The Supreme Soldier in the City
Chapter 310 - 318: The Kitchen Maid

Chapter 310: Chapter 318: The Kitchen Maid

At three in the afternoon, James Brown and Lucy Campbell were in a supermarket. James was pushing a shopping cart, with Lucy walking alongside him, occasionally picking items from the shelves and placing them into the cart.

"You’ve never been to a supermarket?" James couldn’t help but ask as he watched Lucy’s joyous and curious behavior.

Smiling, Lucy replied, "Yes, this is my first time. Do I seem pitiful for never having been to a supermarket before?"

James laughed and said, "It is quite pitiful, but also understandable. Wherever you go, you’re followed by a crowd of people. Visiting a supermarket would be inconvenient, and besides, you don’t lack anything, so there’s no need for you to come to one."

"But that means missing out on a lot of fun in life."

"It’s a good thing nobody else heard you say that; otherwise, you’d definitely get criticized."

Pretending to be very careful, Lucy glanced around and then chuckled, "Good thing it’s just the two of us."

As they continued shopping, James felt immense pressure. Lucy was so beautiful that every man who saw her couldn’t help but take a few more glances, and the women too were no different. And him, as her escorting Messenger, naturally ended up being gawked at as well.

James had been used to being watched when he protected leaders and dignitaries, but back then, he was in the role of a bodyguard, unnoticed. Now it was different; walking alongside Lucy, chatting and laughing softly with her, they looked like a couple. How could people not be curious to know who was accompanying such a ravishing beauty like Lucy?

Finally, after finishing shopping, they paid and left the supermarket. Once in the car, Lucy teasingly said, "Why the long face? Are you fed up with supermarket trips with me?"

"It’s not that I’m fed up; I just can’t stand those stares. It feels like they’re all saying a fresh flower has been stuck on a pile of cow dung."

Lucy burst into laughter, "Who would put themselves down like that?"

Shaking his head, James replied, "I’m usually very confident, but being with you, you just make me look so much worse."

Lucy paused; she and James had been together for quite some time. She had always been rather low-key and had never shown any arrogance in front of James, nor had she ever used her status to put pressure on him. But she still felt a wide gap between them, feeling she hadn’t truly integrated into James’s life.

James’s words made Lucy realize why she couldn’t truly enter his life. Even without leveraging her status, the disparity remained, and in James’s heart, he instinctively kept her out of his social circle.

With a light laugh, Lucy said, "It’s not that you’re not good enough, but you always see me as Lucy Campbell from Capital of SSUP. Why can’t you just see me as your neighbor, Lucy Campbell?"

"Aren’t you my neighbor?" asked James, puzzled.

Pouting slightly, Lucy realized James hadn’t grasped the meaning of her words. It wasn’t something she could explain clearly to him at the moment. "Alright, alright, my dear neighbor, I’m hungry. Let’s hurry home and cook for me."

Unable to break down the barrier in James’s mind at the moment, Lucy decided to make changes herself. As long as James truly saw her as a friend, they could move to the next step.

"No problem," James smiled.

Once they arrived at James’s place, he prepared to start cooking. But just as he began, Lucy showed up in the kitchen wearing Emma Campbell’s apron.

"What are you going to do?" James asked in surprise, his eyes almost bulging. Lucy, a woman of such beauty and status, now wearing an apron and becoming a little kitchen maid, was a real shock to the senses.

Pleased with James’s reaction, Lucy twirled the edges of her apron and said, "I’m going to help you cook. How do I look in this apron?"

James nodded and replied, "You look good, it’s quite a different flavor."

A triumphant smile appeared on Lucy’s face, "Then let me help you."

"You helping me... maybe not, you’d better just wait to eat."

"No, I want to give it a try and learn. A woman needs to know how to cook to capture her future husband’s heart."

"Really? You need to resort to that?" James stared at Lucy incredulously.

"Of course, someday I’ll be someone’s wife. How can I not know how to cook as a spouse?"

"But... wouldn’t your family hire a maid or a housekeeper? Do you really need to cook yourself?"

"It’s different. No matter how delicious the food made by someone else is, it’s just a meal. But when you make it yourself, it carries the wife’s affection for her husband. Now that I have some time, you should really teach me well."

To James’s surprise, Lucy held such thoughts. During his time with Hawk Squad on missions, he had met many rich and powerful scions. Those girls, any of them interested in cooking? They were all about enjoyment and pleasure.

But Lucy Campbell was no ordinary woman, after all, she wouldn’t have such a renowned reputation in the country otherwise. Her having such thoughts further highlighted her uniqueness.

With this in mind, James Brown no longer found it difficult to understand, and he chuckled, "Alright then, since you have this thought, I’ll teach you."

"I knew you’d be the most supportive," Lucy Campbell patted James Brown’s shoulder, appearing very casual with him, and asked, "What should I do now?"

"Let’s start with a simple one, today’s stir-fried celery with cashew nuts and shrimp will be your task."

"Yay!" Lucy Campbell exclaimed with joy.

As James Brown was organizing the other ingredients, he instructed Lucy Campbell on how to prepare them. She learned seriously and took her work just as seriously. Following James Brown’s instructions, she cleaned the shrimp and celery thoroughly.

Watching Lucy Campbell’s delicate hands washing the vegetables in the sink gave James Brown a strange feeling. Those hands seemed like they didn’t belong here, yet here they were.

Next, Lucy Campbell started chopping the celery, and watching her clumsily handle the kitchen knife really made James Brown nervous. He was constantly worried she might accidentally cut herself.

And his worry soon became reality.

"Ah!" Lucy Campbell let out a soft cry, quickly retracting her hand from the celery, with fresh blood seeping from her index finger – she had indeed cut herself with the knife.

James Brown was speechless. He immediately grabbed Lucy Campbell’s hand and put her injured finger in his mouth. Such a wound on a finger wasn’t generally a big issue; a bit of sucking with saliva’s strong antibacterial effect would help.

Lucy Campbell stared blankly at James Brown, never expecting him to do such a thing. The tingling sensation as her finger was in his mouth spread from her fingertip up her arm, turning into a warm flow that coursed through her body. It made her blush and her heart race. Undeniably, she liked this sensation and was fond of the focused look on James Brown’s face.

"Sigh, this isn’t the job for you, come on let’s get you bandaged up." James Brown said as he pulled Lucy Campbell’s finger out of his mouth, and upon examining, saw that although the wound wasn’t big or deep, it was not too serious.

Obediently, Lucy Campbell followed James Brown to the living room, and let him dress her wound. Getting injured seemed to draw such attention from James Brown that it made Lucy Campbell wonder if she should ’accidentally’ injure herself more often.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" James Brown looked up to find Lucy Campbell’s peculiar gaze upon him and asked perplexedly.

Lucy Campbell promptly beamed a smile, checked her hand, and then looked at James Brown, "What does my blood taste like?"

James Brown was utterly taken aback by such a question and said with a laugh, "What else could your blood taste like? A bit fishy, a bit salty, that’s it."

"Oh, so it doesn’t taste very good?"

"Of course not. Unless you want to know what human blood tastes like? You’re not a vampire, are you?"

Lucy Campbell chuckled and said, "I’m just very curious. Alright, let’s get back to cooking."

"You’re still going to do it?" James Brown’s eyes widened in disbelief.

With a tilt of her head and the stubbornness of a child, Lucy Campbell said, "Of course, I can’t back down just because I got a little hurt. It was an accident. I’ll be very careful from now on."

"You just got bandaged, and you can’t get it wet."

"The veggies are already washed, we won’t need water for what’s next, right? Don’t worry, I’ll be extremely careful this time."

Unable to persuade Lucy Campbell, James Brown could only let her continue cooking. But now he stopped his own work and watched her closely, to prevent any further mishap.

"How do I light the stove?"

"When do I pour in the oil?"

"How much should I add?"

For someone who knew nothing about cooking, every step required questioning. Instructions like ’add a moderate amount’ from recipes seemed like a Holy Book to a novice, completely indecipherable regarding what ’moderate’ truly is. Thus, Lucy Campbell had to ask about everything she was unsure of.

Seeing Lucy Campbell timidly pouring oil into the pan with shaking hands, James Brown finally couldn’t stand it anymore. He reached from behind, grabbed her right hand, and slowly poured the oil into the pan.

What he didn’t realize was that he enveloped Lucy Campbell in his arms, his chest now pressed against her back.