Xiao Bing arrived at the princess’s chamber at 10pm. No servant or guard stopped him. Xiao Bing surmised that they must have been notified before.
Xiao Bing knocked gently at the door. Princess Nami answered the door in her pajamas. She seemed delighted to see Xiao Bing. “Thanks for coming.”
Xiao Bing answered frankly, “Yes, after agonizing about it for some time.”
“Come in.”
The princess closed the door after Xiao Bing walked in. “Would you like a drink before we proceed?”
“Damn. She’s so straightforward. Am I too sexy that she cannot suppress her desire? What if I unmask myself? Will be she become crazier?”
Xiao Bing cleared his throat and said with some difficulty, “Let’s get straight to it. I did not expect that you would be so unrestrained. I’m impressed.”
Princess Nami sounded awkward, “It’s also my first time… Stay in the hall and wait for me, I’ll notify you when everything is ready.”
Xiao Bing gasped, “Wait for you outside?”
“Yes.. or do you want to cook with me in the kitchen.”
Xiao Bing grimaced as he asked, “You mean you’re preparing food?”
“Of course. Didn’t I ask if you wanted some mid-night snacks?” Princess Nami sounded a little timid. “It’s my first time to cook for a man.”
“So I mistook your meaning…” Xiao Bing did not feel embarrassed. After all the princess did not state it clearly before. Nearly everyone would have the same thoughts, if a beauty invited him to her chamber, in the middle of the night…
Princess Nami opened the door and walked out of the room. Xiao Bing followed her down the stairs. Princess Nami told Xiao Bing to sit on the sofa and gave him the remote control. “You can watch TV first. The food will be ready soon. We can even have a drink.”
Several of the guards and maids were shocked. Then they gave Xiao Bing admiring glances. No one ever had the privilege to eat the food cooked by the princess. If anyone of them had been Xiao Bing, they would have passed out, mainly due to the ecstasy.
Xiao Bing nodded and sat down in front of the TV, as if he was the guest here. Soon the princess was busy cooking in the kitchen.
Xiao Bing was not very interested in R country’s TV series. He kept switching channels, watching beautiful girls on TV. About ten minutes later, he heard the sound of water being boiled and frying of food.
The people of R Country also made fried dishes like the Chinese. But they preferred stewed dishes. They used minimal oil or did not even put any oil when they were making stews or fried dishes. The Chinese attach great importance to the look, smell and taste of the dish. But the people in R Country were more concerned about their health.
But Xiao Bing suddenly realized that even if they attached less importance to these aspects, there were still differences between their food, in terms of taste. Princess Nami had never cooked anything before and he was the first who would taste her cooking. No doubt it was an honor. But he wondered if the food she made, was edible or not…
Xiao Bing suddenly wanted to leave. But he had made a promise. If he backed out now, he would seem to be a coward. He only hoped that the princess was good in cooking.
A while later, there were no sounds of clangings of pots and pans from the kitchen. The princess walked out of the kitchen and waved at Xiao Bing. “Come on, the food is ready.”
The guards were bewitched by the princess’s cuteness.
Princess’s Nami’s dining hall was neat and luxurious, and so were the dishes on the table. There were fried fish, boiled noodles and a dish of shredded pork with green pepper, which was really too much for a midnight supper. Xiao Bing was impressed, considering that it was her first time.
But he found the food not quite appealing in terms of appearance. The fish was overfried; there was very little soup in the bowl of the noodles and the pork seemed a little dark. Princess Nami looked at Xiao Bing, the expectation plain in her eyes. “Aoki-kun, please try these dishes,” she said shyly.
Princess Nami addressed Xiao Bing in a different way now. Xiao Bing shot a glance at the food and said, “They do not look delicious from the appearance.”
Princess Nami was not angry, “I know. But this is my first time. I’ll get better at this. Aoki-kun, just have a taste. Maybe you will find them very delicious.”
Xiao Bing looked at Princess Nami. If truth be told, he thought he was rather picky, because it was an extremely beautiful woman who cooked for him. Xiao Bing decided not to make it difficult for her. He picked up the chopsticks and had a bite of the pork. It was a little salty for the people in R Country. But Xiao Bing found it rather good, though it was a little overly done for him.
Then Xiao Bing had a taste of the fish. The outer layer was overly fried, but the texture inside was great.
As for the noodles, Xiao Bing took a sip of the soup and found that it lacked salt.
Overall, Xiao Bing deemed the food cooked by the princess not that great. But it was good for someone who had never cooked before. At least it was edible. Xiao Bing nodded and said, “Not bad.”
Princess Nami also tasted the pork, but she found it rather salty. But she did not know that as a Chinese, Xiao Bing liked it salty. So she felt touched. She thought this seemingly aloof man was trying to placate her.
Princess Nami sounded awkward, “Aoki-kun, don’t force yourself to eat if you don’t want to. I can ask the cook to make you some food.”
“That’s not necessary. These are enough.” Xiao Bing took another bite and said, “It’s already late. Don’t bother him. Cooking is not an easy job.”
“Okay.” Princess Nami would have demurred before. But this time she did not. On one hand she was still afraid of him. On the other hand, she was starting to like this man, so she listened to his ideas. Besides, after what she had experienced in that hotel, she learned how to respect people, no matter if it was permanent or temporary.
Then Princess Nami took out a bottle of sake. The people in this country also had their own preferences when it came to alcohol. Their usual options were sake, beer and so-ju. But sake was their favorite.
Xiao Bing had tasted it several times and found it rather good.
Princess Nami placed the bottle on the table and fetched two cups. Then she filled them and raised hers. “Aoki-kun, I apologize for the things I have done.”
Xiao Bing smiled, “Well, that’s a rare thing. I’ll drink to that.”
Princess Nami only drank half of her cup. But Xiao Bing emptied his.
Princess Nami cast Xiao Bing a glance and feigned a glare, “Take it slowly.”
The princess blushed, possibly because of the alcohol. She even looked somewhat charming. There was a hint of temptation in her eyes, as she looked at Xiao Bing.
Though Xiao Bing’s willpower had always been superior, his heart could not help fluttering when the girl looked at him with those bewitching eyes.
Princess Nami asked, “Aoki-kun, how are those men now?”
“They are much better. They are all strong men, otherwise they could not have survived. They would have died after being so seriously injured, if they were just ordinary people. My Royal Highness, I hope that this sort of incident will never happen again.”
“I promise that it will not happen again.” The princess took another sip and looked at Xiao Bing. “Aoki-kun, you said before that I disgust you.”
Xiao Bing looked at Princess Nami and asked, “Why are you suddenly asking about that?”
Princess Nami let out a sigh, “I know that you’re not the only one who thinks that way. But few of them dare to say it to my face. They all want to curry favor with me, because my grandfather is sitting on the throne.”
“Ever since I was young, I was spoiled by my family, and other people dared not scold me. So I thought everything I did was right, even if it was wrong. Aoki-kun, do you know that my teacher never criticized me in school. But on my way home, I always saw other kids being scolded by their parents. Do you know what I was thinking then?”
Xiao Bing shook his head.
“I wished that my family would scold me occasionally!”
Princess Nami asked, “Can you understand this feeling?”
Xiao Bing had a bitter smile on his face as he said, “Are all you rich kids this masochistic?”
Biting her lips, the princess said, “It’s okay if you think it that way. But I was really hoping for it. The more difficult it is to attain something, the harder people will strive for it. They are nice to me because I’m the beautiful princess and I have a powerful grandpa. None of them were sincere enough to point out my mistakes, except for you.”
