I Have a Lake as I Walk Through the Courtyard

Inside Lin Feng's house, Yu Shui was finally cheered up by Lin Feng's sweet talk and temporarily put aside her unpleasantness from the morning. The two of them worked together in the kitchen to prepare lunch.

With a loud bang, the door was violently kicked from the outside. This was a newly made door by Lin Feng, and upon hearing the sound, Lin Feng's heart skipped a beat!

Looking at the rain, her face was filled with anger. "Doesn't your brother ever pick a day to get angry? I'm speechless! Next time, I'm going to nail a few nails into the door! Let's see if he dares to kick it again!"

*Pfft!* Raindrops suddenly burst out laughing for no apparent reason. "You're so mean! Who hammers nails into the doorway?! Hurry up and open the door, my brother's gone crazy again!"

Lin Feng sighed, wiped his hands clean, and realized his younger sister was still in his kitchen; he couldn't very well start a fight! Hearing the banging on the door getting louder, he hurriedly opened it.

"Where's my sister?" Sha Zhu looked at Lin Feng as if he were a thief.

"Preparing lunch in the kitchen?" Lin Feng stepped aside, ignoring the guy, and secretly memorized the location of the large footprint on the door.

Sha Zhu strode into the kitchen and saw Yu Shui acting like a dutiful wife, which made him even more unhappy.

"No wonder people say girls are outgoing! You're not busy at home on the first day of the Lunar New Year, but you're quite diligent here!"

Rainy Day, annoyed by her brother's sarcastic remarks, glared at him. "What nonsense are you spouting? You want me to come home and do something? Go back and see if there's anything left to eat in your kitchen! Even a mouse would starve if it went in!"

"Is that so?" Sha Zhu, after being rebuked by his sister, thought about it carefully for a moment and suddenly remembered that he had sent almost all of his family's grain to Uncle Yi's house for New Year's Eve yesterday!

"Uh! There seem to be some cornmeal left over, we can make do with some cabbage!"

Rainwater sneered. "You can go to Uncle's house for a nice meal later, so I'm supposed to stay home and eat cornmeal and cabbage? Am I not entitled to some meat?"

When Yu Shui got angry, Sha Zhu immediately backed down. He still felt sorry for his younger sister, but he would selectively forget about her from time to time.

"No, it's not that bad! My dear sister, listen to your brother, it's not appropriate to eat here today, it's the first day of the Lunar New Year. Come back with me, and I'll cook you a nice meal!"

Yu Shui sighed and glanced helplessly at Lin Feng, who didn't press the matter. "It's true that you should spend New Year's Day with your family!" Lin Feng said, taking out a cloth bag, scooping out a few pounds of flour from his own flour jar, taking a bag of sausages he got from the black market, and giving Yu Shui a section of lotus root, a specialty of his lake, stuffing it all into her hands.

"You need to eat something good today. You're so skinny, a gust of wind could blow you away. Don't deprive yourself!"

"This is way too expensive!" Yu Shui looked at the ingredients in her hand and pushed them back without thinking. She grabbed the ingredients from Liao Dao Sha Zhu.

"You're so generous! These are all good stuff, so I'll thank you on behalf of my sister!"

Rain gave Lin Feng an awkward smile, and Lin Feng waved his hand dismissively. "It's okay! It's nothing. Remember your promise to me, when you become a cadre, you have to look after me!"

Lin Feng's words cheered Yu Shui up considerably. "Are you so sure I'll become a cadre?"

"Absolutely! They're vocational school graduates! What employer wouldn't want to support them?"

"Okay, I'll take your kind words! I'll remember them!" Yu Shui was in a great mood, and her steps were much lighter. After a few more months after the New Year, she would finally be able to get through it all! She could go out for an internship in May, and then it wouldn't be a school subsidy, but a real salary!

"You're smart enough to know your place! My sister's destined to be a cadre, so don't even think about trying anything funny!"

If it weren't for the rain, Lin Feng would have kicked this guy out. He's a perfectly normal person, but he has to have a mouth.

The two siblings returned home, and Sha Zhu eagerly washed the lotus root clean. "Little sister, this is good stuff! Lin Feng completely ruined it. Watch me show you how to make it!"

Sigh! Rain sighed softly. No matter how bad Lin Feng's cooking was, it was still in her mouth. Thinking that today was a good day, she was too lazy to argue with her brother and stood in the kitchen to help him.

Yu Shui opened the bag and saw the pure white flour Lin Feng had given him. A warm feeling welled up in his heart. Then he opened his own grain jar and saw the little bit of cornmeal left. He had an urge to beat the guy next to him to death.

Both members of my family have rationed food supplies. My older brother often eats at the factory and rarely eats at home. He also receives an extra subsidy from his school and hardly ever goes home. It's ironic that such a family would run out of food!

"Never mind, never mind! Dear brother!" Yu Shui mixed the wheat flour and corn flour together, skillfully pinching off the old dough from the cutting board. As a girl from a chef's family, she was very familiar with kneading and fermenting dough.

Sha Zhu cut the lotus root into lotus root shards. Good ingredients can excite chefs. His Sichuan cuisine chef especially likes to make spicy and sour lotus root shards, but unfortunately he has never been able to find the ingredients. When this stuff is made well, it is refreshing and crunchy, not only appetizing but also refreshing.

Yu Shui quietly observed her brother's ingredient ratios and secretly memorized them. Although her brother wasn't a great person, his culinary talent was something Lin Feng couldn't even dream of matching. Thinking about Lin Feng's clumsy attempts at mixing seasonings, compared to her brother's smooth and effortless cooking, it was like comparing heaven and earth.

Rainwater covered the kneaded dough with a cloth soaked in warm water, letting it rest for a while. Rainwater glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.

"Brother, you go ahead with your work! The dough won't be ready in a minute. Okay, I'm going back to my room to rest for a bit!"

"Go ahead, your brother can handle things in the kitchen!"

Yu Shui rubbed her stomach. She had only eaten a few lotus pods at Lin Feng's house since she woke up in the morning. Her body, which had been deprived of oil and fat, was getting hungry very quickly. Thinking of the dry food at home, Yu Shui swallowed and couldn't help but quicken her pace.

As soon as Yu Shui opened the door, she sensed something was wrong. Someone had clearly been in her room. She hurriedly pulled open her books and saw the empty cabinet. Yu Shui let out a scream!

Hearing the shout, Sha Zhu rushed over from the kitchen. "Sis, what's wrong?"

Upon seeing her older brother, Yu Shui rushed over and grabbed his clothes tightly. "Did you come into my room?"

When Sha Zhu saw his sister's appearance, he instantly lost his former arrogance and stood like a wooden statue, letting the rain soak him.

"Where are my pastries? Who did you give them to? Did you take them to the Jia family again? Why, why!"

Sha Zhu opened his mouth slightly. "Little sister! This was my fault, I'll go to the street and buy it for you right away!"

"Wah..." Rain could no longer hold back, and the emotions that had been suppressed for so long burst out all at once, and she cried her heart out!

"Girl, it's just a box of pastries, right? No, no! I was wrong, I'll go buy some right now!"

"Get away from me!" Yu Shui used almost all her strength to push Sha Zhu away, pushed her bicycle out of the house, and prepared to leave.

Sha Zhu grabbed his sister's bike in a panic. "Where are you going on the first day of the Lunar New Year? It's just a box of pastries! I'll go buy it, okay? What more do you want?"

The bicycle was grabbed by Yu Shui and pushed twice, but it wouldn't budge. His gaze towards his brother gradually turned cold. He released the bicycle with both hands and walked out of the courtyard alone.