Chapter 142

Steam rose from the charcoal, and Ishikawa Hayato began cooking for the girl who was starving.

He first placed slices of pork belly, which have a high fat content, on the wire rack, allowing the fat to seep out at high temperatures and coat the rack with a layer of oil.

As soon as the meat started sizzling, he flipped it over, moved it slightly, and added mushrooms and other side dishes.

Liang, standing to the side, stared at the ingredients on the wire rack and secretly picked up chopsticks from the plate next to her.

But Ishikawa Hayato snatched it away and put it back.

Nijika watched the scene with great satisfaction. Although she was also starving and had been captivated by the tempting aroma of the roasted meat, she was still able to calm down and wait.

Beside her, Bocchi and Kita were sipping their drinks from their cups, trying to fill their stomachs.

When the pork belly was about 80% cooked, Ishikawa Hayato began sprinkling in the seasonings.

Nijika's phone rang.

She glanced at the caller ID; it was Ishikawa Hibiki calling.

Nijika walked a few steps away with a hint of doubt and answered the phone.

"Good evening, is this Sister Nijika?"

A slightly uneasy voice came from the other end of the phone. After greeting her, Nijika asked, puzzled.

"Why is the phone ringing at this hour?"

After a slight hesitation, Xiang cautiously began to speak.

"Well, actually... I'm a little worried..."

"Hmm?" Nijika blinked, looking puzzled. Was there something to worry about?

"No way, I mean, no way... you guys had my brother cook, right?"

"Ah?"

Nijika glanced back; Ishikawa Hayato was doing it quite well.

As dusk fell, he sprinkled seasonings onto the meat, which sizzled as it roasted. The meat oil dripped onto the charcoal, igniting sparks, but he wasn't startled. In the firelight, he calmly used tongs to separate the meat slices.

Even Kita took out his phone to take a picture of him, which is enough to prove the quality of his grilling skills.

"Hmm, Hayato-kun's grilling is pretty good... What's wrong?"

After Nijika answered, Xiang on the other end of the phone said very confidently.

"Have you finished adding the seasonings yet?"

"Yes... yes." Nijika suddenly sensed an impending crisis.

"Stop him!"

Xiang shouted hurriedly, and she explained hastily.

"That person is an absolute sweet tooth, but also one who can't even perceive the taste of sweetness! He would..."

Instantly, Nijika remembered the large jar of white sugar she hadn't planned to bring and immediately knew who had done it.

Before she could even finish hearing the sound, her expression changed and she looked back.

Amidst the puzzled expressions of the three, Ishikawa Hayato picked up the sugar jar.

He didn't use a spoon, nor did he use his hands covered in plastic gloves to take the sugar out.

Instead, he picked up the sugar jar.

And it leaned towards the pitiful pile of meat slices on the grill...

To sum up the result, Nijika pulled Ishikawa Hayato back at the last second, successfully saving a net full of meat and side dishes.

At this moment, Nijika's heart was still pounding with nervousness. She hugged the terrifying sugar jar to her chest, and while trying to calm herself down, she complained to the others.

"Honestly, none of them give me a moment's peace."

"White sugar..."

Ishikawa Hayato's voice sounded aggrieved. He stared intently at the sugar in Nijika's arms, deftly placing the grilled meat slices onto the plate without even glancing at them.

"Is Hayato-kun a sweets fan?"

After hearing Nijika's explanation, Kita looked at Ishikawa Hayato with slight surprise.

Seeing no hope of obtaining white sugar, Ishikawa Hayato quickly removed the meat from the grill and placed other high-grade meats, shrimp, and sausages on the grill to start grilling.

He said.

"Of course, I'm a righteous sweet tooth! Whether it's zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), tofu pudding, fried rice, or stewed meat, they all have to be sweet!"

"Wow..." Kita exclaimed in surprise.

Ryo took the plate from Ishikawa Hayato, placed it on the table, picked up his chopsticks, and quickly ate a piece, but while eating, he said something mischievously.

There's a saying that excessive sugar intake can negatively impact intelligence.

By the second plate, the temperature had stabilized, making it much easier for Ishikawa Hayato to grill. While keeping an eye on the meat, he picked up a sausage and used a bamboo skewer to draw lines on it, all the while refuting the claim that it was cold.

"Hmph, even if it affects my mortal intelligence, it doesn't matter. Ninety percent of my intelligence resides in my abnormality. By the way, that theory has never been confirmed in humans."

As he spoke, exclamations of "Delicious!" kept coming from the small table.

Beside him, Nijika's stomach, which had been numb with tension, was suddenly awakened by Kita's scream, and an unbearable hunger waking up.

Seeing that Ishikawa Hayato hadn't lost his mind because of the sugar, she placed the sugar jar on the spice rack and said...

"Alright, Hayato-kun, here's your sugar back, but no one else is allowed to have sugar in their portions except for the ones you're eating!"

"All right..."

Ishikawa Hayato reluctantly agreed.

Nijika nodded in satisfaction and walked towards the small table, but before she could sit down, Ishikawa Hayato heard her shout angrily.

"You didn't even leave me a single piece!"

"I wanted to keep it... but Ryo-senpai ate it..."

"Uh-huh..."

"Cold!!"

Ishikawa Hayato watched as Nijika called out and lifted Ryo up, but Ryo ignored Nijika and looked to the side, her cheeks stuffed full as she chewed with difficulty.

Judging from his expression, it was clear that he had seen Nijika coming, so he stuffed all sorts of meat into his mouth.

Ishikawa Hayato chuckled softly.

Before long, Nijika, hungry and weak, walked over.

"Hayato-kun..."

Before she could say anything more, Ishikawa Hayato picked up a piece of grilled meat and held it to Nijika's lips.

"That's about enough. Have one to tide you over, and remember to blow on it."

Nijika patiently blew on it, and then carefully ate it.

Suddenly, her whole being radiated an adorable glow.

"Tasty!"

Ishikawa Hayato smiled but didn't say anything. After all, the raw materials were quite good, and as long as they weren't handled carelessly, they would definitely taste delicious.

Ryo and Kita Nijika, who were already eating at the small table, quickly came over, afraid they wouldn't get any.

Nijika sensed someone approaching, turned around and saw Liang shamelessly walking over. She said angrily.

How dare you!

At this moment, Liang, who had already swallowed everything in her mouth, looked pitiful.

I'm hungry...

"Didn't we just eat?!" Nijika exclaimed, but seeing Liang clutching his stomach with a wronged expression, she gradually relaxed and turned her head away.

"I don't care about you anymore."

Liang smiled, but quickly noticed Ishikawa Hayato's gaze, and made a V-sign with her small hand.

Ishikawa Hayato gave him a thumbs-up in admiration.

While watching the two talk, he also noticed Bocchi, who was still sitting at the small table, sipping his drink, too shy to come over.

Judging from her appearance, Ishikawa Hayato guessed that she probably hadn't eaten much.

Bocchi is the type of person who won't dare to do anything unless someone hands her something over at her house.

"Bocchi, come here."

He greeted them.

"Ah... um."

Bocchi walked over guiltily.

123. Night

Ishikawa Hayato remembers that Bocchi has a good appetite, and today's exercise level is probably beyond what she would normally expect.

If we don't feed her enough, she might be so hungry at night that she can't sleep and end up crying alone in a strange villa, clutching her stomach.

"Speaking of which, does Bocchi prefer corn that's perfectly roasted, or burnt?"

He fiddled with the corn on the wire rack, which was almost done roasting and about to burn.

"Then... anything is fine."

This was her honest opinion; Bocchi wasn't very familiar with roasted corn, something only eaten at festivals.

Ishikawa Hayato glanced at her, skewered a corn cob with a skewer, and handed it to her, teasingly saying...

"There's so much food, don't go back hungry."

"Um."

Bocchi nodded his little head, happily took the corn, blew on it, glanced at Ishikawa Hayato, and then began to eat.

She ate with her head down, eating very slowly, as if worried about her manners or other things while eating and drinking, and she was also watching Ishikawa Hayato's gaze. When she realized he was observing her, she lowered her gaze even more shyly.

Ishikawa Hayato picked up a few more slices of meat and vegetables and placed them on her plate.

He suddenly found feeding the beautiful girl amusing, and watching her eat in small bites gave him a sense of excitement, like raising a child.

Kita looked at the neatly arranged grill rack with various ingredients, then glanced at Ishikawa Hayato, who was staring intently at his corn Bocchi, and seeing how much he enjoyed it, he made a comment.

"By the way, Ishikawa-kun, you didn't eat any yourself, did you?"

"Ah."

Ishikawa Hayato suddenly realized, and he looked away from the steaming meat on the grill, his expression one of anticipation and determination.

"That's true, it's been a long time since I've had any food cooked by myself."

As he spoke, he took some white sugar from the spice rack and, under the watchful eyes of the four people, carefully sprinkled it vigorously onto a piece of beef.

A mountain of sugar quickly formed on that pitiful piece of beef, under the blank stares of the four.

Ishikawa Hayato continued to devour three or four more slices of meat before stopping. Only after the sugar on top started to melt and become sticky did he happily pick one up and put it in his mouth.

Kita whispered to the others, "It feels like there's more sugar than meat..."

Nijika wholeheartedly agreed, and she replied softly, "We can't just let Hayato-kun take over the head chef position so easily in the future..."

Beside him, Liang stuffed something into his mouth.

Afterwards, the five of them relaxed on the beach, enjoying the evening breeze and watching the sun gradually sink into the sea while eating delicious barbecue.

After another toast, Ishikawa Hayato handed Kita a grilled sausage from the wire rack.

Kita looked at him with a puzzled expression.