Xiao Qi, Wait!

Chapter 8: Qian Xiaoqi, Wait

So that night, there was an additional member gathered at the dinner table – Ha Pi.

Wen Ruoshui's gaze was sparkling as she looked at Ha Pi. She kept wanting to reach over and pet him but Qian Xiaoqi wouldn't allow it.

Qian Xiaoqi kept Ha Pi in the area where she was sitting and even had Lu Liu get a plate especially for Ha Pi. There was finally no red braised pork today; instead, there was an additional plate of roasted chicken*. Xiaoqi picked up a piece of chicken breast with her chopsticks and carried it to Ha Pi's plate. This caused Song Liangzhuo to frown a little.

The term has quite a lot of meanings from 'to burn' to 'to stew' to 'to roast' and etc. Pretty much all the cooking terms that can do with heat. So I wasn't sure which translation to go with and ended up watching a to learn a bit more about it. The narration is in Chinese, and it's rather lol. In the end, I searched up 'Chinese stewed chicken' and 'Chinese roasted chicken' and the latter image fits more. In actual preparation though, the chicken is rinsed with hot water, then with heated sauce, and then hung to dry. Afterward, it gets roasted a little bit in the oven before being taken out and rinsed with increasingly hotter oil and finally dried again.

Xiaoqi aimed a glance at Song Liangzhuo and said with a pout, "Ha Pi doesn't eat that much."

Song Liangzhuo had to force himself a little to nod. Then he said with a deliberating tone, "But it still shouldn't be as luxurious as this. Xiaoqi has seen the beggars on the streets before, have you not?"

Although this was said gently, it still carried a criticizing tone. Qian Xiaoqi lowered her head and starting raking up the rice. From start to finish, she didn't touch that dish of roasted chicken a second time. Ha Pi wouldn't comply with this and kept whining and squeezing forward. Xiaoqi abruptly raked in two mouthfuls of rice, then picked up Ha Pi. "You guys eat, I'm heading back to sleep."

Ha Pi continuously whimpered sadly. Xiaoqi didn't pay attention to their reaction and jumped out of the room in a couple of steps.

"Damned send two tables, would eating a piece of your chicken cause someone to die!?" Xiaoqi pouted as she headed towards Lu Liu's house.

Xiaoqi understood that what Song Liangzhuo said wasn't wrong. There were plenty of people who weren't able to get anything to eat. For poverty-stricken people to eat a meal with meat was already a grand event worthy of celebration. But after Ha Pi was brought back from overseas by Old Master Qian, it had gotten used to living an extravagant life of brocade garments and jade meals. If you have it eat steamed buns and drink pot scrubbing water, it'll definitely lose weight in just a couple days.

Xiaoqi gloomily thought, it's still best to send Ha Pi back in a couple days. If it had to eat poorly and sleep poorly with her, wouldn't it be unbearable to death?!

Lu Liu also felt heartache for Ha Pi who wasn't able to eat his fill and got white flour steamed buns for him. But Ha Pi's tastes were shaped to be picky so he wouldn't even take a sniff at it. Xiaoqi felt grieved as she carried Ha Pi and sneakily slipped into the kitchen.

The kitchen was seriously tidied meticulously! Qian Xiaoqi lifted several pot lids in a row, and in the end, drooped her shoulders in discouragement.

Hardships ah!

Qian Xiaoqi rubbed her own empty stomach and as she glanced at the whining Ha Pi in her arms, sorrow from the feeling that all the good things in the world were already no longer available to her swept over her. Qian Xiaoqi hugged Ha Pi and nestled in the corner of the kitchen for a while before clenching her teeth and standing up resolutely. Giving a humph, she said, "If you don't let me eat do you think it means I can't buy it myself?"