(1)
“Hey! Hah!”
“It won’t split…”
“Not enough force?”
“Uh, it’s probably not your fault. This piece of wood, see, it has a lot of knots like this. Stuff like this is naturally hard to chop.”
“I see.”
“Let me do it.”
“Can Xiao Jing handle it?”
“Or maybe try lifting it and smashing it down like this?”
“Okay~! Heave-ho! Hiyah! It cracked!”
“Now we need to split it into smaller pieces, otherwise it won’t burn well.”
“How small?”
“Not too small. Wood this size, split it into about four pieces!”
“Like this?”
“It’s a bit crooked, but it’ll work anyway, so no big deal.”
“Chopping wood is so tiring.”
“I told you it was tiring…” An Jing took out the glass water bottle from the side pocket of Zhu Ying’s backpack. “Here, have some water. Take a break. No need to rush—I’m not hungry yet anyway.”
“I’m actually a little hungry. Maybe because I used up too much energy all at once?”
“Want to eat some snacks to fill the gap?”
“No, I want to save my stomach for Xiao Jing’s cooking!”
“Then I’ll speed up a bit… Uh, it sounds like the boys and girls are still arguing.”
“What’s going on anyway? Splitting up ingredients takes that long?”
“Go check it out?” An Jing and Zhu Ying were by the woodpile farthest from the other classmates. They could only hear some noisy commotion from over there and see blurs of figures moving around.
“Teacher Wen Wen doesn’t seem like she’s going to mediate.”
“Maybe she wants everyone to sort it out themselves? Let’s go. We need to get our ingredients too… See what’s left.” An Jing took two steps forward, but noticed Zhu Ying wasn’t following. She looked back with some confusion and saw Zhu Ying puffing out one cheek and holding out her little hand. After An Jing stood there for a few seconds, she gently took her hand, and only then did Zhu Ying’s face break into a satisfied smile.
“Are you a little kid or what…”
“Hand in hand~ Xiao Jing’s hand is so soft~”
“Eww—”
“So why do you girls get to take so much fruit?”
“You guys took so much meat, and you have the nerve to complain?”
“But we left plenty of vegetables for you!”
“Exactly.”
“You were the ones who said we girls don’t need to eat that much meat, so isn’t it fine for us to eat more fruit?!”
“The boys are the most unreasonable!”
“Yeah!”
An Jing and Zhu Ying walked hand in hand to the car. After listening for a bit, they roughly understood what was happening.
It was another dispute over fair distribution.
Just as An Jing was thinking about how to step in and mediate, Zhou Zhao, who had been sitting with the girls, finally couldn’t hold back and stood up, walking over. “Awei… you can’t finish all that stuff even if you take everything. And too much meat will make you sick of it. You should balance it out with more vegetables.”
“But we boys all want various meat dishes.” Sun Wei’s tone softened a bit, but it seemed more like guilt—An Jing didn’t know why he felt guilty in front of Zhou Zhao. Come to think of it, when Zhou Chao turned into Zhou Zhao, what relationship did Ninth Love have with her former self…?
“It’ll be too much and you’ll get sick of it. And the girls will compensate by taking a lot of fruit. You’ll see after you eat—just a pile of meat with no fruit.” Zhou Zhao put her hand on her hip, shook her head with a helpless smile. “I’ll divide it. Beef—you guys take four boxes, the girls take two. Same for pork. Chicken isn’t as greasy, so split it half and half. And then…”
“Damn, you say that like we agreed.”
“What Zhou Zhao divided is pretty fair. Let’s go with this…” Sun Wei scratched his head. “We can just take more fruit later.”
“Besides, I don’t think we need to divide everything. Take what you need.” Zhou Zhao turned sideways, her long hair cascading over her shoulders. She looked at An Jing and Zhu Ying standing behind, and smiled faintly. “Others still need ingredients too.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. We’ll just take whatever’s left.” An Jing quickly waved her hands. “As for meat… if you don’t like chicken, Xiao Ying and I can just take one box of chicken.”
“Awei, do you guys want chicken legs and wings?”
“I’m not making that stuff. Too much trouble.”
“The girls aren’t making it either. An Jing, you can take that box of chicken legs and wings.”
“That’s a bit much…”
“It’s fine. If there’s extra, you can share some with me, haha.” Zhou Zhao laughed heartily and patted An Jing on the shoulder. “Let’s keep dividing. There are vegetables and fruit too.”
“Tch—Awei, why do you go soft in front of Zhou Zhao?”
“I’m not going soft, okay? Do you think I’m an unreasonable person?”
“Where are you reasonable?” a girl who had argued with him earlier shot back indignantly.
“Damn, you fucking…”
“Alright, stop it. Hurry up and divide so we can start working. I can’t stand you guys.” Zhou Zhao sped up her speech. She helped the boys and girls divide the ingredients, and whatever was left, An Jing and Zhu Ying would pick from.
—Actually, quite a lot of vegetables were left. They didn’t need that much.
The reason the boys and girls had argued wasn’t because there wasn’t enough to eat. It was purely to compete for superiority.
Zhu Ying watched as the boys and girls dispersed to both sides. She tilted her head slightly, letting her slightly longer hair brush against An Jing’s cheek. “So Xiao Jing, what are we making to eat?”
“Cabbage… take a small one. How about stir-fried cabbage with chicken? Cabbage is easy to wash, won’t take much time.”
“Hand-torn cabbage?”
“Hand-torn works too.” An Jing stretched her arm and picked up the smallest cabbage. “Yeah, this one. Peel off the outer two layers and only eat the tenderest part inside.”
“And then? What’s left?”
“Chives, celery, yam, white radish…” An Jing scratched her head. “All hard to prep, or stuff most people don’t like.”
“I don’t really like white radish or celery either. Chives always feel like I can’t bite through them. Yam is pretty good, but every time my mom peels it, her hands get itchy.”
“Then let’s go with yam. At least you like it.”
“How do we make yam?”
“How about mashed yam? Like mashed potatoes.”
“That sounds delicious!”
“Then that’s it! Let me think. Stir-fried cabbage with chicken, mashed yam, and braise the chicken legs and wings. Then a soup… something simple. Tomato egg drop soup?”
“Okay! Isn’t that too much for just the two of us?”
“We can share some with others. Or, oh right, we can invite Teacher Wen Wen and her husband to eat with us!”
“Teacher Wen Wen—!” Zhu Ying immediately waved vigorously at Wen Ye, who was lying with her head on Qiu Yi’s lap far away. “Do you want to eat with our group?!”
“Hmm?” Wen Ye turned her head slightly, her long hair that almost touched the ground swaying. “Sure. Qiu Yi and I just need one bowl of rice each.”
“Great~!”
“Let’s start!” An Jing was getting excited too. “I haven’t cooked on this kind of clay stove in a long time. I really miss it.”
“I’ll wash the vegetables. Xiao Jing, you cut and cook?”
“Okay. By the way, do you want me to peel the yam?”
“No need. I’ll do it.”
“Your hands might get itchy…”
“Then I’ll put my hands inside Xiao Jing’s clothes and make you itchy too!”
“Eww! But if you wipe the areas that touched the yam with vinegar right after peeling, it shouldn’t itch.”
“Really?”
“I’ve seen Huihui Jie do that before…”
(2)
The boys’ side was incredibly noisy. Several times, they heard someone yelling—it didn’t sound like cooking, more like a wrestling match…
The girls’ side was chattering away. Although it was loud, everyone was completing their tasks in an orderly manner, chatting while working. The commotion seemed much smaller than the boys’.
As for An Jing and Zhu Ying’s side, it was truly leisurely. The two didn’t always talk, but every time they looked up, they would exchange a knowing glance, then lower their heads and chuckle again.
“What is Xiao Jing making?”
“Marinate the chicken legs and wings, then steam them over the rice later. The taste is no worse than braised, and it’s convenient—saves a pot.”
“Oh~ Very efficient, Xiao Jing.”
“A lot of it comes from just watching and learning naturally…” An Jing rubbed her cheek with the back of her hand, a little embarrassed. “Huihui Jie does things this way—methodical, arranging everything, maximizing time. Her best was making eight dishes in just one hour.”
“Wow~! Amazing!” The vegetable washing was done. Zhu Ying sat behind the stove, preparing to start the fire. “Xiao Jing, do we need to burn firewood on both sides?”
“Yeah. One for rice, one for dishes. Just start with a big fire on both, and we’ll add wood as needed.” An Jing moistened the wok with water, poured it out, stood on tiptoe, and leaned to look behind the stove. “Is it lit?”
“Working on it. The matches are hard to strike—”
“It’s okay, no rush. You can use those dry leaves as kindling, put them over the wood.”
“I already did—Whoosh! It lit!”
“Good. Let the wok heat up slowly. I’ll cut the yam into small pieces in the meantime.”
“Mash it directly?”
“No. Steam it over the rice first, then mash it. The wok is big enough to fit two plates on the steamer tray.”
“It’s burning~!” Zhu Ying swayed left and right, her small face glowing red from the firelight. “So hot!”
“Let’s begin. First, stir-fry the cabbage with chicken.”
“Actually, isn’t that the only dish we’re stir-frying today?”
“When making tomato egg drop soup, you need to stir-fry the tomatoes a little too.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Stir-frying makes it tastier and helps the flavor seep into the soup. Hey—this spatula is really heavy.”
“Can you handle it?”
“Of course!”
“Hey hey~ You’re using both hands, huh?”
“Cough!!”