Capítulo 1155: Chapter 656: My Hero Tongtong

River dam, kitchen.

As Jiang Ning spoke, Xue Yuantong immediately said, “You just told the result, seems like you don’t know the reason either, huh!”

Xue Chuchu’s reaction was completely opposite to Tongtong.

When Jiang Ning said this, his eyes were fixed on her, as if he was speaking to her.

Xue Chuchu instantly understood his meaning, was he using an object as a metaphor for a person?

The fire in the stove was getting stronger, and the aroma of the rice rose with the misty steam through the gaps at the edge of the lid, like a thin veil of mist. In this blurry scene, Xue Chuchu’s cold face became hazy and indistinct.

She was a bit angry, how could he say such things!

What, I’m the one… like that…

Xue Chuchu pursed her lips and stayed silent. She was unhappy inside and went alone to the chopping board to prepare vegetables.

Xue Yuantong, silly as ever, naturally didn’t notice the change in atmosphere. She was still happily discussing the principles of smother cooking with Jiang Ning.

She proudly explained with her knowledge reserve, “Because during smother cooking, there’s less oxygen in the stove, so the flame from the dry wood is small, but in the limited oxygen, the wood starts to pyrolyze, producing a lot of flammables, so when the lid is lifted, lots of air comes in, the accumulated flammables mix with the oxygen, and the flame will burn more vigorously.”

After finishing her explanation, Xue Yuantong’s little chin tilted up, very proud, “Impressive, right?”

Jiang Ning clapped and praised, “Impressive, impressive.”

Although he knew this should be done in the past, he didn’t know the principle, turns out Tongtong was not useless after all.

“Then how will you reward me?” Xue Yuantong started asking for benefits, speaking like this, and her eyes glanced towards the stove.

Jiang Ning picked up the fire poker beside him, also known as the stove hook.

A very simple tool, an iron rod thinner than a little finger, bent at one end to form a hook shape.

When cooking or making a fire, the fire poker can be used to stir the wood, adjusting its position, allowing the wood to burn more completely.

He held the fire poker, inserted it into the flames in the stove, and then gently hooked, precisely fishing out a few peanuts in the ash under the flame, their surfaces charred black.

Just now while making the fire, Jiang Ning had deliberately tossed a few in.

When the roasted peanuts were pulled out, a burnt fragrance emerged.

After the peanuts cooled on the ground for a while, Xue Yuantong’s small hand reached out, not minding the dirt, getting her hand covered with ash.

The peanuts were hot, Xue Yuantong kept transferring them back and forth between her hands to ease the heat.

When it wasn’t as hot, she peeled the peanuts, and their unique charred aroma became even richer.

Actually, cooked peanuts are sold everywhere now, if you wanted to buy some, you could easily find them in any nut store on the street.

But freshly roasted, still hot peanuts like these were often rarer.

Xue Yuantong peeled the skin, popped one into her small mouth, hot, fragrant, and crunchy.

She didn’t forget to shove one into Jiang Ning’s mouth, “You eat too.”

Jiang Ning opened his mouth, and Tongtong smeared the soot on her fingertips to the corner of his mouth.

Her hands heated by the peanut touched Jiang Ning’s skin, passing that warmth over.

“Hmph!” Xue Yuantong was getting revenge, for him pinching her cheek earlier.

Seeing the soot on Jiang Ning’s mouth, Xue Yuantong sneaked a laugh.

The outside sky had completely fallen into darkness.

The two jostled together in the small space in front of the stove, eating roasted peanuts one by one, and above the stove, the ground oven was steaming, the delicious meals would soon be ready.

Jiang Ning suddenly thought of when he was very young, then his parents hadn’t left the village to work in the Coastal Region, and he wasn’t a left-behind child.

He also used to stay by the stove like this, living peacefully, joyfully, carefree.

It’s just that those youthful times ultimately faded away with the passing time, remaining only in memories.

After, like a lamp, it would illuminate the road ahead, guiding Jiang Ning through countless challenges, to regroup and move towards that light again and again.

Perhaps the treasure one pursues all their life was gifted by time in childhood.

Jiang Ning picked up the fire poker again, once more pulling a few roasted peanuts from the ash under the firewood.

This time, he didn’t hold back for Xue Yuantong, he snatched half the peanuts.

“Tch!”

Xue Yuantong was slightly displeased and decisively reached to snatch the other half.

In this early winter, the two played with soot-covered hands, fighting over a few roasted peanuts, happily eating them.

…

Xue Chuchu suddenly felt so tired, she didn’t even want to cook anymore.

The crude Jiang Ning and crafty Tongtong were playing joyfully.

As for her, the kitchen’s hostess, the creator of the dinner, could only watch them enjoy themselves.

That was not the happiness belonging to Chuchu.

Jiang Ning noticed the disappointment on Chuchu’s face, his Divine Sense moved, reminding her, “Chuchu, your screen is lit.”

Xue Chuchu heard this and looked at the phone on the edge of the chopping board, and surely, the screen displayed a QQ message.

She examined for a moment, considering the phone’s distance and angle from Jiang Ning, from his spot he could indeed see the phone, but wasn’t he having fun with Tongtong just now?

Why would he notice my phone?

Could it be that he was always…

Xue Chuchu felt a bit strange inside.

She didn’t dwell on this oddity, she wiped her hands clean and opened the message from her tablemate, Mu Ying.

Xue Yuantong: “Chuchu, who’s looking for you?”

She and Chuchu played together since they were kids, not just superficial friends from later life, many secrets were shared between them.

Although not reaching the level of intimacy like Chen Siyu and Chen Siqing, it was the kind where in the future, they could take care of each other’s families.

“Uh, it’s my tablemate. She asked if I’d like to join the math micro-seminar topic discussion event after school tomorrow afternoon.” Xue Chuchu answered.

Xue Yuantong was curious, “What’s that thing?”

Xue Chuchu looked at Tongtong, considering her outstanding grades, and said, “You probably don’t need to know.”

A micro-seminar is a relatively new format, and Yu Zhou Second Middle School, as Yuzhou’s strongest high school, has many advanced concepts not found in other high schools.

For instance, a micro-seminar is where students and teachers discuss and determine topics, and then students host the class, sharing their insights, experiences, and understandings with other students, so as to stimulate students’ interest in learning and promote…

In short, only fairly outstanding students could hold positions.

“So are you going to accept it?” Xue Yuantong asked.

Xue Chuchu shook her head; she didn’t like participating in such activities: “I declined, I told her there’s something at home tomorrow afternoon.”

“Well, alright.” Xue Yuantong understood.

She had finished eating the peanuts and was feeling unsatisfied yet idle.

So she looked to Chuchu to chat a bit.

Xue Chuchu knew they were finally done with their fun, so now they had time to pay attention to her, she was secretly speechless.

But despite feeling helpless, her mood improved a bit.

Xue Yuantong further asked, “Do you really have something at home tomorrow afternoon? What is it?”

Xue Chuchu said, “Nothing, it’s just an excuse.”

She just didn’t want to participate in school activities, and rather than communicating with many unfamiliar classmates, she preferred returning home, making a pot of tea to leisurely read a book, or watch videos, and study some culinary skills.

Her house didn’t have wifi, by mooching off Jiang Ning’s wifi, she was able to watch videos.

“Wow, Chuchu, you now lie without a change in expression.” Xue Yuantong giggled.

She remembered that in the past, Xue Chuchu was very nervous when lying.

Xue Chuchu didn’t follow her topic, she suddenly sighed, “Tongtong, have you noticed, when we were kids, we lied to family to go out with friends, now we lie to friends to stay in.”

Xue Yuantong tilted her head, “Oh, yes.”

“But when I lied before, my mom wouldn’t let me go out to play, she was very strict.” Xue Yuantong said, “Sometimes I would sneak out, and my mom would find me and drag me back home.”

Jiang Ning chuckled, “You’re so clever; didn’t you have a way out?”

As soon as he said this, Xue Yuantong folded her arms and arrogantly proclaimed:

“Later when my mom wouldn’t let me out to play, I directly locked her in the house and took the keys out to play.”

Jiang Ning: “6.”

Xue Chuchu thought, ‘If not for your cries reaching my house later, I’d really think you were a hero.’