After Giving Birth, All My Beast Ex-Husbands Suddenly Want Me Back-Chapter 14: The real challenge

Nina didn’t insist. She pulled out a cutting board and a bone knife and handed them to Mino. "Could you wash the meat and slice it thinly for me?"

Mino took them. "Got it."

"And me?" Aji asked eagerly.

"You start the fire!" Nina replied.

"Okay."

Aji pointed to the stove in the little outdoor kitchen. "Here, right?"

"Mm-hm."

Getting the confirmation, Aji went over to start the fire.

Nina grabbed the slightly wilted wild vegetables from yesterday, ready to wash them, but Mino stopped her. "Little female, don’t touch that yet. I’ll wash it in a bit."

Nina ignored him, scooped a basin of water, and began washing anyway.

Mino pursed his lips and focused on slicing the meat faster.

As Nina worked, a thought crossed her mind. "Wait—are you guys going to eat with me? There might not be enough food for all of us."

Her appetite had grown considerably since getting pregnant. The meat would be enough for her alone, but adding two males? Definitely not enough.

Both males now realized the issue.

Mino looked at the pile of meat he had—indeed, it was very little.

How stingy are they? They’re giving so little to the precious female—she can barely eat enough for herself, let alone us.

He hadn’t expected Nina to offer for them to eat together. Pleased with her gesture, he said, "No problem. I have plenty of meat in my space. I just hunted yesterday. I’ll slice some more."

As soon as he finished speaking, a huge pile of meat suddenly appeared on the table.

Nina’s eyes widened slightly. Looks like this male either has a space ability or is some kind of mega-rich guy.

Space abilities were extremely rare in the beast world. Beyond the powers themselves, some could create portable spaces using their ability—like space rings or space stones—but these were outrageously expensive, affordable only to the wealthiest.

However, these spaces could not store living creatures.

Aji quickly said, "Wait for me! I’ll go grab more right away!"

There was no way he’d pass up a chance to eat with Nina.

He finished starting the fire and hurried back.

Soon, Aji returned, holding several meat blocks wrapped in leaves.

Mino had also prepared a large basin of meat.

Nina glanced at the soup pot on the stove and realized it wouldn’t fit all of it at once. She marinated the meat, adjusted the soup base seasoning, and added half a basin’s worth to the pot, stirring it evenly before tossing in the wild vegetables.

Both males stared in stunned silence. They didn’t understand why Nina was adding strange ingredients separately to the meat and the water.

Mino picked up the bamboo container of pepper powder and sniffed it. The pungent smell made him recoil, and he sneezed violently several times.

This stuff smells so weird... it’s not poison, is it? Can it really go into the soup like this?

Aji picked up a small piece of leftover ginger and sniffed it—but immediately pinched his nose shut.

Can this even be eaten?

They both stared at the pot of soup, their faces grim.

Sigh... it’s cooked by the little female. Even if it’s poisonous, we’ll have to drink it.

As the meat broth began to boil, a strange but oddly pleasant aroma started drifting into the air.

Before long, a fresh pot of wild vegetable and meat soup was ready.

Mino quickly stepped forward to help lift the pot. The soup was too much to transfer into another container, so they had to leave it in the pot itself.

He looked at it curiously, his big eyes shining. Wow, this is so convenient for cooking soup... way better than the stone pots in the Spirit City. Heats up fast, easy to carry...

Still, he was skeptical. But isn’t meat boiled in water usually bland? And these greens... can they even be eaten? And why is she adding all these weird ingredients?

Yet the smell was surprisingly appetizing.

They’d tried boiling meat in plain water before, and it had been flavorless. A little salt didn’t help much; it was dry and tough, nothing like tender raw meat.

But this was cooked by the little female. Even if it tasted weird, they would finish it.

For the remaining half of the meat, Nina made a simple stir-fry with chili.

Thankfully, she had thought ahead and bought a large pot for cooking after the baby arrived—otherwise, it wouldn’t have fit.

It was a lot of meat, though, so cooking it took some effort.

Mino and Aji wanted to help, but neither of them knew how, so they stood by watching. The delicious aroma coming from the pot made their mouths water uncontrollably.

Meat can actually be cooked like this? Smells amazing...

Nina was clever, no doubt.

Both males looked at her with genuine admiration.

Once the stir-fry was done, Aji noticed Nina trying to lift the heavy pot. He immediately went over to help.

They placed the pots on the table and prepared to eat.

Nina pulled out two ladles and a few pairs of chopsticks, along with three wooden bowls.

"This is the ladle. Use it to serve soup and meat."

She ladled a bowl of meat soup for each of them, and they gratefully accepted it.

"These are chopsticks. Hold them like this." She demonstrated the proper way to hold and use chopsticks, then showed how to pick up the food from the pot. "Always use the ladle to serve food from the pot into your own bowl, then eat with your own chopsticks. Got it?"

Since the soup was served straight from the pot, she emphasized using the ladle to avoid touching shared food directly.

The two males nodded repeatedly, carefully picking up the chopsticks. They exchanged a glance, feeling a kind of solemn responsibility before their bowls of soup. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Then reality hit them: using chopsticks was the real challenge.

Nina made it look effortless, but in their hands, the chopsticks seemed alive—completely uncooperative.

Picking up a slice of meat felt harder than hunting a magical beast.

Oh no... is she going to think we’re idiots?

They were sweating bullets, wishing they could just shove the food straight into their mouths.

Snap! Aji’s chopsticks broke in half.

His face instantly flushed bright red, like a monkey’s behind. He just wanted to disappear on the spot.

Mino didn’t dare to laugh, either—his own chopsticks had bent out of shape from the effort.

Nina couldn’t help but giggle at their embarrassed expressions. She handed Aji a fresh pair. "Don’t worry, don’t squeeze so hard. I’ll show you again."

Taking advantage of Nina’s attention being elsewhere, Mino quickly straightened his slightly bent chopsticks.

Following Nina’s patient demonstrations, the two males tried again and finally managed to pick up their first piece of meat.

They breathed a sigh of relief and, without hesitation, stuffed it into their mouths—forgetting all about whether it might be poisonous.

The moment the meat touched their tongues, their eyes lit up. Their taste buds were conquered instantly.

Who would’ve thought meat boiled in plain water could taste this good? Tender, flavorful, and juicy.

They quickly devoured the meat in their bowls and drank every last drop of soup, yet even after finishing, they were still craving more.

It wasn’t just the meat—the broth was delicious, too.

They gazed at Nina with wide eyes, silently asking: Can we have another bowl?

Nina chuckled lightly. "If you want more, serve yourselves."

Immediately, the two males tried to pick up some of the chili stir-fry. They had been looking forward to this for a long time.

Finally tasting the stir-fried chili meat, they were utterly satisfied. It was aromatic, tender, and packed with flavor.

Though it had a slight warmth from the chili, it made the meal even more exhilarating.

Nina hadn’t used overly spicy peppers—just mildly hot green ones—so they only felt a gentle heat.

Mino picked up a slice of green pepper. "Little female, what is this? Why does it taste so good with the meat?"

"This is green pepper," Nina explained. "It adjusts the flavor of the meat somewhat, but the reason it tastes so good isn’t just the pepper—it’s also the other seasonings and the way it’s cooked."

"Can this be eaten?" Mino asked.

"Of course," Nina replied.

He chewed the pepper, finding it okay but not as satisfying as the meat. Then he picked up a stalk of wild greens. "And this grass... it can be eaten too?"

"Yes," Nina nodded.

He tried the wild greens, enjoying the blend of meat flavor with the fresh, vegetal scent. He liked this even more.

Drinking the meat soup while sneaking glances at Nina, Mino’s heart felt sweet and full.

By the end of the meal, his fondness for Nina had shot through the roof.

Aji ate quietly and obediently, saying little, but he also kept sneaking glances at Nina, feeling that everything in his mouth had never tasted better.