Chapter 4:
When We Met Again, I Needed to Look Down at Him
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THE SIZZLING SOUND of frying rice filled the narrow kitchen. He Yu and Xie Xue sat at the somewhat greasy little dining table. Xie Xue was in a better mood, a relaxed smile on her face as she waited for her elder brother to finish cooking. He Yu also smiled perfunctorily, but on the inside, he was rolling his eyes.
The kitchen door covered in posters slid open. The familiar aroma of cooked rice wafted out first. Then Xie Qingcheng walked out and took off his apron. As usual, he was wearing a shirt tucked into tailored dress pants. Despite his cold personality, he was still a good elder brother. Because his parents had died young, he had become the head of the household by default, looking after his younger sibling since childhood. As a result, his culinary skills were quite excellent.
Seeing her brother with his rolled-up sleeves bring a tray over and put it down on the simple little table, Xie Xue cried out in surprise and quickly jumped up to help him arrange the food and set the table.
“It smells amazing. Ge, you’re the best, you’re the best! I love you so, so, so much! Let’s eat! I’m starving!”
Xie Qingcheng’s expression was solemn. “Girls shouldn’t blather on like this. It’s inappropriate. Go and wash your hands first.”
Then he turned to He Yu and said, “You too.”
It had been ages since He Yu had eaten this kind of fried rice.
The rice Xie Qingcheng made was fluffy and golden, each and every grain distinct—when He Yu was little, he would stand by the stove and watch Xie Qingcheng make his little sister’s favorite dish. He knew good fried rice needed to be made from leftover rice that was neither too moist nor too dry. Before the rice went into the pan, Xie Qingcheng would first mix it with beaten eggs in a large bowl until every grain of rice was evenly coated in golden yellow.
Once the oil in the pan was hot, he would swiftly add in two more fresh eggs, scramble them, and immediately scoop them up. Then he would add lard and pour the egg-coated rice into the frying pan and stir-fry on high heat.
But this wasn’t exactly authentic Yangzhou fried rice. To suit Xie Xue’s tastes, Xie Qingcheng modified the recipe and never added peas, but this didn’t make it any less delicious.
All three plates of golden, piping-hot fried rice glistened under the lights, with small pieces of diced ham, tender shrimp, and delicate green onions sprinkled throughout. They looked and smelled extremely appetizing.
As He Yu ate, he schemed in secret.
He hardly tasted the food as it passed through his mouth. Xie Xue talked and laughed at the table, but because Xie Qingcheng was present, she directed most of her cheerful chatter toward her brother. The two siblings conversed comfortably, but because He Yu hadn’t interacted with the two of them in so long, he struggled to get a word in edgewise, becoming a nonexistent backdrop.
Said backdrop wasn’t happy at all. He needed to find an excuse to send Xie Qingcheng away.
“Do you want some more?”
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While lost in thought, he’d already silently finished the fragrant fried rice. He Yu snapped out of it and politely responded to Xie Qingcheng, who was looking at him, “I’m good.”
“Ge, I want more! Give me some more!”
Xie Qingcheng left with Xie Xue’s plate. Xie Xue bit down on her chopsticks and said to He Yu, “My brother’s fried rice is way better than yours. It’s so delicious—why don’t you have another bowl?”
He Yu faked a smile. “One person who can break the scales is enough. I won’t cause further trouble.”
“Hey! What’s your problem?! You don’t like me, huh?”
“You’re the one who complained that mine wasn’t as good as his!”
As the two of them squabbled, Xie Qingcheng’s voice sounded from the kitchen. “Xie Xue, what’s this bucket of water doing here?”
“Oh.” Xie Xue immediately stopped quarreling with He Yu. As if she hadn’t just been giggling with him, she sat up straight and said solemnly, “The school said the water’s going to be shut off tomorrow. I filled a bucket with water just in case, but the kitchen is too small and it gets in the way if I put it anywhere else, so I can only put it on top of the chest.”
“If you put it up so high, what if it falls when you open the kitchen door without paying attention?”
“Aiya, Ge, you don’t need to pay it any mind,” the dumbass replied. “It’ll be fine.”
Xie Xue spoke off-handedly, but He Yu was listening intently. He was someone who liked to pull a girl’s pigtails if he had a crush on her. As he listened to their conversation, his pretty, pure almond eyes glanced toward the kitchen as a terrible idea suddenly occurred to him.