Su Mingyue quietly sat in front of the stove. With one hand, she kept adding firewood beneath the pot to maintain a steady flame, while her other hand gently supported her cheek. Her eyes were slightly unfocused as she gazed at the dancing flames before her.
Before she knew it, quite some time had passed. Suddenly, a rich, mouthwatering aroma slowly wafted out of the pot, spreading throughout the kitchen like an invisible ribbon. Su Mingyue’s stomach seemed to sense the tempting fragrance as well, and in perfect response, it let out two loud “grumbles.”
Hearing the sound, Su Mingyue instinctively reached down and rubbed her stomach, a helpless smile appearing on her face. She thought to herself, “This stomach really knows how to join in! These past few days, I’ve been feeling unbearably hungry from time to time. It’s really not a pleasant feeling!
“Back when I was still in the interstellar era, how could I have ever understood what it meant to go hungry? Let alone experience the true deliciousness of food! Back then, all I relied on were all kinds of nutritional liquids. Although they came in all sorts of flavors, it wasn’t until I tasted real food that I finally realized just how enormous the difference was between those so-called flavors and actual food!”
Su Mingyue imitated Grandma Su’s usual method and scooped some cornmeal and maize flour from the flour jar. She mixed them together to make coarse mixed-flour cakes and stuck them along the side of the pot to cook.
Just as she had settled down, Su Qingfeng returned.
As he entered the kitchen, Su Qingfeng sniffed the air and happily asked Su Mingyue, “Sis, what are you making? It smells so good! It smells just like meat!”
As he spoke, he took several bird eggs out of his pocket and said to Su Mingyue, “Sis, look what I brought you! Ta-da!”
Su Mingyue took a closer look and saw that Su Qingfeng was holding five tiny, clean bird eggs.
She could not help feeling puzzled and asked expressionlessly, “Where did you get these? Don’t tell me you secretly went up the mountain while I was gone?”
Hearing his sister’s question, Su Qingfeng’s heart immediately tightened. He looked up at Su Mingyue’s expressionless face, secretly afraid that she might become angry with him.
He quickly explained, “N-no, Sis! I absolutely didn’t go up the mountain. I found these bird eggs with Ergou and the others in the woods. We were so excited at the time that we searched everywhere, and in the end, we found more than twenty altogether! Then we divided them equally among ourselves. Each of us got five, and the remaining two were given to Shanwa, since he was the one who climbed the tree to collect the bird eggs.”
As he spoke, Su Qingfeng carefully watched his sister’s expression, constantly paying attention to any change in her mood. Only after seeing that she did not seem angry did he secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
In the past, regardless of whether his sister was in a good or bad mood, all her emotions—happiness, anger, sadness, and joy—had always been plainly written across her face. Anyone could tell what she was thinking at a glance.
However, ever since that incident, his sister seemed to have undergone a complete change after waking up. She was no longer as innocent and carefree as before, nor did she openly display all her emotions.
Su Qingfeng had once been curious about this change and asked his sister why she was different.
His sister had merely told him calmly that after experiencing so many things, she had grown up.
Su Qingfeng deeply agreed with her. During this period, his sister really had become much more mature, almost like a true adult. She made him feel reassured and dependable!
Seeing that there was no anger on Su Mingyue’s face, Su Qingfeng felt relieved. He gathered up his courage and continued with the topic that had been interrupted earlier, asking Su Mingyue curiously, “Sis, what are you making? Why does it smell so good? It smells like meat!”
As he spoke, he could not help taking a deep sniff of the enticing aroma filling the air.
Su Mingyue took the small bird eggs from Su Qingfeng’s hands and placed them into the warm ashes inside the stove, where there was no direct flame. She gently arranged the eggs, covering them completely with the ashes from the recently burned firewood.
Only after finishing did she raise her head and answer calmly, “Oh, nothing special. Just some pheasant soup.”
The moment Su Qingfeng heard the words “pheasant soup,” his eyes widened like bells, while his mouth formed a huge “O.” He could not help exclaiming, “Huh?! Sis, where did the pheasant come from? Didn’t Second Brother not go up the mountain today?”
(The “Second Brother” mentioned here is Su Muyang, the son of Su Heping.)
Su Mingyue slowly raised her head and silently stared at Su Qingfeng, her eyes openly filled with disdain.
Su Qingfeng noticed the disdain in his sister’s eyes and thought to himself that his sister’s personality really had become stranger and stranger.
Sigh! With her personality, she’ll probably have a hard time finding a husband in the future. I guess I’ll just have to work hard and have several children of my own, so that after I die, my children can take good care of Auntie.
As he thought this, he nodded, affirming his own idea.
After a while, Su Qingfeng sorted out his thoughts and spoke again, though his voice was much quieter this time. He cautiously asked, “Sis… this pheasant… you didn’t go up the mountain yourself and catch it, did you?”
Su Mingyue gave a slightly proud nod.
How about that, kid? Surprised? Impressed? Hmph! Worship me!
(She had an extremely proud expression on her face.)
When Su Qingfeng heard his sister’s unquestionable confirmation, the color instantly drained from his face, leaving it as pale as paper, as though all the life had been sucked out of him.
Fear and worry surged through his eyes like a raging tide, almost overwhelming him completely.
His lips trembled slightly as he loudly demanded, “Y-you went up the mountain again?! How could you?! Don’t you know the wound on your head hasn’t completely healed yet? Why would you go and take such a risk? What if you get seriously injured again this time?!”
As the questions continued pouring out of his mouth, tears welled up in Su Qingfeng’s eyes and then flowed down his cheeks like a flood breaking through a dam.
The crystal-clear tears fell one after another like pearls from a broken string, dripping onto the ground and splashing into tiny tear-shaped flowers.
Seeing the terrified look on Su Qingfeng’s face, the words Su Mingyue had originally wanted to scold him with suddenly caught in her throat. No matter how hard she tried, she could not bring herself to say them.
After hesitating for a moment, she ultimately chose to comfort the heartbroken little boy in a gentle voice.
“Don’t be afraid, Qingfeng. Your sister is perfectly fine! Don’t worry. I absolutely won’t leave you so easily, so you don’t have to be scared.”