Chapter 427: Tired of Living
Xia Yu looked in the direction pointed by Wang Gui and found a huge basket of green onions: “Do they all need to be chopped into scallions?” “Right, chop them all.”
Well, since Uncle Wang said so, Xia Yu had no choice but to prepare to work.
The green onions were already washed and damp, just sitting there, which was perfect for Xia Yu to start cutting without needing to wash them again. She wasn’t exactly a pro at chatting with strangers, so she’d figured it was best to just handle things on her own.
Like now, she went to find her own stool and even retrieved a big stainless steel bowl for later use before officially starting to chop the onions.
Snip snip～snip snip snip～snip snip snippity snip～…
These were just the basics. Xia Yu quickly got into the groove after only a few practice cuts; the kn*fe danced on the cutting board, making a rhythm that could make a music producer jealous.
Slowly, Wang Gui, who was focused on his own work, noticed Xia Yu’s actions. To his surprise, the little girl packed quite a punch—her scallion chopping was impressive!
Curiosity piqued, he stopped what he was doing and walked over to check: “Have you practiced?” “Yeah.”
Xia Yu thought her dad had shared her skills with everyone, but it turned out some people, like Uncle Wang, were from another village and didn’t know.
Xia Yu was fast; a whole bunch of green onions turned into scallions in just a few seconds. Most of her time was spent hopping off her stool to grab more onions.
Seeing this, Wang Gui moved the basket onto the countertop for her: “Make sure to eat a bit more at lunch, okay? You need it to grow tall.”
Having witnessed Xia Yu’s skills, Wang Gui’s attitude toward her improved significantly, especially with how cute she was; it was hard not to like her. “Okay.”
Xia Yu remained her usual self—no matter whether people treated her well or poorly, she had that “whatever” attitude, just wanting to get the job done and have some rest.
And so, Wang Gui returned to his spot to continue slicing and dicing, tackling the tougher jobs, like chopping roasted duck and cutting steamed chicken. Before long, Xia Yu had finished with the scallions.
With nothing else to do, she approached Wang Gui again: “What’s next?” “Can you cut roasted duck?”
Saying that, Wang Gui pulled out an entire roasted duck and placed it on the cutting board. If she said she couldn’t, he was ready to teach the little girl. But since Xia Yu mentioned she had practiced, he felt the chances of her not knowing were slim.
Sure enough, Xia Yu nodded: “I can.”
“Then give it a go.”
Wang Gui wasn’t surprised; he just handed her the duck, wiped his hands, and planned to watch how she cut it. If she messed up, he could offer pointers.
Xia Yu saw Wang Gui’s intentions but didn’t say anything. She took the duck back to her spot and got right to work.
Having warmed up while chopping scallions earlier, she didn’t need to concentrate too much; after all, she had chopped plenty before. Her skill was off the charts! Thwack thwack thwack–
She cut with precision, wrangling every piece expertly, knowing exactly what to keep and what to trim without any need for guidance—even Wang Gui thought she was better at it than him!
Well, now he felt a bit like he was slacking off. He didn’t dare question Xia Yu’s skills anymore and regarded her as a true partner. Before long, she found a plate and neatly arranged the chopped duck; the task was complete.
“Impressive.”
Wang Gui smiled and praised her again—after all, she was someone else’s child: “Since you’re so talented, let’s wrap up the rest of the tasks, so you won’t have to keep bothering me.”
Then he pointed to a pile of foam boxes: “Those contain the roasted ducks from this morning. Let’s work together to chop everything quickly; the steamed chicken is already outside cooking. We need to finish chopping all the duck before it’s done, and then we still have fish, squid, pork, chives, and chilies to cut…”
Oh boy, hearing they had to chop so much made Xia Yu feel a bit overwhelmed: “We’re cutting all this with just the two of us? Why not get more people?”
Seeing her adorable pout, Wang Gui laughed heartily: “They all have their own tasks. Otherwise, why would we get up so early to work? Hurry up; let’s aim to finish and eat by two o’clock!”
Xia Yu: “…”
To save Xia Yu from running around and wasting time, Wang Gui moved three boxes of roasted duck next to her stool:
This way, grabbing the duck would be much easier: “Alright, let’s get to it.”
Xia Yu: “…”
As Wang Gui got back to work, Xia Yu grabbed another roasted duck and resumed chopping.
In the meantime, other adults popped in to grab things; this place was a public kitchen after all, and lots of items were stored here.
When the adults saw the little girl expertly chopping the roasted duck, they couldn’t help but look at her with newfound respect. So this was the second child of the Xia Hong family? She looked a bit feminine, but who knew she had such skills?
Meanwhile, in another room, Jiang Hanhang, who had finally slept enough in Xia Ling’s arms, groggily opened her eyes. She checked her phone; it was only ten o’clock…
Ah, the bliss of not having to wake up early! Jiang Hanhang put down her phone and glanced at Xia Ling, still asleep. Her mischievous side stirred again in delight. Without much hesitation, she quickly coaxed herself and leaned her little face toward Xia Ling’s.
Of course, it wasn’t just a simple face-to-face touch; instead, Jiang Hanhang bit Xia Ling’s tender face and… sucked. “Hanhang, what in the world are you doing?!”
As expected, Jiang Hanhang’s antics woke Xia Ling up, her face soaked from the unexpected assault. It was hard to think she’d sleep again after that! “Hehe, Little Ling, face-to-face～”
Jiang Hanhang disregarded all shame; after all, it was just the two of them, and now that Xia Ling was awake, she couldn’t smother her playful spirit.
Saying this, Jiang Hanhang lunged at Xia Ling again, as if plotting some kind of cute revenge.
Xia Ling: “Ugh, I’m so tired of living.”
