Chapter 34: Candied Egg Rolls
She wasn’t full! But to a normal person, a large bowl of rice porridge and two boiled eggs was already quite a lot. It was only after eating this simple meal that she realized how delicious it truly was. Ji Junxin practically inhaled the food, even though it was still a little hot. After finishing, the aftertaste only made her feel hungrier. Or, to be more honest, that feeling wasn’t hunger, it was craving.
Now, Mi Hongdou had hit the nail on the head regarding Ji Junxin’s unsatisfied appetite, but she didn’t dare to admit it. This was only the first day they were living together, and the first time Mi Hongdou had cooked in the room. It would be too impolite to say she wasn’t full after eating the food that was offered. Moreover… maintaining a good image was important for future meals. Ji Junxin reluctantly shook her head and forced herself to say, “I’m… full…”
Where was the experienced actress with superb acting skills… Mi Hongdou couldn’t bear to expose Ji Junxin’s expression, which clearly contradicted her words.
“Speaking of which, I just took a shower and I’m a little hungry. I want to make a dessert.” Mi Hongdou paused, glanced at Ji Junxin, who seemed to have suddenly taken a hit and lost a lot of HP, and smiled. “This is also my first time making this dessert. If you’re not sleepy, can you help me taste it later?”
Looking at the smiling Mi Hongdou, Ji Junxin guessed that even though she said she was full, Mi Hongdou was certain that she wasn’t and was offering her a way out. Not bad, quite considerate, and the offer was tempting. But the question was, why not just offer it directly! Why did she have to expose her and ask if she wasn’t full! It wasn’t cute at all… Ji Junxin, feeling a little dejected, held the dishes, lowered her head, and shuffled her feet slightly. In the end, she couldn’t resist and said, “Okay… then, what kind of dessert are you making?”
“How about candied egg rolls? It only requires simple ingredients.” Mi Hongdou said as she opened the refrigerator to get the eggs, but she stopped as she touched them and hesitated, turning back. “We had egg fried rice and boiled eggs today. If we have candied egg rolls too, is that too many eggs in one day?”
Eh? Ji Junxin, who had just happily accepted the offer and was looking forward to the candied egg rolls, was suddenly dealt another blow, her HP hitting rock bottom. The only edible things in the room were rice and eggs. If she couldn’t eat eggs, what dessert could she have? She wanted to say that it wasn’t too many eggs, she could eat a hundred more, but she couldn’t. She was very unhappy! Dangling a carrot in front of her like this was cruel. She wiped away a tear in her heart and replied slowly, “Then, you eat.”
Mi Hongdou was also a little troubled. She had asked that question out of genuine concern for whether Ji Junxin was eating too many eggs in one day. But as soon as she said it, the person in front of her, who had a faint smile, suddenly forced a smile. If she had known, she wouldn’t have said anything. Sigh, she should have known that for a foodie, dangling food like that was a huge blow. It was like being hungry late at night, finding a takeout menu, choosing a bunch of things you wanted to eat, and then calling the restaurant, only to be told, hehe, they were closed. However, if it were the Ji Junxin from her previous life, she probably wouldn’t have said “Then you eat.” She would have seriously said that it didn’t matter if she ate a hundred eggs a day, bring on the candied egg rolls.
Looking at Ji Junxin, whose face was full of conflict but didn’t insist on eating the candied egg rolls, Mi Hongdou suddenly realized the difference between the person in front of her and the person she knew in her previous life. They were the same person, but she hadn’t become that person yet. Perhaps, with her and Qiao Rubai’s intervention, she wouldn’t have the chance to become that person. This… wasn’t a bad thing. But her heart suddenly felt empty, a strange, inexplicable sadness washing over her, almost making her choke.
“Actually, it’s almost midnight…” Ji Junxin’s hesitant voice brought Mi Hongdou back to reality.
“Huh?” Mi Hongdou, who had just caught her breath, couldn’t react to Ji Junxin’s sudden announcement of the time.
“Cough…” Ji Junxin put down the dishes and pointed at her watch. “It’s almost twelve o’clock. After twelve, it’s a new day.” She didn’t dare to look directly at Mi Hongdou, keeping her eyes on the floor. After speaking, she quickly picked up the dishes and went to the sink.
A new day, did that mean… a new egg quota? How subtle. Haha… Mi Hongdou almost burst out laughing. The strange sadness and emptiness that had been lingering in her heart were dispelled by Ji Junxin’s cute and indirect reminder.
In her previous life, she must have also hoped to live happily, without being hurt. Mi Hongdou squatted by the refrigerator, watching Ji Junxin busily washing dishes at the sink. Her previously empty heart was gradually filled again.
“Let me wash them. You go take a shower, and we can have dessert together when you’re done. It’s getting late, let’s divide the work and save time, so we can go to bed early.” Mi Hongdou picked up two eggs, stood up, walked to the sink, and turned off the tap.
“…” Ji Junxin hesitated.
“Go shower quickly, or the dessert will be cold and won’t taste as good.” Mi Hongdou started washing the dishes.
“Then… I’ll wash the dishes next time!”
“Okay.” Mi Hongdou nodded with a smile.
They had already made plans for next time? Ji Junxin, washing her hands and going to the bedroom to get her pajamas, still couldn’t quite process it. Something seemed off… Although the egg fried rice had awakened her selfish desire to eat more of Mi Hongdou’s cooking, this person was a little too accommodating. One meal after another, she felt a little embarrassed. She had even made plans for next time just now… would Mi Hongdou think she was being too much? Ji Junxin wanted to hide her face. But, um… the important thing was, what to eat next time… How about big plate chicken?
Mi Hongdou, who had finished washing the dishes and was now cracking eggs, had no idea that the next meal was already being planned before this one was even finished.
Fortunately, when she was organizing the seasonings earlier, she found cornstarch, otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to make the candied egg rolls.
She cracked two eggs into a bowl, whisked them, added a pinch of salt and cornstarch, and mixed well. Then, she took another small bowl and mixed cornstarch with water to make a slurry. She poured a small amount of oil into the wok, swirled it around to coat the surface, and poured out the excess. Turning the heat to low, she poured in an appropriate amount of egg mixture. Mi Hongdou held the handle of the wok, flicked her wrist, and the egg mixture spread evenly along the sides, forming a beautiful thin crepe. Repeating this four times, four thin and soft egg crepes were ready. The aroma of fried eggs filled the room.
Mi Hongdou sniffed. As expected, open kitchens had their drawbacks. Even with the range hood on, the smell of cooking was still a bit strong.
In the bathroom, smelling the aroma of eggs, Ji Junxin showered even faster.
After the egg crepes cooled slightly, she rolled them up and sealed the edges with the cornstarch slurry. Four egg crepes became four egg rolls. She cut the egg rolls into small pieces, deep-fried them until golden brown, and took them out. The aroma of eggs in the room intensified.
Mi Hongdou, hearing the sound of water from the bathroom, just set the fried egg roll pieces aside to cool, without proceeding to the next step.
When Ji Junxin finished showering, her face full of uncontainable anticipation, pretending to casually pass by, Mi Hongdou gestured for her to wait on the sofa and reheated the wok.
A small amount of oil, a few spoonfuls of sugar. When the melted sugar started to bubble, she turned off the heat, poured in the egg roll pieces, quickly stir-fried them, and plated them. While the sugar was still melted, Mi Hongdou picked up a few pieces of egg rolls and quickly pulled out some sugar strands in the air.
When the plate appeared in front of Ji Junxin, golden egg roll pieces coated in sugar syrup were neatly arranged, with a cluster of thin, palm-high sugar strands spun into a lacy pattern above them. It looked not only interesting but also very appetizing.
Mi Hongdou took two pairs of chopsticks, gave one to Ji Junxin, and gestured for her to start first. Perhaps because it was late at night, or perhaps because the light hitting the crisscrossing sugar strands created a dreamlike atmosphere, Ji Junxin suddenly felt that the person in front of her seemed… exceptionally gentle? Not the shy little empress she met the first time, not the slightly awkward girl who introduced herself and brought roast pork the second time, not the serious newcomer who talked about immersion and detachment… Logically, Ji Junxin was older and more experienced in the industry than Mi Hongdou. In their interactions, Ji Junxin had always been the dominant one, and Mi Hongdou was slightly nervous. But tonight, it seemed different. Or rather, after showering, Mi Hongdou seemed different? Even her gaze carried a kind of gentleness, and… tolerance?
It must be because she hadn’t eaten enough and was hallucinating from hunger. Ji Junxin shook her head and quickly picked up a piece of egg roll to calm her nerves. As her chopsticks touched the egg roll on the plate, the sugar strands in the air swayed. Hmm… Ji Junxin stopped and instead broke off a piece of sugar strand.
The thin, glistening sugar strand swayed on her chopsticks. Ji Junxin carefully controlled her strength and brought it to her mouth. A sweet taste spread, and then it was gone. It was just an ordinary sweet taste, but perhaps because the sugar strand was so unique and beautiful, it tasted better than ordinary sugar. Ji Junxin broke off another sugar strand and ate it before turning her chopsticks towards the egg rolls.
She picked up a piece, pulled it up, and the still-melted sugar syrup formed new sugar strands. Normally, when Ji Junxin ate candied dishes, she wouldn’t pay much attention to the sugar strands. But perhaps inspired by Mi Hongdou’s plating, the newly formed sugar strands caught her eye. She couldn’t help but quickly swirl them in the air above the plate.
There wasn’t much sugar syrup on the egg rolls, not enough for Ji Junxin to draw a full circle, but it formed a semi-circle, leaning against the previous cluster of sugar strands. The increasingly intricate sugar strands looked like an irregular little flower. Ji Junxin, pleased with her creation, looked up and found Mi Hongdou also looking at her with a smile. Gentle, tolerant, nostalgic… Ji Junxin felt that the look in her eyes contained too much information, and she couldn’t fully decipher it.
Ji Junxin lowered her eyes and gently blew on the still slightly hot egg roll before putting it in her mouth. The cooled sugar syrup had formed a crispy candy shell, encasing the tender, fragrant, and soft egg roll. One bite, and it was crispy. The sweet taste quickly gave way to the aroma of the egg roll inside. The layers of egg roll added a chewy texture, locking in the eggy fragrance, which combined with the candy shell as she chewed. It was so delicious she could swallow her own tongue. Crispy, sweet, chewy, and fragrant! It couldn’t be more delicious!
If at first, Ji Junxin had some doubts about Mi Hongdou’s gaze and some reservations about their first meal together, then after one bite, she couldn’t stop. It was a struggle to think that she could finish the entire plate by herself while constantly reminding herself that she couldn’t eat it all.
Why was it so delicious… It surpassed all the candied dishes she had eaten before. But why was Mi Hongdou looking at her so gently? Did she think she was eating too much? That she had no manners? No, she wasn’t usually such a big eater, please don’t misunderstand… Okay, just look, could she have another piece…
For some reason, she felt like crying while eating this delicious food.
Here, one person was taking small bites of an egg roll, while the other was eating piece after piece. Overall, it was a warm and harmonious scene. But elsewhere, it was a completely different story.
“Mom, it’s past midnight, why isn’t Dad back yet?” Mi Yu glanced at the clock on the wall and threw the magazine in her hand onto the sofa next to her, as if in a fit of pique.
Wang Bide diverted her attention from the TV drama she was watching and also glanced at the clock: “He said he was out for a business dinner, who knows when he’ll be back.”
“Hmph, I told him I had something to talk to him about, why didn’t he come back earlier?” Mi Yu yawned, her impatience growing. She had been out with a few classmates for two days, having fun at Shudian Film City, but the filming locations were all blocked off, and they couldn’t see inside. Mi Yu was studying acting in college and wanted to be an actress in the future. It was a bit of a pity that she didn’t see anything this time. On the way back, she saw a crew filming in a small village near Shudian. Unfortunately, by the time they stopped, filming had already wrapped up. Just as Mi Yu was about to leave, she seemed to have seen her half-sister, still in costume. It was quite surprising.
“I told you, you were mistaken. That Mi Hongdou studied… painting or something, how could she be filming?” Wang Bide said disdainfully. “Besides, even if it was really her, she would probably just be an extra. She should have graduated by now, right? Could it be that she couldn’t find a job and went to be a temp worker?” She finished with a sneer.
Mi Yu didn’t say anything for a while, seeming to be considering the possibility. “Then, if it was really her, and she couldn’t find a job, would she come looking for Dad?”
Wang Bide, who had been leaning back on the sofa, immersed in the TV drama, suddenly sat up straight. “That’s right! When your dad comes back, I have to talk to him. We can’t let that side of the family pester us again, it can’t be ambiguous!” She stopped watching the drama and frowned at the clock, looking worried.
Just then, the door opened, and Mi Hongcai returned.
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