Time to eat, time to eat

Ge Zhou stormed ahead while Ge Qing followed behind, apologizing meekly. "Don't be angry. I didn't mean to."

Ge Zhou said nothing and kept walking. Even after they reached the courtyard, everyone could still hear Ge Qing apologizing.

"What's wrong, Zhouzhou?" Lu Yu ran over and asked what everyone was thinking.

Zhouzhou didn't want to talk, so Lu Yu ran over to Ge Qing instead. "Ge Qing, what did you do to upset Zhouzhou?"

Ge Qing began, "I just didn't tell him..."

Ge Zhou shot him an angry look, and Ge Qing didn't dare say another word.

He still has the nerve to say it! I'm so mad!

It had all started just after the two of them finished feeding the pigs. Seeing that there wasn't much water left in the basin, they added some more.

Once everything was done, the owner still hadn't returned, so they waited in the courtyard for her to come home.

With a creak, the owner returned, and the two of them hurriedly stood up.

She was a middle-aged woman. Seeing that they had fed both the pigs and the chickens, she smiled and said, "Thank you both. Thanks for all your hard work."

Ge Qing waved his hands, saying it was no trouble. To his surprise, the woman looked at Ge Zhou and said, "How can you say that? Look at this poor boy. He's even got flour on his face."

Ge Zhou looked incredulous. "What did you say, ma'am?"

"Haha, didn't you notice? There's a little flour on your face. Come on, let me help you wash it off."

"I can wash it myself, ma'am." Ever since he'd learned how to wash himself, he had done it on his own.

The woman didn't insist. She brought him a basin of warm water and let him wash off to the side.

Ge Zhou stayed calm the whole time. Ge Qing thought he wasn't angry and relaxed. He'd known his little brother wouldn't get angry with him.

After they received their food, Ge Zhou walked ahead without saying a word. Ge Qing felt he might have celebrated too soon and ventured, "That lady was pretty nice, wasn't she? She even gave us a chicken."

Ge Zhou didn't reply. No matter what Ge Qing said after that, he remained silent. Only then did Ge Qing realize that his little brother really seemed to be angry.

He kept trying to find things to talk about and apologizing, but Ge Zhou still wouldn't speak to him.

"Ah." Ge Qing sighed. He had wanted to tell Lu Yu and ask him to plead his case, but that option was gone too.

"Zhouzhou won't let me tell you."

"Then you must have done something bad to Zhouzhou. You have to get him to forgive you." Feifei and Tiantian gathered around and nodded. Anything that made Zhouzhou this angry had to be serious.

It's not really anything serious, Ge Zhou thought. But we're filming a show, and he knew and didn't remind me. I embarrassed myself.

He had his pride too. He needed to make his big brother understand how serious this was.

Surrounded by the little kids, Ge Qing said wearily, "I know, I know. I'll make sure Zhouzhou forgives me."

But the priority was cooking. He was starving, so winning the kid over would have to wait.

The four adults gathered together, and as the only one who knew how to cook, Shen Zeyu took on the responsibility.

He looked over the ingredients. "Does anyone have any dietary restrictions?"

Everyone said they had none and could eat anything, putting Shen Zeyu at ease.

"Then I'll make braised chicken, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, stir-fried cabbage with vinegar, greens soup, eggplant in bean sauce, and stir-fry some cured pork and sausage."

He planned to make a little of each dish so they would still have some left for tomorrow.

Just thinking about it sounded delicious, and everyone nodded eagerly.

"But," Shen Zeyu said awkwardly, "I don't know how to slaughter a chicken." He had only ever cooked chicken before, never slaughtered one.

"I can do that," Chen Ran said.

"That's a relief." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Otherwise, they would have had to find someone to help slaughter the chicken.

They divided up the work. Chen Ran went to slaughter the chicken, Zi Yiting and Ge Qing prepared the vegetables, and Shen Zeyu tended the fire inside.

The children played in the courtyard, sharing what they had done that day.

Fortunately, the production crew had prepared the seasonings, rice, and other essentials, or they would have had even more work to do.

Zi Yiting looked at the vegetables Ge Qing was trimming and laughed. "Qing, that's not how you trim vegetables." He had stripped them down to little more than stalks, with almost no leaves left.

Ge Qing was a little embarrassed. He really didn't know how, so he asked, "Yiting, how should I do it?"

Zi Yiting explained patiently, "Look, if there's dirt on them, shake it off. You can remove any yellowed parts. If the rest looks fine, just wash it."

The vegetables here were actually fresh and green, with hardly anything that needed trimming. Most only needed a rinse in clean water.

Ge Qing smiled. "Got it, got it. Thanks."

Zi Yiting told him it was no problem. Young people rarely cooked for themselves these days, so it was perfectly normal not to know how.

Chen Ran hadn't finished preparing the chicken yet, so Shen Zeyu decided to make the scrambled eggs with tomatoes and eggplant in bean sauce first.

Once the children finished chatting, they all ran over to watch Shen Zeyu.

"Papa, what can we do?" Lu Yu asked.

Shen Zeyu looked over and found them all watching him expectantly, even Ge Zhou.

Shen Zeyu thought for a moment. "Zhouzhou, do you know how to crack eggs?"

Ge Zhou nodded. "Then Zhouzhou and Yuyu can crack these eggs into a bowl and beat them. Tiantian and Feifei, help me watch the fire. If it gets too low, just move the sticks around a little."

The four children nodded and set to work. Shen Zeyu reminded Tiantian and Feifei, "Just sit beside it and watch the fire. Don't get too close."

The two girls both said they understood.

By the time Shen Zeyu finished the two dishes, Chen Ran had finished preparing the chicken and chopped it into pieces. Shen Zeyu only had to cook it, which made things much easier.

Shen Zeyu praised the four children again and told them to wait for the meal, which would be ready soon. Happy to have helped, all four went outside.

Chen Ran stayed in the kitchen to help Shen Zeyu, while the other two adults were outside too.

When the aroma of the food drifted out, the children ran to the kitchen doorway and gazed inside eagerly.

Seeing them, Chen Ran laughed as he helped out. "It's almost ready. Just wait a little longer."

Tiantian sniffed. "Daddy, it smells so good." It wasn't just the children—even Ge Qing and Zi Yiting were looking toward the kitchen.

Chen Ran called to them, "Then come carry the finished dishes outside." The smell was getting to him too.

By the time Shen Zeyu brought out the braised chicken, all the dishes were ready.

Everyone looked at the food and showered Shen Zeyu with praise, making him blush.

"You haven't even tasted it yet," Shen Zeyu said.

Everyone said they could tell it was delicious just from how it looked and smelled. They didn't need to taste it before praising it; every dish had their mouths watering.

Seeing that nobody was starting, Shen Zeyu said, "Let's dig in, then."

"Shen, you take the first bite. You're the chef, after all," Zi Yiting said.

"All right, don't mind if I do."

Only after Shen Zeyu started eating did everyone else dig in.