The orphanage, kitchen.
Lin Mo had already tied on an apron. After cleaning the kitchen, he began preparing the ingredients.
The kitchen wasn't large. A big iron wok sat atop a stove built from yellow mud.
The walls inside the window were blackened by smoke, but the pots, bowls, and other utensils had all been scrubbed until they shone.
Lin Mo rolled up his sleeves, ladled a scoop of water from the water vat into a basin, and began washing the cabbage.
His movements were quick and practiced. First, he pulled the leaves apart one by one, swished them through the water twice, then lifted them out and set them aside.
Next, he picked up a radish and washed it clean. His knife flashed as he chopped it into thick slices.
Taking in the scene, a curious look flashed through Xiao Wu's eyes. "Lin Mo, you know how to cook?"
"Mm."
Lin Mo nodded, his hands never stopping. "I developed earlier than the other kids my age. In my first two years at school, I was already helping the director.
"Stir-frying isn't difficult for me."
They called it an orphanage, but aside from the elderly director, there weren't any other staff members.
The director was basically the only one raising all of them.
After awakening the wisdom of his past life, Lin Mo had done his best to help out whenever he could, lending the director a hand with various chores.
At Lin Mo's words, a glint flashed in Xiao Wu's eyes.
Before long, Lin Mo had deftly finished cooking the first dish.
But before he could start on the second, Xiao Wu raised her hand eagerly beside him and announced:
"So this is stir-frying?
"Watching you do it, it doesn't seem hard at all. I think I've got it. Let me try too!"
As she spoke, Xiao Wu leaned forward, her pink eyes brimming with eagerness.
"You're sure?" Lin Mo asked doubtfully.
"Sure, sure."
Xiao Wu nodded excitedly. "What's so hard about it? Watch Sister Xiao Wu make you one of my specialty dishes!"
Hearing her, Lin Mo stopped what he was doing and untied his apron.
He walked behind Xiao Wu and slipped the apron strings around her waist.
Xiao Wu helpfully raised her arms a little so he could tie the strings behind her.
Their movements were surprisingly in sync.
Once he had tied the strings, he straightened the edge of the apron, then stepped back and nodded with satisfaction.
But just before Xiao Wu reached the stove to start cooking, Lin Mo asked one last question, out of caution.
"Xiao Wu, there's something I want to ask. Have you ever cooked before?"
"Nope. Why?" Xiao Wu replied, still in high spirits.
She was waving the spatula around in her hand, and she certainly looked the part.
Lin Mo instinctively raised a hand to his forehead, looking utterly helpless. "In that case, just make a little the first time. Don't make too much."
His voice carried the helplessness of someone who could already see how this would end.
"Okay." Xiao Wu nodded.
Though she agreed readily enough, she showed no intention of holding back.
Without even trying to tell the ingredients apart, she dumped all the vegetables Lin Mo had chopped into the wok at once.
But not long after adding them, a puzzled expression appeared on Xiao Wu's face.
She picked up a little clay jar and began inspecting it.
This must be a seasoning. Lin Mo used this one just now, I think.
She scooped up a little of the powder with a small spoon and sprinkled it into the wok.
Wait, that's not right. I think Lin Mo used a different one.
Confusion flashed in Xiao Wu's pink eyes.
The stuff in the two jars looked so much alike—both were white powders. There was no way to tell them apart.
Ah, whatever. They look almost the same, so they probably taste almost the same too. Might as well add them all.
A smile spread across Xiao Wu's face at the thought.
She threw herself into it completely, scooping a spoonful from this jar, then a spoonful from that one, faster and faster.
By the end, she had taken turns adding a little from all five or six seasoning jars on the stove.
After adding each seasoning, she even gave the food a few serious stirs with the spatula.
The food in the wok had turned an indescribable color, red, black, and brown all mixed together.
Unnoticed by Xiao Wu, Lin Mo had watched the entire process from behind her. His face had long since settled into an utterly defeated expression.
Xiao Wu really hadn't been lying. She had never cooked before, and she couldn't even recognize all the seasonings.
Lin Mo started to open his mouth to offer a few reminders, but when he saw how happy Xiao Wu looked, he couldn't bring himself to spoil the mood.
Now he regretted it more than anything. He wished he'd stopped her earlier.
Xiao Wu stirred the food with great focus, the spatula flying around the wok. From time to time, she even copied the way Lin Mo had tossed the food with a forceful flick.
But whether she was using too much force or simply wasn't used to the spatula, several leaves flew over the rim of the wok and landed on the stove with a smack.
Before long, Xiao Wu had successfully finished her first plate of food.
Then she scooped the stir-fried food out of the wok and onto a plate.
If you could even call it food.
Xiao Wu carried the plate over to Lin Mo, holding it in both hands. She tipped her face up toward him, her eyes sparkling.
She looked like she was asking, "Aren't I amazing? Hurry up and praise me!"
Lin Mo lowered his gaze to the plate. His pupils shrank.
The indescribable heap on the plate was almost impossible to identify by its ingredients.
The few bits of green leaf that could still just barely be recognized had been stir-fried beyond all hope.
There were even undissolved grains of salt and Sichuan pepper powder stuck all over them.
As far as Lin Mo was concerned, if you ignored the taste and judged it purely by appearance, Xiao Wu's dish could hold its own against the egg fried rice made by Red Wolf that he'd seen before.
A proper dark-cuisine monstrosity!
Looking at the plate in front of him, Lin Mo's hand trembled as he held his chopsticks.
He hadn't even tried it yet, but he could already feel his stomach protesting in advance.
But Xiao Wu was staring right at him with eyes full of expectation, and Lin Mo couldn't bring himself to refuse.
"Hurry up and try it!" Xiao Wu urged, her smile growing brighter. "It's the first dish Sister Xiao Wu has ever made!"
Hearing that, Lin Mo shut his eyes and steeled himself. He picked up a piece and put it into his mouth, then swallowed it without chewing.
Feeling his stomach protest, he finally let the last hope in his heart die.
"I think I just saw my great-grandma..."