Cao Xiaochan looked down, standing on his uninjured foot while using his left hand to lean on Baili Yan to finish relieving himself. At this moment, he was not just blushing; a flush spread all over his body, making him look exactly like a boiled shrimp.
In his mind, Cao Xiaochan desperately told himself that this was no big deal. They were both men, so there was nothing to feel embarrassed about. Before his rebirth, when he had undergone surgery, hadn’t he been seen all over by others?
Baili Yan thought to himself that although two men could marry in the Mu Dynasty, and both his father and dad had married each other as men, he had never had any such inclination himself. What on earth was happening to him? Ever since he met this silly rabbit, he had stopped acting like himself. Could it be that he had been infected by the silly rabbit?
Following that, neither of them spoke a word. One was too embarrassed, while the other was puzzling over his own bizarre behavior. It was not until Daniu came to call them for dinner that the awkward atmosphere was broken.
For dinner, Daniu’s wife cooked fish soup for Cao Xiaochan. Frowning as he drank the soup, Cao Xiaochan thought it tasted terrible. Just boiling the fish like this, forget about scallions, there wasn’t even any ginger, and the soup had a strong, muddy fishy odor. If only he could cook it himself, what a delicious fish soup that would make! Cao Xiaochan harbored a deep resentment, and this grievance lasted until his wounds healed and he was finally able to cook for himself.
Over the next few days, Cao Xiaochan lived a pig-like life of eating until full and sleeping until rested. Occasionally, he would ponder how to clear his name of the grievance, but to no avail. He truly wasn’t a smart person after all, so he decided to just wait until his injuries healed before figuring it out. Baili Yan’s medicine worked wonderfully; by the second day, the swelling in his hands and feet had subsided, and by the third day, he was able to get out of bed and move around.
During this period, Baili Yan made another trip to the county town to gather information, returning with some white rice and flour. Upon his insistence, Daniu’s family stopped cooking separately and instead shared meals with them, as the previous food supplies were nearly exhausted.
The first thing Cao Xiaochan did after regaining the ability to move around was to ask Brother Daniu to boil some hot water for him so he could clean himself up thoroughly. Changing into the clean clothes Baili Yan had brought back, he instantly felt incomparably refreshed, and his mood soared. Consequently, he decided to cook a delicious meal for everyone.
Acting on the thought, he stepped into the kitchen. Daniu’s wife happened to be preparing dinner and, seeing Cao Xiaochan walk in, stopped what she was doing and asked with a smile, “Little Brother Liu, why aren’t you resting?”
“Sister-in-law, may I make the dinner tonight?” Cao Xiaochan looked at her with eager anticipation.
“This is women’s work. How can we trouble you with it?” Daniu’s wife amusement showed on her face as she looked at the cute, half-grown youth before her, never expecting a male to compete for kitchen duties.
“It’s no trouble at all, Sister-in-law, truly no trouble. I really enjoy cooking.”
“Very well then.” Seeing the boy’s eager expression about cooking, Daniu’s wife agreed. She then pointed out what seasonings were kept in the small earthenware jar on the stove before leaving, giving him the kitchen all to himself.
Cao Xiaochan inspected the ingredients in the kitchen. The available seasonings included coarse salt, Sichuan peppercorns, some dried chili peppers, and xinguo. Xinguo was ginger here, named for its pungent taste. In this place, xinguo wasn’t used as a seasoning but rather as an essential household medicine; when someone caught a chill, they would boil xinguo in water to drink. Fortunately, he possessed the memories of the real Cao Xiaochan, otherwise he truly wouldn’t have known. He examined the ingredients next: a fresh grass carp, a wild chicken, and some bitter greens grown by Daniu’s family. Realizing the seasonings were inadequate and there was no MSG, he decided to make boiled fish, stir-fried chicken, and a bitter vegetable soup. Even without MSG, these dishes wouldn’t be overly affected.
Cao Xiaochan first washed the grass carp thoroughly, making sure to scrape away the small scales on its belly, removed the head and tail, slit the back to extract the fish bone and tail, and sliced the fish meat. He added salt to the fish slices; lacking cooking wine, he used white liquor instead. Unfortunately, Daniu’s family had no cornstarch or eggs, so the fish slices could only be marinated simply. Next, he busied himself cleaning the wild chicken, chopping it into pieces, and marinating it with salt, Sichuan peppercorns, white liquor, and minced dried chili peppers. After that, he went to wash the rice, poured the washed rice into a pot to cook until half-done, used a bamboo strainer to filter the rice water into an earthen basin, and then placed the rice into a steamer to steam for a while longer.
The steamer here was made from a section of a log, looking like a hollow cylinder from the outside, wider at the top and narrower at the bottom, with a bamboo-woven partition in the middle, and a straw-woven conical lid. Such a lid was breathable yet insulated, making the cooked rice even more fragrant. He placed the steamer into the pot, added water, and waited for the rice to emit steam, when the rice was done, the straw lid would release a large amount of steam, which the locals called the rice has steamed.
While waiting for the rice, Cao Xiaochan washed the bitter greens. Once the rice was steamed, he used a wok brush to sweep out the remaining water inside the pot and prepared to cook the dishes.
Before long, wave after wave of appetizing aromas drifted out of the kitchen. Inside the room, Baili Yan sat in meditation, inhaling the fragrance and thinking that this silly rabbit really could cook just as he had claimed. He just wondered how it would taste, hoping it wouldn’t disappoint him.
When Cao Xiaochan finished plating the dishes and set them on the dining table for everyone to eat, the three dishes continuously emitted an enticing fragrance. Although the dishes weren’t numerous, the portions were generous. Their saliva began to secrete at an uncontrollable rate, and their stomachs seemed even hungrier. Huzi, taking advantage of his youth, didn’t stand on ceremony; he directly picked up his bowl of cooked rice, plucked a piece of chicken into his mouth, and found that the flavor upon entry was several times more delicious than any chicken he had ever eaten before. After that, he stopped talking and buried his head, frantically repeating the motion of picking up food and shoveling rice into his mouth as if afraid someone would snatch it from him.
“The seasonings weren’t complete, and I don’t know if you’ll like them, so everyone just make do with this.”
Daniu and his wife also tasted the food and felt that these dishes were definitely better than anything cooked by a master chef in the county town. They praised repeatedly, “Little Brother Liu truly has wonderful culinary skills! We’ve never eaten such delicious food before. We are truly blessed today.”
“Not at all, not at all, there is still room for improvement.” Hearing praise from others made Cao Xiaochan feel happy inside. Seeing that Baili Yan hadn’t touched his chopsticks yet, he looked at him with an expectant gaze.
Baili Yan gracefully picked up the crude earthenware bowl, making that rough vessel look like fine porcelain in his hands. He took a leisurely bite of fish meat to taste it, finding the texture smooth, tender, and oily without being greasy, completely devoid of any fishy odor, and exceptionally delicious. Hearing the silly rabbit say that the ingredients weren’t even fully stocked, he wondered what kind of taste it would have if everything was complete. Baili Yan felt quite expectant.
Seeing Baili Yan swallow the fish meat without any expression on his face, Cao Xiaochan grew anxious. Did he like it or not? It was driving him crazy. For some reason, Cao Xiaochan particularly wanted to win Baili Yan’s approval.
“Not bad.” Seeing the silly rabbit staring at him anxiously the moment he swallowed the fish meat, with the large characters how is it clearly written all over his face, Baili Yan didn’t rush to show his stance until the silly rabbit was nearly beside himself with suspense, at which point he unhurriedly spat out those two words.
Hearing the man’s affirmation, Cao Xiaochan picked up his own bowl and began to eat. Eating while watching the man continuously help himself to the dishes, he felt a blossom of joy bloom in his heart. This person must have liked the food he cooked after all. Although his hand still hurt a bit, making everyone enjoy his cooking made it all worthwhile.
In the blink of an eye, they had already lived in the small village for five days, and the residual poison in Cao Xiaochan’s system was completely cleared. In another two days, it would be the market day when villagers traveled from this village to the county town. By then, the two of them would undoubtedly be recognized since wanted posters were plastered all over the town. Baili Yan calculated that it was nearly time for them to part ways.