He never expected that he could trade the surplus wild fish for chicken legs.
He swept the area with his Divine Sense and noticed the crowing rooster from next door had vanished; it seemed that these chicken legs must have belonged to that chicken, quite pitiful really.
Xue Yuantong pointed at the tender chicken meat, "Make this into spicy chicken, and I guarantee it will leave you wanting more!"
After their joint efforts in catching fish, she had loosened up a bit, no longer as constrained as she was in the morning.
A large basin of wild fish was almost entirely handled by Xue Yuantong, while Jiang Ning was responsible for cutting the fish to prevent her from injuring her fingers.
Jiang Junlong just stood by helplessly; he was completely clueless when it came to kitchen chores.
Shen Qing E wasn't much better off and could only watch Xue Yuantong busy herself.
Come cooking time, Shen Qing E was even less able to help. The kitchen made use of two clay stoves, with Jiang Ning helping to tend the fire, and at the same time using Spiritual Power to cool down the kitchen; otherwise, Xue Yuantong would have surely been overwhelmed by the heat.
Jiang Junlong was playing with his phone at the doorway, responsible for updating his mother on their situation, while also sending pictures to his classmates to show off the glorious fish-catching.
Shen Qing E also stood at the doorway, a small table set up with assorted snacks on it, which she didn't touch; instead, she gazed at the distant field.
She smelled the fragrance wafting from the kitchen; oh, how delicious...
Shen Qing E reminisced about the meals her mother had made when she was a child, just as fragrant.
Ever since she moved in with her sister, she hadn't been back to the countryside for a long time; the last visit was over the New Year's holiday.
Sadly, her parents only stayed home for about ten days before they went back out to work.
Shen Qing E's family situation wasn't much different from Jiang Ning's, but unlike the oblivious Jiang Ning, she thought ahead, wanting a better life for herself and to escape the hardships of rural life.
For this reason, she was determined to do many things, like pretending not to know Jiang Ning when high school started.
In junior high, Jiang Ning had helped her out a lot; in that chaotic place of the town middle school, where Shen Qing E, being good-looking, inevitably experienced some unpleasantness.
Like harassment from local hooligans or jealousy from female bullies in her class, and other nuisances like that.
Back then, Jiang Ning had a cousin who ran a barbecue joint outside of school and was fairly influential; Jiang Ning was seldom bullied, and Shen Qing E, by playing with Jiang Ning, naturally sidestepped those encounters.
Their relationship was close; at least Shen Qing E never disliked Jiang Ning, was willing to play with him, eat with him, and do homework together.
She couldn't tell, it was probably just habit.
But upon arriving at Fourth Middle School, faced with Jiang Ning's aloofness, she resolutely cut ties with Jiang Ning completely, because in her heart, Jiang Ning belonged to the 'old' life.
If she wanted to become a whole new person, she had to separate herself from the old.
But now, she felt a bit of regret.
Because she was acutely aware of a distance between them, as if she and Jiang Ning could never go back.
Shen Qing E's thoughts grew deeper until Xue Yuantong brought a dish to the table; it was tomato with black fish slices, the soup a tempting red, with slices of fish barely visible, the tomatoes like flames igniting underwater, wafting out an incomparably delicious scent, so fragrant it was almost intoxicating.
If it weren't for her upbringing, Shen Qing E might have even wanted to grab the chopsticks and taste.
One dish after another was served; Cut Fish stewed with eggplants, braised grass carp/crucian carp, spicy chicken.
Lastly paired with fragrant rice and a refreshing mung bean soup, a sumptuous lunch was complete.
Xue Yuantong clapped her hands and even regretfully said, "If only you had brought some rice, Ning."
She missed the rice Jiang Ning had given her to eat before.
Jiang Ning picked up his chopsticks, "Let's eat."
Both Jiang Junlong and Shen Qing E had been eager to eat; upon hearing his words, they immediately reached for their chopsticks.
Their chopsticks, as if by agreement, stretched towards the dish of tomato with black fish slices.
Shen Qing E picked up a slice of fish and bit into it.
The texture, the taste, were almost excellent to the Limit; swallowing the fish, she looked at Xue Yuantong again with thick admiration and a sense of inferiority:
"Why can her cooking taste so delicious?"