Love-Filled Lunch

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"Taking care of flowers sometimes takes all day, and this place is so far from home... so... so..."

Please provide the Chinese text you would like me to translate. I am ready to convert it into natural, punchy English while adhering to your formatting requirements.

"So what?"

Ino buried her head directly in Josuke's chest.

In a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz, she said, "I'll sleep in Josuke's bed..."

Although Josuke had already expected the outcome, hearing the little girl say it like that still made his old face flush. He also remembered the scent he had smelled in the room earlier.

Wasn't that Ino's scent?

Josuke flirted with Ino for a while longer, and then his stomach started growling again.

Alright, it was time to eat.

Otherwise, his stomach was really going to shrivel up from hunger. Even though Ino was the one cooking, Josuke eagerly went over to help out.

Come to think of it, Josuke's cooking skills were actually pretty good. A few years after the Uchiha Clan Downfall, he had learned how to cook himself. He hadn't had a choice.

The money the Third Hokage had given them privately had been enough when they were little, but by the time they turned ten and their appetites grew, their finances had become rather tight.

So Josuke started cooking at home himself.

The results had been less than ideal at first, but practice made perfect. Before long, he was able to make all sorts of delicious dishes.

The refrigerator had been stuffed full by Ino.

It seemed Ino really had started treating this place as her own home.

"What does Josuke want to eat?"

Ino searched through the refrigerator.

There were vegetables, fruit, beef, pork—everything one could need. But that only made things difficult for Ino. She had no idea what to make for Josuke.

"How about steak?"

Josuke suggested.

Steak? Ino rummaged through the refrigerator and found some tenderloin. Sure enough, she could make steak.

No sooner said than done.

They also happened to have seasonings at home, so there was no need to buy any outside.

Ino took out the beef tenderloin to defrost.

She put a pot of water on the stove, then took broccoli and carrots from the refrigerator to set aside.

She really looked like a virtuous wife. Josuke watched Ino with satisfaction. It looked like his future sex life was secure—ptui.

Good thing he had transmigrated. Otherwise, Sai would have gotten her for free. Did that brat deserve her? He actually dared compete with him for Ino. Honestly, when he first met Sai a while ago, he had wanted to beat the kid up.

But he had held himself back.

Thinking about it now, he had really lost out!

He should have given him a good beating right then and there.

But~

The corners of Josuke's mouth were now raised higher than ever, curling upward on their own.

No, no, there was still danger. He absolutely could not let Sai steal his girl.

At that moment, Ino called out from the kitchen.

"Josuke, could you get the pasta from the refrigerator for me?"

Josuke walked into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and searched around until he found a bag of pasta.

"Found it. Just put it straight into the water?"

The water in the pot had reached a rolling boil, bubbles bursting with loud pops.

"Mm. I'm going to start frying the steak too. How well done do you want yours, Josuke?"

"Medium-well."

Before medium, most of the steak was still raw inside. Josuke wasn't used to eating it that way.

A medium-well steak was mostly light grayish-brown when cut open, with only a small patch of red meat in the center. There was little blood in the meat, the juices were pale, and it was firmer and more springy.

It really was delicious.

"Same as mine."

The moisture on the steak was blotted dry with kitchen paper.

Ino put butter into the pan. It quickly melted in the hot pan, releasing a rich milky fragrance.

Seeing this, Ino took out two steaks, one large and one small, and put them in the pan.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.

The butter embraced the steaks, and the rich aroma of meat filled the air.

Once they were nearly done, Ino flipped the steaks over and sprinkled them with coarse black pepper salt.

Josuke's pasta was nearly finished cooking as well. He sliced the carrots and halved the broccoli.

Then he put them into the pot to boil.

"Ino, are you done? The pasta here is almost ready."

Ino began putting the finishing touches on her side as well.

The steaks looked even more tempting after being drizzled with black pepper sauce. Just like Ino herself, they left one wanting more.

Finally, she plated everything and took it off the heat.

She added the broccoli, carrots, and pasta. Oh right, she had nearly forgotten the eggs.

While the frying pan was still hot, Ino added oil and took out the two eggs she had set aside two and a half minutes earlier.

Steak and eggs did not need to be fully cooked—the runny yolk was the best part.

They were ready in no time. Together with Ino's exquisite plating, the dish looked genuinely impressive.

"Josuke, eat while it's hot~"

Ino carried Josuke's steak to the table. This starving ghost had been waiting forever.

After Ino sat down as well, Josuke picked up his knife and fork, cut off a small piece of steak, and tasted it.

Umm...

All of a sudden, Josuke made an awful face.

Ino jumped in fright.

"What's wrong? Is it not good? Did I put in too much salt?"

Then Josuke returned to normal and said with a grin, "No, it's delicious."

"Huh?"

Only then did Ino realize Josuke had fooled her. He really was awful. Ino kicked Josuke under the table.

Her lips puffed out, making her look exactly like a sulky little brat.

"Haha, okay, Ino. Stop sulking. Here, have a bite."

Josuke coaxed Ino, cutting off a piece of his steak and dipping it in black pepper sauce before spearing it with his fork.

He held it out to Ino.

"Come on~ Have a bite."

Hmph, who wanted to eat something he fed her?

Ino turned her face to the side.

Yet her mouth opened on its own. I'm only eating the steak I made myself. Who would eat something he fed me? ╭(╯^╰)╮

Her mouth said no, but inside, she was already overjoyed.

Delicious ლ(´ڡ`ლ)

This little tsundere was truly adorable.

The steak Ino made was indeed delicious, perfect in color, aroma, and flavor.

Though the medium-well steak was not fully cooked, it removed the large intestine—pfft, most of the steak's gamey smell—while retaining a small portion of its original flavor.

It brought out the steak's taste to the fullest.

"By the way, Ino, how is Teacher Asuma doing now?"

He had left in such a hurry last time that he had not gotten the chance to ask Ino about Asuma's condition. Now that he finally remembered, it really had come back around like a boomerang.

Teacher Asuma?

Ino thought for a moment before saying, "After Teacher Asuma used the medicine you gave him, Josuke, he really did recover. It's just that he lost all of his chakra. Fortunately, he can cultivate it again, and he's already a genin now. In a few months, he'll even be taking the genin exam."

"Pfft."

That old man was taking the genin exam?

"The genin exam? I'm dying."

Josuke nearly spat out his drink.

But it also proved that Orochimaru's medicine worked. The side effect was that all chakra disappeared; he just did not know whether it would work on Tailed Beast Chakra and Sage Chakra as well.

Ino did not know whether to laugh or cry either. She had originally been very worried about Teacher Asuma's condition, but when Teacher Kurenai told her that Asuma was taking the genin exam, she had nearly laughed herself sick too.

"By the way..."

(Writing is seriously exhausting, QAQ. Honkai: Star Rail updates tomorrow, and I'll finally get to see Feixiao soon ⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄)