Although she’d heard the older generation talk about how they worked from dawn till dusk, this was really too early.
Leaving for work at half past five—was he a street sweeper?
Not seeing Shen Junshan, Han Jiaojiao felt a wave of unease rise in her heart.
She threw on some clothes and walked into the kitchen. She wasn’t very good with the coal stove, so Shen Junshan had specially made a small one for her, keeping the fire warm at all times.
Han Jiaojiao opened the vent at the bottom a bit more, and the fire blazed up.
She took out a carton of eggs, two tomatoes, a tin of milk powder, a can of luncheon meat, and a loaf of bread from her space.
There was no lettuce at home, only napa cabbage.
She wasn’t particularly fond of lettuce anyway, so she simply cut the cabbage stalks into thin strips, sprinkled them with salt to draw out the excess water, and set them aside for later.
She poured a little oil into the iron wok, and once it was hot, she cracked a few eggs in. The oil immediately sizzled.
“So fragrant!”
Han Jiaojiao sprinkled on some pepper, a pinch of salt, and sugar. When the eggs were about eighty percent done, she scooped out the fried eggs and set the seasoned ones aside as well.
She took the leftover white rice from last night out of the cupboard, shaped it into thin triangles, sprinkled a bit of pepper and seaweed on them, and pan-fried them until both sides were golden brown.
Han Fang rubbed his eyes and walked to the kitchen doorway, mumbling drowsily, “Brother-in-law, what are you making? Smells amazing.”
“Can you open your eyes before calling out to someone?”
“Sis?”
Han Fang was so startled his scalp went numb with shock. He glanced at the time, confirming it was only just past six.
He gasped, “Sis, have you been possessed by a ghost or something?”
Han Jiaojiao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “It’s the birds outside—too noisy. A whole flock of them chirping woke me up.”
“You used to sleep in until nine or ten before dragging yourself out of bed. I thought I’d seen a ghost just now—scared me half to death.”
The original owner of this body didn’t need to study or work for a living. She had food to eat and money to spend. Every day, besides swooning over men and throwing tantrums, she had nothing else to do. She could sleep as late as she wanted.
But Han Jiaojiao wasn’t used to it. School and work had always started early in her life; the number of times she’d been able to sleep in were few and far between.
Thinking of her past days, Han Jiaojiao actually felt a chill run down her spine.
She scooped out the fried rice cakes and commanded, “Go wash up quickly. We’re having breakfast in a bit.”
“Sis, my brother-in-law—”
“What? Keep dawdling and you won’t get any.”
Han Fang grinned foolishly and scurried off to the bathroom to wash up.
He’d been woken up by the smell, so if he didn’t get a bite, it wouldn’t be fair to how early he’d gotten up today.
Han Jiaojiao continued with what she was doing.
A slice of bread, a thin layer of cabbage stalk strips, a layer of egg, a layer of rice cake, then the luncheon meat, and finally a sprinkle of black pepper and her special homemade mayonnaise sauce. She pressed it all down firmly.
Her own mouth was starting to water.
Just as she was about to cut into it, Shen Junshan walked in carrying two lunchboxes.
“Huh? Why are you back?”
They both startled when they saw each other.
One thought the other had gone to work; the other was surprised to see her up early cooking.
Shen Junshan saw the breakfast she’d made and looked awkwardly at the lunchboxes in his hands, at a loss.
In that instant, he suddenly felt he’d done something unnecessary.
Han Jiaojiao understood too—he hadn’t gone to work; he’d gone out to get them breakfast.
She quickly stepped forward, took the lunchboxes from his hands, and opened them. Inside were vegetable buns and sweet pancakes, still warm.
Han Jiaojiao had never eaten this kind of sugar pancake before and wanted to break off a piece to taste.
As soon as she reached out, she jerked her hand back from the heat. “It’s so hot! Did it just come out of the pan?”
“Mm.”
“It smells so good.”
Han Jiaojiao suddenly remembered that she hadn’t washed her face or brushed her teeth.
Appearing before Shen Junshan in this state was truly embarrassing.
“Wait for me, okay? I’ll make you some milk in a bit.”
“Milk?”
Shen Junshan blinked in confusion, but clearly Han Jiaojiao neither heard nor saw him—she had already run off to fight with her younger brother over the bathroom.
Shen Junshan entered the kitchen and saw what she had made. He stared at it for a moment without saying a word.
He crouched down and tied the trash bag tightly shut, then noticed another black trash bag in the corner.
When he opened it and saw what was inside, he covered it back up, smashed it forcefully into pieces, then placed it into the large black trash bag and sealed it shut.
After Han Jiaojiao finished washing up, she made powdered milk for everyone.
When Han Fang saw that the table didn’t have his sister’s cooking, he felt a little disappointed.
But the moment he saw the big steamed buns and fried sugar pancakes, he immediately broke into a smile.
He took a fragrant bite of the fried sugar pancake. “So sweet! This is from Uncle Liu’s place, right? His cooking is way better than the shop diagonally across.”
“Mm.”
Shen Junshan pushed the milk in front of him.
Han Fang had drunk milk a few times before when he was sick—it was a rare treat.
Han Fang’s eyes went wide. “This is really milk? Brother-in-law, where did you get it?”
“Your sister made it.”
“Huh? Sis, where did you get something this precious?”
Han Jiaojiao suddenly realized she had inadvertently done something extraordinary again.
She still hadn’t adapted to the resources of this era.
In her world, milk was just a breakfast drink, but here it was a luxury.
She’d better make soy milk from now on.
She tilted her head, making “aba aba” noises as she bit into her steamed bun, planning to play dumb and muddle through.
Han Fang actually bought it. He sighed and said, “Sis’s head isn’t too good. Maybe someone gave her some milk powder and she forgot about it herself.”
Shen Junshan didn’t say anything. He took a couple of sips, then gave the milk to Han Fang.
He went to the kitchen himself, poured a glass of cold boiled water, and had his breakfast with that.
When Han Jiaojiao saw that the food was almost finished, she packed up the leftovers.
After washing the lunchboxes clean, she neatly arranged sandwiches in both of them.
She wrapped them in a cloth bundle and handed them to Shen Junshan, saying, “You got up too early. When you get hungry later and it’s not mealtime, having a little something to tide you over is good for your stomach.”
Shen Junshan hesitated about whether to take them, and Han Jiaojiao shoved them into his hands.
“Remember to wash the lunchboxes clean before bringing them back. I don’t want to do the dishes.”
“Okay.”
“This one is for Fang, as his lunch.”
Han Fang had never seen a sandwich before. He held the lunchbox and stared at it for a long time, his face lighting up with joy.
Han Jiaojiao, trying to curry favor, secretly studied Shen Junshan.
Although he still wore that wooden expression, she felt like Shen Junshan’s mood seemed pretty good.
She gave Shen Junshan an extra steamed bun. “I can help share some of the housework from now on—like simple mopping and sweeping, buying groceries, cooking—I can help with all of that. You won’t have to work so hard.”
“Sis, you just made brother-in-law wash the lunchboxes and bring them back, and you don’t even want to wash the dishes. What exactly can you help with?”
Han Jiaojiao shot her younger brother a dirty look.
Little brat. Always undermining her at the worst moments.
Is he really her biological brother?
Is he really her biological brother?
Shen Junshan’s brows furrowed slightly. He didn’t like what Han Jiaojiao had said.
From the moment they entered the door, he had never let Jiaojiao do any work. Anyway, she didn’t like it and couldn’t do it well, so he simply took care of everything himself.
Now she suddenly said she wanted to share the burden, which sounded inexplicably grating.
He thought Han Jiaojiao was going crazy again and wanted to run off with someone else, so his tone instantly turned icy: “I can take care of you. Even if I’m crippled, I can still take care of you.”