Li Yiyuan, the master chef, is now online.
He moved the living room table to the window and set up a makeshift cooking area.
There's no other way; there's no range hood inside, so I can only put it by the window, at least that way there's some ventilation.
Li Yiyuan began preparing lunch, but Li Xin'er showed no 'consciousness' to help and went into her bedroom to escape the cooking fumes.
Li Yiyuan picked through a pile of ingredients that Li Xin'er had brought out, and when he saw onions and scallions, he paused.
His long, curled eyelashes obscured his thoughtful eyes.
He then casually picked up the ingredients and quickly began processing them, clearly a seasoned cook.
In no time, three dishes and a soup were steaming hot on the table, and someone called out towards the bedroom:
"Xinxin, come out for dinner."
Li Xin'er had changed into a light yellow loungewear outfit. As she walked out, she gathered her hair and pinned it up at the back of her head, securing it with a large black hair clip.
"So fast."
Li Xin'er walked into the living room and saw that on the table were steamed eggs with shrimp, beef with onions, braised tofu, and vegetable and meatball soup. Her gaze paused for a moment, and then she casually praised:
"Hey, this looks pretty good."
Li Yiyuan ladled out a bowl of rice for her and handed it to her.
"I haven't done this in a long time either. I'm too busy abroad and eat in the cafeteria most of the time."
Li Xin'er couldn't wait to taste it. As soon as the food entered her mouth, she squinted her eyes in enjoyment.
It was truly a feast for the eyes, nose, and palate; Li Yiyuan's cooking skills were no worse than what she had eaten at restaurants before.
Li Yiyuan smiled and placed a piece of beef with onions on her plate.
"If you like it, eat more."
Li Xin'er glanced at the food in her bowl, a slight smile playing on her lips. The original owner of this body didn't eat onions, garlic, or scallions. Was this a test?
She has always been herself, going with the flow. No one noticed, and she wouldn't say anything. If anyone suspected her, she would silence them. But the person in front of her was probably the most important among the few people the original owner cared about.
Now that he had realized it, she didn't intend to pretend anymore.
What belongs to others will always belong to others.
Li Xin'er didn't refuse at all and ate heartily.
"Yes, the onions you cooked are delicious."
Li Yiyuan, sitting opposite her, watched her eat the food without any reaction. The veins on his hand holding the chopsticks bulged, and his eyes began to redden.
Li Xin'er smiled, a playful look in her eyes:
"What's wrong? You should eat too."
Li Yiyuan hurriedly buried his head and began to eat the rice in large mouthfuls.
"Mmm... Xinxin, eat."
The voice was very nasal, like someone was crying.
Li Xin'er continued eating unaffected, seemingly favoring the onion and beef, eating one bite after another.
Li Yiyuan, who had been keeping his head down, suddenly said in a hoarse voice:
“When I was in junior high school and lived at school, every week when I went back to the orphanage, you would pull me aside and ask me to cook for you, saying that my cooking was better than the cabbage and tofu stew at school.”
She knew he could cook.
"The first time I cooked for you was when I was in the third grade of elementary school. I learned how to make scrambled eggs with tomatoes in life skills class, and I couldn't wait to make it for you when I returned to the orphanage."
"I couldn't find tomatoes, but Grandma Liu said that onions can also be used to make scrambled eggs, so I made scrambled eggs with onions."
"If you don't do well, you pinch your nose, close your eyes, and look like you're ready to die, like you've taken poison."
Later, when he got older, he learned that Xinxin didn't eat scallions, garlic, or onions.
He looked up at Li Xin'er, his eyes, reddened, filled with tenderness.
"Xinxin is a picky eater."
So, starting in junior high school, whenever he had time, he would go back and learn to cook from Granny Liu at the orphanage.
Li Yiyuan was still rambling on and on about his memories, but Li Xin'er didn't interrupt him. She pretended not to notice the change in how he addressed her and listened quietly while eating her meal.
When they were in school, their classmates all knew that they were orphans sent from the orphanage and their tuition was waived. They often mocked him behind his back, calling him a poor wretch and an unwanted bastard.
He would fight every time he heard about it, and he never backed down from a fight. He was always fighting and brawling. If he hadn't consistently been at the top of his class, he probably wouldn't have been able to graduate from school.
Everyone said that he was mentally twisted and sick, had a bad temper, and was irritable and easily angered.
Only he himself knew that he reserved all his good temper for Xin Xin alone.
“When Xinxin found out I was fighting, she grabbed my ear and made me swear an oath to be a law-abiding citizen.”
“Xinxin said she didn’t want me to operate the sewing machine, and that without me, there would be no one to give her special tutoring.”
···
On a summer night, in the courtyard of the orphanage, you can see a sky full of stars, and the sounds of cicadas and frogs all around are like a symphony orchestra.
The two of them sat on the threshold. 11-year-old Xinxin took a cotton swab dipped in iodine and carefully cleaned the wounds on his face.
The 14-year-old grinned and shouted deliberately.
"Xiao Xinxin, it hurts, be gentle, be gentle."
Xinxin's eyes were full of heartache. She pursed her lips, her usual smile gone, and said in a cute but fierce tone:
"Why didn't you cry out in pain when we were fighting? Now you know? You just endured the pain!"
He tugged at his injured lip and laughed triumphantly:
"I can take on all five of them by myself. Your brother is pretty awesome."
Xin Xin bit her lip and didn't reply, but tears welled up in her eyes as if they were free.
Tears fell onto the floral dress he had bought for her with his scholarship money, each drop blurring the fabric and striking his heart with a pain that made it hard to breathe.
I've never felt this much pain, not even when I was surrounded and beaten by a dozen people in the toilet.
He panicked at that moment; he was at a loss for what to do.
"Xiao Xinxin, I was wrong. I will never fight again. Please don't cry. It makes me feel bad."
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