My Dreamy Old Husband
Chapter 1113

Michael carefully placed the vegetables into the carrier bag with the watermelon, relieved to replacethat the bag was sturdy enough to hold up the weight of today's haul

The women in the crowd watched in awe as Michael carried the bag with one hand and picked upthe piglet with the other. He held the piglet over his shoulder as he quickly jogged toward hiscourtyard

All everyone paid attention to was his lean and long physique; they did not miss the way his bicepscurled beneath the smooth skin and they stared openly at his perfect shoulder blades

He was built like a model—it was such a shame that he was carrying a pig!

The piglet was seemingly pleased as it nestled into the crook of Michael's neck, its front trottersresting on his broad shoulders.

At that moment, everybody wished they were the piglet instead.

By the time Michael had reached home with the groceries and the piglet, he noticed that there werefilthy marks on him, courtesy of the piglet. He rinsed those off, having little regard to how the watersplashed against his trousers, then quickly proceeded to thoroughly wash the vegetables and therice. He also did not forget to put the piglet somewhere confined so it couldn't run off while he wasbusy.

They lived in a courtyard that was not equipped with gas or an electric rice cooker; there were onlywoodfire stoves, on which Michael was expected to cook their meals.

Fortunately, they were given two stoves and two pots. Michael used one of the pots to make someporridge and the other for a spicy stir-fry hotpot.

When Carmen finally sauntered back home at her own leisurely pace, she immediately startedhelping Michael with the preparation. It was comfortable as the father-daughter duo workedtogether to make lunch.

Seeing as unauthorized persons were not allowed in the vicinity when the cameras were rolling,Sophia had had no choice but to disguise herself as part of the crew. She looked sheepish now asshe took hold of a camera, angling to get closer up front as she kept her eyes on Michael's pots.Michael had never cooked or cleaned a day in his life, but he had picked up basic cooking skillsfrom survival training during his military days. The food he made was by no means restaurantquality but it was edible, and—at the very least—no one had ever died after eating his cooking.

His head was bowed as he focused on his task at hand but when he looked up, he saw Sophia. Shewas wearing her contacts and she stared at his pot with such intensity that he thought her eyeballsmight fall right in.

Michael resisted his urge to laugh.

Once he was done slicing the vegetables, he asked Carmen to keep an eye on the porridge while hefollowed the instructions that came with the stir-fry paste. The paste turned out better than hethought it would; it was fragrant and he could tell it was flavorful despite the lack of chilli.

It wasn't long before the aroma of stir-fry wafted through the courtyard. The fragrance promptedCarmen to abandon her post by the pot of porridge so that she could stand by her father, and shewatched intently as he cooked.

Michael glanced up to replace both mother and daughter staring at him.

The pressure he felt was insurmountable.

Lunch was at half-past noon and the five dads were meant to bring the dishes they made to adesignated area where they could all eat together. By the end of this segment, the five babies wouldvote for the dad with the best dish.

Sophia tailed after the crew. There were dozens of crew members surrounding the dining table,which had been set for ten.

Her gaze swept over the dishes laid out on the table. There were pies, dumplings and rice. Michael'sstir-fry hotpot and porridge definitely looked the best out of all the dishes; plus, he had broughthalf of the watermelon for everyone to share too.

Sophia found herself salivating at the sight of her husband's cooking. She then happened to turnand look into Harry's bowl, which featured a very suspicious looking blackish-green substance.Harry appeared proud as he announced, “My son and I made this Eight Treasure Congee with lotusroot, century egg, cucumber, pulled pork and lotus seeds.”

Everyone stared and remained quiet.

Sophia was so horrified that she quickly turned away from Harry, focusing on her husband instead.As the celebrities started to dig into their meals, the crew began to work in shifts as half of themcontinued working while the other half went to retrieve lunch boxes.

Having taken a lunch box as well, Sophia sat in the corner and began to eat but her gaze lingeredon Michael's stir-fry hotpot.

I really want to try his cooking...

Sadly, she did not even have a chance to taste Michael's cooking because it was polished off withinmere moments of being set on the dining table.

When everyone was done eating, the five children had to choose the dad with the best dish.Michael came out on top, which was due to the fact that while all the other kids had voted for theirown dad, Ashton had voted for Michael instead. Granted, Harry wasn't really Ashton's father but onecould not deny that the affronting congee was the main reason he had not won Ashton's favor.Once they had finished the watermelon that Michael had brought to the table, everyone went backto their accommodations with their bellies full; they needed to take a break before they continuedfilming for the rest of the afternoon.

From the moment they'd woken up, the dads had been kept on their feet all day long as they dealtwith unexpected situations. As a result, they were all drained so after going back and cleaning upthe house for a bit, they fell asleep.

However, Carmen was not worn out at all. Michael had gone back for a nap after the meal butCarmen had managed to sneak out of the courtyard to meet up with Ashton, and the both of themhad gone next door to see the pig in labor.

By the time Michael woke up and went in search of his daughter, it was already too late.

Carmen had returned with a donkey in tow and a rooster in her arms.

“Daddy, can I bring the chicken and the donkey back home?”

“The pig next door had her babies. Can I bring another piglet home?”

“The village chief's buffalo is so cute—can I bring it home?”

Michael soon found himself speechless at Carmen's string of requests.

When Sophia sneaked over to the courtyard later that day to spy on Michael and Carmen, she wasgreeted by the sight of them in the yard, along with a rooster, donkey and a large buffalo.

Michael was on the verge of insanity and when Carmen was keen on feeding their dinner to hernewfound pets, he was about to have a nervous breakdown.

Come dinner time, Michael had washed his undershirt and hung it to the side of the courtyard. Theweather was hot so he decided to go shirtless as he made pot noodles. He added eggs andwhatever amount of vegetables he had managed to salvage before Carmen fed them to her pets,then finished off the dish with a few cobs of corn.

He had also given milk to Carmen, who only drank formula that was customized by the familynutritionist. The formula had been made into powdered form so that Michael could bring it alongon this trip.

Carmen was usually a picky eater but she ate her meal now without making a fuss; perhaps this hadsomething to do with it being her dad's cooking.

She polished off a small bowl of noodles and a cob of corn. Grabbing her milk bottle, she staredcontentedly at Michael as she drank her milk.

Both of them seemed to be crowded around the little table. Michael had found two plastic stools tomake up for the lack of chairs but while Carmen was comfortably seated, Michael—who was tall andlong-limbed—had to fold into himself as he slurped up a big bowl of noodles. He had given most ofthe egg and vegetables in his bowl to Carmen, so all he had left were plain strings of noodles."What do you think of my cooking? Is it good?” Michael asked expectantly, putting down hischopsticks.

“Yes,” Carmen answered sweetly.

Just then, she set down her bottle and went into the house, only coming out moments later.

“Don’t move, Daddy.”

Michael stayed still. Carmen then rounded him with a bottle of insect repellent in her little hand andshe began spraying it onto his back.

“Daddy, you have mosquito bites. Let me blow them for you.”

There were a few bumps that had formed on Michael's back due to the mosquito bites. Carmencarefully sprayed insect repellent on him before she gently blew at the bumps

At that moment, Michael was so moved he teared up.

She is daddy's little girl, indeed!

It was as though his hard work for the day had been worth it the moment Carmen greeted him assweetly as she did.

He would have given her anything she wanted—be it a buffalo, donkey or rooster!

He would even have given her a dinosaur if she asked for it!