Chapter 195: Christmas Eve

"May I have these three notebooks?" asked Audrey Hepburn.

Henry agreed with a nod without a second thought, saying only one word: "Good."

If not for this lady's request, why would Henry have gone to such trouble to write everything down? Did this Kryptonian's super brain encounter a problem of insufficient storage space?

So giving them away was fine; he had nothing to regret.

On the contrary, the training over these past few days was a very interesting new experience. Now, using his super brain to solve math or physics problems, as long as they weren't too far beyond the syllabus, such as conjectures and the like, Henry could almost intuitively provide the answers.

But questions in literature and philosophy had no single solution to find. How to make one's answer persuasive, establish a unique aesthetic, and then infect others—this work was no less arduous than that of a mathematician or physicist.

When all this finally ended, Henry heaved a sigh of relief, just about to swear that such a thing would never be done a second time, when Lady Audrey Hepburn asked, "So, child, are there any other love stories like this with different cultural backgrounds?"

"Again!" Henry asked, his eyes widening in horror.

"Of course. No matter what age a woman is, she always likes to hear love stories." Lady Audrey Hepburn spoke not only with pride, but she continued:

"I can agree with you that different cultural backgrounds will have different views on love. If you want to persuade me that love is not just 'Romeo and Juliet' or 'War and Peace', then you must produce more material to persuade me."

Then came the same pair of big eyeballs again. Watery, sparkling, with an attack power breaking ten thousand, the damage struck the heart directly, one move leaving the Kryptonian with critical health.

"Alright, alright. But we can only talk about it tomorrow."

"Eh, why?" The coquetry of the veteran auntie actress had a very subtle lethality. The Kryptonian relied on thick skin to tank it.

Henry said firmly, "One story a day, that is the upper limit. Moreover, tonight is Christmas Eve; I must go help prepare dinner." The lady's physical condition was not good, so dinner was always prepared by Henry or the housemaids.

"Good, then one story a day. But there must be one every day from now on."

"Wow, boss, are you treating this like 'One Thousand and One Nights'? I hope that by the time I finish telling a thousand stories, you won't have someone chop off my head."

"I pardon you in advance." Lady Hepburn laughed happily. She suddenly asked, "By the way, if today is Christmas Eve, then where is my Christmas gift? You wouldn't want me to unwrap it myself under the Christmas tree tomorrow, would you? Show some consideration for an old person and give it to me early."

"Isn't your Christmas gift already in your arms?" Henry pointed to those three notebooks.

"Eh~ I asked for this myself; it can't count as a gift, can it?" Audrey Hepburn complained.

Henry said mercilessly, "Regardless of the cultural circle of the story, they all emphasize one key point: greed does not lead to good results. So it is enough to have received a gift. I must go prepare dinner, boss."

For today's dinner, besides Robert, Lady Hepburn, and Henry, the lady's two children would also return. Moreover, Xiao En Farrel would bring his girlfriend, Lila Flanigan. So there was quite a lot to prepare.

Especially this year, Audrey Hepburn had specifically named many dishes: Portugal's King Cake, Belgium's cookies, the carp dish from Prague, Czech Republic, Germany's Berliner doughnuts, Moscow's mayonnaise salad, Denmark's rice pudding, Romania's pork, Sweden's pickled herring fillets, smoked salmon, and meatballs, France's goose liver, oysters, and layer cake, and then Spain's sweet bread.

There were main courses, desserts, and starchy staples. These didn't all need to be finished; eating just one bite of each would blow the daily calorie quota off the charts! It was a menu that would make even a nutritionist faint.

Although many dishes had never been cooked before, with only the recipes obtained, Henry was still very confident in his cooking skills. It was just that the cooking time needed to be controlled well; many steps could not be rushed even with super speed.

As per custom, he first kicked the five Jack Russell Terriers that had darted into the kitchen out. Never heard of a dog needing to be fattened up; these ones were almost fat enough to become balls, and sooner or later they would end up on his serving platter.

Xiao En and his girlfriend Lila, who had more freedom in their working hours, arrived home first.

Xiao En, in his early thirties, was in the prime of life. Inheriting top-tier looks from his parents, he gave off the feeling of a sunny, cheerful big boy. This was also why he could attract a brunette sweetie like Lila.

Upon entering, the son gave his mother a big hug. "Mother, this is Lila. My girlfriend."

"Hello, Lila."

"It is a great honor to meet you, Lady Hepburn."

The two affectionately exchanged a cheek kiss. At the same time, Lila handed over the paper bag in her hand, saying, "This is a Christmas gift I specially prepared for Lady Hepburn. A hand-knitted scarf."

Audrey Hepburn took a scarf from the paper bag; the pattern was not vulgar, and much effort had been put into the knitting stitches. She exclaimed, "Wow, this scarf is truly beautiful. Xiao En, look, the girl you picked has skilled hands."

She immediately wrapped it around her own neck. At the same time, Audrey Hepburn tightly held Lila's hand and said, "Lila, just call me Audrey. Come in and sit with me quickly."

This made the young lovers overjoyed. At least the first meeting between the future mother-in-law and future daughter-in-law looked very harmonious.

A little later, Luca Dotti also returned. With a psychiatrist as a father, Luca, though not as handsome as his older brother, was indeed a few degrees sharper in the head, and his academic grades were better.

The two half-brothers, sharing the same mother, had been raised by Audrey Hepburn since childhood, cared for personally.

However, when they reached the stage of schooling, for better educational resources, they moved between famous schools across European countries, studying through boarding or by being cared for by specialized nannies.

So the bond between the two brothers could not be called intimate, nor could it be called strange. After all, they were ten years apart; by the time Luca was old enough to remember, Xiao En had already gone to boarding school.

Then, their feelings toward Robert were also quite complex. But they were more familiar with their mother, a woman who urgently needed family support and needed a man to lean on.

As children, they had their own lives and careers to forge. So a father who could not maintain kindness and loyalty to their mother was simply replaced; that seemed hardly blameworthy.

At least Robert had taken very good care of their mother.

The scene of this family reunion hid an unmistakable estrangement in Henry's eyes. They all loved the same woman in different roles, but they did not love each other in the same way.

The only thing worth rejoicing in was that they did not hate each other. Because this was not a relationship between a spouse and a third party or fourth party.

And Henry was just a chef and a freeloader.

(End of this chapter)