Pan Zhi was one of those people Lao-Lu talked about—someone who gained weight whenever there were exams. His family refused to accept the reality that he was hopeless with academics, which meant that whenever Pan Zhi posed in front of his desk before an exam while secretly swiping away on his phone, his mother would assume that he was an overachiever who was being held back by some kind of nutritional deficiency. As such, Pan Zhi would gain anywhere from three to five pounds during exams—even midterms. These pounds would then be lost again during the punishments that followed after the test results.
Jiang Cheng had never received the special treatment of added nutritional meals. Shen Yiqing had strict standards when it came to diet. In her mind, as grueling as studying might be, the food they made at home contained more than enough nutrients to keep up; any addition would serve only as a placebo.
Perhaps because of that, Jiang Cheng had never thought he lacked extra nourishment when he studied; he just felt a bit more lethargic. Either way, with his capabilities, it was nothing a cup of instant milk tea couldn’t fix…
“Lethargy is a product of mental overexertion,” Gu Fei said, holding his phone in one hand and a spatula in the other as he stirred chicken wings in a wok. “Which means you need additional supplements.”
“And eating chicken wings will supplement my brain?” Jiang Cheng asked.
“Walnuts, eggs, milk, red dates, sesame seeds, bananas, soybeans…” Gu Fei rattled off a whole list of foods. “Which do you like?”
“…None of those.”
“Well, there you go. You don’t like fish, either,” Gu Fei said as he looked at his phone. “You only like meat, right? Pork belly enthusiast.”
“Wings are great, too.” Jiang Cheng gulped as he watched.
“That’s why I figured as long as you eat a little better than usual, it should be fine. Better than having a bunch of weird stuff that you don’t even want to eat and I don’t know how to make.” Gu Fei kept stirring the wings in the wok, then pointed to one side with his spatula. “Go, get the cola and pour it in.”
“Okay.” Jiang Cheng went and opened a can of cola. “All of it?”
“All of it.” Gu Fei checked his phone again.
“Don’t you have any Coke? Pepsi doesn’t have enough fizz…”
“Cheng-ge, I get the feeling that your brain really is starting to max out.” Gu Fei shot him a glance. “Are you asking for fizz in your cola wings?”
Jiang Cheng grinned. “…Can I have a bottle to drink, though?”
“There’s one in the fridge,” Gu Fei told him.
There was a substantial volume of chicken wings in the wok, since Gu Fei also had to factor in Gu Miao, whose diet didn’t need supplementing but was nonetheless backed by an enormous appetite. Gu Fei toiled away in the kitchen for a whole hour; Jiang Cheng had already memorized several pages of his politics notes when he finally yelled, “Gu Er-Miao, come set the table!”
Gu Miao ran into the kitchen and came out with bowls and chopsticks.
“Er-Miao, should we go wash our hands?” said Jiang Cheng.
Gu Miao looked at him, nodded, then walked to the sink with him.
“Shall I go first?” Jiang Cheng asked. He made sure that Gu Miao was still calm before turning the tap, washing his hands with a very small stream of water. Gu Miao followed suit, reaching her hands under the tap and scrubbing.
Jiang Cheng glanced back at Gu Fei. “She’s fine.”
“Mm.” Gu Fei nodded. “It’s been almost a year since she last freaked out about water.”
This is progress, right? This counts as progress? Jiang Cheng didn’t ask the question out loud. He knew that Gu Fei must’ve had his hopes raised like that countless times, only to be let down time and time again.
Of the “impressive” meat dishes, cola wings were probably one of the easiest to make; there were next to no technical skills required. Gu Fei had just followed the recipe on his phone step by step, and it tasted pretty good.
“How’s the salt?” Gu Fei asked, looking at Jiang Cheng.
“Perfect.” Jiang Cheng gave him a thumbs-up as he munched on the wings. Gu Miao immediately followed suit, also giving Gu Fei a thumbs-up.
“Seriously, maybe you can set up a wok in the store and sell some wings on the side.” Jiang Cheng quickly finished one chicken wing and picked up another.
“No time for that.” Gu Fei smiled. “Anyway, even if I did, it probably won’t be enough to keep you fed.”
Jiang Cheng laughed and shoveled some rice into his mouth.
It was true that Gu Fei didn’t have time. The store was just barely getting by, since no one was around to run it properly. It wasn’t feasible to have Li Yan come by to watch it every time Gu Fei went off on a photography gig. Whenever Gu Fei’s mom watched the store, she only ever stayed for a short while, then closed the shop completely when she wanted to go out.
Jiang Cheng glanced over at Gu Miao. If she improved, she could help out sometimes and watch the store, which would take a lot of weight off of Gu Fei. But if she really did get better, she should probably be going to school…
He gnawed on the bones of the chicken wing as he brooded. A lot of problems were actually closed loops—intersecting circles that tightly locked everything together.
After dinner, Jiang Cheng left for his apartment. He had to do his homework and continue studying. Gu Fei wrapped things up at the store, took Gu Miao home, and spent some time playing with her. Once she was asleep, he finally came over to Jiang Cheng’s place with a thermos in his hands.
“What’s this?” Jiang Cheng asked, glancing at the time. Gu Fei was an hour later than usual; it was already past ten o’clock.
“…Cola wings.” Gu Fei twisted open the lid of the thermos. “I made them at home just now, it’s your nighttime snack…to feed your brain.”
“Oh.” Jiang Cheng felt all warm and fuzzy inside, but after the initial warmth, he also felt like laughing—and failed to keep it in.
“Be serious.” Gu Fei screwed the lid back onto the thermos. “I thought you liked them?”
“Mm.” Jiang Cheng nodded with a straight face, but he couldn’t help cracking up again a second later.
Gu Fei glared at him for a while, then started laughing too. “It’s the only dish I know how to make at this point, so bear with me for now,” he said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
“All right.” Jiang Cheng reached out to touch Gu Fei’s lips. “Thank you, Gu Fei.”
“No problem, a scout’s duty is to be useful.” Gu Fei touched his chest. “Forgot to wear my neckerchief.”
“Thanks, loyal scout.” Jiang Cheng chuckled as he picked up his book from the desk. “Are you tired?”
“Nope, why?” Gu Fei asked.
Jiang Cheng handed Gu Fei the book. “Okay, hit me w—”
He realized his mistake the second he saw Gu Fei’s mouth quirk, but still he couldn’t dodge it in time when Gu Fei smacked him on the arm.
“What the hell!” Jiang Cheng rubbed his arm vigorously.
“All right, I’ve hit you.” Gu Fei took the book. “What else?”
Jiang Cheng stuck his arm out in front of Gu Fei. “Now massage it.”
“Coming right up!” Gu Fei took Jiang Cheng’s arm and gently kneaded it, looking down. “Why’s it red? I didn’t hit that hard.”
“I’m malnourished, remember?” said Jiang Cheng. “Now gimme a wing.”
Gu Fei went into the kitchen, found a bowl and washed it, then put two chicken wings inside and brought it back to the desk. “You want me to quiz you from the book, right?”
“Mm-hmm.” Jiang Cheng hummed, munching on a wing. “Pick from anywhere you want, just flip to a page and go.”
Gu Fei picked up the book and read out loud, “The geographical line that marks the division of our nation’s population…”
“Is the straight line drawn from the city of Heihe in Heilongjiang to the city of Tengchong in Yunnan.” Jiang Cheng gnawed noisily on the bone. “A majority of our population sits southeast of that line, whereas a smaller proportion of our population sits northwest of it.”
Gu Fei picked up a chicken wing too. “The migration of the local population out of Sichuan was a positive step toward…”
“Easing the land shortage in the region, and simultaneously strengthening the economic, technological, ideological, and cultural connection between the province of Sichuan and greater Chinese society—” Jiang Cheng was interrupted by a call on his phone, which he’d tossed onto the bedside table. “Who’s calling at this time of night?”
“Pan Zhi, maybe?” Gu Fei retrieved the phone for him, then paused blankly as he saw the caller ID on the screen. “Shen Yiqing?”
Jiang Cheng’s hand froze in midair on its way to the thermos.
“Your…adoptive mom?” Gu Fei hesitated. Then, when Jiang Cheng still didn’t move, he asked, “Are you going to pick up?”
Jiang Cheng stared at the phone for a long time. Finally, he softly said, “I don’t want to.”
Gu Fei silenced the phone without another word and put it back on the bedside table. He put two more chicken wings into Jiang Cheng’s bowl.
“…As well as increasing income and promoting economic development,” Jiang Cheng continued. “The impact of a growing migrant population on urban development…”
“Huh?” Gu Fei blinked in confusion, but quickly realized Jiang Cheng was continuing what he’d been saying before the phone call had interrupted.
When Jiang Cheng finished the passage, he fell silent, frowning as he stared at the flashing screen of his phone.