Ome Quartet of Snow Country

Chapter 115 Grilled Rice Balls (ask for a monthly ticket)
Looking at the sleeping Song Qianqiu, Haixing slowed down the movement of lifting the quilt, carefully climbed out of bed, and followed Shangzi to the outside.

"There's only a little food left tonight... Let me see what's in the refrigerator." Shangzi said.

"Ah good."

Hai Xing nodded, stood outside for a while, and then walked into the kitchen.

Shangzi stood in front of the open refrigerator, turned to look at her:
"It seems that there are no ingredients that can be used as supper."

Starfish was taken aback for a moment, slightly disappointed, but didn't say much.

"Forget it, I'm actually not very hungry..."

"However, we can make a few rice balls. Do starfish want to eat?"

"Eat! . . . Ah, I mean yes."

Shangzi smiled slightly, closed the refrigerator, then bent down and took a jar out of the cabinet.

Starfish leaned over, "Carrot?"

"Yeah, pickled in miso."

She fished out a few pieces of radish, and put the jar back, "Just use this as the stuffing for rice balls, is that okay?"

"Uh-huh."

Wrapping the radish into the rice, Shangzi pinched three rice balls, which were not too big or small, then put the rice balls aside, took out a bowl, and poured miso and other seasonings into it.

"Smear the sauce and then bake it in the oven, the taste and texture will be better," she said as she stirred the homemade sauce.

Starfish stood by and watched, but there was nothing he could do to help.

"Sanko is really good at cooking."

She just smiled.

Feeling that it was almost done, Shangzi stopped stirring, then spread the sauce evenly on the rice balls, and put them in the oven to start baking.

After staring at it for a while, she suddenly said, "Haixing help me take care of this side."

"Ah, I don't know what to do..."

"You don't need to do anything, you can eat it after the oven is done. I'll go upstairs to see if Chunhai is asleep."

"Oh……"

Leaving the kitchen, Shangzi went to the second floor, saw the light was still on through the crack of the door, and knocked lightly on the door.

"Spring Sea."

There is no response inside.

She yelled again, still the same.

"are you asleep."

Opening the door, Shangzi took a look, but there was no one on the bed.

There was no one at the desk, and the window was open, and the curtains moved with the wind.

"Spring Sea?"

Shocked, Shangzi hurried into the room.

As soon as she walked around the door, she saw Naruse hiding behind the door.

"..."

She swung her fist lightly and hit him.

Naruse went to close the window, "It's so late, what are you doing when you're not sleeping?"

"I'm a little hungry, I baked rice balls, and Haruhi will come down to eat too."

"Baking rice balls, no wonder there has been movement just now."

Naruse followed Shangzi downstairs to the kitchen, and saw Haixing squatting in front of the oven, watching eagerly.

"She must be hungry."

Shangzi smiled.

Hai Xing also stood up when he heard the voice, and nodded to Naruse.

"Is it still baking?"

"Well, it will taste better after roasting for a while." Shangzi said.

Naruse took a closer look at the remaining time of the oven, "It's still so long, just wait."

It was cold in the kitchen, he turned around twice, then turned back upstairs, Shangzi and Haixing followed.

"Did Chunhai fall asleep just now?"

"No, I'm reading, but I'm about to go to sleep. I was about to draw the curtains, and then I heard you coming up. Is my mother already asleep?"

"Ah."

Naruse sat down at the desk, Naoko sat down beside the bed, "Fell asleep."

"Are the three of you sleeping together?"

"It's okay." Shangzi smiled.

The two were casual and natural, while Hai Xing stood aside, a little at a loss.

She couldn't remember how long it had been since she had been in his room.

Naruse had already forgotten it, but he saw her standing there in a daze, so he reminded her to be more casual.

"Just sit down."

Hai Xing sat next to Shang Zi and looked around his room, hiding his discomfort with curiosity.

It seems that everything has changed, but her memory is fuzzy, and she doesn't remember what she looked like before the change.

Her gaze fell on the bookshelf, and she had nothing to say: "Have all the books in the study been brought up?"

"No."

Naruse turned to look at her, and did not avoid the sudden topic, "I bought these from Morimi's bookstore."

"The books in the study are all left by my dad, and I don't want to move them."

"..."

Hai Xing opened his mouth and was silent for a while, wondering if he should apologize.

She has even less impression of Naruse Mamoru, who died young, and most of her understanding comes from growing up, but she is still very clear that this is not a topic he is willing to bring up.

Naruse didn't give her time to hesitate, and continued, "Of course, the main reason is that I've basically read those books, so there's no need to bring them up again."

"Is that so..."

Starfish can respond, that's all.

Naruse looked at her again, turned his head away, "Don't worry about it."

Looking at his profile, recalling what he said at night, Hai Xing believed that he was indeed showing kindness to himself—if both of them accepted to ignore a certain part of the past.

"Um……"

Shangzi didn't speak, and lay down on the quilt, then stood up and looked at Naruse.

Ding--

After a while, a faint sound came from downstairs.

Naruse's ears moved, "The rice balls are ready."

"Hmm... did Chunhai hear the sound?" Shangzi asked while lying on the quilt.

"Ah."

Hai Xing looked down and was still waiting for her to get up, but Naruse came directly to pull her up, "Sleepy?"

"fine……"

He took her by the hand and went downstairs. Hai Xing pursed his lips and followed behind.

Back in the kitchen, Naruse turned on the oven, and a scent came to his nostrils.

Take out the rice balls, after baking, the soft part has become crispy.

Just smelling it, a smile appeared on Hai Xing's face again.

The three of them sat in the kitchen and ate rice balls.

"The outer layer is full of sauce..."

Starfish took a bite of the rice ball, then stuck out its tender tongue, and licked the crispy crust coated with sauce;
And with one more bite, you can taste the miso radish buried in the rice ball, which enriches the texture and taste.

"It's delicious."

Shangzi smiled slightly and looked at Naruse, who bit the rice ball and nodded.

"Sure enough, it tastes better after it's baked."

"uh-huh."

While eating the rice balls, Shangzi poured a glass of water for each other and drank while eating.

The rice ball in his hand was getting smaller and smaller, at least in terms of tongue, Hai Xing was fully satisfied and his spirit was extremely relaxed.

"..."

So when she looked up and suddenly saw Song Qianqiu leaning against the door of the kitchen without a sound, her body and mind tensed up, and the rice balls in her hand fell off.

"Hey……"

With sharp eyes and quick hands, Naruse quickly caught the rice ball before it fell to the ground.

"..."

The rice balls were soggy.

As she gnawed and licked, she almost licked off the sauce smeared on the outer layer of the rice ball—although he also felt that the sauce was salty and delicious.

"You guys actually secretly eat supper."

Song Qianqiu walked into the kitchen and lay on Shangzi's body, "Mom wants to eat too."

"Just three."

"Then let me have a bite."

Naruse returned Starfish's rice balls to her, and passed his own rice balls for his mother to take a bite of.

"It tastes really good..."

Song Qianqiu took a bite of the rice ball, looked down at Shangzi, "Shangzi made it, right?"

"En." Shangzi nodded, and handed over his rice ball, letting her take a bite.

Chewing the rice ball, Song Qianqiu looked at the three children sitting together, with a smile on his face.

"That's fine..."

"What?" Naruse looked over.

"It's nothing—bring the rice ball, let me take another bite."

(End of this chapter)