Chapter 298: Chapter 298: Changing Face Faster Than Turning Pages
Ashley Shaw still wanted to stop her, but Ariana Grant, somehow in a strange mood, linked her arm with Elder Prescott’s and walked out.
As they walked, she said, "Let’s go, I’ll show you the giant turtles in our neighborhood! I have no idea who owns them, there are quite a few!"
"I definitely need to see that."
In their conversation, they had already reached the entrance to change shoes.
Ashley Shaw had no choice but to let them go.
After they left, Ashley Shaw turned her head only to see Warren Prescott still standing there.
Warren Prescott’s intense, dark eyes were fixed on her.
From the moment she entered until now, this was the first time she looked directly at him, as if she just realized he was there.
Since when did his presence, Warren Prescott’s, go so unnoticed?
But today was about having a meal, and Warren Prescott didn’t intend to get upset over such a minor thing.
Suppressing his annoyance, he raised the hand holding two bottles of drinks and asked her, "Where should I put these?"
"Just put them anywhere."
So, Warren put the drinks on the coffee table.
With only the two of them left, Ashley Shaw felt a bit awkward and pointed to the sofa, "You can watch some TV while I go cook."
Saying that, she quickly walked to the kitchen.
When Xavier Quincy called a second time, she was in the middle of making teriyaki sauce for the seaweed tofu, interrupted by the phone call, she turned off the heat.
Now reigniting the fire, the teriyaki sauce was quickly ready, bubbling up.
Tofu was something Elder Prescott loved to eat, as he preferred soft foods with his aging teeth.
The teriyaki sauce was a semi-prepared product, just needed heating, but the difficulty lay in wrapping the tofu with a seaweed sheet.
This process had to be very careful because the seaweed sheets were delicate.
Ashley Shaw washed her hands, dried them with a paper towel, and carefully scooped a piece of cut tofu to place on the prepared seaweed sheet.
Then she needed to fold the seaweed sheet to wrap the tofu.
This was the last step.
But just as Ashley Shaw was pinching the edges of the seaweed sheet, about to wrap up the tofu, Warren Prescott’s voice suddenly came from the kitchen door: "Is there any..."
"Crack——"
The seaweed sheet broke, as expected.
Ashley Shaw’s face sank, and she looked at Warren Prescott irritably.
"You——"
Warren Prescott looked bewildered, and Ashley Shaw swallowed back her rebuke.
Warren Prescott had already seen the broken seaweed sheet in her hand.
Just from the seaweed and tofu, he immediately understood what dish Ashley Shaw was making.
"Grandpa enjoys teriyaki seaweed tofu."
Ashley Shaw responded with an "um," thinking to herself, of course, she knew that.
The next second, she saw Warren Prescott walking in.
"Do you need to get something? They’ve already gone to get the fruit."
Warren Prescott didn’t speak, he simply washed his hands in the sink and walked over to her side.
"You deal with something else, I’ll handle this."
Ashley Shaw stared at him suspiciously.
Warren Prescott read her look and said, "Grandpa likes to eat this, I occasionally make it for him too."
Ashley Shaw understood and tentatively asked, "So you’ll take care of this?"
"Of course." Otherwise, why did he wash his hands?
Ashley Shaw pursed her lips, said nothing, and started to prepare another dish.
But internally, she complained: Even though he’s helping, why does his way of speaking make it so hard to feel grateful?
This absolutely affirmed the saying "a leopard can’t change its spots."
The other dish was crab steamed with rice cake.
At this time of year, crabs were still scarce and not very big. Ashley Shaw asked several vendors before picking out a few slightly larger female crabs.
This dish was Warren Prescott’s favorite.
Also, this picky guy wouldn’t eat male crabs, insistent on showing off his masculinity.
Ashley Shaw had asked Ariana Grant to put the crabs in the fridge to numb them first; now she swiftly cut several crabs in half.
The side with the roe was coated with some starch, then fried in a pan with hot oil for flavor.
No sooner had she started cooking than the aroma wafted out.
Warren Prescott, recognizing the scent, knew it was his favorite dish.
He raised an eyebrow involuntarily.
He initially thought this heartless person only prepared dishes the elder liked, but now seeing she had also prepared something for him, he wrapped the tofu with more enthusiasm.
By the time Warren Prescott finished wrapping all the tofu, Ashley Shaw had almost finished with the rice cake crab.
It only needed another two minutes of simmering before being ready to serve.
Warren cast a surprised glance at Ashley Shaw’s skilled movements.
When Ashley Shaw lived at the Prescott Family home, she had never cooked; he hadn’t expected she had quite a knack for it.
No wonder Claire Xavier couldn’t stop praising Ashley Shaw’s cooking skills in her weChat moments after having her crawfish, posting several positive updates that day.
"Done." Warren Prescott said.
Ashley Shaw glanced over, single-handedly lifting a small pot of teriyaki sauce and drizzling it over the seaweed tofu.
And just like that, the teriyaki seaweed tofu was complete.
Warren Prescott gave it a glance; it was indistinguishable from the one the family chef made.
However, the food at home wasn’t as good as before.
Claudia Jennings, worried that work was tiring him, had the chef follow him to the Spectator Tower. Now, the new chef at home was not to his taste.
Seeing Ashley Shaw’s cooking, he found himself quite tempted.
By this time, the rice cake with crab was also done.
Ashley Shaw lifted the lid, sprinkling finely chopped green onions.
It looked just like a proper dish.
"Could you help me bring these two dishes out?"
"Are there more dishes?"
"One last dish: carrot dumpling soup."
Dumpling soup was also a favorite of Elder Prescott’s.
As mentioned, older folks tend to prefer something soft and easy to chew.
Warren Prescott acknowledged with an "oh," thinking that today’s meal was supposedly for him, yet Ashley Shaw had only made one dish he liked, while the rest were what the elder liked.
Feeling inexplicably annoyed.
The heart is greedy; once you get some, you yearn for more.
Initially, he felt quite pleased at the sight of one of his favorite dishes.
Now, though, it all seemed a bit bland.
So his words turned less kind.
"I’m the guest, and you’re treating me like a servant?"
After speaking, he walked out empty-handed.
Ashley Shaw found it baffling.
Just minutes ago, he was eagerly helping her make the teriyaki seaweed tofu, how did his mood flip so suddenly?
He changed his face quicker than flipping a book!
Ashley Shaw placed the two dishes in an open spot and continued with the last dish.
Meanwhile, Warren Prescott, with a sullen expression, returned to the living room.
But the next moment, his eyes were fixed on the dining table.
Apart from the three dishes in the kitchen, there were already seven dishes on the table.
These were: spicy crawfish, garlic butter oysters with vermicelli, scallion abalone, two vegetable dishes, a tomato egg drop soup, and pork slices with tofu skin.
The first three seafood dishes were his favorites, while the last was a favorite of the elder.
That meant there were four dishes he liked and three the elder liked today.
The dishes he enjoyed outnumbered those the elder preferred.
Warren Prescott’s handsome brow arched slightly.
A smug look appeared in his eyes.