Chapter 66: Burnt Rice Cakes on a Snowy Night
When Yuji said goodbye to his grandfather, he did not cry, nor did he ask his grandfather whether he would come to pick him up or live with him during the New Year. He just met with his grandfather happily and then watched him leave.
"Do you miss grandpa?" Gong Zhili asked him.
Yuji Itadori was holding a toy his grandfather had given him. He lowered his head to fiddle with it and said, "Grandpa has decided on something, and there's nothing I can do about it..."
It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that I can’t.
Gong Zhili touched his head and turned the rice cake on the iron plate in the stove with his other hand.
It has been snowing intermittently in the mountains in recent days. Except for Gong Zhili who went out to take care of the chickens and ducks and shovel snow, the other children have fewer opportunities to move around. Two meals a day are enough. The rest of the time, Gong Zhili bakes some rice cakes like this, sometimes pouring honey on them, and sometimes letting them dip them in sauce. She made some soybean paste in November, which is delicious when dipped in rice cakes or cabbage. The children are not picky and eat them with relish no matter what.
"The rice cakes are almost done--" Gong Zhili called out to them. The other children sitting in the kotatsu in front of the TV responded lazily, then dragged themselves away from the stove.
Gong Zhili couldn't help but mutter, "The house is warm enough with the heater on. Don't stay in the kotatsu all the time. Just sit on the sofa and watch TV. The temperature difference between inside and outside is too big. You'll catch a cold if you go out."
Nanako pouted in embarrassment: "But the kotatsu is so warm. Can we sleep in it tonight?"
Gong Zhili: "Of course not, you will definitely catch a cold."
Fushiguro Megumi said, "Sister Tsumiki is afraid of the cold."
Tsu Miki shook herself and said, "I don't know why I always feel cold..."
Gong Zhili sighed inwardly, watching the rice cake slowly expand. She sat in front of the stove and said to them, "Do you want to know why Tsu Miki is more afraid of the cold than you?"
The temperature in the room was already very warm, always maintained at around 28 degrees. They would only feel warmer and even a little roasted if they sat in the kotatsu in single clothes, but Tsumiki would feel uncomfortable if she left the kotatsu.
The children all looked up and guessed before she spoke. Fushiguro Megumi said, "Tsumiki-nee doesn't eat enough, so she's skinny and cold."
His words led the other children astray. Mimiko thought about how much Tsumiki usually ate and agreed: "Sister Tsumiki needs to eat more."
Yuji Itadori immediately threw away his previous slight melancholy: although he missed his grandfather, what he didn't say was that he also particularly liked the feeling of this new home.
Here he saw many amazing and magical things, made his best friends, and the best thing was that he had the best family in the world.
Of course, Yuji Itadori also cares about his favorite sister Tsumiki. When he heard Megumi Fushiguro say that she ate little, he immediately wanted her to eat something.
Tsu Miki waved her hands in embarrassment: "I'm not hungry, I always eat enough."
When I lived outside before, I always had to be careful about what I ate, and sometimes I didn’t feel full. But after coming here, I can eat my fill every day, and the food is very delicious.
Gong Zhili listened to their chatter, pondered for a moment, and decided not to dwell on it anymore. He said directly: "Because Tsu Miki is a normal person, and we are abnormal."
The five children looked up, not quite understanding what was happening.
Gong Zhili pointed at them first: "You have seen me use various magical powers in the village, right? But the people in the village don't have this kind of power, not even Brother Xia Yu and his brothers who always come here on the rainbow dragon."
She added, "Tsumiki couldn't actually see Rainbow Dragon, but she never mentioned it the few times she saw it. Perhaps Tsumiki had noticed something, right?"
Miki Fushiguro bit her lower lip and said nothing.
Gong Zhili stretched out his hand to her: "Come to me."
Tsu Miki crawled to her side on her knees, and was held in Miya Chiri's arms, snuggling up to her tightly.
Mimiko, who usually likes to stick to Miya Chiri, did not compete with Tsumeki at this time.
Miya Chiri stroked Tsu Miki's shoulders, soothed her emotions, and slowly talked about the things in the world of curse.
Nanako and Mimiko had learned these things from Geto Suguru before, but because they had always lived in a village without cursed spirits, the three new children had never talked about this topic, and they had almost forgotten the fear in their previous lives.
The children were all listening attentively. Gong Zhili did not tell them about any conspiracy or reforms in the world of magic. The children could not understand these things very well and would instead leave them with an impression of fear. She only talked about what a curse spirit was, what curse power was, and what magic was. She estimated that the children would not be able to accept any more.
It also introduces why Megumi Fushiguro and Yuji Itadori came to live in the village, and why Nanako and Mimiko were adopted by her.
"But when Tsumiki came, I adopted you without hesitation," Gong Zhili said to the silent Tsumiki, "Do you know why?"
Tsu Miki's voice was so low that it was almost inaudible. She asked, "Why?"
Gong Zhili smiled and said, "Because raising another child, whether normal or with cursed powers or something else, is nothing to me."
Tsumiki looked at her in surprise, and Miyaji smiled and said, "Did you think I was going to say something like 'I liked Tsumiki very much at that time' and 'I wanted to become a family with you'?"
Fushiguro Megumi: Isn’t it?!
Gong Zhili: "That's because I'm amazing, I'm strong... or maybe for some other reason. I'm saying this just to show that I adopted you because I wanted to. If I didn't want to, no one could force me to take you in and become a family with you."
"So, do you understand? Whether it's normal or abnormal, it doesn't matter to me, because I'm strong and I don't care about this. Of course, when you grow up, you may envy each other. Tsumiki may envy them for having more common topics about curse spirits and their spells. Others may envy Tsumiki for not being able to see ugly and disgusting curse spirits, and envy her for having common topics with more of her peers in the world..."
She concluded, "What I've said are just possibilities. You won't know the specifics until you grow up, and everyone's ideas are different."
The children stared at her blankly, each with an expression of brain overload.
Gong Zhili concluded her remarks: "If we want to avoid discord among family members, we must communicate promptly and understand each other. Do you understand?"
Tsu Miki hesitated and raised her hand: "That..."
Gong Zhili looked at her encouragingly: "What's wrong?"
Tsu Miki snuggled in her arms, the heavy expression on her face gone. She pointed at the big rice cake on the iron plate and said, "It seems to be burnt..."
"Ah," Gong Zhili's eyes fell on the charred rice cake on the iron plate, "It seems that even a strong man like me can make mistakes sometimes."
Megumi Fushiguro burst out laughing, and then the other children started laughing.
Gong Zhili held his forehead with his hand and said, "Forget it, maybe if I cut it open, I can still eat the inside."
After the rice cake was cut, the inside was surprisingly soft, so the whole family shared it and ate it piece by piece.
After Fushiguro Miki grew up, she seemed to have never tasted such a flavor again. It might be that no one in the family would make the mistake of "burning the rice cake" at that time.
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The author has something to say: After work, it is less (spreading hands)
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