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Opening the door, all she smelled was smoke. Putrid, suffocating smoke. She thought she had told her dear brother to stop attempting to cook. It always ended in disaster. Always. For someone so smart, he really was quite dumb. Ughhh, it left her with so much more work to do.
She loves her brother, truly, she does. He was the one who raised her, the one who clothed her, who taught her almost everything she knows about life. But cooking. All she learnt about cooking from him is that he should be kept away from any sort of kitchen appliances. Somehow, if he even steps foot in the kitchen, something is guaranteed to go wrong. And he had learned. He only ever touched the water kettle, which was mostly safe, to make instant noodles.
So. Why. Was. There. Smoke. There can’t be smoke without fire, after all. What did brother do this time.
What she had forgotten was that her brother was now no longer the only possible culprit in the Case of the Smokey Apartment. And what she most definitely did not know is that this other suspect had not ever even touched any part of a kitchen excluding the floor.
Once the room had aired out a bit, she entered to the sight of two sheepish looking teenagers standing in the middle of a disaster zone aka a kitchen covered in rice grains, every single spice in the apartment strewn across the counter, and pots and pans decorating the room like an avant-garde masterpiece.
Her only question to them was: “How?”
“We wanted to make food for you”, they said in unison, “but all we managed to save is this rice” at which point a pot of vaguely suspicious looking rice appears from somewhere. “Enjoy!”
As Su Mucheng ate the rice, she ended up at the conclusion that though the kitchen ended up a mess, at least they ended up with something edible. It was more than she’d ever expected of her brother.
One day, after su Mucheng’s classes end for the day, she walked over to Excellent Era Internet Cafe; which, upon her entrance, seemed oddly quiet; the reason for which was determined when she noticed that the game her brother and Ye Xiu play was missing from any and all of the computer screens she walked past. Spotting them over on the far end of the cafe, she decided to attempt a sneak attack, since they most likely weren’t gaming.
And they were not. Sharing one screen between the two of them, they were perusing recipes, scrolling through what looked to be “Easy, Cheap Recipes for Beginner Cooks” and chuckling at something on the screen. Ye Xiu’s head resting on her brother’s shoulder, his left arm wrapped around Ye Xiu’s shoulders, they continued on - seemingly unaware of their surroundings. There’s suddenly a pause, a faint murmur coming from Ye Xiu, with a nod following it. The page suddenly changed.
It changed to “17 recipes guaranteed to burn down your house”. At this point, Su Mucheng charged forward, irate, hell bent on seeking vengeance from the obvious bad influence of Ye Xiu. This could not stand any longer. She stepped forward, determined, into their lines of sight - and Su Muqiu burst into laughter, Ye Xiu smirking beside him.
“Su Mucheng, when Muqiu said you’d hate seeing that, I didn’t believe him. I can not believe he was right- what did you want for winning our bet anyway, Muqiu?”
In between peals of laughter, Su Muqiu could only say “Mucheng, the kitchen is for everyone’s use, not only yours. We can help you in it, so you can study more. Let us help you, darling sister”. And to Ye Xiu, he could only say, “ That festival, the one next month, you’ve never been, have you? Let’s go together and enjoy the festivities. Mucheng doesn’t need to stick with us either, she can go off with her friends and have fun with them”.
Once he finished speaking, Su Mucheng, who had been getting visibly more angry with each and every word coming out of her brother’s mouth, smiled sweetly, telling him “if I see another fire in the kitchen, with any of the gadgets, even if you are not the cause, I will only ever make all your disliked foods from then on. Okay, brother?”
Those surrounding them, who had no idea of the context of the conversation, would all later swear that there was a halo atop Su Mucheng’s head. THe ones who knew her though, or were close enough to hear what she was saying, all agreed it was not a halo but instead a pair of horns in that position.
‘Twas the day of the festival, birds were chirping, the sun was shining, the citizens were rejoicing. Su Mucheng had gone off with her friends after her brother and Ye Xiu dropped her off to them with a lazy “Don’t die, who’ll feed us if you’re dead”.
As they went off on their own, her friends exploded into a chorus of “They’re so pretty”, “Your brother is so so hot”, “Oh my god, is that your brother’s boyfriend?”, “YOU LIVE TOGETHER WITH YOUR BROTHER’S BOYFRIEND??”, “It’s danmei - I SHIPPP!”
“I don’t think they are dating, or at the very least - they aren’t aware of it. If Ye Xiu was dating anyone, he would not let anyone forget it. And my brother? He’s a romantic - if they were dating, the internet cafe they spend most of their time in would be teeming with flowers. But yes, they should be dating. They do everything together - EVERYTHING. But enough about my brother, I heard that this festival is very fun!” Su Mucheng decided to keep the information that her brothers would be at the festival together to herself, lest the girls all decide that the best use of their time would be to follow them around. Where would they all be shepherded off too were they to do so? The gaming pavilion? The haunted house? The internet cafe, when they got bored of the festival itself?
As the day went on, Su Mucheng forged and deepened connections with her classmates, that she had not had the time to do earlier. She guessed, in the end, her brother’s idea wasn’t awful. And with that thought, she saw something that completely destroyed that idea. And led to what she thought were squeals from the girls all around her.
Ye Xiu and her brother were together, bags in arm - but they were both holding lanterns. Standing together, closer than friends would normally - they closed their eyes and let go of the lanterns in unison. With that, they opened their eyes together and watched the two lanterns fly off together, remaining near each other even as they steadily rose and blew out of sight.
“Ahh, Mucheng - great, you’re here. This is all for you”, Su Muqiu said as he handed over all the bags, including the ones Ye Xiu had been holding.
Ye Xiu continued where Su Muqiu had left off, “You told us that we couldn’t cook anything for you in the kitchen - so we asked the aunties and uncles to help us with this. Enjoy your dessert”.
Inside the bags were various types of tangyuan. Did they expect her to finish all of them? They did look good at least, properly cooked and properly shaped. It was the thought that counted though. So, she stepped forward and hugged the both of them. “I guess the two of you aren’t completely awful at cooking”.
Ye Xiu and Su Muqiu only grew closer in the following months, spending nearly all their time together. With the growth of the new game they were playing, Glory, they had found a very, very profitable cash cow, one that they were uniquely qualified to make use of. So they did, and further increased the amount of time they spent at a computer. When they weren’t at a computer they were either sleeping, or Ye Xiu had managed to drag Su Muqiu out on a run, which according to him, was something he had been doing daily before he came here, to Hangzhou.
One day, Su Mucheng came back to the apartment and saw a slew of empty boxes populating the exterior. Well, the new computers had likely finally arrived. Maybe they’d finally spend more time here than at Excellent Era.
Opening the door, she felt a steady heat emanating from the kitchen with a pleasant aroma intertwined with it. And in the kitchen, in front of what looked to be a pot, stood her two brothers, staring very intently at what smelled like congee.
“You’ve returned, welcome back! Prepare for dinner”, Ye Xiu said while looking over at her - stirring spoon in hand. She sat down, watching them add various spices and condiments into the congee. Was that chili oil she saw? And was that vinegar being poured in? Muqiu-ge, what are you thinking?
Not too long after, Su Muqiu brought the pot of congee over and served it into three bowls, during which Ye Xiu said “ Mucheng, look - we didn’t cause a fire. Aren’t you proud of your brother and I?”
“There’s too much salt and too much vinegar. The spice is alright … in comparison. But, it’s cooked correctly and isn’t over or underdone.” And with that, she watched as the two of them embraced, beaming, while revelling in the fact they made a dish that was edible in its totality. They were able to provide for Su Mucheng together. They didn’t need the assistance of the aunties and uncles at the market down the road.
Two minutes later, they were still embracing. Su Mucheng, absolutely done with their obliviousness flatly said, “ Kiss, please. You obviously want to. You have been hugging each other for over two minutes”.
So they did. Rather awkwardly at first, but once they figured out the mechanics, they didn’t stop.
Su Mucheng regretted everything.