December 24th, Tuesday.
The chemistry teacher, Guo Ran, made good on her promise from yesterday and brought Xue Yuantong a lot of snacks, including pecans, dried mango, strawberry chips, and beef jerky.
Xue Yuantong was thrilled. Ever since morning self-study, she kept sneaking out a piece of snack and stealthily popped it into her little mouth.
Jiang Ning pinched a pecan; the creamy flavor of the pecan tasted not bad—it was sweet and had a crispy texture, which the kids loved.
The only problem was that they were hard to peel. The nutat was too fragile, even with a nutcracker it easily crumbled when being peeled open.
Xue Yuantong peeled two by hand, and both tis the kernels shattered entirely. She was silently wrestling with the pecans, determined to peel a perfectly intact kernel.
Jiang Ning activated his Spiritual Power, trailed it around the inside of the pecan, and perfectly separated the kernel.
He placed the whole plump kernel before Xue Yuantong, with a smile on his face.
"Wow, how did you peel it?" Xue Yuantong exclaid with delight.
Jiang Ning said, "It's quite simple."
He took another pecan from the bag, demonstrated it once more, slightly twisting it with one hand and stealthily using his Spiritual Power. The kernel popped out of its shell.
Xue Yuantong watched unblinkingly; she felt like she understood how miraculous the scene was, yet didn't understand it at all.
"What the heck." She pinched a pecan and applied force, but the pecan wouldn't budge.
Seeing her disappointed, Jiang Ning gave Xue Yuantong two pecan kernels and said,
"If you want to eat them, I'll peel them for you."
Dan Kaiquan in the front row heard the commotion and turned his head:
"What are you all doing?"
Jiang Ning handed him six pecans: "We're peeling these. Give half to Bai Yuxia."
"What's this?"
"Walnuts?"
Dan Kaiquan asked doubtfully, as it was his first encounter with them.
Pecans were not cheap, costing quite a bit per pound. Many people in big cities might have grown tired of them, finding nothing special about the nut.
In later tis, they even beca a trendy superfood, but during this period, in a small city like Yuzhou, especially for soone rural-born like Dan Kaiquan, they were truly a novelty, possibly even unseen before.
It's like how pork jerky beca a popular internet sensation later on, but in the era before online shopping was prevalent, not many had tried it; for many, their first taste of pork jerky often ca from a certain internet-famous squirrel or a particular shop.
"This is a pecan."
"Oh, got it." Dan Kaiquan didn't rush to ask further but split the pecans with Bai Yuxia; out of six nuts, he gave her four and kept two for himself.
He told Bai Yuxia, "Jiang Ning gave these to both of us."
While speaking, he purposefully displayed the two pecans in his hand, hoping she'd notice his thoughtfulness and be aware that he was willing to give her the majority.
Bai Yuxia wasn't thinking that much; she had tried pecans before and, although she found them a bit troubleso to peel, with nothing urgent during the morning self-study, why not just peel them?
Xue Yuantong inford them, "Jiang Ning is particularly good at peeling pecans."
She opened her palm, which contained a whole kernel.
Dan Kaiquan wasn't impressed, but Bai Yuxia, looking at the kernel, felt a bit envious; such a complete kernel must feel especially satisfying to eat.
Too bad she couldn't peel it to that extent.
"This one's peeled really well, it's just quite difficult," comnted Bai Yuxia.
"Hahaha, this is Jiang Ning's work; he's super skilled at it, peeled it in one go," boasted Xue Yuantong.
Upon hearing this, Dan Kaiquan blurted out:
"Bai Yuxia, let peel them for you!"
He grabbed a pecan and went straight to work on it.
However, it being Dan Kaiquan's first ti handling a pecan, coupled with his impatience, resulted in the kernel breaking into pieces.
He felt he had lost face and continued to peel the second one, this ti with much more care. Nonetheless, two corners still broke off.
Dan Kaiquan's heart shattered along with it, missing his chance to show off.
Disappointed, he begrudgingly ate a pecan and found it surprisingly tasty, which lifted his spirits quite a bit.
Noon.
Xue Yuantong suggested, "Jiang Ning, it's too cold outside today; let's not go ho to cook and just eat out instead."
"It really is cold," she added.
Jiang Ning glanced at her sideways, feeling underappreciated. He had been using mana to keep Xue Yuantong warm continuously—with his control over mana, cold? Impossible!
"You're not cold; you're just lazy," he said.
Xue Yuantong retorted, "I'm not, I really am cold, enough talk, let's go eat."
"Alright, then."
Jiang Ning led Xue Yuantong to the sa restaurant they had visited before, but this ti, there was a food cart at the entrance, with white paper on the side of the cart bearing bold black letters:
"Two at, two veg, 8 yuan."
The boss lady was dishing up als at the cart, and when she saw Jiang Ning and company, she smiled and asked them what they would like to eat today.
Though Jiang Ning didn't visit often, the boss lady had a deep impression of the two; a handso boy and an adorable girl who usually ordered pricier dishes.
Jiang Ning had no intention of eating boxed als; he had eaten enough of them over the years, and now that his circumstances had improved, he could afford a slight upgrade.
Xue Yuantong tugged at his sleeve: "Jiang Ning, let's have the boxed als."
She wasn't hungry, having eaten too much during the day.
"Boss, two boxed als," Jiang Ning said.
"Sure, have a look and choose so dishes."
They picked their dishes and carried them inside the restaurant to eat.
Ma Shicheng and his group arrived belatedly. Recently, since the boss introduced boxed als, they had been coming more often, almost daily; they were regulars now.
While eating at the Fourth Middle School Cafeteria would have been more convenient, the food there wasn't tasty.
The cafeteria was contracted out to a single major contractor, not like university cafeterias with various food vendors competing against each other, creating a diverse selection.
With no competitors, the Fourth Middle School Cafeteria had a monopoly, and since students would dine there regardless of the quality, the business was good, so the taste was not a priority.
Ma Shicheng used to find eating out sowhat expensive, but ever since the boss introduced boxed als, spending less for more variety in dishes was just too good of a deal.
Ma Shicheng, Dan Kaiquan, and Guo Kunnan greeted Jiang Ning upon seeing him and went to get their food.
Seeing Jiang Ning was having a boxed al today surprised Ma Shicheng; whenever he bumped into Jiang Ning here, he was always having stir-fried dishes with Xue Yuantong.
Xue Yuantong and Jiang Ning sat opposite each other. Midway through her al, she couldn't eat anymore.
'Darn it, I ate too many snacks this morning,' Xue Yuantong thought to herself.
She never had the habit of wasting food. Even if she was full, she'd force herself to eat, spoonful by spoonful.
At this point, Jiang Ning had almost finished his al.
Xue Yuantong was still struggling to peck at hers.
After taking a bite, she raised her head slightly, giving Jiang Ning a pitiful look, hoping he would help.
Jiang Ning found it amusing inside but pretended not to notice her gaze and turned his attention to Ma Shicheng and the others chatting. It seed they were discussing Christmas Eve and the topic of buying gifts.
When Xue Yuantong saw Jiang Ning ignoring her, she lowered her head and swallowed a few mouthfuls of rice, but she couldn't eat any more. Her good nature wouldn't allow her to waste food.
With a heavy heart, she pushed her plate towards Jiang Ning, just as she used to do when eating with her mother.
Xue Yuantong looked up and said in the most obnoxious tone she could muster, "Hmph, Jiang Ning, you surely haven't had enough. To keep you from getting hungry this afternoon, I'll share so of my rice with you."
Jiang Ning turned his head to look at Xue Yuantong, her hair tucked behind her ear, revealing a delicate little face. Her pretty eyes carried a trace of coquetry, and her lips were glossy.
Jiang Ning fixated on her lips, more alluring than any lipstick he had ever seen.
Jiang Ning teased, "Is this really okay, giving your half-eaten food? Isn't it covered in saliva?"
Xue Yuantong's facade instantly collapsed, and she hung her head low, "Just eat it; why so much talk..."
Jiang Ning sighed, poking his chopsticks at the plate.
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