu house was just being Qu Tuotuo's shield — strictly speaking, it didn't count as a real meeting at all.

"Um..." Yu Dazhang thought and thought but couldn't come up with a good solution, so he had to be honest:

"I'd love to cook for you, but there's nowhere to do it." "Come to my place," Qu Tuotuo chimed in naturally:

"Me and Su Mi — the girl you met at the matchmaking corner before — the two of us share an apartment, and it's fully equipped with cookware."

"That wouldn't be appropriate, would it?" Yu Dazhang didn't really want to go.

Two girls' boudoir — what would it look like for a grown man like him to go there?

If it were just Qu Tuotuo alone, that would still be explainable, but as for this Su Mi, he couldn't even remember what she looked like.

"There's nothing inappropriate about it," Qu Tuotuo said, unfazed:

"She won't mind. If you really care, I'll just tell her not to come back today."

"So domineering…" Yu Dazhang listened and kept sucking in his breath.

If they're together in the future, would she kick him out too?

Mmm~~~, she really does seem like someone who'd do something like that.

"That won't be necessary." Yu Dazhang quickly stopped her:

"I was just afraid of disturbing your friend. Since she has no objections, I'll go buy groceries now. Send me the address."

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Forty minutes later, Yu Dazhang arrived at the apartment Qu Tuotuo and her roommate rented, carrying two big bags of ingredients.

"Really not short on cash…" The moment he stepped inside, he was stunned by the luxurious flat before his eyes.

"Why are you renting an apartment?"

Yu Dazhang truly couldn't fathom their way of thinking.

Their own home clearly had a villa, yet they still came out to rent an apartment to live in—nowhere to spend their money, huh.

"It's close to the company."

Qu Tuotuo took the ingredients from his hands and replied casually:

"Sometimes when I'm tired after work, I just come straight here to stay. If I need to work overtime, I bring the company files here. Even if I forget something the next day, it's very convenient to come here and pick it up."

But you still don't need to rent such a nice place, do you… he didn't have the nerve to ask that out loud.

In his view, for someone like Qu Tuotuo who wasn't short on cash, being willing to share a rental was already being frugal.

Arriving at the kitchen, Yu Dazhang took out the ingredients one by one, washed them, and began prepping them.

He swung the knife.

Chop chop chop chop chop…

He clearly hadn't cooked in a while, so why did his knife work feel like it had improved?

Have I been using a knife lately…? Yu Dazhang felt the knife in his hand was like it was alive, especially smooth to handle.

Probably because his senses had grown sharper in this life, so using a knife was much easier than before.

This was his first time cooking in this life. He had held a knife before, but not a kitchen knife.

Qu Tuotuo, meanwhile, watched from the side, her heart in her throat—she was genuinely afraid Yu Dazhang would cut his fingers.

The way he used the knife couldn't even be described as dazzling.

She couldn't see it clearly at all, only feeling that after a flash of cold light, the ingredients were cut neatly.

"Y-you, slow down." Qu Tuotuo swallowed and said softly.

"Don't stay here." Yu Dazhang glanced back at her:

"Kitchen is restricted territory, no idle persons allowed. Go outside and wait."

After shooing Qu Tuotuo out the door, he picked up the knife again and quickly processed the ingredients.

Yu Dazhang's cooking had one characteristic: fast.

Shredded scallion and ginger, sliced garlic, and a bit of cilantro segments.

A spoonful of sugar, half a spoonful of vinegar, add some salt and MSG.

The way of culinary art, ever-changing yet never departing from its essence… Yu Dazhang's combination of these few items had already reached the standard of "exquisite."

His sense of taste in this life was also much sharper, and his control of flavor was even more masterful.

After bringing the dishes to the table, Qu Tuotuo's eyes went wide.

She believed Yu Dazhang could cook, but she hadn't expected it to be this good.

She hadn't even eaten yet—just looking at the dishes' appearance was already whetting her appetite, the aroma overwhelming.

"When will your friend be back?" Yu Dazhang asked.

It was already past six in the evening, and he was hungry too. Normally at this time he would have already finished eating.

"Any moment now, she just sent me a message."

Qu Tuotuo had just finished speaking when the sound of a door opening came from the entrance.

After Su Mi entered, she first glanced at the dishes on the table, then set her gaze on Yu Dazhang.

"You, you…"

She looked Yu Dazhang up and down, couldn't help raising her hand and pointing at him:

"Have you lost weight?"

(End of chapter)