"..."
Kiana☆ stared at Fu Lin, speechless.
Fu Lin quickly raised two fingers and swore again,
"Ahem, I swear, I only wanted to repay your kindness these past few days, definitely not because of that awful dinner at precisely 7,20,09 on the first night!"
Kiana☆'s jaw dropped in shock and shouted, "You even remember the time that clearly, and you still say it's not revenge!!!"
After a while, Siegfried walked back in under their stares, trembling as he picked up a leftover piece of food on the table and slowly opened his mouth.
-------------------------------
"Dad, are you out of your mind? Let go, that's not edible!"
Kiana☆ realized what was happening and quickly reached out to stop him, but with her strength, there was no way she could stop Siegfried.
Just as Siegfried was about to eat the food, Kiana☆ anxiously turned to the dazed Fu Lin and shouted loudly,
"Aren't you going to help?!"
Fu Lin sighed helplessly and slowly walked up behind Siegfried. Then he raised his hand and delivered a precise karate chop to the back of Siegfried's neck.
With a muffled groan, Siegfried's body went limp and collapsed to the ground, the food in his hand falling along with him.
Kiana☆ looked at her unconscious father on the ground and couldn't help but complain,
"What's wrong with Dad? He actually wanted to eat something that gross."
While speaking, Kiana☆ kicked the food on the floor with her foot, showing her disdain for it.
"Could you not say that in front of me, OK? That really hurts, you know."
Fu Lin clutched his chest and put on a wounded expression, looking pitifully and aggrievedly at Kiana☆.
Kiana☆ rolled her eyes, put her hands on her hips, and complained,
"Dad must've turned out like this because your cooking is so terrible."
Fu Lin stroked his chin after hearing this and began to think seriously. After a while, recalling the dream he had last night, he speculated,
"I think maybe Father-in... ahem, Mr. Siegfried met someone important in his dream, so he wants to faint again."
After saying that, Fu Lin curiously asked Kiana☆, "Didn't you have any strange dreams last night?"
"Strange dreams?"
Kiana☆ fell silent upon hearing the question. A lone figure of a purple-haired girl appeared in her mind, her thoughts drifting further away.
However, when Kiana☆ tried to recall more details, she found the memory had become blurry, as if veiled by a thin layer of mist.
Seeing Kiana☆ fall silent, Fu Lin quickly scratched the back of his head and interrupted her thoughts,
"Alright, I was just joking. Let's get Mr. Siegfried to bed first."
Fu Lin carried Siegfried into the room and casually tossed him onto the bed.
Fu Lin looked out the window and saw the night sky already dotted with stars. He then turned to Kiana☆, who had followed him in, and suddenly remembered his task.
Emmm, the mission was to cultivate Kiana☆'s moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and fashion sense. Thinking of this, Fu Lin smiled slightly, a trace of cunning flashing in his eyes. Let's start with the hardest—intellect.
Let's begin the correction while Kiana☆ hasn't yet become that thoughtless barnacle.
So, Fu Lin took out a chessboard, set it on the table, and smiled at Kiana☆,
"Just woke up, you probably can't sleep again, right? How about we play a game?"
Kiana☆ looked curiously at the board and asked,
"What's this? I've never seen it before."
Fu Lin smiled and explained,
"This is Chinese chess, a casual and intellectual board game. The rules are actually quite simple, like this..."
"'The king never leaves the next blocks, the ministers follow closely and move only in a diagonal direction, the horse moves in an L-shape, the elephant moves straight, the guards move diagonally when defeating enemies, if not the pawn only moves straight, and the pawn never returns once it advances.'"
While explaining, Fu Lin set up the pieces on the board and introduced the movement and characteristics of each one.
Kiana☆ listened with great interest to the chess mnemonics, nodding from time to time in understanding.
Once Fu Lin finished, Kiana☆ eagerly sat opposite him, eyes fixed on the pieces on the board, and said excitedly,
"Wow! It sounds really fun! Fu Lin, let's start already."
Seeing Kiana☆ so intrigued, Fu Lin smiled with satisfaction. He had carefully chosen this—playing chess could not only train thinking ability, but also develop patience and strategic awareness.
Moreover, using this game-based method could prevent Kiana☆ from feeling bored while stimulating brain activity, thus achieving cognitive training.
"Checkmate! I win, Kiana☆."
As he declared his victory, Fu Lin tossed a chess piece in his hand and gave a smug smile at the surprised Kiana☆.
"Hmph, I'll win next round!"
Kiana☆ puffed up angrily at Fu Lin, slowly realizing that every move needed careful consideration—acting on instinct alone wouldn't win against Fu Lin.
After a few games, Kiana☆ gradually grasped the key concepts. Her eyes turned from confused to focused and determined, no longer rash and impulsive like at the beginning.
Fu Lin quietly observed Kiana☆ from the side, occasionally offering some guidance, but more often letting her think for herself.
Seeing Kiana☆ begin to think critically, Fu Lin felt gratified and couldn't help but muse inwardly,
'Not bad, she's starting to think. That's a good sign!'
Time ticked by, and the atmosphere between them grew increasingly tense. Kiana☆ stared at the board, beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
Meanwhile, Fu Lin sat calmly, a faint smile on his lips, seemingly confident in the current game.
Just then, a gurgling sound broke the silence. Kiana☆ snapped back to reality, rubbed her stomach, and looked at the clock on the wall in surprise,
"Ah, it's been that long? I'll go see if there's anything to eat in the kitchen."
With that, Kiana☆ got up and walked toward the kitchen. Then, as if remembering something, she stopped, stuck her tongue out at Fu Lin, and said,
"Oh right, I didn't lose—I'm just hungry, so this round's a draw."
Fu Lin watched her leave, then looked at the board where only her general piece remained, and shook his head helplessly. He chuckled softly,
"Heh, such a tough mouth, but soft at heart."
A while later, Kiana☆ came running back in, looking flustered and covered in soot, holding a frying pan in her hands.
The food in the pan was long burnt—black and unrecognizable.
Kiana☆ looked at Fu Lin and shouted anxiously,
"Fu Lin, bad news! The house is on fire!"
Fu Lin froze for a moment upon hearing that, thinking to himself what kind of nonsense this idiot was up to, but quickly stood up and rushed to the kitchen.
As soon as he opened the door, a wave of thick smoke and heat hit him in the face. He frowned and started coughing uncontrollably.
He frantically waved the smoke away with his hands, and finally saw the chaos in the kitchen—pots and pans scattered on the ground, and flames blazing all around.
Fu Lin instinctively opened his mouth in shock, inhaling a lungful of smoke, then coughed and shouted,
"Cough cough... Kiana☆, what the heck did you do?!"
Kiana☆ looked innocent as she explained,
"There was nothing left in the fridge, so I thought I'd cook something delicious myself... but I don't know how, and the fire suddenly got really big, then everything caught on fire..."
Looking at the scene in front of him, Fu Lin sighed helplessly and muttered,
"Seriously, what am I going to do with you? You're the real kitchen menace. Who knows how many kitchens you'll destroy on your journey to learning how to cook..."
Kiana☆ looked puzzled and asked,
"What are you mumbling about, Fu Lin?"
As the black smoke continued to pour in, Fu Lin couldn't help but cover his forehead and said to Kiana☆,
"Nothing... the fire's getting worse. This wooden house is done for. Kiana☆, go out through the window over there—I'll go get Mr. Siegfried."
With that, Fu Lin hurried back to the bed and hoisted Siegfried onto his shoulders.