Chapter 288: Bolder Than the Sky
As soon as Ning Xiyue walked outside the educated youth courtyard, she could already smell the pungent spiciness permeating the air. The smell was so strong that when she passed near the kitchen, she sneezed several times in a row—and could even hear others sneezing by the kitchen door.
Half-squinting her eyes, Ning Xiyue wiped away the tears caused by the spicy fumes and quickly ran past the wave of eye-stinging, throat-choking oily smoke.
“How much chili did they use? It’s way too spicy!”
“Achoo! Achoo—”
She sneezed a few more times.
“Xiyue, you’re back! Come here—this side doesn’t have much smoke, it’s not as choking.”
Liu Yao was sitting on a rock near the chicken coop, using it to prop up the fence, waving at Ning Xiyue with one hand and covering her mouth and nose with a damp cloth in the other.
Ning Xiyue trotted over in small steps and sat down beside her. Finally, she could breathe without feeling suffocated.
“How much chili did Ye Chu use to stir-fry? I could smell that fiery aroma from afar!”
“Almost every dish is stir-fried with chili. You didn’t see it—at the start, she chopped a whole big bowl of chilies, one of those soup-sized bowls, filled to the brim. She used all of it for today’s dishes. I tasted some earlier—spicy and fragrant, absolutely delicious.”
Liu Yao’s voice was full of excitement. She had always been fond of spicy food.
“Now she’s cooking the last dish—river snails. But somehow, when she threw in the chilies this time, the fumes were so strong that my eyes and nose started watering, and I couldn’t stop sneezing. Ye Chu told me to step out for some air. I stuffed more firewood into the stove and ran out. Ah, finally, I can breathe again.”
“Just smelling it makes me hungry,” Ning Xiyue said, sniffing lightly, her tone full of satisfaction.
Inside the kitchen, Ning Qingyuan, who was still cooking, heard her voice and shouted out, “Sis! You’re back! Come in and taste this—the duck in my pot is almost done!”
“Coming!”
Ning Xiyue stood up and walked toward the kitchen.
As she got closer, she realized the smell here wasn’t choking at all—meaning her second brother had been gentler with the spice. He hadn’t used much dried chili, so there was no stinging aroma, only a rich fragrance.
Wouldn’t that be too mild for people who liked spicy food like them?
“Here, try this.”
Ning Qingyuan scooped out two pieces of duck and handed them to Ning Xiyue and Liu Yao.
Ning Xiyue quickly washed her hands, pinched up a piece of duck soaked in sauce with her fingers, and popped it into her mouth.
Her eyes lit up instantly like two little light bulbs.
She was wrong—terribly wrong! Whoever said something that didn’t smell spicy couldn’t taste spicy—that was a total illusion! But she was glad to be wrong.
It was sour and spicy—her brother had used pickled mountain peppers to cook it. The duck was flavorful, marinated through and through.
It was spicy, but perfectly within her comfort zone. She loved it.
“How’s it taste?”
Ning Qingyuan looked at her expectantly.
Yu Zhiyu, too, watched curiously, waiting for feedback. The two of them had cooked this dish together—Yu had handled the first half, Ning Qingyuan the second—so this was their joint creation.
Ning Xiyue’s heart was full of joy, but her face remained calm. Without speaking, she continued gnawing on the duck in her hand.
When they started to worry it might not taste good, she suddenly broke into a big grin and gave them a thumbs-up.
“Delicious—really great! The sauce tastes amazing, and the meat comes right off the bone. Not dry, not mushy—you can take it off the stove now.”
Encouraged by her praise, Liu Yao couldn’t wait any longer. She grabbed a piece, stuffed it into her mouth, and despite the heat, started happily chewing away.
“Spicy! So good, so good!”
Receiving unanimous approval from their little sister, the two brothers smiled proudly.
“As long as it’s good! Zhiyu, turn down the fire. I’ll take it off now.”
“Got it.”
After Yu Zhiyu turned down the fire, he began tidying up the tables and benches, carrying them outside the kitchen. Then he and Liu Yao went over to help Chen Ye Chu.
Ning Xiyue stood beside the stove, trying to peek into the pot to see what ingredients were in there, but the wok was deep, and the rising steam made it impossible to see clearly.
Noticing her curiosity, Ning Qingyuan smiled knowingly and scooped up two bowls of the dish. “Sis, take these to the table—you can see clearly there.”
“Okay.”
Once she was holding the bowls, Ning Xiyue finally saw what was in them—and she couldn’t stop gasping in surprise.
Bean curd sheets, dried tofu sticks, sliced sausages, fish tofu, potato strips, instant noodles—so many ingredients that didn’t belong to this era but were all common hotpot ingredients in the future. And now they were shamelessly sitting together in this duck stew.
She couldn’t help but exclaim silently, Good heavens!
Ye Chu really had the guts—bolder than the sky itself!
Feigning ignorance, Ning Xiyue asked her brother, “Bro, where did all these ingredients come from? I’ve never seen them before.”
“They’re from Chen Ye Chu,” he replied. “She said she made some of them herself, and some were sent by her grandmother. You can tell her grandma’s tofu-making skills are top-notch. This one’s called bean curd sheet—you probably don’t know that, right? I heard the process is really complicated. Her grandma spent years mastering it when she was young.”
Ning Qingyuan was eager to explain, animatedly sharing his “knowledge.”
Ning Xiyue pretended not to know anything, listening attentively and nodding at the right times, which only made her brother more enthusiastic about teaching.
Just then, Chen Ye Chu came over carrying more dishes and called out cheerfully, “Dinner’s ready! Come eat!”
“Come on,” Ning Qingyuan said to his sister, carrying another plate of duck and some drunken shrimp. “Let Ye Chu tell you herself. Ye Chu, explain to my sister how you made those sausages—she’s curious.”
“Ah, sure! I’ll tell you after we eat. It’s actually quite similar to making regular sausages, just a bit more complicated,” Ye Chu said, bowing her head as she set the dishes down. But clearly, she wasn’t afraid—if she dared to say it, she dared to do it.
Ning Xiyue, noticing Ye Chu freeze for a second, secretly chuckled. “No need to explain the complicated part—I just like eating the finished product! Ready-made food is the best. I love you and your grandma’s inventions—they’re amazing.”
Ye Chu let out a relieved sigh. It was nice to save herself the trouble. She looked up at Ning Xiyue with a bright smile.
“As long as you like it! Next time I come up with something new, I’ll let you try it first. For now, let’s eat—let’s taste the results of our whole afternoon’s hard work!”
