Not much time had passed before the fish Chi Qingya had ordered arrived.
In order to show her sincere intentions, Chi Qingya didn’t choose to buy pre-made dishes.
Nor did she pick semi-prepared ingredients; instead, she planned to start from scratch to make Boiled Fish for Su Rui.
She wanted Su Li to truly feel her sincerity and earnestness.
While waiting for the fish delivery, Chi Qingya had specifically searched for videos on how to make Boiled Fish, but she didn’t focus on the videos themselves.
Instead, her mind wandered to the scene after Su Jingyuan’s apology.
She already began to imagine the two of them going back to the time before Su Li had argued with her.
Su Rui tidying up the room for her, preparing snacks and drinks.
Excitedly, Chi Qingya took out the Grass Carp that had just arrived. Not being skilled in cooking, she simply threw the fish onto the chopping board. Watching the fish wagging its tail, her heart pounded wildly.
She didn’t understand why the fish she bought was still moving its tail, but she knew what needed to be done: she had to finish this fish.
So, Chi Qingya gripped the knife with both hands, her expression deadly serious.
But the moment the knife’s tip touched the fish’s body, she felt nervous.
She had absolutely no idea how to kill a fish.
At this moment, even her hands began trembling, the knife tip shaking uncontrollably as it hovered over the fish, unable to find a precise spot.
“If I can’t even kill a fish, how can I possibly defeat that nearly invincible Landlady with Strong Desire for Control and snatch Su Rui away from her?”
She said this, as if giving herself courage, taking deep breaths.
In the end, Chi Qingya temporarily set the knife down on the chopping board, then took out her Cell Phone, intending to record this moment of preparing Boiled Fish for Su Rui.
When Su Li apologized to her, she would definitely be moved by the video.
After preparing everything, Chi Qingya picked up the knife again, staring at the Grass Carp whose tail still twitched, almost slipping off the chopping board. In her mind appeared the faces of those she hated.
If only those detested people were like this Grass Carp.
Her body trembled. There had been many moments when she fantasized about a scene like this—just picking up the knife and chopping all those who bullied her. Then, they would never bully her again.
But in the end, she never did anything.
She only curled up in a corner, hugging her head, murmuring apologies repeatedly.
Chi Qingya raised the knife in her hand, closed her eyes tightly, and swung it down towards the fish.
A “clang” echoed as she felt strong resistance—as if the knife couldn’t cut through, hitting the chopping board instead. She still kept her eyes tightly shut and withdrew the knife.
She continued chopping repeatedly. Several times, she felt strong resistance.
But she kept repeating the motion, even though her hands trembled uncontrollably.
Only when warm, fresh blood splattered onto her did she feel a strong sense of reality, realizing what she was doing.
Chi Qingya fought off the trembling in her body and mechanically repeated the chopping motion over and over.
Fatigue spread through her body. When she finally opened her eyes, the Grass Carp in front of her had already been chopped into pieces.
The tail that had been wagging no longer moved. Chi Qingya, as if possessed, continued to chop the fish with the knife until it turned into minced fish, then stopped.
A wave of panic filled her heart, her pulse pounding fiercely. But at the same time, an overwhelming feeling of relief arose.
Killing the Grass Carp was like killing those lingering shadows in her mind.
Chi Qingya didn’t know what to do next. She simply filled the pot with water and dumped all the minced fish into it.
“Boiled Fish, Boiled Fish, so if that’s the case, I just need to keep boiling it with water, right?” she muttered, looking at the other vegetables she had bought.
Without hesitation, she tossed everything in at once and covered the pot with a lid.
The floor was already a mess. The Grass Carp’s head was marked with numerous knife scars, and the surrounding area was stained with congealed fish blood.
Looking at everything before her, Chi Qingya’s body trembled, but a surge of excitement rose within her.
She felt invincible now, capable of anything.
Quietly standing in front of the iron pot, she watched the fish slowly simmer.
Even when all the water in the pot had evaporated, she still worried the fish wasn’t fully cooked.
So she added a little water and waited again.
The chili oil–red broth turned dark black like burnt soy sauce. A hard, crunchy layer of scorched rice clung to the bottom.
The fish slices shriveled into dry, hard fragments, looking like burnt potato chips.
The lotus root slices carbonized into black residue, mixed with charred chili skins. Chi Qingya added more water and waited some more.
Suddenly recalling something, she began adding various seasonings one by one into the pot.
When the water evaporated again, Chi Qingya still wasn’t convinced. She poured in even more water and waited silently.
Su Rui washed clothes several times over; how many times of cooking fish could really be considered hard?
Chi Qingya looked at her Cell Phone recording nearby and smiled contentedly.
She added some more water and continued waiting.
When the water no longer evaporated, Chi Qingya finally stopped.
She glanced at the time on her Cell Phone, realizing it was already very late—much later than she had planned.
With everything done, Chi Qingya put the Cell Phone down and slowly closed her eyes, hoping that the fish she had intended to slice thinly had, instead, turned into a clump of minced meat, scattered over the various vegetables cut into different shapes.
Because of the long simmering, the vegetables lost their original colors and shapes. The lotus root slices had carbonized to black ash, and the chili skins were all charred.
Chi Qingya looked at her Cell Phone once more, noticing how late it was.
She drained the water from the plate holding the little Duckling.
She thought she might feel guilty about all this, but the expected guilt never came. Instead, a feeling arose: even if her Boiled Fish turned out awful, it wasn’t wrong. Chi Qingya was satisfied.
This was her first time—filled with her sincerity and heartfelt intentions.
She glanced at her Cell Phone again and smiled with surprise. It didn’t matter; only she had to be satisfied!
She put down her Cell Phone, slowly closed her eyes, and gratefully took a bite.
She had made this Boiled Fish herself and was willing to eat it.
Because she made it herself!
She put down her Cell Phone, slowly closed her eyes, and contentedly burped.
She put down her Cell Phone, slowly closed her eyes, feeling utterly satisfied.
Her clothes stained with the deep red fish blood clinging heavily to her flesh.