Monday morning…

When Lu Xinyi arrived at her first class of the day, she found the usual gang set up their seats near the window. Yan Chen and Ye Xieren were arguing again about something about their lesson and Lan Xiaoli sniffed on one side as she watched something on her phone.

This girl… Lu Xinyi wondered why Lan Xiaoli suddenly chose to hang out with them than spend her free time with her classmates. Didn’t she have a friend in her own class?

“Why are you crying?” Lu Xinyi raised a brow and placed her bag on her designated seat before taking a peek on what Lan Xiaoli and Tang Lilou watching on the phone.

“Xin Jie…” Lan Xiaoli sobbed before showing the screen on her phone properly to Lu Xinyi.

In the screen, Lu Xinyi watched a scene between a man and a woman. The man looked like he was in a lot of pain while the woman held him in her lap, crying. Lu Xinyi furrowed her brows. Was it just her, or she didn’t understand why Lan Xiaoli was crying over it?

“Look, Xin Jie, isn’t it romantic? He was stabbed from behind and was dying in her arms. You can see the tears in his eyes as he lost his consciousness.”

Lan Xiaoli continued to cry while Ye Xieren and Yan Chen continued to argue behind her. Lu Xinyi gaped on her before turning her gaze to Tang Lilou who shrugged her shoulders.

“Or maybe he’s really in pain. You know… he probably was crying that his girl chose to cry over him than to bring him to the hospital. It must be fucking painful to be stabbed from behind,” Lu Xinyi said in a matter of fact tone.

The two men stopped arguing to gawk her way. Tang Liang blinked twice as the moment of silence filled their group.

Noticing their shocked reactions, Lu Xinyi arched her brow at them.

“What? I’m just telling what I think from another point of view,” she justified.

It was Ye Xieren who broke the silence as he burst into a fit of laughter. His laugh was so loud that he’d taken some of their classmates’ attention. Tang Liang, who was sitting in the windowsill, shook his head and continued reading his book.

“It’s about fucking time! Finally, a woman who can see the scene in a man’s perspective!” Ye Xieren exclaimed before laughing his ass off over the matter.

“This time, I will agree with Brother Ye,” Yan Chen said as he pushed the bridge of his glasses. “It isn’t a romantic scene at all. Being stabbed must be really painful.”

Tang Lilou giggled beside Lan Xiaoli and patted the other woman’s head.

“See, Sister Lan? Xin Jie understood what I said earlier to you. You should look at another perspective and should categorize what’s romantic from not,” she said.

Lan Xiaoli replayed the scene on her phone. This time, her brows knitted together as she focused her attention on it. What her Xin Jie and Tang Lilou said made sense to her now. She couldn’t believe how shallow she was for finding it romantic at all!

“You are certainly right, Xin Jie.” She sighed. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize it earlier.” ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀ​ꪶ​

“That’s fine, dear. Once you get used to it, you’ll eventually find what’s wrong with this kind of drama series,” Lu Xinyi said. She then turned to Ye Xieren and Yan Chen. “Hey, what were you talking about earlier? Please don’t tell me we have some kind of surprise test today.”

“Nah, we’re just talking about the advanced method against the traditional method of cooking. Yan Chen here was asking me to practice some advanced cooking methods he read from his books.”

“Ohh? Can I see?” Lu Xinyi asked Yan Chen who easily passed her his handwritten notes.

“I’m really interested to try it as our proctors have yet to introduce these cooking methods to us. What do you think, Sister Lu?”

Lu Xinyi’s eyes scanned his notes, and she was impressed with the details and how he organized his notes neatly. How come she never thought of such a brilliant idea of using two different pens for her notes?

“I have tried doing this ‘engastration’ before, and I can tell you, it’s time-consuming. Engastration comes down to deboning each animal you’ll use for your dish, which makes it more pliable, and then using stuffing to replace the structure provided by said bones,” Lu Xinyi said amusedly.

“Ohh, then what about the flavor? Did the natural flavors from each meat contradict each other?” Ye Xieren asked as he leaned on the wall next to Tang Liang.

“No, I don’t think there would be a problem. Usually, the meat in the most inner part of engastration will seep out its juice to mix with the next meat around it. You have to be aware of which herbs and spices work well for each kind of meat.

“For example, Turducken. When sliced, each piece contains portions of chicken, duck, and turkey with stuffing in between the layers. Turducken is not difficult to make, but it is a little time-consuming, so plan on adequate preparation time. The end result is a worthy showstopper if you’ve done the steps properly.”

“Oh, maybe I should start with Turducken then. I haven’t tried making one.” Yan Chen smacked his right fist over his left palm.

“The most difficult part is boning out the birds, but it’s not as hard as it seems.” Ye Xieren agreed.

“Ah, now you agreed to each other?” Tang Liang teased him.

“Shut it, Young Master Tang. You weren’t helping earlier.” Ye Xieren hissed back on him.

“When you go to carve it, you can slice through it like a loaf of bread. In each slice, you get a little bit of everything: white meat from the breast, dark meat from the legs, duck, carrots, bits of sausage, bread, herbs, juices, and chicken, too.”

Lu Xinyi almost drooled on the spot as she remembered the last time she attempted to make a Turducken. Since she also loved bacon, she covered the whole turkey with bacon strips before roasting it. Maybe she should make one again once Shen Xue and Lu Xiulan came back from Country D.

“By the way, have you encountered a problem while doing it?” Ye Xieren pondered. He refused to believe that making Turducken wouldn’t bring him problems.

“Ah, that. One thing about this dish is that the skin of the duck and chicken. When cooked between layers of stuffing, the meat stays rubbery and unappetizing; and it makes cutting clean slices difficult. Best to remove the skin and use the meat only. However, you have to remember that keeping the skin intact will also make sure your dish wouldn’t lose its moisture while cooking.”

“Really?” Yan Chen rubbed his chin. He surely paid attention to it then. Just by looking at Lu Xinyi, he thought no wonder she was able to become the 10th place on the Cream of the Crop. Her knowledge was based on her experience and with trial and error. One thing he wasn’t aware, though, was her ‘absolute tongue’ that could deconstruct one’s dish.

“Sister Lu! Someone is looking for you!”

Someone called Lu Xinyi’s name at the doorway of their classroom. Lifted her gaze, Lu Xinyi saw one of their classmates calling her, with Han Yixin waiting in the hallway.

“Oh, if it isn’t Miss Han.” Lu Xinyi chuckled. She hadn’t expected Han Yixin would seek her at this time.

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