Chapter 394: Chapter 394

Picking up the flint from the ground, Mu Shuangshuang took out all the firewood from the stove and selected some small dry twigs from the pile again.

Mu Shuangshuang was a qualified teacher. She earnestly told Liu Zian, "The hardest part of making a fire is twofold: one is igniting it, and the other is controlling it."

"For ignition, it’s best to use small twigs, because once the dry grass burns, the twigs catch fire easily. When the fire is strong, switch to larger firewood." Discover more novels at NoveIꜰire.net

Mu Shuangshuang repeated this as she demonstrated. Her voice carried a unique sweetness, like a gentle mountain spring, making Liu Zian find her words pleasant every time he listened.

He watched Shuangshuang, as she filled half the stove with twigs, then stuffed some dry grass beneath them, picked up some dry grass again, lit it outside the stove, and then stuffed it back in to ignite the dry grass.

The fire gradually started up, seeming really simple, yet it was all novel to Liu Zian.

After Mu Shuangshuang got the fire going, she added a bit of water to the pot and began to knead the flour. The coarse flour, which had just been bought, needed constant kneading after adding water. Since there was no time for fermentation, she could only choose the simplest method—constantly slamming the dough.

In between, she added oil to the dough once and continued slamming the dough on the table.

The "bang bang" sound was heard, and Liu Zian glanced at Shuangshuang. The midday sunlight streamed into the kitchen through the window, shining on Mu Shuangshuang’s young, tender face. Bathed in sunlight, she smiled softly. Seeing her glowing, Liu Zian completely forgot what he was supposed to be doing.

As the flames leapt from the stove and caught the dry grass on the ground, nearly setting the nearby dry firewood on fire, Liu Zian backed up, screaming sharply.

"Shuangshuang, fire, it’s caught fire..."

Mu Shuangshuang couldn’t care less about the dough in her hand, and rushed over with a basin of water.

After dousing it with water, the mouth of the stove was soaking wet, and Liu Zian’s face was covered in black ash, looking somewhat comical out of nowhere.

But Mu Shuangshuang couldn’t laugh, she was scared.

This Liu Zian was no help at all, and if he stayed any longer, the kitchen might really burn down.

"You, stand aside and don’t come near the fire!"

Mu Shuangshuang couldn’t help but raise her voice at Liu Zian. After speaking, she realized they weren’t that close for her to scold him casually.

"Liu Zian, let’s leave the stove to me. We can’t afford anything happening, or both Uncle Da Niu and you would suffer great losses."

Liu Zian deflated like a punctured balloon, his whole demeanor softened.

"Shuangshuang, am I really that useless? I can’t even make a fire?" Liu Zian finally managed to voice his thoughts to Mu Shuangshuang, who was busy dealing with the situation.

"Not at all, everyone has their strengths. Your primary focus is studying for exams, so it’s normal not to know other things." Mu Shuangshuang replied unconvincingly.

In fact, she believed that no matter how specialized one’s skills were, one should never forget basic survival instincts. It’s like cooking: you might not make elaborate dishes, but you should at least know how to make fried rice or cook soup, right? You can’t always depend on others to feed you.

These days, everyone can leave, and the time spent living alone always outweighs the time spent being taken care of in a group.

"Shuangshuang, be honest, okay? Although I’m not as competent as Lu Yuanfeng, I genuinely want to treat you as a friend. I hope you’ll be truthful with me. I won’t get angry."

Liu Zian didn’t know why he said that, but he felt that Shuangshuang was different with him than with Lu Yuanfeng.

In front of Lu Yuanfeng, she was carefree, and her words and actions conveyed a sense of freedom and ease.

Yet, when facing him, Liu Zian felt Shuangshuang was too reserved, even—

Liu Zian felt Shuangshuang held back with him, as if he would rather she point out his mistakes than say things like everyone has their expertise.

Mu Shuangshuang was indeed at a loss because, while she had seen people seeking challenges, she had never met anyone like Liu Zian, who willingly sought critique.

"Since you asked, I’ll speak frankly. I think you should learn some basic skills, at least to ensure that if your parents aren’t home, you won’t starve. This means, at the very least, you should know a bit about cooking and preparing meals.

Moreover, your health doesn’t seem particularly strong, so you need to exercise more. Studying doesn’t always require sitting down; you can take your books, go for a run early in the morning, recite while running..."

Mu Shuangshuang spoke a lot, originally thinking Liu Zian would get angry, but to her surprise, he mumbled the points to himself, as if truly planning to implement them.

Suddenly, Mu Shuangshuang felt much better; a child willing to learn is always a good child.

"Shuangshuang, thank you. I think I know what to do now!" Liu Zian expressed his heartfelt gratitude.

But these things were nothing significant to Shuangshuang. She added more kindling to the stove, continued kneading the dough, and once it was nearly ready, she began pulling noodles.

A lump of dough transformed into strands, from thick to thin, in her hands. Standing beside her, Liu Zian found it all fascinating. When the pot of water started boiling, Mu Shuangshuang had finished pulling the dough.

She added more kindling, began placing the pulled noodles into the pot, and watched as the white noodles rolled in the bubbling water. After a while, Mu Shuangshuang added water to the stove again.

Cooking noodles was a skillful task too. Cook them too long, and they turned mushy; cook them too short, and they remained raw. Mu Shuangshuang typically started adding water after half a minute of boiling. Adding water twice, and when it boiled again after twice, the noodles were just right—not overcooked nor undercooked.

The noodles were scooped out strand by strand, placed into a basin of cold water. In no time, the cold water basin was full of noodles.

Setting the noodles aside, Mu Shuangshuang began preparing today’s highlight: braised lamb.

Mu Shuangshuang was quite happy to prepare the meal. After cutting the lamb into pieces, she cleaned them thoroughly. Fresh water in the iron pot boiled again, just in time for Mu Shuangshuang to blanch the lamb for half a minute, then took it out and placed it in a bamboo sieve.

Liu Zian had never seen anyone cook before and didn’t realize that cooking required such meticulous attention.

When Lu Yuanfeng entered the house, Liu Zian’s gaze was still fixed on Mu Shuangshuang’s back.

He only regained some composure upon entering the kitchen.

"Shuangshuang, let me help you chop the meat."

Lu Yuanfeng offered to help himself, and Mu Shuangshuang didn’t refuse, she just said, "You can start by washing the meat, and also wash the prepared vegetables."