Jelly day 16

[stardustofdawn]

Who: Xingchen and you!
Where: Kitchen, dining car
When: Jelly 16, on platform day, today
What: Helping assemble a belated birthday party!

[With his vision and sight returned, Xingchen discover a simple joy of learning to cook again. To see food, working with food and utensils in the kitchen, he can feel being more useful. Wearing an apron, the kitchen is starting to smell really good, but he realized he needed help]

Hello? Hi, everyone. You know, I not good at aligning the days with the calendar, but I realized my birthday is actually last week on the 25th. While it was belated, I was exhausted from the last mission. I don't celebrate my birthday for years from where I'm from, considering I lived in poverty, so there wasn't much to eat.

I would like to assemble a lunch and dinner, a birthday party today. I haven't baked a cake yet, but this is where you can help. You can meet me in the kitchen. I'm looking to assemble ice cream as well.

If you like to eat, come a little later today to join me. It's on me and my treat.

Comments

[stardustofdawn]

He can see that and he kept on smiling, not wanting her to be displeased with him. "Yes, the entire train with the passengers and crew members. I would like the children to enjoy the cake. It's not often I get to be surrounded like this."

It seems his past back in the house they shared in Yi City is behind them, but the loneliness remains. But he won't tell he felt very lonely and that's the reason for his generosity.

Finding the energy to be cheerful, "We don't have cakes and ice cream back home, so I'm happy there's plenty to share."

[spikelet]

She's halfway through turning to check the noodles when she notes his dropping mood - or rather, the forced cheer - in the tone of his voice. Crap.

"If that's what you want, of course we'll do it, ah," she says, as quickly as possible. Alarm transmutes into fresh determination, and she rolls up her sleeves for the fifth time in as many minutes. "Chocolate and vanilla... I don't know how to make it, but daozhang can direct me and I'll be his assistant. And I bet a lot of people will want to help!"

If they don't, she'll be doing some recruiting, goes unspoken.

[stardustofdawn]

Much of it, he's only worried if this is enough to make everyone happy. He likes pleasing people, and knowing they're happy, he's happy.

"I'm glad you're assisting me. I'm sure help will come. Let me show you as this is what I learned." He's going to add the ingredients from adding the eggs, milk, sugar, butter, to make a cake batter, which he mixes it.

"Then we pour into a pan like this." He brought the bowl into another one. "Then slip it into the oven like so, and then set it at the right temperature and then we wait for the cake to be baked. I think that's easy."

[spikelet]

She watches fixedly, noting how much of each he uses and which utensils he's picking up, and then grabs another bowl of a similar size to his while he finishes up with the oven. It doesn't seem hard, she decides, perhaps a little early.

"What's the difference between these cakes and the ones back home, I wonder?" It's an offhand question as she pours sugar into the bowl. She hasn't really seen that many, so how they were made remains a mystery. "We should order some, so we can find out together."

[stardustofdawn]

A-Qing will see something else too. He's actually enjoying himself easily and actually smiling with a bit of softness to him. Long ago, when they shared that house together, he would have panic or feel nervous and jumpy handling a knife to cut meat and vegetables and actually cook it over the fire.

"The difference is the quality of ingredients. There are different types of sugar, milk, cream, and butter, and flour. The cakes back home are based on rice. The flour is based on wheat. So what we have is a rich, decadent cake."

Here, he mixes, he pours, and easily handles the tools, and pour the batter into the pan to place into the hot oven to bake it.

"I think that will take more than half an hour, then we can coat it with frosting and decorate it."

[spikelet]

It certainly is a change, to see his bright, open expression. Even if she can't bring herself to trust Xue Yang for his sake, she can grudgingly agree that it isn't just the restoration of his sight that seems to be bringing Xiao Xingchen back to life.

She doesn't understand it, but she'll bite and claw anyone who tries to stop them anyway.

And for now, she'll make rich, decadent cake with him, and stand back pleased when the second batch is in the oven.

"Now we should-- ahh, the noodles, I forgot!"

They're only boiling over a little, but she rushes over anyway.

[stardustofdawn]

He's working on changing Xue Yang for the better. It's a slow change with a rough start, but for once, they have some peace in the first few months.

With the cake baking in the oven, "Oh you forgot the noodles? Be careful, A-Qing. Be sure to get a strainer." Which he gave her a metal strainer basket. "Just turn it off, let it cool down, before you separate the noodles from the water."