An Ning's question made An Guoming laugh so hard he could barely breathe.
An Ning turned her head and looked at An Sancheng and An Guoqing in confusion. "What's Second Brother laughing at? Did I say something wrong?"
An Sancheng said, "Your second brother hasn't been right in the head these past two days."
An Guoqing added, "Little Sis didn't say anything wrong. Your second brother's just having a fit."
'A fit?'
An Ning quickly stepped forward, gave An Guoming a hard slap on the back, and yelled anxiously, "Quick, spit the wind out!"
Before she could finish shouting, An Guoming staggered, nearly falling flat on his face. He stood up, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"Little Sis, you're trying to murder your own brother! Fine, fine, I'll stop laughing."
An Ning looked at the perfectly fine An Guoming and realized it wasn't a medical problem. It meant she had misunderstood.
'This damned language,' she thought. 'It's all so confusing.'
However, she quickly caught on to An Guoming's train of thought and said, "You're still alive, so the charge of murder is invalid."
After saying this, An Ning lifted her head with a touch of smug pride, pretending like nothing had happened, and turned to go back to her room.
Left outside, An Guoming lost it again. The way his little sister talked was just too funny. After getting a glare from An Sancheng, he simply went outside the main gate to laugh his heart out.
「Around four in the afternoon, Lin Cuihua started making dinner.」
Since it was raining today, she had plenty of time. She decided to use a bit of cooking oil, which would be a nice, nourishing treat for everyone.
"An Ning, tend the fire."
"Coming."
An Ning came out of her room, sat on her own special little stool, and began to tend the fire.
She watched Lin Cuihua bring over a small brown jar, scoop out a spoonful of a snow-white, paste-like substance, and toss it into the wok.
A sharp SIZZLE startled An Ning, but the aroma that immediately wafted over scattered all her questions in an instant. She could only stare intently at the wok.
Lin Cuihua deftly tossed chopped scallions and garlic slices into the wok, giving them a few quick stirs with a spatula.
With those stirs, the fragrance grew even richer, and An Ning subconsciously swallowed.
Lin Cuihua poured a basin of washed and chopped cabbage into the large iron wok and quickly stir-fried it a few times.
Then, Lin Cuihua took out a glass bottle, poured in a bit of a dark liquid, and stir-fried it again.
The smell was getting better and better. An Ning's bottom lifted slightly off her little stool, and she craned her neck just a tiny bit, trying to get a clearer view through the plume of steam.
After stir-frying the cabbage, Lin Cuihua held a peeled potato in her left hand and a kitchen knife in her right. She made a couple of casual cuts right in the palm of her hand, and the potato fell into the wok in chunks.
'Such fine knife skills,' An Ning marveled internally.
After cutting four potatoes, Lin Cuihua added a gourd ladle full of water, put the lid on the wok, and said to An Ning, "Bring it to a boil."
"Oh!"
An Ning nodded instinctively, her bottom returning to the little stool. She felt an itch of curiosity, but her hands never stopped feeding the fire.
Before long, the large wok was boiling. An Ning saw Lin Cuihua appear with a basin of a yellowish paste. It looked like the corn she had eaten before, but its form was a little different.
Lin Cuihua lifted the lid, fanned away the steam with her hand, then set the lid down and began to form patties with her hands.
An Ning's bottom quietly lifted again. She even used her spiritual power to observe as Lin Cuihua pinched off a yellow clump, tossed it back and forth between her palms a few times, and then—SLAP—pressed it onto the side of the large wok.
She repeated the motion. After sticking all the patties, Lin Cuihua grabbed a bundle of cellophane noodles, rinsed them with water, and tossed them directly into the wok before covering it with the lid again.
"Bring it to a boil one more time, then stop."
"Oh."
An Ning said "Oh" again, her bottom plopped back down, and she tended the fire.
The large iron wok, heated by small sticks, soon came to a rolling boil again. An Ning stopped adding firewood and sat on her stool, watching the flames below burn and listening to their CRACKLE and POP.
'Why am I suddenly a little sleepy?'
"Little Sis—"
The call of "Little Sis" made An Ning jump. Like a startled gopher, her body went rigid and she swiveled her head, searching for the source of the voice.
An Guoming entered the room, one hand behind his back, slightly out of breath from running.
"Little Sis, guess what Second Brother has in his hand!"
"Fingers."
An Ning's answer froze the proud smile on An Guoming's face.
"That's not how you play! Guess for real."
An Ning felt her answer was 100% correct, but she decided to play along with An Guoming anyway.
"Is it... candy?"
"Nope."
"Is it... money?"
"Nope."
"Is it... gold?"
An Guoming met An Ning's sparkling eyes and quickly shook his head. "Alright, you can stop guessing."
If she kept guessing, he'd be too embarrassed to show her what he had.
"You're the one who told me to guess."
An Ning gave An Guoming a look that said, 'You're such a handful,' which made him afraid to dawdle any longer.
"Look, Second Brother got you some sparrows. We can roast them for you to eat."
An Ning took the sparrow, which wasn't even as big as her palm. 'This small bird... it's edible?'
Back in the interstellar era, she had eaten some meat, but it was always the meat of large, ferocious beasts. The quality was extremely poor, and combined with their lack of culinary knowledge, you can imagine how terrible it tasted.
In short, after eating it once, An Ning rarely ate it again. Of course, that was also because the ferocious beasts were difficult to hunt.
"How do I cook it?"
An Ning held up the small sparrow in her hand, asking with sincere curiosity.
An Guoming took two steps forward and squatted down next to An Ning.
"Second Brother will teach you."
An Ning watched as An Guoming picked up a wooden stick and explained, "The fire can't be too big, or it'll burn to a crisp."
"We'll rake some of these ashes aside, the ones with a few embers, and bury the sparrow inside. It'll be ready in a little while."
An Ning nodded. She had learned something new again.
"Little Sis, look."
An Guoming pulled another small sparrow from his pocket and handed it to An Ning. "You try?"
An Ning nodded, eager to try.
An Guoming watched An Ning copy his earlier actions and bury the sparrow. He smiled happily beside her, feeling a little proud.
'Little Sis is smart, just like me.'
An unknown amount of time passed before a wonderful aroma drifted out from the side of the stove pit, playfully tickling An Ning's nose.
Her delicate, straight nose twitched as she took two deep sniffs. With each sniff, her eyes grew a little brighter, and the corners of her mouth curved up a little more.
'Smells good.'
It smelled better than anything she had ever smelled in the interstellar era. She couldn't help but think, 'If it smells this irresistible, how delicious must it taste?'
For the first time, she discovered that besides seeds, other things on Ancient Earth were also a tiny bit appealing.
"Second Brother—"
"Getting antsy? It's almost ready."
After he spoke, An Guoming used the stick to rake away the ashes, revealing two dark, sparrow-shaped objects.
"Go on, eat."
An Ning moved with incredible speed, snatching up one of the sparrows with one hand and taking a big bite.
"Hey, hey, hey—the feathers!"