Xue Chengjin was easily moved to pity by Xue Chengyu. Seeing his sister's pitiful appearance, Xue Chengjin finally stopped his farm work.
"Let's go back and eat first, then we'll come back early this afternoon to continue working!"
"Okay, I knew my brother was the best!"
And so, the two siblings returned to their rented courtyard. But if they wanted to eat, they had to cook for themselves, as Xue Chengyu had completely offended the family they had previously shared meals with.
This has led to the villagers in the vicinity now largely ignoring the brother and sister.
After working all morning, Xue Chengjin was undoubtedly exhausted.
"Xiaoyu, why don't you cook lunch? I'll rest for a bit; I still have a lot of work to do this afternoon!"
"ah?"
Xue Chengyu was somewhat surprised. He had never cooked a meal in his life. Although his brother had taught him some cooking techniques and he had watched others cook, he had never actually tried it himself.
"Brother, I'm not confident. What if I don't do well?"
"It's okay, there's a first time for everything. Just try your best to do it well. I'm just too tired."
We don't need anything complicated. Just fry some eggs and steam a few cornbread buns.
"Alright then, I'll give it a try!"
Xue Chengjin was quite pleased with his sister's answer, so he quickly washed up and went to lie down in his room.
But he was too complacent; Xue Chengyu always manages to do things that catch people off guard.
This was the first time Xue Chengyu had cooked for himself independently. Although he was nervous, he dared to start!
Two small bowls of cornmeal are enough for two people, but she doesn't know how much water to add!
"Oh no, there's too much water! What should I do? I'll just lick some noodles!"
Add more flour if there's too much water, add more water if there's too much flour. Goodness, she made a whole bowl of dough for two people.
That's not all!
After much effort, she finally kneaded the dough and started a fire to prepare steamed buns.
Fortunately, she was still somewhat intelligent and knew that steaming cornbread would take longer, so she prepared to fry eggs last.
Unfortunately, I got stuck on this second step. It seemed so easy for others to start a fire, but it was so difficult for me.
They finally managed to get a small flame going, but it was extinguished as soon as they added firewood.
"Why!"
Frustrated, Xue Chengyu stomped his foot and wanted to seek help from his brother, but as soon as he stepped outside, he heard his brother snoring.
Knowing that her brother was working hard, Xue Chengyu couldn't bear to wake him up.
"Let me try it myself again!"
Unexpectedly, this attempt backfired. Somehow, the stove was piled high with firewood, but the fire wouldn't start, yet it wasn't completely extinguished either, and wisps of smoke rose from the kitchen.
Before long, the entire courtyard was shrouded in blue smoke. From a distance, the billowing smoke looked like a fire!
"Cough cough...cough cough..."
Xue Chengyu, choked by the smoke, ran out of the kitchen, covering his mouth. Xue Chengjin, who was sleeping inside, was also awakened by the smoke.
"Cough cough...cough cough...what's wrong?"
Xue Chengjin immediately jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed) and ran out to find Xue Chengyu.
"Xiaoyu, Xiaoyu...."
"Brother...I'm here!"
Seeing that his younger sister was safe and sound, Xue Chengjin finally felt relieved and then began to ask:
"Xiaoyu, what's going on? Why is there so much smoke!"
"Brother, it's not my fault. It's the stove and the firewood that just won't cooperate. I've been trying for ages, but I just can't get a fire going!"
"Well...."
Xue Chengjin was speechless. He really didn't know how his sister could say such a thing. She even complained that the firewood wasn't cooperating with her. Why didn't she complain about why the firewood didn't spontaneously combust?
"You! I just asked you to cook a meal, and look at the mess you've made! Anyone who didn't know better would think something terrible had happened in our house!"
Xue Chengjin sighed, then resignedly went to the kitchen amidst the billowing smoke.
Before long, the smoke gradually dissipated, and flames ignited in the kitchen stove.
Xue Chengyu then went inside as well.
"Brother, now that you're awake, can you help me with this?"
"Okay, I'll help you. First, add water to the pot, then bring over the dough you've kneaded!"
"Um!"
Following Xue Chengjin's instructions, Xue Chengyu added half a pot of water and then went to fetch a basin.
You won't believe it until you see it, and what you find will shock you.
Xue Chengjin stared wide-eyed at Xue Chengyu in disbelief and asked:
"Xiaoyu, how much dough did you knead?!"
"Brother...I...I don't know either, I just added noodles because it was too runny..."
"And then? You add water if there's too much flour?"
"Yes...yes..."
Xue Chengjin slapped his forehead, wishing he could die on the spot. He turned around and walked towards the cabinet where the grain was stored, picked up the flour bag inside and took a look.
Good heavens, there were five or six pounds of cornmeal here yesterday, and now there's only a little over one pound left.
"You... Xiaoyu, what am I supposed to say about you!"
"What could I do? I didn't do it on purpose!"
"Why!"
For the first time, Xue Chengjin experienced what it meant to be mentally and physically exhausted.
"We don't have much money and food stamps left. This food should have been enough for at least a week, but you've squandered it all!"
"It's just some cornmeal, I don't like it anyway!"
"you...."
Xue Chengjin felt speechless. Since he couldn't reason with him, he gave up and started steaming cornbread himself.
Seeing that her brother seemed angry, Xue Chengyu felt very wronged. She wanted to make things better and didn't want things to turn out this way, but what could she do?
"snort!"
Xue Chengyu got angry and ran out in a flash.
Xue Chengjin glanced back, but thinking of teaching his sister a lesson, he didn't chase after her to coax her as he had done before.
Xue Chengyu ran out of the kitchen, and seeing that her brother didn't come out to chase her, she got angry and ran straight out.
Not far from the back mountain, Xue Chengyu ran there in one breath. When Xue Chengjin finished cooking and came out, he found that Xue Chengyu was not at home.
This greatly worried Xue Chengjin, who immediately went out to look for someone. Xue Chengyu never expected to be so unlucky; while running, he suddenly fell into a large hole with a "plop."
This hole was obviously dug out by someone to catch prey, but for some reason it is now abandoned, and the hole has not been filled in.
Fortunately, there were no sharp weapons inside, otherwise Xue Chengyu would have lost his life today.
Even though he had nothing, Xue Chengyu was still injured. He fell and sprained his arm and ankle, and was in a lot of pain.
"Help...help me...is anyone there...please help me!"
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