Chapter 7: Cooking

Arriving at the town, Cao Xi wandered around the city alone, under the pretense of familiarizing herself with the environment.

The street was quiet in the early morning, with only a few people moving about.

When people saw Cao Xi, they instinctively avoided her, and those who didn’t, muttered a few harsh words.

A young man with a sweaty face, holding onto an elderly woman, said, “Grandma Cai, hurry up, my wife’s giving birth, her water’s already broken.”

Cao Xi watched with great interest, and after a while, casually wandered off to the market.

The farmers had already started setting up their stalls. Upon seeing the old man who had sold her vegetables yesterday, Cao Xi proactively greeted him, “Good morning, Grandpa! Your vegetables are really fresh today. I’m sure you’ll get a good price.”

The old man merely glanced up, then returned to his work without acknowledging her.

Cao Xi touched her nose and decided not to say anything further, continuing her walk.

More and more people arrived to buy vegetables, and Cao Xi moved through the crowd.

“Good woman…”

As Cao Xi began to speak, she was suddenly kicked hard in the stomach. She stumbled and fell backwards to the ground.

“You damn beggar, you blind fool, who do you think you are, coming so close to me?”

A heavyset woman glared at Cao Xi, her anger growing as she shouted, then raised her foot to kick Cao Xi, who was still lying on the ground.

Cao Xi rolled to the side, avoiding the kick. The woman, caught by her own momentum, fell flat on the ground, causing the surrounding crowd to burst into laughter. Cao Xi took the opportunity to escape from the market.

Holding her stomach, Cao Xi changed direction and headed towards a jewelry shop, then a pastry shop, an inn, and a restaurant. However, none of them seemed ideal.

The better places were all taken over by other beggars, and Cao Xi couldn’t step foot in them.

Just as Cao Xi was unsure of what to do, she spotted the midwife from earlier, the one she had briefly seen in the morning. The midwife was holding a basket covered in cloth, smiling.

Cao Xi suddenly had an idea and quickly approached her. “Goddess of Childbirth, are you the Goddess of Childbirth?”

No matter who it was, being called the Goddess of Childbirth would make anyone happy, especially a midwife.

Cao Xi’s few words made the midwife smile brightly.

Normally, she disliked beggars and would go out of her way to avoid them, never giving a single coin or even a grain of rice.

“Little beggar, why did you call me the Goddess of Childbirth?”

The midwife had a good day’s earnings, and Cao Xi’s words were pleasant to hear. This made her change her usual way of acting, stopping to ask Cao Xi a few questions.

“Because I saw that your face has a resemblance to the Goddess of Childbirth in the temple, and I’m sure you bring hope to every family.”

The midwife was momentarily stunned. She had never thought of her work as something that brought hope to others.

After a bit of thought, she realized that indeed, it did bring hope. Suddenly, she felt that her profession was quite noble. Before leaving, she gave Cao Xi three copper coins and two eggs.

Cao Xi took them, watching the midwife leave, and muttered to herself, “Seems like wandering around does have its benefits.”

Cao Xi sat back down in the corner, continuing to observe the jewelry shop and the pastry shop. She saw her targets slowly rising.

No matter what the outcome, it was best to start first. After two hours, Cao Xi had earned thirty-five copper coins.

With the ten copper coins from the morning, her total earnings far exceeded the first day’s.

Before the sun set, Cao Xi, along with Li Feng and the others, went to the vegetable market to collect some vegetables.

That evening, as they returned to the temple, Qin Zhao was waiting by the door for Cao Xi, just like yesterday.

Cao Xi said, “Qin Zhao, I’m back. Today, I’ve brought you something delicious.”

When Qin Zhao saw Cao Xi take out the vegetables and two steamed buns, his stomach began to growl.

Cao Xi laughed a little, “You’re hungry already? Didn’t you eat lunch?”

Qin Zhao felt a bit embarrassed. “There’s just one multigrain pancake left. I was waiting to eat it with you.”

Cao Xi was both angry and touched. “So you haven’t eaten all day?”

Qin Zhao quickly shook his head. “No, I picked some wild vegetables to eat.”

He then placed the wild vegetables he had prepared today in front of Cao Xi. “There’s still some left; we can eat it together.”

Cao Xi felt a little emotional. He really was such a warm-hearted little one. She thought to herself, “I need to figure out a way to make money. I can’t let him keep living like this.”

She had promised to teach Li Feng and the others how to cook, so they had gone out to gather firewood and vegetable stalks.

Taking advantage of the fact that everyone was out, Cao Xi took out the eggs and pastries from her arms. She handed the pastries directly to Qin Zhao.

“Osmanthus cake,” she said.

Qin Zhao’s eyes lit up as he happily took the cake.

“Let’s fill our stomachs first,” Qin Zhao said, clearly someone who had lived comfortably before, as he instantly recognized what kind of pastry this was.

Qin Zhao broke the osmanthus cake in half, giving one half to Cao Xi, and kept the other half for himself, eating it in small bites.

What was originally half a cake, now seemed even smaller after being broken in two—almost just a bite-sized portion.

“Have you eaten yet?”

Cao Xi, with the soul of an adult, couldn’t bring herself to take food from a hungry child.

Qin Zhao blinked his big eyes, looking puzzled, and asked, “Why? The osmanthus cake is really delicious.”

Cao Xi smiled, “I specially saved this for you. Hurry up and eat it. If Xiao Rui sees, she’ll definitely want some.”

Qin Zhao couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else taking his food, so he immediately sped up his eating.

With a satisfied smile, Cao Xi watched him eat, realizing that the osmanthus cake she had saved tasted even better than the ones she had eaten herself.

While enjoying the cake, Qin Zhao’s eyes kept darting toward Cao Xi, who was carefully wrapping the eggs in clay and then placing them in the earthen stove.

Qin Zhao asked, “What are you doing?”

Cao Xi explained, “Our bowls are too small to cook the eggs properly, so I’m using the fire to cook them instead.”

Li Feng and the others had gathered a lot of dry branches and vegetable stalks. Cao Xi taught them how to build earthen stoves, and the six of them managed to set up three stoves.

They followed Cao Xi’s example, placing vegetables into bowls, and then pouring the leftover rice into the bowls as well.

Although there were no seasonings, the portion sizes were better, and they finally got to eat hot, steaming food. Everyone was very satisfied.

Cao Xi and Qin Zhao finished the remaining multigrain pancake, leaving the steamed buns for Qin Zhao to eat the next day.

Once the fire died down, Cao Xi took the eggs out, knocked off the dirt, and peeled them to reveal the soft, white eggs inside, making Qin Zhao swallow his saliva.

Cao Xi handed the egg to Qin Zhao. “Eat slowly, don’t burn yourself.”

Qin Zhao and Cao Xi ate their eggs slowly, and Li Feng and the others couldn’t help but stare, their mouths watering. It had been a long time since they had eaten eggs.

Li Feng, enviously, said, “Cao Xi, you’re amazing. The things you find are always better than ours.”

“You’re amazing too,” Cao Xi replied.

Li Feng truly was remarkable. Every night when he returned, he would huddle in a corner and weave things. His grass weaving was so skillful that the animals he made looked almost lifelike.

Cao Xi asked, “Li Ge, you’re almost thirteen. Have you thought about what you want to do in the future?”

Li Feng replied, “I’ve thought about it. Next year, I won’t be eating with everyone anymore.”

When Shui Niu heard that Li Feng might leave next year, he became anxious and asked, “You’re leaving us? What will we do?”

Li Feng’s voice dropped low, “I can’t keep begging for food. Thirteen is already half an adult. I want to do something for myself.”

Cao Xi nodded, “Your thoughts are correct. People aim for higher places, and water flows downhill. It’s good to plan ahead for your future.”

They were still young, and some of them couldn’t fully understand, but they all felt uneasy. They knew that once Li Feng left, they would be like a scattered group of sand, unsure if they could survive on their own.

Seeing the heavy expressions on everyone’s faces, Li Feng explained, “I won’t stop eating with you, I just won’t beg for food anymore. I’m not leaving for good. I’ll still come back to visit you.”

Hearing this, everyone let out a collective sigh of relief. Even though they only lived together, it gave them a sense of security.

Qin Zhao didn’t understand what they were talking about and was solely focused on his egg.

His eyes occasionally darted toward Xiao Rui, afraid she might try to take his food again.

That evening, Cao Xi continued to apply medicine to Qin Zhao.

Time passed bit by bit, and with everyone’s joint effort, the land temple had been well repaired. The temple was no longer messy and disorganized, and they even planted some vegetables in front of it.

During their free time, Cao Xi and Qin Zhao used wooden sticks to make a bed, and everyone else followed suit. The land temple gradually took shape as a modern-style dormitory.

Once Qin Zhao’s foot had healed, he joined the others in begging in the town.

Before each outing, Cao Xi would rub his face with ash to darken it and make him stay close behind her, forbidding him to act alone.

Qin Zhao was too good-looking. Without such precautions, he could easily be abducted by human traffickers.

Qin Zhao always obediently cooperated with Cao Xi. He understood which things were for fun and which things were serious matters that needed to be done.

His intelligence, bravery, wit, and eagerness to learn were innate qualities, and Cao Xi couldn’t help but sigh, realizing how much more remarkable he was compared to others.