The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 626 What The Hell Did I Cook

The reason why Sheryl got angry was because Charles seemed not to care for his body and his health. He was aware that he had not fully recovered from his injuries yet, so how could he let Shirley climb up his back and play horseback riding?

Sheryl decided that if Charles kept on doing this without taking his health into consideration, she and Sheryl would leave because their stay here would cause him trouble.

Seeing that Sheryl held Shirley's hand and was about to leave, Charles immediately grabbed her hand and asked with inexplicable confidence, "Do you care about me?"

"Let go of my hand!" Sheryl shrieked. Then she growled, "It's useless to care about you because you don't even care about yourself. I think you don't need me anymore so I won't be coming here anymore starting tomorrow. Take care of yourself."

"Sher..." Charles held her hand more tightly. At that moment, he was really scared that Sheryl wouldn't come back anymore when he let her go.

"Don't leave," he pleaded. He looked at Sheryl with hurt and uneasiness in his eyes.

This kind of gaze moved Sheryl at once. Finally, she didn't shake Charles' hand off. Instead, she said to him in a cold voice, "You don't need me anymore. Why won't you let me go?"

Charles didn't answer. He just stared at Sheryl for quiet a while. After a long and awkward silence, Charles finally found his voice, "Sher, I... I'll listen to you. But please, just stay." "As long as you don't leave, I'll listen to everything you say," Charles promised.

Somehow, Sheryl's heart softened. She hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "Remember what you have just said today. If you break your words, don't blame me for not giving you another chance."

"Okay," he responded quickly. As soon as he confirmed that Sheryl would stay, he instantly put on a big smile and repeated his words, "As long as you stay, I'll listen to everything you say." Sheryl had no other choice but to just look at Charles with resignation. He was as happy as a child.

Sheryl crouched down to talk to Shirley who was standing beside her. "Shirley, listen. Uncle Lu has injuries on his back so you can't sit on his shoulders just like that next time. Do you understand?" "Sher, I'm sorry," Shirley immediately apologized. She looked at Sheryl with worry and fear. She didn't want to annoy her because she was scared that Sheryl would go to that kind of sleep again and she couldn't wake her up. As a little girl, she didn't know what faint was so she assumed that Sheryl just fell asleep suddenly this morning.

"I'll be obedient. Just don't fall asleep all of a sudden again," she added.

"Don't worry, I'll never fall asleep that way again," Sheryl comforted Shirley. Hearing Shirley's innocent words, she felt really sorry. She heaved a sigh and said, "Go and play with Charlie. Mom will cook lunch for you."

If she hadn't bought a lot of vegetables last night, she wouldn't have known what she could cook today.

When Charles heard what Sheryl said, he furrowed his brows and reminded her,"Haven't I said that I would cook lunch for you today?"

"You?" Sheryl threw Charles a skeptical look. "Are you sure that you can cook?" Sheryl asked to make sure.

"I..." Charles hesitated for a moment. He looked at Sheryl with a little embarrassment. It seemed that he wasn't so confident of his cooking skill. But he already said it so he wanted to uphold his words. "Of course I can," he answered. This time, his voice sounded firm.

"Really?" Sheryl still didn't want to believe him. In the end, Cheryl decided to give Charles a chance to prove himself. Then, Charles went to the kitchen. When he was about to start cooking, Sheryl tried to offer a help but Charles refused. Instead, he told her to just wait outside. "All you need to do is wait for now and eat later."

After almost an hour, Charles finally came out of the kitchen. In his hands was a steaming bowl of noodles.

He cooked noodles but what was in the bowl looked more like a flour soup. He must have boiled the noodles for too long causing them to become much too mushy. There were also some green vegetables floating in the bowl.

Charles tried to cover his embarrassment with a sweet smile and said, "I've tried my best."

"This is what you cooked?" Sheryl was really surprised. It was unbelievable! Charles spent almost an hour in the kitchen and only cooked this noodle.

"You can't only judge it by the way it looks," Charles tried to justify. "Maybe it tastes good?"

"Maybe?" Sheryl wanted to laugh. He was not even confident about the taste. "You're right. So this is ... uh ... delicious." She laughed inwardly. Then an idea came to her mind, "Why don't you enjoy it yourself?" She pushed the bowl towards Charles and said, "Come on. Eat the noodles quickly."

Charles stared at the noodles with knitted eyebrows. What the hell did he cook? If he had known that he would mess up like this, he would have just ordered food delivery. If he would eat the noodles, he could prove that his cooking was not really that bad. But, the noodles didn't even look appetizing.

On the other hand, if he refused to eat it, he would lose face. He would only prove that Sheryl was right.

It was a hard choice.

Looking at Charles who was in a dilemma, Sheryl couldn't help laughing. "Well, you should have left the cooking to me," she said. "Anyway, I'll cook lunch now," she added. "That would be too much trouble," Charles stopped Sheryl from going to the kitchen. Then he suggested, "How about we order food online? They have food delivery service."

"Why do we need to order?" Sheryl furrowed her brows in disagreement. "It's expensive and unhealthy. I'll cook for you," she added firmly.

As she looked at her watch, she found that it was already past lunchtime. The kids might already be very hungry. She sighed. She couldn't cook some delicious dishes anymore due to time constraints. She must cook something simple and quick. "I'll cook noodles. It will be ready soon."

Sheryl cooked the same noodles that Charles did. However, Sheryl's cooking looked very attractive and smelt good. No doubt about it, it tasted really delicious.

All of them enjoyed the simple yet delicious lunch. Seeing the contented smiles on their faces, Charles couldn't help but think back of those happy days he spent with Autumn. If she hadn't left three years ago, they would have been a happy couple enjoying meals together with their twins just like now.

After lunch, Sheryl cleaned the table and washed the dishes. The kids went upstairs to take a nap. Charles on the other hand was on a phone with a friend.

Earlier, Charles asked his friend to help him choose and apply a school for Charlie. And this afternoon, he received a piece of good news. The headmaster of the school wanted to give Charlie an IQ test that could give him a chance for academic acceleration.

"Okay, I got it," Charles said to the person on the other line. "You really did me a favor this time. Thank you very much, Mrs. Zhou," he added with a smile.

"You're welcome. And anyway, we're friends so I just did what a friend should do." The person Charles was talking with on the phone was Pamela. She had been the headmaster of Kiddie Cove Kindergarten and she knew well about other schools in Y City. Since Charles had done some business with Burke for years, he also got along well with Pamela.

Pamela had put in a lot of efforts to help Charles because she treated him as a friend.

"By the way, Mr. Lu, Bruke and I aren't married yet," she reminded him. "I think it's a little early for you to call me Mrs. Zhou." Charles could sense that a smile was playing on Pamela's lips while she said it. "Sooner or later you'll be Mrs. Zhou. So, I think it's okay for me to call you that way," Charles smiled as well. Then, he suddenly remembered that Sheryl had told him that Shirley was about to go to Pamela's kindergarten. After hesitating for a moment, he finally said, "I have to ask you another favor.

This coming school year, a girl named Shirley will enter your kindergarten. I want you to help me to take care of her."

"She is?" Pamela inquired.

"I'll tell you next time we meet," he answered. It was a long story and Charles couldn't just explain it on the phone. Pamela might have also understood so she didn't continue asking about Charles' relationship with the girl anymore.

As soon as he hung up the phone, he saw Sheryl walking towards him.

She looked around the empty living room and asked, "Both Shirley and Charlie went to sleep?"

"Yes," Charles replied with a smile. Then he suggested, "Why don't you go upstairs and take a rest too?"