Chapter 18 Warming Up
In the Wutong Garden, Fu Yunxiu was reading a book in his room as usual.
The weather was unusually nice today; the sunlight streamed into the room at an angle, and the breeze carried a hint of warmth.
Fu Yunxiu narrowed his eyes, then closed the window expressionlessly. With Mantou and the others gone, the already quiet courtyard became even quieter; even the sparrows, usually chirping incessantly, were silent today.
Fu Yunxiu turned his wheelchair and returned to his desk.
Unable to concentrate on his reading, he found a calligraphy copybook and decided to practice his handwriting.
After laying out the paper and grinding the inkstone, Fu Yunxiu said he was about to start writing when he heard a sound coming from the backyard.
Before he could figure out why, he heard Aman's loud voice, "Young master, we're back."
Mantou put some things in the kitchen, while Aman took the pastries she bought on the way to Fu Yunxiu's room.
A series of knocks sounded at the door, and before Fu Yunxiu could speak, the door was pushed open from the outside.
Sunlight streamed in as Aman entered, dazzling Fu Yunxiu so much that he instinctively turned his head and closed his eyes. Aman had already walked up to him. "Young Master, we're back!"
Aman's voice was lively, but it also sounded impulsive. Her upbringing made it difficult for Fu Yunxiu to understand her flustered and reckless behavior.
He parted his thin lips slightly, about to say something, but when he turned around, he met Aman's eyes, which were as black as ink jade, bright and clear, like the sky after the rain, pure and without a trace of impurity.
The sunlight was right behind her, framing her with a golden edge. Her hair, styled in two buns, was slightly loose, yet still beautiful, adding a touch of childlike innocence to her appearance.
Fu Yunxiu's words of instruction suddenly caught in his throat, and he couldn't utter a single word.
He even felt that Aman should be like this: free-spirited, lively, and innocent.
Must we force people to become like him, stagnant water that can't even stir up a ripple?
Fu Yunxiu tightened his grip on his fingers, looked away, coughed lightly, and then asked, "Didn't you say you were going to find someone to fix the roof? Why are you back so soon?"
And judging from the noise, it seemed that only she and Mantou had returned.
"We came back after we finished shopping. We ran into Uncle Zhu from next door when we went out. He can fix roofs, and he even bought us some tiles, which saved us a lot of money. But he said he could only come to fix it after lunch."
As she spoke, Aman opened the pastries she had bought along the way and handed them to Fu Yunxiu. "These are mung bean cakes I bought on the way. They're cheap but taste very good. Young master, please have some to tide you over while I go make lunch."
Aman casually handed over the pastries, unaware that Fu Yunxiu actually hated eating in the study. When they were children, Fu Yunting was mischievous and ate rice cakes while practicing calligraphy in the study, but he accidentally knocked over the plate, ruining a painting that he had spent two whole months working on.
Although he didn't mean it, from then on, Fu Yunxiu strictly forbade anyone to eat in his study, including himself. Even when drinking tea, he would place the teacup far away to prevent a repeat of the incident.
Right now, even though Aman brought the whole paper package over, crumbs of mung bean cake still fell down the oil paper, leaving a pale yellow stain.
Fu Yunxiu moved his lips, but ultimately said nothing, only declining, "Let's leave it for now, I'll eat it later."
"Alright, young master, how about we have noodles for lunch? I bought some potatoes, so we can make mashed potatoes for noodles. I originally bought a chicken to stew and make chicken noodle soup, but it's too late now."
"Whatever you say," Fu Yunxiu said.
Fu Yunxiu had always been aloof, and the years he spent at Wutong Garden had only made him more indifferent, and he spoke very sparingly. Faced with Aman's enthusiastic chatter, his replies were always just a few words.
Fortunately, Aman didn't care, or rather, he was oblivious and didn't realize it at all; in any case, he wasn't affected by him in the slightest. Hearing that Fu Yunxiu had no objections, he immediately grinned, "Then, young master, please enjoy your meal. I won't disturb you any longer."
Aman closed the door and left, and the room, which had been bright and sunny just moments before, instantly fell into darkness again. Fu Yunxiu exhaled a breath of stale air, glanced at the open oil paper package on the table, which was half-covered by his paper, and reached out to push it away when Aman's voice came again, "Young Master."
Fu Yunxiu's hand trembled, and he hurriedly withdrew it as if he had done something wrong. "What is it?"
The usually cool voice carried a rare hint of panic, but Aman didn't notice. She poked her head in through the window, "Young master, the weather is nice today, let's open the window to let some air in. It's not good to keep it stuffy."
Looking through the gap in the screen, Fu Yunxiu realized that he had forgotten to bolt the window after closing it.
That's why Aman was able to open it so easily from the outside.
But he didn't seem to have said anything about opening the window. Was Aman's behavior a bit too disrespectful to him?
A hint of displeasure flickered in Fu Yunxiu's usually cold eyes, but it was too late for him to speak up and stop her.
As soon as Aman finished speaking, he disappeared without a trace.
Mantou still hasn't come in. Fu Yunxiu was too lazy to close the window himself, so he decided to leave it open.
After Aman's outburst, Fu Yunxiu lost his will to write, so he simply put away the paper and picked up the book he hadn't finished reading.
Sunlight streamed through the window lattice, casting dappled patterns on the desk through the openwork of the screen. A gentle spring breeze, carrying the faint scent of mung beans, swirled through the room.
Fu Yunxiu twitched his nose, and after looking at the mung bean cake for the third time, he finally couldn't resist picking up a piece.
The moment the pastry touched your mouth, its sweet and cloying flavor filled your mouth, followed by a strong aroma of mung beans. The texture was grainy and not delicate at all. Compared to the cloud cake and snowflake pastry that Fu Yunxiu had eaten at the Marquis's residence, it was worlds apart. But Fu Yunxiu was surprisingly fond of it.
I like it very much.
He was not a person with a sweet tooth; in fact, because of his leg disability, he had a twisted aversion to using any beautiful things on himself, feeling that it was a waste.
But this piece of mung bean cake suddenly opened his heart, which had been closed for a long time, revealing a clear blue sky and bright sunshine.
*
In the kitchen, Aman was humming a little tune as she kneaded dough, in a good mood.
After putting away the things he bought, Mantou was about to go see the young master when he was grabbed by Aman and made to start a fire. Aman said he needed to prepare lunch, which was something he had never eaten before: mashed potato noodles.
He knew about Aman's cooking skills, and even though he hadn't seen the actual food yet, he was already looking forward to it, so he forgot about seeing the young master.
Aman placed the dough, which had already been kneaded into a ball, in a porcelain basin, covered it with a cloth, and let it rise for a while. After washing her hands, she took out the vegetables she had bought that day, picked out two potatoes that looked good, and asked Mantou to peel them. She herself picked some scallion sprouts for stir-frying.
There was still some wild garlic in the earthenware pot on the ground, which she had found in the backyard yesterday. Aman decided to make wild garlic tofu salad.
This was, after all, their first proper meal after they started cooking, so they couldn't just make do with it.
After everything was tidied up, Aman started cooking.
Wild garlic tofu is very simple. Cut the tofu into appropriately sized small pieces, blanch them in hot water, then add chopped wild garlic, salt, and seasonings. Pour hot oil over it, add a little vinegar, and mix with chopsticks. The snow-white tofu and the bright green wild garlic make for a truly pure and delicious dish.
As for the mashed potato topping, it requires absolutely no skill. Heat the pan with cold oil, and once the oil is hot, sauté the scallion sprouts until fragrant. Then add the diced potatoes and stir-fry until they change color. Add salt and seasonings, then a little soy sauce for color. Next, add hot water to cover the potatoes and cook until they are soft and tender. Then turn down the heat and add chopped shepherd's purse for color. That's it!
Mantou had been looking forward to it ever since Aman started cooking, but when he saw Aman bring out that bowl of mushy stuff, his brows immediately furrowed.
Is this stuff really tasty?
In the mind of steamed buns, all noodles should be served with soup, and all meals should be delicious and visually appealing.
Although Aman's pot of porridge smelled really good, the presentation was...
He disagreed.
After Aman poured out the toppings, she asked Mantou to help her wash the pot. She then noticed Mantou's tightly furrowed brows and immediately realized that she was frightened by the pot of mushy mess.
No problem, I'll make sure he falls over from the smell later.
Aman didn't explain, but went to work on his dough. After a period of resting, the dough became soft and easier to handle. Aman kneaded it vigorously a few times, and the dough that was just lumpy became smooth instantly.
As for rolling and cutting noodles, that's Aman's specialty; for kids from the village, these are the most basic skills.
Aman's knife skills were so smooth and fluid that even Mantou's eyes widened in amazement.
After Aman finished cutting the noodles, Mantou went to invite Fu Yunxiu to the dining room for dinner.
After stepping through the moon gate, Mantou suddenly realized that he had been back from outside for quite some time and had not yet gone to pay his respects to the young master.
She suddenly stopped in her tracks, pondering what she should say if the young master asked her later.
I can't exactly say that I was so greedy for food that I wanted Aman to cook quickly, so I forgot to greet him!
Although this is true.
But then Mantou thought that, given the young master's personality, he probably wouldn't be so bored as to fuss over such a trivial matter.
With that, Mantou's previously anxious heart was relieved. He straightened his clothes and walked towards the east upper room.
The courtyard was very tidy after being tidied up in the morning. The warm sunlight was a bit dazzling, so Mantou couldn't help but squint. He walked to a shady spot, but when he turned around, he saw Fu Yunxiu staring at him coolly by the window.
The scrutinizing gaze made Mantou's back stiffen, and he awkwardly walked over, saying, "Young Master."
"So you've finally decided to come back?" Fu Yunxiu asked indifferently.
Remembering that he had actually finished the whole small bag of mung bean cakes, Fu Yunxiu sulked for quite a while.
He wasn't someone who craved food, and besides, after his legs became disabled, he rarely ate large amounts of food at once.
Not for any other reason than that going to the outhouse was troublesome, and he was unwilling to trouble others, let alone let anyone see him in such a wretched state, even if it was just a steamed bun.
But right now, he had completely forgotten all of that.
Fu Yunxiu thought it over and over, blaming himself for his lack of willpower, and also for the fact that Mantou hadn't taken his words seriously.
He clearly said that Aman was not allowed to come into the room to serve him, and he also knew that he hated eating in the study. Aman didn't understand these rules, but didn't he understand them too?
After severely reprimanding himself, Fu Yunxiu waited for Mantou to come and greet him, but no one came. Instead, the aroma of food wafted from the kitchen.
It was elusive and indistinct, so ethereal that he couldn't concentrate on his studies and decided to come to the window to bask in the sun.
Mantou felt his scalp tingling under his young master's gaze, and could only scratch his head and grin foolishly. "Young master, lunch is ready. Would you like to eat in the dining hall or in the room?"
Mantou changed the subject, saying, "Aman made mashed potato noodles today, it looks delicious."
"Heh," Fu Yunxiu chuckled, "You seem quite confident in her cooking skills."
Fu Yunxiu didn't really intend to interrogate him. Besides, after sitting by the window for so long and basking in the sun, the pent-up frustration in his heart had long since dissipated.
"Let's go eat in the cafeteria." Now that we've decided to keep Ah Man, there's no need to treat her differently anymore.
Upon hearing this, Mantou's face lit up with joy, and he hurriedly went inside to push Fu Yunxiu to the dining hall.
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