CHAPTER 414: CHAPTER 299: WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT CHILI PEPPERS?

The chili peppers Hanabi bought are really spicy. Uesugi Sakura saw the wound on their thumb oozing blood, and fell silent.

"Ah, big brother is bleeding!" Aei said, pattering to the hallway, tiptoeing on a small stool by the cabinet, opening the drawer to take out a pack of band-aids, then ran back to Uesugi Sakura’s side and reached out her hand.

"Here you go."

"Let me wash it first." Uesugi Sakura said expressionlessly, putting the wound under the faucet.

"What’s going on?" Hanamaru Hanabi, who was teaching Chiaei to cook, turned her head to ask Uesugi Sakura at the sink.

"Big brother cut his hand while chopping chili peppers." Aei, holding a long string of band-aids, said to both of them.

Chiaei automatically filtered out Aei’s odd words, but Hanamaru Hanabi was puzzled for quite a while.

Being cut by a knife and covered in chili peppers, to say it doesn’t hurt would be a lie.

"Hanabi, bring some vinegar over."

"O-Okay."

"Doesn’t it hurt?" Aei saw the wound washed with clean water, the cut a stark white.

"It hurts."

Uesugi Sakura said calmly, taking the vinegar Hanamaru Hanabi handed over, applying a little on the chili-drenched wound.

"If it hurts, why does big brother not look like he’s in a lot of pain?" Aei asked, holding the edge of the counter.

"That’s because big brother is being strong, though you can’t see it, it actually hurts a lot."

After applying vinegar to the wound, the burning sensation reduced slightly, and the tense heart gradually relaxed.

Hanamaru Hanabi stood by, holding the vinegar bottle curiously, asking, "Sakura-kun, why use vinegar on the wound?"

"Acid neutralizes alkali, the spicy element in chili is called capsaicin, didn’t you know that?"

Uesugi Sakura turned his head to look at her, and Hanamaru Hanabi instinctively took a step back, thinking her forehead might get flicked again.

"No way..."

"That’s middle school knowledge; Hana-chan, you really got dumber," Uesugi Sakura said with a slight smile.

"No... I’m not..." Hanamaru Hanabi’s demeanor weakened, only clutching the vinegar bottle, "It’s been so long... I can’t remember... Sakura-kun shouldn’t call me dumb..."

Looking at her adorable demeanor, Uesugi Sakura couldn’t help wanting to pinch her cheeks but suddenly smelled something slightly burnt.

"What’s that smell?"

"Hanabi sister, Hanabi sister! It’s in the pot." Chiaei, watching the dinner by the stove, didn’t know what to do. She remembered that it wasn’t time to flip the food yet, unsure if she should flip it, afraid of messing it up, feeling anxious.

"The toast." Hanamaru Hanabi quickly turned around to check the toast bread in the frying pan.

She used a spatula to flip the toast and found it only brown and not burnt.

"Phew, luckily it’s okay."

"Big brother, here you go." Aei handed the band-aid to Uesugi Sakura once again.

"Thank you," Uesugi Sakura felt the burning on his hand was indeed lessened, and wrapped the wound with the band-aid, "But how does Aei know where our band-aids are kept?"

Little Aei had dashed to the hallway quickly earlier, obviously aware.

"Hanabi sister told me, she said Aei could live here too in the future."

"I see."

"You’re the third person to say thank you to Aei."

Uesugi Sakura paused a bit, the first one must be Chiaei.

Aei relies heavily on her sister, and Chiaei, as the older sister, is very responsible.

"Who was the second one?"

"Hanabi sister, of course."

Aei held the remaining string of band-aids, ran back to the hallway, stood on the small stool again, opened the drawer, shoved the stuff back in, closed the drawer tightly, and ran back.

Uesugi Sakura’s hand felt much better, and he resumed chopping chili peppers.

Earlier, it was just an inadvertent swipe against the blade while lifting his hand that caused the cut.

His vegetable cutting skills are actually quite good.

"Sakura-kun, you should take a break, let Hanabi handle it," Hanamaru Hanabi said with a plate after dealing with the toast, slightly absent-minded seeing his hand.

"It’s alright."

"Sakura-kun... take a break, please..." Hanamaru Hanabi insisted.

Uesugi Sakura understood Hanabi’s thoughts, guessing she felt it was her fault again.

If he wasn’t helping her chop the chili, his hand wouldn’t have gotten cut.

"Without your cooking, I’d probably starve."

"What...?" Hanamaru Hanabi couldn’t understand his words.

Uesugi Sakura piled the red chili peppers together, holding the knife in his right hand to mince them, "I mean, don’t worry too much, it’s just a cut. I’m not that pretentious, you go on."

"Really okay...?"

"Really okay."

Hanamaru Hanabi looked at his face.

They had known each other for over a decade, and both knew when to speak and what to say.

Hanamaru Hanabi didn’t persuade him to rest further, just withdrew her caring gaze and continued preparing dinner, also teaching Chiaei who was not very good at cooking.

Deciding what to eat for dinner is always a family trouble.

The guys say ’anything’, the girls find them nonchalant, and inexplicably start sulking.

A couple sweet during the day might break up by night.

Little Hanabi wouldn’t be that way, even if Uesugi Sakura said ’anything’, she’d seriously think about what to eat tonight.

Today, with the visit of the two little girls Aei and Chiaei, the food is slightly lighter.

Miso Soup, vegetable salad, sandwiches, mashed potatoes.

Uesugi Sakura prefers lighter foods, his portion Hanamaru Hanabi usually prepares separately.

Because she loves spicy food, everything has a pinch of chili.

The kind of spice Hanabi likes is not oily hot but more the freshness of the chili itself.

Like the imagery of biting into a fresh small chili.

Uesugi Sakura was chopping chilis to make hot sauce for Hanabi.

Half of the previous bottle was used up, this new one needs to be made and sealed for a month before eating.

He watched the red mixture being smashed with minced ginger and garlic, mixed with salt, and stored in a glass jar.

The spicy aroma upon opening just thinking about it makes the nose wake up.

This type of hot sauce is not a Japanese practice; she specifically learned it from online videos.

"Is that delicious?" Aei asked, seeing Hanabi sister’s treasured food, with a half-eaten old hot sauce beside the new one.

"Haven’t you tried chili peppers?" Uesugi Sakura asked, "That’s exactly the taste."

"Never had chili peppers... I’ve only read about them in books."

Never had chili peppers? Uesugi Sakura recalled the details of his life over the years; indeed, except when eating with Hanabi, he really never had any chili peppers.

In China, chili peppers are also a flavor-enhancing condiment, very commonly used.

But in Japan, modern food is soft and sweet, and spicy food is seldom tasted in daily life except for snacks.

And even if there is spicy food, it’s just a tiny bit of spice.

The majority are flavors found in mapo tofu.

The chili peppers Japanese people are most familiar with are actually a seasoning called "Shichimi Togarashi", with "togarashi" referring to chili.

The small containers on the side of restaurant tables are popular, and many Chinese restaurants have them.

People sprinkle a bit while eating rice, meat, or ramen.

Hanamaru Hanabi doesn’t like it, and the reason is simple, it’s not spicy at all.

She usually mixes her own chili powder and carries it in her small fanny pack daily.

"Do you want to try?" Uesugi Sakura saw that Aei seemed eager to try the chili.

"Yes..."

"I advise against it; Hanabi sister’s chili is unbearable even for me."

"Is it really spicy?"

"It’s more painful."

Uesugi Sakura noticed Aei hadn’t given up on trying the chili, tried to scare her, but suddenly realized he didn’t know what she feared.

"Are you sure you want to try?"

"I want to try."

While Hanamaru Hanabi was teaching Chiaei to make sandwiches, Uesugi Sakura reached up to the cabinet and took out a half-used bottle of hot sauce.

He then unscrewed the lid and let Aei have a sniff.

A fiery spicy aroma.

"Still want to try?"

"I want to give it a taste."

Alright, give it a try then.

Uesugi Sakura took a chopstick from the kitchen counter, dipped it into the can of red hot sauce, and then brought it to Aei’s open little mouth.

At first, Aei was normal, but gradually, her little face turned red, and tears welled up at the corners of her eyes.

"Spicy?" Uesugi Sakura noticed her trying to hold something back.

Aei nodded her little head, her hands clutching her clothes, with a tearful expression, as if she were about to cry any moment.

She didn’t immediately burst into tears.

Uesugi Sakura knew the power of Hanabi’s hot sauce, didn’t want to just watch, so he quickly found a bottle of milk from the fridge, inserted a straw, and gave it to her.

Aei, with eyes locked on his movement, eagerly stood on tiptoe, and reached out with both hands to take the cold milk he handed over.

The little mouth slurped the milk hard, and the few hundred milliliter bottle was empty in no time.

Aei wiped the corner of her eyes and said, sniffling, "Still spicy."

It seemed very spicy indeed, as Uesugi Sakura got another bottle of milk for her from the fridge.

Aei quickly came forward to grab it, mouth firmly around the straw, sucking hard.

"Drink slowly, don’t finish in one go, otherwise no amount will quell the spiciness."

"Mmm..."

Uesugi Sakura took the empty milk bottle she had finished drinking.

Another victim of Hanabi’s hot chili.

It certainly wasn’t his intention to make Aei drink it, she asked for it herself.

Now Aei’s eyes were still full of tear stains, looking like a little girl about to cry.

But unlike most children, she didn’t burst into tears. Instead, she tried hard to stifle her emotions, even though she wanted to cry, she didn’t let herself.

This gave him a sense of Aei forcing herself to be strong.

"Are you okay?" Uesugi Sakura held the empty bottles in both hands.

Aei wiped her tear-filled eyes, looked up and smiled at him, "Hehe."

"Still smiling."

Seeing her tearful smile, Uesugi Sakura thought maybe he shouldn’t have let her have Hanabi’s chili sauce.

He tossed the two empty bottles into the trash and got her another bottle of milk.

"Do you still want Hanabi sister’s chili peppers?"

Aei quickly shook her head without saying a word.

Indeed, after being spiced up to tears, any other child would probably have developed a psychological shadow by now.

Uesugi Sakura sighed and handed her the third bottle of milk.

Today, Aei was still wearing their school’s uniform, the same as her sister.

"Do you only have uniforms at home?"

"We have other clothes." A little girl’s voice, with a cute tone.

"Oh, I thought your mom doesn’t buy you clothes."

"Well... they don’t fit anymore. Those are from the year before last, sister’s old uniforms. Aei only has two, usually sister washes them, and lets Aei change into them."

After drinking another bottle of milk, her tone returned to her usual lazy style.

Alright, Uesugi Sakura had overestimated her irresponsible mother.

He specifically looked at Chiaei’s clothes and noticed they were a bit loose around the shoulders.

Possibly chosen a size bigger so it would last longer.

Aei’s clothes were also a size larger.

"Has your sister received any cards recently?"

"Bank cards?"

"Yes, those."

"Yes, sister said Dad sent money on them."

"Tomorrow, Hanabi and I will take you to buy some clothes, how does that sound?"

"Really!?" Aei suddenly looked up.

"Yes." Uesugi Sakura nodded.

Aei tiptoed with excitement, looking up, "Does big brother want Aei to help warm the bed tonight? Aei can help with the two sisters to warm the bed together."

"Let’s skip that."

"It’s for bed warming!"

"Hanabi’s dad is a cop, big brother could get arrested."

"Why would they arrest big brother?"

"Because you’re underage."

"What about when we’re adults?"

"Still not allowed."

"Why?"

"Just because."