Back to the 70s: My Childhood Sweetheart Spoils Me Rotten-Chapter 26 - 25: Foodie

Zhao Guangran gathered the branches that had fallen on the ground.

Zhao Xuran, holding a machete, went to chop some branches. If he spotted any fruits or mushrooms, he would say, "Nizi, there are mushrooms here."

"Nizi, there are black fungi here."

Every time she heard this, Gong Ruini would happily scurry over, picking them cheerfully and gently placing them into her basket.

Once dried, these ingredients would turn into a delicious treat for winter. If used to stew chicken, they would be exceptionally tasty.

Gong Ruini licked her lips carefully, thinking how wonderful it would be to catch a pheasant. She used to think pheasant was a type of fish, but later realized it was a kind of wild chicken, renowned for its exquisite flavor.

In the past, she had only heard of pheasants, but due to excessive human hunting, their numbers dwindled drastically. For someone like Gong Ruini, it remained a dish she had heard of but never had the chance to taste.

Unexpectedly, having traversed through time to this era, she now had the opportunity to savor this famous dish. The mere thought of it made Gong Ruini feel incredibly excited.

"What delicious treat are you pondering over?" Zhao Guangran complained indignantly, as he tied up the firewood. He saw Gong Ruini smiling like a cat that had just stolen fish.

Zhao Guangran felt that Gong Ruini’s current smile was rather displeasing. If it weren’t for her, he might have been hunting with his father on the mountain or setting traps for game right now.

Now, everything had changed. He was stuck dealing with firewood, yearning to hunt—ah, blame it all on the Gong siblings.

Especially Gong Ruwen. Zhao Guangran couldn’t believe that Gong Ruwen had dealt him such a blow. If Ruwen hadn’t said he didn’t want to go hunting and preferred making firewood below, how could their father agree to this arrangement?

Gong Ruwen was aware that his words had displeased Zhao Guangran in various ways, but he had no choice. He didn’t want to see his sister disappointed.

Gong Ruwen firmly believed that if they went up the mountain while his sister stayed below, Zhao Guangran would certainly brag about interesting mountain stories at night, which would upset his sister.

Sometimes, Gong Ruwen thought his sister was too sensible, making him take on the role of the antagonist, which at times left him dissatisfied. However, as her brother, he couldn’t dwell on these matters and hold a grudge against her.

"I don’t want to go up the mountain because I don’t want to hold up Dad and the others. They will be quite busy today," Gong Ruwen explained, insisting that he was just being a conscientious child. "In a few days, when Dad and the others have time, they’ll surely take us to the mountain."

Gong Ruwen wasn’t making empty promises. Because of his consideration, Zhao Gang had already promised that once they had hosted guests, they would take the kids to the mountain for an experience.

Bringing this up made Zhao Guangran upset. "You’re overdoing it. You get to be the good guy every time."

Although Zhao Gang hadn’t directly called Zhao Guangran out for being inconsiderate, he was constantly praising how considerate Gong Ruwen was, indirectly implying Zhao Guangran was not. Zhao Guangran heard this loud and clear.

When their parents praised Zhao Xuran for being sensible, Zhao Guangran didn’t mind because that was his older brother, who was distinctly impressive.

Since Nizi’s sister arrived, their parents had also been full of praise for her. Zhao Guangran could continue to ignore this because she was the sister, and girls naturally tended to be more sensible than boys, which was quite normal.

From Zhao Guangran’s perspective, it was great to have Gong Ruwen as a companion. Little did he realize that his friend, whom he once thought would be his companion, would just abandon him like this, leaving him in dismay.

Ruwen being the good one? Such words! Yet the elders’ praise made Gong Ruwen quite happy. "I’m just doing what I should; alright, hurry and stack the wood, Brother Xu Ran is already glaring at you."

Gong Ruwen kindly reminded him. He had no choice since his sister had said that Zhao Guangran was a tsundere. Although he didn’t quite understand what that meant, she said the way to handle Zhao Guangran was to go along with him or, failing that, simply mention Zhao Xuran.

He had to admit that his sister was incredibly observant. Whenever Zhao Guangran was getting out of hand, mentioning Zhao Xuran always worked to settle him.

"Guangran, why aren’t you working?" Zhao Xuran chided in a low voice. His silly younger brother—was there any point in complaining? Better to quickly gather more firewood while the weather was good, to dry the wood.

Based on how fast their family went through firewood, if they didn’t gather more, Zhao Xuran predicted they would be continuously collecting firewood until it snowed.

Zhao Xuran had no intention of thinking the Gong siblings were disrespecting Zhao Guangran. His younger brother was clever, though mischievous, and having the Gong siblings around could keep him in check.

He hoped Zhao Guangran would grow more sensible under the influence of the Gong siblings.

"Brother Guangran, we should chop more firewood, so that in winter, the chickens can hatch chicks, and by Spring Festival, we can eat little chickens." The egg-laying chickens at home definitely wouldn’t be slaughtered, but chicks could be.

Though they didn’t have much meat, it had the taste of chicken. Plus, they could roast the chicks, which tasted even better.

"Exactly. If we chop the firewood, in a few days, we can confidently go up the mountain," Gong Ruwen couldn’t hold back. Although Zhao Guangran hadn’t complained excessively, his glances were incredibly uncomfortable, so Ruwen decided to speak up.

"Then we can properly enjoy a few days at night," Gong Ruini kindly comforted.

They had no choice; to avoid Zhao Xuran, the schemer, having any issues with them, Gong Ruini had decided to tolerate Zhao Guangran’s whims. Otherwise, who cared about his thoughts?

Zhao Guangran was just momentarily dissatisfied, after all, but he understood. "Alright, by the way, should we go fishing today? We can have fish soup with fungus for dinner; it’d be delicious."

"Sure, I’ll set up the net," Zhao Xuran agreed. They definitely couldn’t eat the game caught today but could eat fish.

Zhao Xuran also thought about setting up more nets in the upcoming days. If they caught more fish, they could prepare more dishes.

Fish was delicious here. These cold-water fish might not grow big, but they were incredibly tasty. Having eaten fish a few times, Gong Ruini was quite eager at the thought of more fish for dinner tonight.

"If only we had pickled cabbage, we could make pickled cabbage fish." Pickled cabbage fish, a famous Northeast dish, but unfortunately, there was no pickled cabbage at home.

It was said that Aunt Zhan’s pickled cabbage wasn’t tasty; it was either too sour or smelled, so the Zhao family didn’t eat it. If they wanted to, they had to exchange something for it with neighbors in the village.

Cai Meina mentioned she could make pickled cabbage, and Gong Ruini was truly hopeful that their mother could create something delicious. Although Cai Meina hadn’t made pickled cabbage before, she had made preserved vegetables back home, which tasted alright.

Though not the same, the process should be similar. In any case, Gong Ruini was eagerly looking forward to it. As long as it tasted good, they could freely indulge in pickled cabbage fish in the future.

However, fish soup with fungus and mushrooms was also nice, variously delicious and nutritious.

"Foodie," Zhao Guangran wouldn’t admit that he was equally anticipating it, but it didn’t stop him from teasing Gong Ruini a bit.

Foodie? As if he wasn’t one himself? Gong Ruini thought, I shouldn’t bother with a tsundere; it would only lower her demeanor.

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