“Are preserved plums tasty?” Chloe Sullivan put away the small bottle and asked with a bright smile.

Ethan Foster nodded cooperatively. “They’re tasty.” He actually quite liked these little snacks.

“They really are very tasty.” Chloe Sullivan said with a serious and approving expression.

Ethan Foster: “……”

So Chloe Sullivan carried a bottle of preserved plums around just to tease him?

How was he supposed to respond at a time like this?

Ethan Foster thought for a moment, then decided to match Chloe Sullivan’s pace and try to keep up with her rhythm: “Shall we have preserved plums again tonight?”

“Heh, but before that… I need to make sure you have a proper lunch first.” Chloe Sullivan bent down, picked up the two bags of ingredients, changed into indoor slippers after entering, and headed to the kitchen.

After closing the door, Ethan Foster followed her. “Do you want me to help wash the vegetables?”

—He needed some time alone with Chloe Sullivan to confess about his memory blackout.

“Sure.” Chloe Sullivan replied.

The interaction between the two was unexpectedly natural.

After taking the vegetables, Ethan Foster skillfully washed them while casually asking, “Do you still need to go to the office this afternoon?”

“No need this afternoon. I already took care of everything at the company this morning… This afternoon, I can help you finish your drawings.” Chloe Sullivan replied with a smile.

Oh, here it is—the lifesaving manga assistant!

As expected, sometimes you just have to think positively.

Chapter 9: Reporting In

Kitchen.

After helping wash the vegetables, Ethan Foster had nothing else to do.

He slumped over the dining table, his body limp like a noodle, watching the busy, very tasty preserved plum lady in the kitchen.

The preserved plum lady fit Ethan Foster’s personal aesthetic, but at this moment, what attracted his attention even more than her looks was her cooking process… So cool!

When she chopped vegetables, she had the air of a master chef showing off knife skills on TV—flashing blades, as if she were putting on a performance.

Ethan Foster was sure that if those knife skills were used on him, he’d be lying flat in less than three seconds.

In fact, even “three seconds” was Ethan Foster bragging to himself!

And when it came to killing live fish, Ethan Foster would always stun the fish first by slapping it with the flat of the knife… but Chloe Sullivan would just casually poke the fish somewhere, and it would instantly go limp, ready for her to handle.

Ethan Foster didn’t dare blink the whole time: (⊙o⊙)

Terrifying!

What kind of technique was that?

He was a little concerned—was Chloe’s technique only for fish, or for all animals? More precisely, did it work on human males?

It was clearly a pleasing cooking process, but after watching, Ethan Foster felt a bit anxious.

Why had he worked so hard on fitness after his three-year blackout?

Maybe… it was a man’s strong survival instinct?

“Looks like I can’t slack off either. From now on, I need to make time every day to work out.” Ethan Foster made up his mind.

No matter how hard or tiring, he absolutely couldn’t skip working out.

Only strong muscles could bring him a bit of comfort at critical moments.

Also, this strengthened his resolve to confess to Chloe Sullivan about his “three-year blackout”—if he kept hiding it with three years of missing memories, it would be easy to accidentally upset his wife over some detail in daily life.

He didn’t want to become Lily Foster.

No time like the present—should he just confess about his blackout now?

Maybe start with a topic to warm things up?

……

Chloe Sullivan made a lot of different dishes, but each portion wasn’t very large.

Once they started eating.

Ethan Foster took the initiative to start a conversation: “Actually, Chloe, since it’s just the two of us eating, there’s no need to make so many dishes at once, right?”

—Meals are a good time to talk; a lot of things can be resolved over a meal.

“It’s fine, I like cooking.” Chloe Sullivan replied.

Cooking was her hobby, so she enjoyed making nearly ten dishes each time. Plus, she was fast, so it didn’t waste much time.

“Besides, it won’t always be just the two of us. There will be new members in the family sooner or later. Little Ethan, do you prefer a daughter or a son? My mom was still asking about this on an international call yesterday.” Chloe Sullivan propped her chin with one hand, her dark eyes looking challengingly at Ethan Foster.

International call? Are mom and dad traveling abroad? Making their young son think about having kids so soon—are those two really serious?

“There’s no rush about kids, we need to be well prepared… Before that, why don’t we try raising a pet first?” Ethan Foster was really worried about whether he could play the role of “father” well.

He’d forced himself to accept the reality of three years later in just one morning. But in truth, his mindset was still that of a college student.

If he suddenly had to upgrade his mindset again and become an “old dad,” he was afraid he couldn’t handle it—his mentality would collapse.

This really wasn’t a burden someone of his mental age should bear. At the very least, he needed more time to adjust… maybe give him a couple more days to think it over?