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"Why have scallions gone up to fifty cents a jin? They were forty-five cents yesterday! You're charging way too much..."

"Pork loin is seven yuan a jin? Forget it. Weigh me half a jin of fatty pork and grind it into filling. I'm going home to make dumplings..."

Huo Baichuan covered his nose as he asked Tao Yan, "Where can we buy wheat starch? Let's get the Liangpi and leave already. The air here is so fresh I can't take it."

Tao Yan was having a hard time adapting too. Dragging Huo Baichuan through the crowd amid the deafening cries of vendors, he bought half a bag of wheat starch, ten jin of cucumbers, two jin of bean sprouts, and all the necessary seasonings. When they passed a braised meat shop, Huo Baichuan suddenly stopped and hinted to Tao Yan, "Shouldn't Liangpi be paired with Roujiamo?"

Tao Yan silently gave Huo Baichuan several looks. Then the two of them returned to the market carrying armfuls of bags and bought two front pork knuckles, along with Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, dried tangerine peel, rock sugar, and other ingredients for braising meat.

"With more than ten kids, plus the director and volunteers, this should be enough, right?" Huo Baichuan held the heavy ingredients in his arms, thoroughly satisfied. Prices really were cheap in the nineties. All this had cost less than fifty yuan.

They still had more than ten yuan left. After thinking it over, Tao Yan simply bought another half bag of potatoes. They could fry Tiger-Tooth Potatoes for everyone as an after-meal treat.

"There's no way we can finish so many potatoes. Make me potato pancakes for breakfast tomorrow!" Huo Baichuan shamelessly pushed his luck, then added, "We can always earn more money when it's gone. Worst case, we'll leave Lotus District and go somewhere farther away to perform tomorrow."

Tao Yan looked at Huo Baichuan with slight speechlessness. Young Master Huo was getting addicted to busking.

When the two returned to the orphanage, it was exactly two in the afternoon—the hottest part of the day. Huo Baichuan was so hot he nearly stuck out his tongue. "If I'd known, I would've bought fewer potatoes and gotten a watermelon instead. Chill it in cool water, and it would've been incredible."

Tao Yan smiled. "We have cucumbers. You can chill those in cool water. They're more thirst-quenching than watermelon."

The old director and several volunteers sat in the shade downstairs, washing the children's clothes while cooling off and chatting. Seeing the two return with armfuls of bags, they all looked surprised. "Why did you buy so much?"

"Where did you get so much money?"

Huo Baichuan was confused as well. "Didn't the neighbors come over to visit?"

The old director looked blank. "Visit for what?"

Then realization struck him, and he looked at Tao Yan and Huo Baichuan with amused eyes. "What did you two do this time?"

Huo Baichuan and Tao Yan exchanged a glance. Tao Yan immediately said, "I'll take these to the kitchen first. We're having Liangpi, Roujiamo, and Tiger-Tooth Potatoes tonight."

The volunteers looked at one another. They instinctively rose to help Tao Yan and Huo Baichuan carry the groceries.

The old director asked helplessly, "What's Liangpi? And you two know how to cook?"

"Not only can Tao Yan cook, he cooks amazingly well." Hearing that, Huo Baichuan immediately began bragging. "The best food I've ever had in my life was made by Tao Yan. He's usually very busy, though, so he rarely cooks."

The old director looked at the smug Huo Baichuan and asked with a smile, "You remembered again?"

Huo Baichuan, who had been claiming amnesia for the past few days, immediately fell silent.

Tao Yan and the volunteer teachers carried the ingredients into the kitchen. Looking at the overly primitive earthen stove in the corner, Tao Yan found himself at a loss.

The orphanage kitchen was an old-fashioned large kitchen with two stoves, both of which needed firewood. One pot was used for cooking rice and the other for preparing dishes. Let alone rice cookers or natural gas, there was not even a gas cylinder in the kitchen.

Having never used such primitive cooking equipment, Tao Yan was at a complete loss.

Fortunately, after graduating, Huo Baichuan had become hopelessly obsessed with adventure. His years of life in the wilderness had taught him quite a few survival skills, and making fire was one of them.

"Forget having matches here—even without them, I could start a fire for you by rubbing sticks together!" Huo Baichuan sat beside the stove and bragged to Tao Yan before he had even gotten a flame going.

Tao Yan stood behind Huo Baichuan with his arms crossed. After Huo Baichuan fiddled around for a while, no fire appeared. Instead, thick black smoke billowed out of the stove opening, choking them both into coughing.

Tao Yan was the first to retreat from the kitchen. Huo Baichuan followed right after him. His handsome face had been smoked pitch-black, leaving only a mouthful of bright white teeth visible.

"...Cough, cough... Could this firewood have gotten damp from sitting around too long?" Huo Baichuan coughed as he shifted the blame. "Summer's humid. That must be it."

Tao Yan did not even want to dignify him with a response. "Didn't you notice whether it was damp when you touched it before lighting it?"

Huo Baichuan was rendered speechless, though he still looked unconvinced.

One of the volunteer aunties could not help laughing as she explained, "Starting a fire in a stove isn't the same as starting one outdoors. Outside, there's good ventilation, so the firewood catches easily. But inside the firebox, you can't do it that way. You need to leave space for air, or the wood won't burn properly."

Tao Yan shot Huo Baichuan a sidelong glance.

Huo Baichuan's handsome face reddened slightly. "What are you looking at me for? I've never lit a stove before. It's understandable that I didn't know. You don't know how to start one either!"

Tao Yan raised a brow and deliberately asked, "You can start one? How many can you start?"

Huo Baichuan glared at Tao Yan indignantly. "I can make you have a hundred!"

Seeing Young Master Huo fly into a rage out of embarrassment, Tao Yan stopped teasing him.

The volunteer auntie held back her laughter as she handed Young Master Huo a wet towel to wipe his face with. "I'll go check the kitchen and help you get the fire started," she muttered.

A few minutes later, the volunteer auntie came back out with a smile. "The fire's going. Is there anything else Auntie can help with?"

Tao Yan smiled. "I need to blanch and wash the pork knuckles."

Huo Baichuan picked up the two front pork knuckles and placed them in the large iron pot. Before they bought them, the vendor had already singed off the hairs, so they felt very smooth and still carried a faint aroma of seared meat. Tao Yan poured in two basins of cool water until the knuckles were submerged, then sliced scallions and ginger and tossed them in. He added some white vinegar and cooking wine to remove the gaminess.