Chapter 2198: Battle of Two Cities! (Sixty-Two)

Batman can't cook.

The definition of "can't" is roughly as follows:

"Afu, I think we need a more accurate measuring instrument than an electronic scale. Considering the area of ​​the kitchen, I think a scale is good. What do you think?"

"No, sir, we don't need a scale."

"But I think the last failure was caused by the insufficient weight of cornstarch. Timely updating of equipment will help to reverse my mistakes in cooking."

"The mistake is not here, sir."

"Then where do you think it is? I am happy to listen to your suggestions."

"I can't presumptuously describe your mistakes, because this way of describing must be very unpleasant to you, and it is also very impolite and disrespectful. I suggest we skip this step."

"Then what?"

"You can leave the kitchen temporarily. In short, wait for the meal."

This is the conversation that happened when Batman wanted to cook last time-By the way, Batman was at least 30 years old at that time-this is basically his cooking level.

Chefs always say that cooking requires a certain amount of inspiration, but if Batman can't cook the most basic dishes with his rigor, then why can't he cook? I'm afraid we can only ask God. Some people are just not compatible with the kitchen, so Alfred said that this answer would not be liked by Batman.

Batman certainly wouldn't like it, because he knew deep down that if God really answered him, he would definitely point at his nose and scold him, "If you only regard eating as a process of nutrient intake necessary to maintain life, then you will never think of making any delicious food."

This is the fundamental reason why Batman is not good at cooking. He thinks cooking and eating are a waste of time from the bottom of his heart.

But the next morning, he was awakened by a burst of fragrance. Since he has been eating Alfred's meals for half his life, his brain instinctively recognizes that this is not Alfred cooking.

In fact, it is also because Alfred usually doesn't cook curry in the morning. He thinks that he should eat lighter when he gets up early, and his butler never likes dishes with too many spices.

But curry is originally a dish made of spices, how can it not be fragrant? So, for the first time, everyone in Wayne Manor got up at 7:30 in the morning and rushed to the kitchen.

"Oh my God, I just dreamed that I chased a Thanksgiving turkey for ten miles." Jason, who was half asleep, staggered down and walked to the kitchen like a character in a cartoon.

He saw Bruce standing in front of the stove stirring something, and the fragrance came from the pot. He yawned and walked to Bruce's side and looked into the pot, and saw a sticky mass.

"Is this curry?"

"Of course, you can wait a while, it will be ready in about half an hour."

"Oh my God, why does it take so long!!" Tim wailed, then turned around and added: "Of course, I don't mean to say that your breakfast is not delicious, Alfred, it's just that it smells so good and I'm so hungry."

Thomas, who was wearing a nightcap, was also sleepy, and poked his head out of the bedroom with a puzzled look, shouting: "Alfred, Alfred, what's going on? We hired an Indian chef?"

Martha had packed up and walked out, she gently rubbed He held his wrist, walked to the kitchen, patted Bruce on the shoulder and said, "Are there enough spices? If not, we can send someone to buy some on Indian Street now."

"Of course, Mom, just enough."

"I'm not sure I can eat these sticky things." Red Hood just opened his mouth, and Nightwing glared at him. Red Hood shrugged and said, "I'm not spoiling the fun. I almost vomited when I went to an Indian restaurant last time."

When Batman came down, he saw Bruce busy in the kitchen, and there was a circle of people outside the kitchen. Even Thomas was stretching his head to see what Bruce was doing.

But Bruce put down the spatula, walked to the door, blocked it and said, "Why don't you sit down?"

"What are you doing, Bruce?" Thomas asked in confusion, "You can actually cook?"

"A little, not much, but I think that if I'm going to play football later, cold sandwiches and peanut butter won't provide enough calories, and it's getting colder in the morning."

Thomas swallowed back his doubts about whether it would be unhealthy to eat such a heavy taste in the morning, and turned around to urge others to sit down at the dining table.

Batman had already sat down at the dining table, so how could he not know himself? It would be a miracle if he could eat this thing.

To everyone's surprise, what Bruce brought was not sticky curry with rice, but a pastry that looked like a large Italian ravioli.

"Wrapping the curry in the puff pastry will make it drier and more delicious." Bruce shrugged and said, "I learned this from a chef in Hong Kong."

Everyone looked at the large dumplings with some confusion. Jason picked up one and took a bite. The rich curry soup immediately flowed out. There was chicken, potatoes and an unknown vegetable in it.

Jason stuffed the rest of the dumpling into his mouth and gave a thumbs up while chewing. Alfred served them hot milk, coffee and tea. Jason picked up a glass of milk and drank it, making a long "ah——".

Of course, the main breakfast items are still baked toast, fried eggs, and ham, but curry dumplings have still become everyone’s favorite dish. A plate of seven or eight will be snapped up as soon as it is served.

"I didn't expect you to have good cooking skills, Bruce." Martha smiled and looked at Bruce and said, "Fortunately you didn't inherit this from your father. You don't know how many things he messed up in the kitchen."        No. So much, your mother is used to exaggerating.”

After finishing the toast and fried eggs as quickly as possible, Batman stood up, wiped his mouth, took off his napkin, put it back on the table, and walked back upstairs without saying a word.

His movements were light and without any emotion, but his departure still brought about a silence of at least 20 seconds, until Thomas deliberately broke the silence by speaking out.

"Hurry up, lads, you need time to digest it before you can go play football."

Martha also quickly finished the food on her plate. After sorting it out, she stood up and nodded to Thomas and walked upstairs.

She gently pushed open the door to Batman's room and saw him standing at the table sorting things. Martha reached out and patted his back gently and said: "You eat a little too little, I asked Alfred Will you send me some more?"

Batman shook his head, and Martha glanced out the window and said, "Then at least go and watch the football game. The children are looking forward to it. They will be happier if you go."

"I'll just watch it here." Batman turned around and looked at Martha and said, "I will go to the company after this is over, and I will have someone give you the latest report."

Martha sighed helplessly before leaving. She stood by the door and shook her head while holding on to the door frame. Thomas, who had already changed clothes, hung his suit jacket on his forearm and stood at the top of the stairs waiting for her.

"I know it's not his fault, but I'm still worried." Martha said, holding on to the banister as she walked down the stairs. "He doesn't look happy, Thomas, but the scariest thing is that he's used to it." This unhappiness.”

"This is his choice." Thomas still looked angry. He turned around and strode down the stairs. Finally, he paused and said, "Maybe we are just unwilling to miss out too much."

Later, Dick's friends arrived, and they walked in groups towards the lawn in the back garden, where there was a large open space big enough for them to play football.

In addition to Dick, Jason and Tim, the participants also included Damian. Although Damian was young, he was not an ordinary person after all, and he could even bully them without any effort.

The bigger ones were difficult to leave. They became the tactical director of Jason's team. Bruce was the coach, Thomas acted as the referee, Alfred was responsible for managing logistics, and Martha was the only spectator.

Of course, he may not be the only one. Batman stood in front of his bedroom window on the second floor, quietly observing the game.

In fact, it is very difficult for children of this age to implement tactics. They are not young enough and are not so obedient. They have their own ideas and judgments about various things, and they are always unscrupulous and more willing to follow the instructions. Come up with your own ideas.

They are not old enough to understand the important impact of teamwork on the situation. They only feel that if everyone plays their best, victory will be easy, and they will inevitably complain about teammates who make mistakes.

Because they communicated their tactics the night before, they had an overwhelming advantage at the beginning. From Batman's perspective, the turning point occurred when the front and back positions were disconnected, and the players behind them did not move in time, giving the opponent a chance.

But the children only saw the superficial phenomenon, that is, Jason failed to defend the opponent's flank attack, causing them to lose the most important first goal, and the conflict broke out.

The atmosphere on the field seemed a bit tense because these children were friends of Dick and did not know Jason. They were slightly older than Jason and felt that they should have more say, but Dick, as a forward, was more protective. Jason, and they felt betrayed.

During the halftime break, the atmosphere on the court was already very wrong. They were all silent and holding their breath, and the three older Robins sitting in the coaching bench couldn't help it, because they could see better. This isn't Jason's problem.

Bruce first stepped forward to stop them, and then pulled the participating team members together. When one of the team members started to talk about Jason's question, he stopped Dick and Jason's rebuttal and let the other team finish their words.

The opponent was very aggressive at first, and after analyzing a lot, he felt that the problem was that Jason failed to guard the opponent, but he was speaking fluently there alone, and it was difficult for others to interrupt, and Jason and the others were stopped by Bruce and did not return the favor. Mouth, in the end he was the only one speaking among the group of people.

Many people will encounter this situation. When they are talking, the field becomes quiet while they are talking, and then they inevitably wonder whether they said something wrong.

The child's arrogance weakened, so Bruce let Jason speak, and asked Dick to stand on his friends' side. Jason was halfway through speaking, and the other party wanted to interrupt to refute, but Dick stopped him again.

After going back and forth, there was only one person talking on the court at the same time, so there was no quarrel. In the end, they realized that there was no use in hindsight here, because they had already lost a point, and thinking about how to equalize the score next was the most important thing.

Bruce brought them together again, and then asked the three Robins on the coaching bench to start analyzing the situation. Dick and Damian played an extremely important role in this, because Damian looked like Bruce, and Dick's surname was Wayne. , they are playing football in the Wayne family's garden, and no matter how angry they are, they will be soaked by these two basins of cold water.

Soon they finalized their tactics and made personnel adjustments. All the anger that they had not been able to express on their teammates before was vented on the playing field. They all held their breath and wanted to prove that it was not their fault, and finally succeeded in pulling back the two points. points and won the game.

After the game, Batman saw Bruce and Martha coming together. Martha smiled at Bruce and said: "You play football much better than your father, and more importantly, you understand children better than him." What are you thinking about?"

"Maybe it's because I became a father at a younger age, which is a very lucky thing." Bruce said: "I am closer to them and can understand their thoughts better, because it is not very far away from the time when I thought this way. ”

Martha immediately laughed up and down and said, "It's really hard to imagine that you would quarrel with others because of playing football. In my impression, you are not such an easily excited child."

"People always change." Bruce lowered his head and smiled and said, "It's the same for children. Jason's temper is even worse because he was helpless on the streets for a long time. Life, his bad temper is his armor and weapon."

"If you lose something, you have to grow more to defend yourself against them attacking the missing part of you."

Martha's eyes dimmed for a moment, and she gently touched Bruce's face and said, "I'm glad we haven't missed too much. I think it's good now."

"Because you're back, yes."