Chapter 496: Chapter 496

The staff brought over four large square blocks of ice.

"Today’s morning task requires showcasing the boyfriend power of all the gentlemen here. We have four axes and four blocks of ice, with cooked rice inside the ice.

Of course, we’re not asking you to eat this for lunch, but to compete and see who can break the ice first and retrieve the rice.

The first group to get the rice will have the best dish for lunch.

The last group, naturally, will have the worst meal."

The director smiled at the ladies and said, "All you have to do is cheer on your husbands."

Qin Yu rolled up his sleeves and said to Chu Yan, "Wanna see who’s faster?"

After speaking, he also turned to Su Xiaotong and said, "Wife, I’ll definitely get you the best lunch today. Later we can share some with Zhaozhao, after all, she’s not well."

He didn’t explicitly mention the pregnancy, since it hadn’t been announced publicly yet.

"Young uncle, aren’t you being a bit too confident?"

Qin Zhao rolled her eyes at him.

The competition hadn’t even started, and he already thought he was going to win?

Her man was so capable, okay?!

"Then just wait and see."

Qin Yu said with absolute confidence.

During this time, he had been consistently working out and training in boxing.

Because his niece was pregnant and he and Su Xiaotong had yet to conceive, they were preparing for pregnancy.

When trying to conceive, both the man and woman need to exercise more to maintain a healthy physical condition.

Qin Yu had witnessed Chu Yan’s boxing skills before, but every time he invited Chu Yan to box together, Chu Yan always declined. As a result, Qin Yu felt Chu Yan had become complacent and surely wasn’t as strong as before.

He picked up an axe and sized up the thick ice block for a while.

With a loud thud, Wen Yi’s husband, Ji Shaohai, was the first to strike the ice, only chipping off a bit from the corner.

"How come this ice is so hard? Could it have been transported from the north?"

The usually silent Ji Shaohai couldn’t help but complain.

And Yuan Dong’er’s husband also seemed to have some difficulty breaking the ice.

Qin Yu was a bit better than them; his axe chopped off large chunks of ice.

"Wow! Honey, you’re so amazing!"

Hearing Su Xiaotong’s exclamation, Qin Yu couldn’t be prouder.

After a few more strikes, he could already see the bowl of rice hidden inside the ice.

He turned his head to look at Chu Yan, who was still leisurely rolling up his sleeves.

"Chu Yan, if you keep dawdling , your wife is going to starve today."

Someone urged him on from the side.

"If I starve to death, I still wouldn’t let my wife go hungry."

Without even lifting his head, Chu Yan said casually.

Then he picked up the axe next to him and when he struck, he split the square block of ice cleanly in two, with the rice bowl inside also cut in half.

Then he split it again twice, quartering the block of ice and causing the rice bowl to fall to the ground.

The other three groups were only just managing to see through the ice surface to spot the items hidden within.

"Does it count if I get it out, even though it’s broken?"

Qin Zhao smirked and went forward to pick up the rice bowl.

"Oh my goodness, how did Chu Yan do that?"

The staff, seeing the smooth cross-section as if machine-cut, were absolutely astonished.

"How did you do it so easily?"

Qin Yu’s expression froze on his face.

"You cut it so neatly, you didn’t cheat, did you? Hey, did you guys make some secret modifications to the ice block because Chu Yan is good-looking?"

"How could that be? We are a fair and just production team."

Seeing their incredulous faces, Chu Yan, holding an axe, came over to Qin Yu’s side.

He struck Qin Yu’s ice block and cleanly cut off a large portion as well.

Everyone else instantly fell silent.

If only Chu Yan’s own ice block was cut that way, there might still have been some trickery involved.

But the fact that he could slice Qin Yu’s ice block in the same way proved it was his own skill.

Could this guy have some sort of superpower?

He seemed tall and thin, yet so strong!

Qin Yu glanced at Chu Yan, internally venting with furious complaints.

"Little uncle, can you even keep up? Any slower, and you’ll be in last place."

Zhaozhao teased him with a grin on her face.

"Qin Yu, what are you daydreaming about? I don’t want to finish last!"

Only then did Qin Yu snap out of it and hurriedly continued to chop the ice blocks.

Chu Yan finished first and took his wife into the guesthouse to rest.

There’s special treatment for the winner—they had just gotten inside when the crew delivered fruit.

Zhaozhao lounged blissfully on the sofa.

Although the fruit was fresh and delicious, she felt like eating something else.

"Chu Yan, do you think I can have some spicy strips?"

Zhaozhao kicked him with her foot.

"I’ll give you another chance."

"Still no. Spicy strips are the trash of junk food."

"I won’t allow you to talk about my spicy strips like that!"

Fine, I won’t say anything about them then.

Chu Yan clamped his mouth shut and looked down at his phone.

But Zhaozhao really craved spicy strips, so she sat up slightly and leaned toward him, saying, "There’s an elementary school over there, and they sell all that stuff. I saw it when we were on our way here."

Chu Yan was resolute, "No way."

"Husband, I really want some."

Zhaozhao said it in his ear, her arm entwined with his.

Chu Yan froze completely, a smile creeping uncontrollably on his lips. He cleared his throat, "That’s for kids, and you’re all grown up."

"Am I that big? I’m clearly still a child of just over two hundred months!"

Chu Yan’s heart was already wavering.

If it weren’t for spicy strips but something else that Zhaozhao wanted him to buy, he would have dashed out to get it already.

Spicy strips are something a pregnant woman should better avoid.

"Once you’ve given birth, I’ll buy you some."

"There it is again, always wait until after the birth."

Zhaozhao got a little angry.

She bit her lip, hugged his arm tighter, and nudged a little closer to him.

His side filled with her subtle fragrance.

This time with a whimpering tone, "Baby, if you go buy it for me, I’ll just take one small bite, I promise, just a little one."

Chu Yan looked at her with a dumbfounded expression, "What did you just call me?"

"I called you ’baby’."

Zhaozhao looked innocent and even planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Go buy it for me, please."

For some reason, Chu Yan stood up and then drove out.

After visiting the elementary school nearby, he returned with a few packs of spicy strips in different flavors.

"We’re about to eat dinner, why did you buy spicy strips?"

When he returned, Qin Yu asked him in astonishment.

Only then did Chu Yan realize what he had done.

He didn’t want to buy them either.

But Zhaozhao called him ’baby’.

Seeing Chu Yan return with spicy strips, Zhaozhao embraced him tightly.

She had made up her mind.

From now on, she’d always call Chu Yan ’baby’!

"You can only have one! You said it yourself, just a little bit."

Chu Yan stored away the other spicy strips and handed her a pack.

When Zhaozhao ate them, he only allowed her two and then put the rest away,

leaving his wife looking at him with mournful eyes, "Baby, don’t you love me anymore?"