Chapter 418: Between Men

Chapter 418: Chapter 418: Between Men

When Guan Shan entered the east room, Ji Huan was sitting in an armchair, rolling her neck, her hair already let down.

Guan Shan’s gaze fell on the ends of her hair, which were now noticeably shorter, and he stopped in his tracks.

Ji Huan straightened up and looked back. "Yes?"

Guan Shan’s gaze traveled up to her face, seeing how she was forcing herself to look energetic.

He had seen her constantly pounding her lower back while skimming the fat off the broth. Needless to say, she must be utterly exhausted today.

"I thought you said we were doing this tomorrow."

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken Dabao to the back hills. And even if they had gone, they wouldn’t have stayed out so long.

"I was home alone with nothing to do, so I figured I’d start prepping the ingredients. But then Aunt Xie and my cousin happened to stop by, and suddenly I had two extra pairs of hands. We just went ahead and did all the braising... The sooner it’s cooked, the sooner we can sell it."

In any case, having Widow Xie and Ji Xuelan helping out was much better than just having Guan Shan as a helper the next day.

Guan Shan was silent for a moment. Without a word, his gaze fell on her shoulders.

Ji Huan understood immediately.

’She remembered his shoulder massage from last time. It had actually felt pretty good.’

But...

She shook her head and raised her right arm, flexing her bicep.

"No need. I’m not tired, I can manage."

Guan Shan scrutinized her expression, his lips slowly pressing into a thin line.

The moment he left, Ji Huan collapsed back into the armchair as if all the air had been let out of her, sighing without a care for her image.

’How could I not be tired? I’m dead tired...’

After sitting there for a while, she guessed Dabao must be asleep. She found some liniment for bruises in the medicine chest, picked up the oil lamp, and tiptoed into the west room.

Dabao was fast asleep, his breathing even and his little face flushed and rosy.

Ji Huan placed the oil lamp on the low table, lifted the covers, and rolled up the sleeve of his tunic past his elbow. Sure enough...

There were several marks on his arm, some turning blue, others purple. The skin on his wrist was broken, with faint traces of blood welling up. ’He must have taken a hard fall.’

She took his other arm and rolled up the sleeve. It was the same story.

His legs were no better. There were bruises on his left leg, and his right knee was swollen.

On an adult, or even on herself, these injuries would have been nothing.

But on Dabao’s tender, pale skin, they looked shockingly severe.

Ji Huan’s heart clenched at the sight.

At the same time, she couldn’t help but laugh at herself. ’I really have been away from my old profession for too long. I’m about to lose the basic composure of a healer.’

’But it’s no wonder. Those days feel so far away...’

Pushing aside the jumble of thoughts in her head, Ji Huan took out a cotton ball and carefully applied the liniment to his injuries.

When she dabbed the broken skin on his wrist, she woke him up, despite being as gentle as possible.

Dabao opened his drowsy eyes and looked at her in a daze.

After a moment, he called out groggily, "Sister."

"You’re awake. Does it hurt?"

Dabao blinked. "It doesn’t hurt."

’The little guy has learned to lie,’ she thought. ’I distinctly heard him hiss before he woke up.’

Once she finished applying the liniment, she rolled down his sleeves and pant legs and set the bottle aside.

Ji Huan freed her hands and gently squeezed Dabao’s cheeks.

’How long has he been training with Guan Shan? His chubby little cheeks are gone again.’

"Dabao, are you mad at me?"

Dabao shook his head.

Ji Huan chuckled. "Do you even know what I’m asking before you shake your head?"

Dabao looked at her with his big, dark eyes. "I’m not mad about anything."

A bittersweet warmth filled Ji Huan’s heart. She pulled him, blanket and all, into a big bear hug.

"Dabao, tell me the truth. Is it really hard?"

When he first started training with Guan Shan—practicing horse stance, running, and punching—there were a couple of times when Dabao must have been unable to bear it. He had run back to hug her legs, saying nothing, his watery eyes lodging a silent complaint.

But to avoid spoiling him, Ji Huan had forced herself to look away, steeling her heart as she watched him leave, his face crestfallen with disappointment, to repeat the process of falling and getting up, again and again.

After that, Dabao never came to her to complain again. She didn’t know if he had simply grown accustomed to the hardship, or if he had lost all faith in his sister.

’Does he think I’ve ganged up with an outsider to torment him? That I don’t love him anymore?’

Ji Huan’s mind often ran wild with such thoughts, but she always managed to suppress them.

...Until Guan Shan’s training regimen grew more and more intense, and Dabao started getting injured more and more frequently.

Tonight, however, Ji Huan couldn’t help but reflect on whether it was truly necessary for a child of just over six to endure such hardship.

’Maybe we could wait another two years? Starting at eight wouldn’t be too late, would it?’

At this thought, Ji Huan said, "Dabao, if it hurts too much and you don’t want to train anymore, I can go talk to Guan Shan. I’ll ask him to..."

But to her surprise, Dabao shook his head furiously.

"I want to keep learning! I want to get strong!"

"But you’re already very impressive. You can write so many words, and you write them so well! You can even recite poems..."

"It’s not enough."

Dabao clenched his right hand into a small fist and shook it in front of Ji Huan.

"I want to make my fists hard and strong. That way, I can chase away bad guys in the future, and you won’t have to worry about me. I’ll be able to protect you..."

These weren’t the kinds of things a small child should be worried about.

Ji Huan frowned. ’What on earth has Guan Shan been teaching him?’

But seeing the determined look on the boy’s face, her heartache was overshadowed by a swelling sense of pride.

"I respect your decision. But you have to promise me not to push yourself too hard. If you ever feel exhausted, or if you’re hurt, just ask Guan Shan for a day off. You can get back to it after you’ve rested and your injuries have healed, alright?"

Dabao’s eyes darted around for a moment before he gave a small nod.

"That’s a good boy. Rome wasn’t built in a day. We’ll take it one step at a time, so there’s no need to rush. Now, get some sleep."

Ji Huan stroked his forehead and tucked him in again before picking up the oil lamp and leaving the west room.

Dabao stared at the closed door. ’I’m not asking for a day off,’ he thought.

’Asking for a day off is like admitting defeat, and I’m not going to admit defeat to *him*.’

’Besides, *he* said this is a contest between men, and we can’t let women know about it.’

’So it’s better if I don’t tell her.’

Xu Laifu hadn’t expected Ji Huan to finish braising everything a day early. Luckily, he and Zhou hadn’t been slacking; they had cleared out the empty storefront the previous afternoon.

There wasn’t time to install shelves, so just as Ji Huan had suggested, they’d bought several long tables and arranged them in an L-shape against the walls.

The braised food would be displayed on the long tables, leaving an open area for them to stand and serve customers.

Manager Hong had been exceptionally generous, sending over the two simple stoves from the cooking competition, iron woks included.

After they arrived at the shop, Guan Shan began carrying the basins of braised food from the cart to the long tables, not letting Ji Huan help.

But Ji Huan couldn’t just stand by idly.

"Set the stove up at the entrance. Pour the braising liquid into the wok and start heating it... Oh, right, the packaging..."

Before Ji Huan could finish, Xu Laifu produced a large basket from behind the counter. It was filled with small, cone-shaped paper rolls.

"There are some pastry boxes lined with oiled paper that don’t get soaked easily, but those will take a few days to arrive. As it happens, the shop had this thicker oiled paper. I figured we could roll it into a cone, put the braised food inside, and then fold the extra part down and tuck it in. It should work in a pinch. What do you think?"

Ji Huan took one to examine it. With no plastic bags, and the boxes not yet available, this was indeed an excellent alternative.

Looking at the huge basket, she knew without asking that he and Zhou must have been up late last night making them.

"This is great. You’ve worked hard."

As the sky brightened, the pot of braising liquid came to a boil.

Ji Huan selected some of the items that could withstand further simmering and added them to the pot. Then she returned to the long table and laid out the clean plates in a row.

She took a pig’s ear from a basin, placed it on a cutting board, and deftly sliced it into strips. Next came pig’s tongue, eggs, and pressed tofu. She sliced what needed slicing and chopped what needed chopping, then immediately began to arrange the platters.

First, she lined the bottom of a plate with eight slices of pressed tofu. Then, she arranged eight strips of pig’s ear, eight slices of duck gizzard, four pieces of duck neck, four duck feet, and a helping of duck intestines in a circle on top.

Braised eggs, cut into wedges like a watermelon, were placed around the very edge.

She drizzled a little of the hot braising liquid over it, then placed a small saucer of minced garlic and vinegar in the empty center.

And with that, a braised platter was complete.

Anticipating a busy day, Guan Shan didn’t go to the back courtyard. Instead, wearing his conical bamboo hat, he stayed to help Ji Huan.

Ji Huan had the three men present wash their hands and use her creation as a model to assemble several more platters.

She, in the meantime, started on the next combination.

Again, she started with a base of pressed tofu. On top, she arranged pig’s tongue, duck liver, duck head, duck intestines, and chicken wing tips. Sliced braised tofu formed the outer ring, with the customary dish of garlic and vinegar in the center.

There were only so many ingredients in total, so she had to do her best to mix and match them to create as many different arrangements as possible.

By the time she was nearly finished, the street outside had grown busier with pedestrians.

Seeing that the time was right, Xu Laifu took a string of firecrackers outside and lit it.

Amidst the CRACKLE and POP of the firecrackers, the braised food stall was officially open for business.