Translator: Vanilla Muse

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Ji Qisheng has never started a fire to cook before, but when he went into the kitchen, he was brought to tears by the smoke. Despite getting his limited edition t-shirt dirty, he was unable to get anything done.

Geng Leyue immediately began ridiculing him. Ji Qisheng retorted a few words, but eventually grew silent and frantically added firewood to the stove with a cold expression.

As more and more firewood was being stuffed into the stove, Ji Qisheng kept pressing the igniter, but the sporadic sparks were still quickly extinguished, leaving only puffs of white smoke.

Ji Qisheng blinked several times and his eyes were wet with tears.

"Are you crying?" Geng Leyue said.

"Who's crying?" Ji Qisheng became annoyed. "There's just too much smoke, okay?!"

Geng Leyue could no longer stand to watch anymore, so he decided to go outside to find some help.

When Qiu Jin entered the kitchen, he saw Ji Qisheng hurriedly shoving firewood into the stove, and he even added a few large pieces of wood.

Setting aside what Qiu Jin was working on, he said to Ji Qisheng, "Just set it down and let me do it."

'Such a big log won't be ignited even if you can cram it inside.'

However, his words unknowingly somehow ended up striking the other person's sore spot.

Ji Qisheng's eyes widened, and he roared, "Are you looking down on me?!"

His face was covered in ashes, and his expression was ferocious.

Qiu Jin: "......"

Was this guy being hostile?

Yet he still had such a strong ego despite making such a mess?

Qiu Jin did not have the patience to deal with a child, so he said haughtily, "That's right, I'm looking down on you. If you understand, then quickly get up."

"You-" Ji Qisheng became enraged and snarled, "You really are not a good person!"

Qiu Jin: "?"

Without bothering to argue with him, Qiu Jin took out all the extra wood that was crammed into the stove. He poked a hole in the middle of the wood pile and then pulled out the igniter.

Ji Qisheng still wanted to say something, but he was interrupted by a 'teng' sound followed by a wave of heat rolled out from the stove. The fire was started.

As Qiu Jin was about to stand up, he noticed Ji Qisheng's enormous body squatting off to one side. He looked like a big wolf dog, and his eyes were blazing with a thirst for knowledge.

"Leave a space in the middle of the firewood so that oxygen enters the firewood," Qiu Jin explained. "It'll be easier to ignite it this way."

"When starting a fire, you don't need such large logs. First, use something that is easy to catch fire, like tree leaves or small wooden sticks. When the fire has stabilized, add the firewood."

Soon after, Geng Leyue entered the kitchen, carrying a few ears of glutinous white corn and declaring that he wanted to eat grilled corn.

Ji Qisheng stared at the corn and unconsciously bobbled his Adam's apple. He then turned to face Qiu Jin.

"All right, let's give you a chance to show off," Qiu Jin said as he stood up. "You keep an eye on the fire for me. Add some firewood when the fire burns low and pay attention to the corn too."

Ji Qisheng sat down happily, but then realized that his expression was off and quickly put on a poker face.

"It was you who asked me to do this. Not that I wanted to do it, ah."

"Okay, okay. I asked you to do it. Please look after the fire for me, Ji Qisheng-¹," Qiu Jin replied.

Feeling satisfied, Ji Qisheng regally took a seat on a small stool, as if he was a king about to be crowned.

In the yard, Ji Shenxiao was nearly finished with his assigned task. The entire fresh corn kernels have turned into a milky white, sticky substance.

Looking at the pot of white substance, Qiu Jin suddenly remembered something and shouted, "Director, have you set a menu?"

"Not for today."

"That's a bit unfortunate," Qiu Jin said, his face disappointed. "After all, we now have this milky white and sticky liquid."

Director: "......"

With regret, Qiu Jin averted his gaze from the milky white and sticky substance, but soon felt someone else's eyes on him. Glancing at Ji Shenxiao, he was the one who was looking at him.

"It's all thanks to President Ji. This will soon become delicious food," Qiu Jin said.

Ji Shenxiao: "......"

He felt as though he was being obscenely teased.

However, merely using freshly ground corn to make buns was not enough. They needed to add a little flour for coagulation and sugar to taste. The corn leaves were also not discarded and became a container for raw materials after being pruned and rolled.

When Qiu Jin finished preparing all the ingredients and brought them into the kitchen, he heard Geng Leyue complaining as soon as he entered.

"Ji Qisheng, you idiot! The corn is all mushy!"

Standing in the kitchen, Geng Leyue had his arms on his hips and he was furious. Ji Qisheng did not say a word of rebuttal, but he just sat on the small stool with his head lowered and a pitiful expression on his face.

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[1] 同學 ― 'student / classmate.' Here it is attached to Ji Qisheng's name as a suffix.