Female Novel
Chapter 1482
At seven o'clock in the evening.
The ground floor of Leah's apartment.
Ernest parked his car. Leah took her keys and said, "I'll bring the turtles up first. I bought a little toomany things, so I might have to trouble you with helping me carry them."
"I'll take this one. You can go ahead and send the turtles up, and then you don't have to comedown." He said, "I can take these up myself."
"Then you can take care of this downstairs while I start cooking some tacos. That way we can startdinner earlier."
"Okay." He was very willing to do as she said.
Leah carried the plastic box that contained her two turtles. She was also carrying a backpack aswell as one bag in her hands as she went upstairs to open the door.
Ernest came up soon after. He carried three bags in each hand, and he looked rather strong.
Ernest was behind Leah when they reached her floor, and she quickly opened the doors and madeway for him to enter.
Ernest's demeanor was languid and said to him instead, "You go in first."
"But you're carrying more things in your hands," Leah responded.
"This is a piece of cake for me. Come on, let's not dawdle." He had no need to rush.
"Alright, this humble one shall follow your orders." Leah quickly entered through the door andplaced the box with turtles on the floor.
Ernest entered soon after and piled six bags on the floor as well. He then said to Leah, "I'll godownstairs and take the rest. I'll take the keys, you can start prepping."
"Okay." She chuckled. "Thank you, really."
"You're welcome." He took the keys from her hands and went back downstairs.
Leah said to her turtles, "My little babies, I'll take care of you later, I need to cook for Ernest rightnow."
She quickly washed her hands, then picked up the ingredients and went to the kitchen to sort themout.
When Ernest took his second trip back up, he could already smell the aroma of her cooking, and itsmelled delicious.
He turned his head and looked at the busy figure in the kitchen. She was focused on frying the food,with gentleness and grace.
She didn't seem to realize that Ernest was staring at her, and his gaze softened.
Seeing her head hanging down and her hair let loose, it made her neck look long and slender. Shelooked different from how she usually appeared, but she looked extraordinarily beautifulnheless. Without noticing it, Ernest stared at her for a little while longer before he turned aroundand left again.
Leah had finished frying the base of the filling, and it smelled lovely. Then, she added the groundmeat to cook.
After she was done frying, she began arranging the different toppings like lettuce, cucumbers,tomatoes, and a few extra bottles of herbs. She plated everything and set them on the table.
Ernest took four rounds to fully carry everything, not knowing the sheer extent of items Leah hadbought.
Once he was finished, her room was packed full.
After entering, Ernest put back the keys to its original spot then went into the kitchen and asked,"Do you need any help?"
Leah raised her head and saw a sheen of sweat on his handsome face. She replied immediately,
"You're done carrying all of it?"
"Yeah." He nodded.
"Then I do need your help." She smiled. "Come here. Take a bottle of water here and drink it forme."
Ernest was surprised. Hearing her words, he really wanted to laugh.
"Thank you," he said.
"Don't mention it. I've been treating you as free labor and you've been nothing but kind to me, I'mnot used to that," she said as she placed some sliced avocados onto a plate. "The sink is in theroom beside this one. You can choose either this sink or that sink."
"I'll use the one in the next room." He said and turned around. After washing his hands, he realizedthere was no towel.
Just as he had his realization, Leah came out from her bedroom and handed him a fresh new towel."You can use this to wipe your hands, it's unused."
"Thank you," he said.
Leah returned to get him some water and handed it over. "Go drink some water. You sweated much,you need to hydrate yourself."
Ernest took the bottle of water and drank it in one go.
Leah turned off the heat and transferred the taco fillings into a bowl. After that, she set up the dinnertable properly with the plates of vegetables and toppings and made final adjustments. When shewas done, she said to Ernest, "Let's dig in!"
Ernest walked over and took a look at the table full of dishes, and it was astonishingly lavish.
He spotted a bowl with dipping sauce and a plate with tortillas in front of him. He looked at Leah insurprise and asked, "You seem heavily familiar with cooking tacos. Have you ever taken classes forit?"
"Classes?" Leah said with a smile, "I learned how to make them myself."
Ernest was amazed.
"Ever heard of how foodies are natural gourmet chefs?" Leah asked.
"I've never heard of that saying before, but after seeing this dinner table with my very own eyes, I'mvery inclined to believe so." Ernest said with a smile as he sat down and prepared to assemble histaco.
"Put the cheese first, it'll prevent the tortilla from getting soggy." Leah took a scoop of meltedcheese and spread it in the center of her taco. She then said to Ernest, "Did you know eating withour hands can actually be extra hygienic because we're forced to maintain its cleanliness? I alsosaw an article about how there's a certain type of bacteria on our fingers that's beneficial for ourdigestive system."
"Wow, how did you know all of that?" Ernest was even more surprised.
"Understanding stuff like this can be helpful. After all, there are so many diseases now, I need totake care of myself so I can live longer and eat more food. I have to live up to the role of a foodie."Leah said with a smile, "It's important to stay healthy, so I've been studying a little about diseaseprevention and medicine."
At that moment, Ernest couldn't help but laugh. His eyes shone bright and his gaze fell on Leah.
"You're definitely a girl who's one in a million," he praised.
Leah blinked her eyes, and her dark pupils were brilliantly under the dining table lights. "Are youpraising me?"
"Of course," Ernest smiled and said. "You deserve to be praised."
"Haha, that's what I like to hear." Leah scooted the bowl of taco filling closer to Ernest whose tortillawas relatively empty. "Come on, eat and try it."
He dipped his taco with some sauce. When he took a bite, he exclaimed, "It's really good." "Score!"Leah started giving suggestions on how to eat tacos and gave her own food opinions.
Ernest marveled at what an amazing chef Leah was to be able to cook food this salivating.
"Just throw whatever you like into your taco," Leah said.novelbin
"Okay." Ernest rolled up his sleeves, leaving his taut arm muscles exposed, and ate in silence.
He had exceptional table manners, eating neither fast nor slow, and was very polite. A glance wouldbe enough to tell that he had an educated upbringing.
They sat at the dinner table for an hour before every plate was scraped empty. Leah then made apot of tea with the leaves she had bought at the supermarket and poured a cup for Ernest.
Ernest looked at the girl in front him with a smile the entire time.
"So, you're leaving tomorrow?" Leah asked.
"That's right."
"Then I won't be sending you off," Leah said. "I have to make an update tomorrow night. Not tomention your family will be sending you off, so I won't be able to join in on the fun. I hope you canforgive me."
"It's not a problem." Ernest shook his head. "I'll be leaving in the dead of the night. You're a girl, soit'd be better for you to stay at home."
"Yeah, I know." Leah gazed at him silently when she suddenly got up and headed into her bedroom.She emerged with a box and handed it to Ernest.
"What is this?" asked Ernest.
"A thank you gift," Leah said. "Thank you for helping my family find a doctor back then. I've beenpreparing this gift for a long time but I never gave it to you, and now that you're leaving tomorrow,here it is."
Ernest couldn't guess what was inside. It felt heavy when he held it in his hands.
"Open it when you get back," Leah said with a smile. "It's getting late. Go home after you finish yourtea."
Ernest glanced at her and nodded, "I should get going."
He drank his cup of tea and stood up with the gift in his hand. He turned to Leah and said,"Goodbye, Leah."
Leah walked him towards the doors, but this time she didn't follow him downstairs. She only smiledand said, "Goodbye, Ernest."
Ernest took a deep look at her, but ultimately couldn't bring himself to say anything.
Leah kept a smile on her face as well, not being able to say a word.
He went downstairs without any further delay.
Standing on the pavement, he looked up at Leah's window. When saw that the lights were on, hesuddenly felt a little disconsolate. He got in his car and left.
In the early hours of the morning, he saw an update from Leah, but when he pressed to see more,he found there was no author's note.
At that moment, there was an unspeakable feeling of emptiness in his heart.
He took out his phone wanting to send a text to Leah, but in the end, the text bar was bare, andnothing was sent.
As soon as he put down his phone, he received a message.
He was shocked. When he saw that the message was from Leah, he picked up his phoneimmediately. He received a single sentence: "Did you like your gift?"
Only then did Ernest realize he had kept it in his drawers because he was pestered about it, so hehad no time to open it.
He went straight to his drawers and fished out the gift. When he saw what was inside, he wasstunned for a moment, and smiled.