Chapter 24: Exploding Kitchen

Song Yiyi couldn’t help wondering if he might already be “marinated through”—summer was just around the corner, after all.

Behind the two of them followed quite a few people, the whole scene looking a bit like an inspection by leadership. Song Yiyi wanted to pretend she didn’t know them and slip away to the side, but before she could lift her foot, Gu Heng called out to her.

“Yiyi.” His tone was warm and familiar.

Song Yiyi had no choice but to turn back, feigning surprise. “Uncle Gu, what are you doing here?”

Gu Heng smiled kindly. “Just taking a casual stroll.”

He rummaged in his jacket pocket for a moment, then pulled out a red paper packet and held it out to her. “Here—what I promised you yesterday.”

Song Yiyi froze for a second before quickly waving her hands. “No, no, Uncle Gu, I can’t take this.”

She had thought that his “meeting gift” yesterday was just a polite formality. Who would’ve thought he actually prepared something? Now it seemed that not only did Gu Chengze look like his father, he had also perfectly inherited his personality.

Gu Heng seemed about to say more, but Cen Yue, standing beside him, spoke first. “If Uncle Gu is giving it to you, just take it.”

Song Yiyi: “…” Couldn’t he keep his mouth shut? Like an eternal block of ice.

Gu Heng moved the red packet a little closer toward her. “Yiyi, take it. This is just a token of my goodwill. You call Chengze your big brother, so technically, I’m also family.”

Coming from Gu Heng, these words didn’t sound pushy at all—he appeared genuinely sincere.

All the people behind him were in military uniforms, and now they were all looking at Song Yiyi. Under so many watchful eyes, she couldn’t very well embarrass him, so she accepted it with both hands. “Thank you, Uncle Gu.”

Gu Heng’s smile deepened, his whole demeanor cultured and gentle. “I’ll be in the compound for a while. One of these days I’ll have Chengze bring you over to visit.”

Song Yiyi nodded. “Alright.”

Gu Heng’s group moved on. Every so often, they would stop to look at something, and the men behind him would bend down slightly to say something to him.

After watching for a bit, Song Yiyi slipped the red packet into her pocket and continued home with her string bag. But she had barely taken a couple of steps when a young man ran out from the team ahead, heading straight toward her.

“Comrade Song Yiyi?”

Still bewildered, Song Yiyi nodded. “Yes.”

The young man held out an oil-paper package. “The commissar asked me to give you this.”

Song Yiyi didn’t want to take it and looked toward the group. Cen Yue giving her something? Could it be poison?

Seeing she wasn’t moving, the young man stuffed it into her arms and turned to run back. “Comrade Song Yiyi, just take it. I can’t fall out of formation.”

The entire time, Cen Yue didn’t so much as glance at her.

Song Yiyi had no choice but to carry the oil-paper package home.

When she opened it, she nearly screamed—it was full of bright red wild strawberries! They weren’t as large as the hybrid strawberries of later generations, but their fragrance was sweet and rich.

She quickly picked one up and popped it into her mouth. Yes—this was the taste! It was like having a pillow handed to her right when she was sleepy. In her heart, she immediately praised Cen Yue a hundred times, and even his icy face seemed to soften.

At home, Song Minghui and Cai Mengjun were taking an afternoon nap, while Song Yiyi busied herself in the kitchen.

Without cream, she decided to whip some up by hand from egg whites. Bread was relatively easy to make—with milk, the current flour and sugar would do, even if the texture wasn’t perfect. Given the times, she wasn’t picky.

She had a lovely vision in mind, but halfway through whipping the egg whites, her thin arms felt like they were about to fall off. She decisively gave up and started with the cake base instead.

The egg whites just needed to be whipped until stiff peaks formed, stiff enough to hold a pair of chopsticks upright. Without an oven, her quick-thinking brain decided to steam it instead.

She mixed egg yolks with flour and milk, then added sugar, folded in the egg whites, heated the pot, poured in the batter, steamed for thirty minutes, and let it sit covered for another seven or eight before opening it.

It was her first time trying this, and her heart was pounding with nervous anticipation.

When she lifted the lid, a perfect sponge cake base appeared before her eyes. She was so excited she jumped in place.

At that moment, Song Minghui and Cai Mengjun woke up. Hearing the commotion, they came into the kitchen.

Rubbing her eyes at the mess, Cai Mengjun asked in disbelief, “Yiyi, are you hungry?”

She’d had half a chicken and two bowls of rice for lunch—if she was hungry again already, that would be a miracle.

Song Yiyi pinched off a piece of the cake base and fed it to her mother, her voice bubbling with excitement. “Mom, try this.”

Cai Mengjun obligingly took a bite. She chewed carefully, then her eyes lit up. “Yiyi, how did you make this steamed bun so sweet and soft?”

Hearing that, Song Minghui came over. “Let me try.”

Song Yiyi handed him a small piece and explained casually, “It’s not a steamed bun—it’s called cake.”

Cai Mengjun thought for a moment. “I’ve had cake before, but wasn’t it white and hard?”

Before marrying Song Minghui, she had lived in the city. Back then, she had been with Gu Heng, and one year when he returned from a mission, he had brought back a red box. He’d told her the thing inside was called cake.

Picking up the basin again, Song Yiyi continued whipping the egg whites. “This is only a half-finished product—you’ll see when I’m done.”

After tasting his piece, Song Minghui glanced at the kitchen, which now looked like it had been hit by an explosion, and frowned. “Just look at this mess. You didn’t even know how to light a fire before—how did you suddenly learn to make cake?”

Still working her arm without pausing, Song Yiyi answered without thinking, “Well, now that I’ve come to the city, I can naturally learn new things.”

Song Minghui didn’t say anything else and turned to leave the kitchen. Suddenly, a light bulb went off in Song Yiyi’s head, and she hurriedly stopped him.

“Dad! Don’t go!”

Before Song Minghui could even speak, Song Yiyi shoved a bowl and four chopsticks into his arms.

“Dad, if you want to eat cake, then help me whip the cream.” She made a gesture with her hands. “Like this, stir hard in a clockwise motion, keep stirring, and use all your strength—like when you were a baby drinking milk!”

Song Minghui felt like kicking her.

Cai Mengjun smiled and said, “I’ll do it.”

In an instant, Song Minghui went quiet, hugging the bowl as he walked out. “I’ll do it. This girl is always thinking of useless things.”

Once they left, Song Yiyi washed the wild strawberries. She set aside enough for the cake and took the rest out to share with Cai Mengjun.

Song Minghui wasn’t keen on eating them, which secretly made Song Yiyi happy. Since Cen Yue had only given her one pack, if her dad didn’t eat, that was one less person competing with her for them!

Gu Chengze, after a long day in the army, came home in the evening. As soon as he opened the door, he heard Song Yiyi’s triumphant laughter from inside.

“Dad! Mom! It’s done! It’s done!”

Followed by Song Minghui’s low roar: “Song Yiyi, what did you take the enamel basin for?! That’s for my chicken soup. The chicken from lunch—your brother hasn’t eaten it yet!”

Song Yiyi came hopping out of the kitchen, holding something in her arms. Out of her father’s line of sight, she stuck out her tongue. “Nyeh nyeh nyeh.”

Song Minghui: “You little brat, get over here!”

Song Yiyi ran faster than a rabbit, her face lit up with a radiant smile. “Old man, come and catch me!”

At that moment, Gu Chengze’s emotions were all over the place.