When She Stops Being Dramatic

Chapter 316: Chapter 120: The Green Tea Female Supporting Character in a Period Novel (7)

Her brows were shaped like willow leaves, dark as distant mountains, and her eyes shimmered like black lacquer. A small, delicate nose and mouth sat upon a fair, oval face still rounded with a touch of baby fat. It lent her otherworldly beauty an air of worldly charm, making her seem as soft and pliable as a ball of fresh dough.

But when she stared wide-eyed at the black ink stains smudged across her face, she was utterly stunned. ’When did this happen?’

’Just now, I was talking to Jiang Yihua, asking him to look out for me, with my face smudged like this?’

Chi Yun’er wailed internally, realizing both Jiang Family brothers were truly formidable. She hadn’t detected the slightest hint of anything amiss from Jiang Yihua’s expression.

She had assumed his frown was just his usual serious and intense demeanor, or perhaps a sign of his reluctant tolerance for her bothersome presence.

She quickly mixed some warm water and scrubbed her face several times, not stopping the self-abuse until her skin was flushed and red.

Chi Yun’er’s mind was a mess. She just sat there with a book, staring into space as she tried to sort through the events of her two lifetimes. She also needed to formulate a plan—how to punish the wicked discreetly, and how to successfully get out of here and return to the city.

She didn’t know how much time had passed before the whistle to end the workday sounded. People began to trudge back, dragging their weary feet and shouldering their tools.

During the busy farming season, everyone spent all their time in the fields, aside from eating and sleeping. What’s more, at night, able-bodied young men had to patrol back and forth with tools in hand.

The other educated youths had returned as well, but Jiang Zishi had gone with Bian Yumin to the village chief’s house.

The moment they stepped through the door, they saw Chi Yun’er, who had been busy in the kitchen, come running out. She looked around with eager anticipation, but upon not finding the person she was looking for, the disappointment on her little face—smudged with soot but no less beautiful—tugged at all their heartstrings.

”Uh, Chi,” one of the male educated youths stammered. ”Jiang went to the village chief’s house. He told us not to wait for him to eat.”

The female educated youths all glared at him in unison before smiling and linking their arms with Chi Yun’er’s.

”Chi, you’re still sick. Why are you up and cooking? What are you making? It smells amazing!”

Chi Yun’er smiled, her lips pressed together. ”There’s no need for everyone to be so tense, I’m fine. For Zishu and Comrade Bian to become a couple is a happy occasion. I’m overjoyed for them.”

”Brother Hua visited today and brought some food, so I picked a few luffa gourds and made a mixed-flour gnocchi soup with dried rabbit meat and sweet potatoes. I hope everyone likes it...”

The female educated youths laughed and nodded repeatedly. ”Of course we’ll like it! As long as there’s meat, it’s a treasure, even if it’s horribly salty or burnt to a crisp!”

”The smell wafting from here almost made the neighborhood kids cry from wanting some. How could it possibly taste bad?”

The male educated youth who had misspoken earlier scratched his head and chuckled. ”Yeah, Chi is so pretty, her cooking must be delicious too...”

Everyone’s lips twitched. ’Is there some kind of causal link between being pretty and being a good cook?’

In truth, they had zero hope for Chi Yun’er’s culinary skills. ’Salty and sweet things boiled together? What kind of flavor would that even be?’

In this era, it was a blessing just to fill one’s stomach. No one was overly concerned with how food tasted.

The educated youths all pooled their rations. They worked in pairs on a rotating schedule to fetch water, gather firewood, cook, and clean, portioning out the food for the day each morning.

Usually, they all ate just two meals a day. But with the recent start of the busy farming season and the heavy physical toll, they had switched to three meals. The portions were also larger, and they rotated through servings of meat, eggs, and refined grains.

Tonight’s rations were sweet potatoes and mixed-grain flour. Usually, they would make a sweet potato soup, a simple stir-fried dish, and stick some flatbreads to the side of the wok to cook.

After washing their hands, they bustled about, setting up tables and chairs and getting bowls and chopsticks. Each person was served a bowl of the gnocchi soup.

The gnocchi were all uniform in size, like little minnows, and coated in a rich, thick broth. They were slippery and chewy. The soup was full of meat shreds—it looked like a generous amount—and the luffa had no trace of its usual earthy taste, tasting instead smooth, tender, and savory.

It was so delicious they wanted to swallow their own tongues. They never imagined such simple ingredients could create a taste that felt so luxurious.

But one of the female educated youths couldn’t help but ask, ”Chi, where are the sweet potatoes?”

Chi Yun’er said with a smile, ”I extracted the starch from the sweet potatoes, and then mixed the pulp into the flour.”

Everyone froze, then couldn’t resist picking at the gnocchi again. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t taste any sweet potato.

”Amazing, Chi! You’ve really been hiding your skills!”

”Chi, is this a family secret? No ordinary person could cook like this...”

”See? I told you! Since Chi is so pretty, her cooking has to be delicious, right?”

Everyone praised her as they shoveled the food into their mouths. When they were done, they couldn’t help but pat their full bellies and let out sighs of pure satisfaction.