No one knew what Yan Xi said to Xin Dayi, but after that day, Xin Dayi treated A Heng much better – at least he was willing to talk to her.
However, they truly became close over a meal.
Xi Lin’s cafeteria food was famously bad in the high school world. Other schools joked that Xi Lin students weren’t just fierce in their studies, but even their way of talking was extraordinary. They never simply said they were “eating lunch” but asked “Did you have a date with the cockroach today?”; they didn’t call potato and meat strips “potato and meat strips” but “potato stir-fried with potato”; they wouldn’t say “tomato and egg” but insisted on “tomatoes stir-fried with tomatoes.”
Of course, these outstanding students were still quite cultured. When they bit into sand in their rice, they generally wouldn’t curse and shout. They’d usually just flash a toothy smile, walk up to the chef, and say, “You guys went a bit too far with the cooking today – there’s rice in my sand, it’s wearing down my teeth.”
Well, all that wasn’t the problem. The infuriating part was how ridiculously expensive the food was. Being expensive was one thing, but the portions were often not enough. It wasn’t such an issue for the girls, but for the boys – growing teenagers – they usually couldn’t get enough to eat.
So the boys developed a habit of bringing food from home, then heating it in the cafeteria microwave and eating it quickly.
A Heng also often cooked food the day before to bring to school the next day.
Yan Xi usually didn’t bring a lunchbox, instead always looked around at his friends and snatching food from whoever had something good. Lately, he’d settled on a fixed target, exclusively stealing from Si Wan.
“Auntie Zhang’s cooking skills have improved lately, the flavors aren’t as heavy as before,” Yan Xi said contentedly to Xin Dayi, holding Si Wan’s lunchbox with oil around his mouth.
“Auntie Zhang’s flavors getting lighter? Every time I eat at Si Wan’s house I have to drink a whole vat of water!” Xin Dayi mumbled with his face buried in his lunchbox.
A Heng sat in front, pursing her lips to hide her smile.
“Auntie, do you have braised pork ribs in your lunchbox?” Yan Xi sniffed, looking at Xin Dayi with bright eyes.
“No!” Xin Dayi clutched his lunchbox, watching Yan Xi with a guarded expression.
“Dayi, what kind of relationship do we have? It’s just a few pieces of pork ribs, would young master me steal from you? Hey hey, let me see…” Yan Xi chuckled, an oily half-dimple forming at the corner of his mouth.
“That’s exactly what you said yesterday, and then my pork ribs disappeared in the blink of an eye!” Xin Dayi declared righteously, his words ringing with conviction.
Yan Xi pounced, hanging on Xin Dayi with his paw reaching for the lunchbox. Xin Dayi refused to yield, holding his lunchbox like Dong Cunrui clutching his explosives.
“Teacher Guo!” Yan Xi suddenly changed his expression, seriously greeting someone behind Xin Dayi.
Xin Dayi turned around with a confused face. Yan Xi smiled craftily, taking advantage of the youth’s distraction to reach for the lunchbox. Unfortunately, having just eaten chicken wings, his hands were still oily, and the lunchbox was metal – his hand slipped, and bang, the lunchbox hit the ground.
Xin Dayi turned back, crouched down, tears trembling: “My meat, my rice…”
“Ha… well, there were pork ribs…” Yan Xi pointed at the sauce-red pork ribs scattered on the ground, speaking softly in a daze.
“Yan Xi, you punk, you’re paying for this!” Xin Dayi was furious, his hair standing on end.
“Ahem… here, take this.” Yan Xi looked at the ceiling, one hand behind his head, using the other to hand over the lunchbox he’d snatched from Si Wan to the youth.
Xin Dayi took the lunchbox, and the tears that hadn’t fallen earlier instantly streamed down: “Not even a leaf of vegetables left, what am I supposed to eat!”
Yan Xi crossed his legs, picked his teeth with a toothpick, shrugged his shoulders, and spread his hands innocently: “Well, then young master me has no solution…”
“I’ll fight you to the death!” Xin Dayi ground his teeth and rolled up his sleeves.
A Heng had been eating for a while with no peace for her ears. She sighed, put down her chopsticks, turned around, and held out her lunchbox to Xin Dayi, scooping more than half into his empty box: “Here, eat this.”
“I won’t eat Auntie Zhang’s food, it’s too salty!” Xin Dayi enunciated each word, glaring hard at Yan Xi.
Yan Xi’s black eyes sparkled, shining with extreme innocence.
“I made it, not… Auntie Zhang.” A Heng spoke gently.
“You can cook?” both boys asked in unison.
A Heng nodded, looking as if it was perfectly natural. How could a girl her age not know how to cook a bit – how would she get married in the future?
“So you’re saying, Si Wan’s food was also made by you?” Yan Xi raised an eyebrow, jade hidden in his ink-black eyes.
A Heng smiled and continued nodding.
Xin Dayi’s eyes widened. At first, he was reluctant to accept, but his stomach kept growling. Steeling himself and closing his eyes – damn it, if Si Wan and Yan Xi could eat it, so could he – he took it.
Braised eggplant, and shredded pork with dried tofu, tomato, and eggs – though these were simple home dishes, they were made meticulously and cleanly, looking quite appetizing.
The youth scratched his head, grabbed his chopsticks, and started eating. At first bite, it seemed ordinary, but it became more delicious as he ate, becoming addictive. After the last bite, he burped with satisfaction before putting down his chopsticks.
“Ha… you kid, looking so uncouth!” Yan Xi, being older than Si Wan and Dayi, had always carried himself like an older brother, and mockingly scolded the youth.
A Heng also smiled, her thin lips curving slightly, a clear and gentle color.
Xin Dayi wiped his mouth with his sleeve, looked straight at A Heng, and after a while finally spoke: “Wen Heng, you punk, don’t smile like that anymore, it’s too unsettling to look at!”
“Hehe.”
“Originally I didn’t want to bother with you, smiling like that all day, so fake. But I’ve eaten your food now so I’m obligated – from now on, don’t smile like that in front of us, got it?”
“Hehe.”
“You are a wooden post, can’t even understand what people are saying!” Xin Dayi pursed his lips.
“Hehe.”
“Does your cheek hurt?” Yan Xi smiled.
“It hurts.” A Heng poked her cheek, speaking sheepishly.
She approached this world with kindness. Though knowing the stubbornness of human hearts, she never expected to have any ability to change things overnight. She only hoped that when others turned around, they could see her smile.
Although others might not return the same smile, she had already tried her best, yearning for the power of subtle influence. For the rest, it was enough not to have regrets. As for others, she had no power, nor did she want to manage too much.
“A Heng, can I discuss something with you?” Si Wan’s expression was very serious, though her bright eyes still held their usual sun-like warmth.
“What is it?” A Heng smiled, tilting her head. She was doing exercises when Si Wan knocked on her door.
“Next time, could you make the food taste worse?” Si Wan furrowed her brows, sighing deeply.
“Why?” A Heng was stunned.
“Yan Xi keeps stealing my food, I can only eat bread every time.” Si Wan’s expression was quite helpless.
Auntie Zhang was a typical northerner who seasoned heavily, often making dishes too salty. But the Wen family were all gentle and polite people who greatly respected the elderly woman who had served their family for a lifetime, never criticizing, and eventually getting used to it.
Following Auntie Zhang’s previous cooking style, Yan Xi would never steal his lunchbox, but now that A Heng was in charge of cooking, Yan Xi had set his mind on it, making him quite helpless.
“I’ll just make more then.” A Heng sniffled, breaking into a smile.
“Here, his lunchbox.” The youth also smiled, with a crafty look, his spring-water-clear face showing deep dimples as he produced a plastic lunchbox from behind his back, decisively as if long prepared.
That lunchbox was pink, printed with Little Red Riding Hood piggies wearing small flowers – Yan Xi’s style.
A Heng sighed.
Adding an extra portion for Yan Xi when cooking wasn’t anything difficult. Si Wan making such a fuss about bringing it up probably meant Yan Xi couldn’t bring himself to ask directly and had discussed it with Si Wan, taking a roundabout way to get her to offer.
That youth – even if he hadn’t gone through Si Wan and had asked her directly, how could she refuse him? Presumably, he still felt distant from her and uncomfortable asking, especially as it would be too embarrassing for a boy to ask a girl for food, so he pushed Si Wan to act out this scene.
This person was too roundabout…
A Heng stayed silent, looked at Si Wan, and took the lunchbox: “Yan Xi, what do you want to eat?”
“Oh, A Xi said he wants braised pork ribs, clear-stewed pork ribs, winter melon pork ribs, steamed pork ribs with rice powder…” Si Wan replied without thinking, but seeing A Heng’s knowing and helpless expression, she felt truly guilty about conspiring with Yan Xi to trick A Heng and blushed.
“Ahem…” Si Wan’s eyes wandered as she uncomfortably tried to hide her guilt.
“I know, I know…” Braised pork ribs, clear-stewed pork ribs, winter melon pork ribs, steamed pork ribs with rice powder? She dared say Yan Xi must have pondered this list for a long time before telling Si Wan. A Heng smiled, unconsciously tapping the nose of the little piggy on the lunchbox.
“Ah, right A Heng, since A Xi is in your class now, please supervise his studies more, and keep an eye on him when he sleeps in class.” Si Wan spoke very seriously.
“Yan Xi, why… did you have to repeat a year?” A Heng had always wondered.
“Oh, he slept through the final exams, and didn’t take them at all.” Si Wan’s expression was helpless.
“Weren’t you… in the same class… as him?” A Heng asked her, remembering that Si Wan and Yan Xi were classmates.
“We were always deskmates.”
“Then why didn’t you… watch over him… more?” A Heng was confused. With Si Wan there looking after Yan Xi, how could he still do something so outrageous?
“Me, watch over him? It’s already good enough that young master didn’t wear me out before I could watch over him.” Si Wan raised her eyebrows with an expression that said ‘How could you ask me to do such a thing?’
A Heng silently gave Si Wan a look.
Oh, so you want me to supervise Yan Xi, watch over Yan Xi – surely my face isn’t whiter than yours, and Yan Xi won’t wear me out like he did you? Such lack of sibling love.
A Heng handed the pink piggy lunchbox to Yan Xi, who smiled brilliantly, widening his eyes and pretending to know nothing: “Oh, Wen Heng, you made a portion for me too. You’re too kind, really, too kind…”
Then, bouncing around, he opened the lunchbox, blinked his big eyes, and started grinding his teeth: “Where are the pork ribs? Where are young master’s braised pork ribs, clear-stewed pork ribs, winter melon pork ribs, and steamed pork ribs? Ah! Si Wan that dead kid must have forgotten to mention it!”
A Heng pretended not to know, silently eating her food while Yan Xi’s complaints sounded in her ears. The boy’s mumbling voice carried the fresh taste of youth, straightforward yet with an unconscious nasal tone as he spoke circuitously.
The youth pouted, and scooped up a spoonful of rice, only to find pieces of steamed pork ribs with rice powder layered under the soft white rice.
Then, silence.
A Heng smiled secretly with good humor, pleased that her prank had succeeded.
“Steamed pork ribs, A Xi, I want some too…” Xin Dayi said shamelessly, hugging his lunchbox as he squeezed next to Yan Xi.
Yan Xi deliberately spoke loudly, his bright black eyes containing a hint of warmth: “If you want pork ribs, you have to say something nice first.”
Xin Dayi was straightforward, shouting: “It’s just one piece of your pork ribs, why so stingy!”
Yan Xi raised an eyebrow, using his spoon to scoop up a piece of pork rib, dangling it in front of Xin Dayi.
The youth raked his messy hair, mouth-watering, expression serious: “Well, Yan Xi, I want to eat pork ribs, really want to, very much want to!”
“And then?” Yan Xi asked, though his eyes glanced toward A Heng.
“I want to eat pork ribs, thank you.” Xin Dayi’s voice was muffled.
“What? What was that after ‘I want to eat pork ribs’?”
“Thank you!”
“Oh, the voice is too small, can’t hear it.”
“Thank you!!”
“Can’t hear it.”
“Thank you!!!”
“What?”
Xin Dayi was angry: “Yan Xi you punk, you’re messing with me!”
“Young master really couldn’t hear!” Yan Xi picked his ears, and smiled calmly at the seat in front, gentle yet mischievous, “Wen Heng, did you hear it?”
A Heng turned around, smiling helplessly: “I heard it, I heard it.”
Thank you.
I understand.