Before, Pei Che only saw Jiang Miao. Later, when the crowd dispersed, Pei Che noticed that Pei Mu was standing next to the stone table, staring at the two jars without blinking.
"Mu'er, are you here to see your brother too?" Pei Che was very happy and walked over to touch his head.
Pei Mu didn't respond to him, as if he wasn't calling him. Pei Che was a little panicked. When he called him some time ago, although he didn't respond, he at least looked up at him. How come he has become the same as before after not seeing him for a few days
Jiang Miao came over and whispered, "You have to call him Little Wood now."
"?" Pei Che was very puzzled, but he still followed Jiang Miao's instructions and called him "Little Wooden Man".
Pei Mu looked up at Pei Che, blinked, and then turned his attention back to the two jars.
"What's in this jar? Why is Mu'er staring at it?" Pei Che asked Jiang Miao.
Jiang Miao did not answer, but squatted down, his eyes level with Pei Mu: "Little Wood, thank you for helping to look after these two jars, you have completed the task!" Just now Jiang Miao was going to ask for directions, so he found something for Pei Mu to do.
Pei Mu nodded seriously, and when Jiang Miao picked up the jar, he stopped staring at him.
Pei Che understood and became excited: "Mu'er... Little Wood, you can help your brother now? You are so good!"
Pei Mu nodded towards him solemnly, and accepted the compliment for being so well behaved without hesitation.
"A Miao, thank you, you taught Mu'er very well." Pei Che couldn't help but feel lucky that he handed Pei Mu over to Jiang Miao.
"He's an obedient person, so it's much easier to bring him along." Jiang Miao was a little embarrassed. "Didn't you ask what's in the jars? This one contains dried radish, and this one contains meat sauce. You said before that the food in the Imperial College isn't tasty, so we came to see you today, so we brought you some food to go with your meal."
Pei Che was stunned and suddenly felt a little embarrassed. When Jiang Miao asked about it before, he exaggerated the life here in order to gain sympathy.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Miao narrowed his eyes, feeling something was wrong.
Pei Che pretended to cough: "I'm just too touched. I didn't expect that A Miao would miss me so much."
"I just thought Mu'er missed you, so I brought him here. Don't think too much! Take us to the place where we can have dinner. I just had some porridge in the morning and I'm hungry." Jiang Miao urged.
Under normal circumstances, Pei Che would have been able to tell that Jiang Miao was hiding his embarrassment, but now, he was only thinking about how to make up his lie later and didn't notice anything at all.
Han Qin and the others behind him finished their chat and came over to greet Jiang Miao one by one. While they were talking, Pei Che pulled He Chen over and said in a low voice: "Ah Chen, we will not go to the Essence Garden later, but to the dining hall."
He Chen was puzzled: "Brother Jiang and Xiao Mu rarely come here, how can I take them to the dining hall? Why don't I host them and treat them well?" He thought Pei Che didn't have any money on him.
Pei Che said quickly: "There is no time to explain. I have my own intentions. Remember to tell them not to reveal the matter of Jingcui Garden. I will explain to you after A Miao and the others leave." After that, he walked towards Jiang Miao, leaving He Chen confused.
Several people walked towards the cafeteria together. Pei Che kept talking to Jiang Miao. He asked about the origin of the name "Xiao Mutou" and gave He Chen some time to explain to the other two.
Outside the canteen, students passing by were a little surprised when they saw Pei Che and the others. The meals here were free, and usually only students from poor families who were admitted as exceptions because of their good academic performance would come here to eat.
"It's quite big here." Jiang Miao looked around and found that the layout of this dining hall was similar to that of the inn and restaurant outside.
Directly in front of the cafeteria is the area where food is served. There are six large bowls on top, containing rice, two meat dishes, two vegetable dishes and a soup.
"Isn't this quite sumptuous?" Jiang Miao felt that he had been fooled. He had even prepared two jars of food for Pei Che.
Facing Jiang Miao's questioning gaze, Pei Che whispered, "You'll know after you taste it." He asked Jiang Miao to take Pei Mu to sit down, and then he got some food and brought it over.
Today's two meat dishes were braised pork and roast chicken. Jiang Miao picked up a piece of braised pork, and before he put it in his mouth, his eyebrows were already wrinkled. The meat was dark in color and smelled faintly burnt, probably because the sugar color was fried poorly. The skin was hard, and the fat had not been boiled out, so it looked very greasy, and the lean meat underneath was a bit woody. Jiang Miao refused to put the piece of meat into his mouth, but it was a pity to throw it away, so he had to put it in his mouth.
The salty and slightly bitter taste rushed into Jiang Miao's mouth. He chewed with an expressionless face. He really wanted to go to the kitchen and ask the chef what kind of deep hatred he had with the pig to make this dish so unpalatable.
He took another bite of the roast chicken. The chicken tasted better than the braised pork, but the meat was too tough. Jiang Miao chewed it for a long time and could only swallow it raw.
"Is the food like this every day?" Jiang Miao put down his chopsticks and looked at Pei Che sympathetically. Anyone with a picky taste would not be able to eat this kind of food.
"Can't you tell the master? Can't you change the chef?" There are ways to cook big pot rice, but it doesn't mean that big pot rice is necessarily unpalatable. Jiang Miao thinks the chefs here should learn from the master chefs in the countryside.
"Alas, if a scholar cannot even resist the desire for food, how can he become a talent?" Pei Che quickly spoke up. He was afraid that Jiang Miao would get angry, so he went straight to the cook to argue.
Jiang Miao sighed, "But if you don't eat well, how can you have the energy to study? Well, just try these two dishes today. If they taste good, I'll send them to you next time after you finish eating."
He went to the front and got a pair of clean chopsticks, opened the jar, picked out some meat sauce and put it on Pei Che's rice, told him to stir it quickly, and then picked up some crispy radish and put it on the plate, letting him eat it with the rice.
The rice with meat sauce didn't look good, but it smelled pretty good. Pei Che had never eaten such a meal before, and was a little hesitant. When he looked up, he found that Han Qin and He Chen were sitting aside, watching the fun. Even the serious Su Jin had a smile in his eyes.
"A Miao, you have to be more generous. How can I not share such good things with my friends?" Pei Che said seriously. He took the jar from Jiang Miao's hand and seriously put some meat sauce on the rice of the other three people.
Three people: “…” This is probably what the elders often call a bad friend, right
"Eat quickly, don't be polite." Pei Che gave them a fake smile, then took a breath, picked up the bowl and took a bite of rice.
He chewed quickly, and his slightly frowned brows relaxed unconsciously. I don't know what seasonings were put into this meat sauce, but it tasted salty, fresh, spicy, and crispy. The fried meat was crispy, and the mushrooms were soft and refreshing. Mixed with rice, one bite was enough to make people want to eat more. The novel taste made Pei Che eat one mouthful after another, and his expression looked very happy.
After seeing Pei Che's expression, the other three also took some of the mixed rice and put it into their mouths with doubt. With just one bite, they understood why Pei Che had that expression just now. This Jiang Miao really knows a lot about food.
On the other side, Jiang Miao helped Pei Mu mix the rice. Pei Mu took the spoon and started eating consciously. His movements of putting the rice into his mouth were very skillful. No one could imagine that he still needed someone to feed him not long ago.
"Don't just focus on eating, try the radish too." Jiang Miao was a little puzzled. Why did he only eat the rice and not the vegetables
After hearing what he said, several pairs of chopsticks reached for the plates at the same time. The crispy and delicious dried radish tasted very good, and it had a unique flavor when paired with rice with meat sauce.
Of the dishes on the table, only Jiang Miao forced himself to eat a lot; the others didn't even put their chopsticks into the food.
"This meat sauce and radish are really good. A'che is always generous. Let us take them away. Brother Jiang, Xiao Mu, we'll take our leave first." After eating their fill, Han Qin stood up, took the two jars and handed them to He Chen and Su Jin. After saying a few words, the three of them fled under Pei Che's unfriendly gaze.
"Let them take it away. I'll ask the driver to bring you some more tomorrow." Jiang Miao said in relief when he saw Pei Che staring at the direction they were leaving. To be honest, he was the one who asked to share.
Pei Che was finally satisfied.
It was still early for the afternoon class, so Pei Che prepared to take them to his residence. When they arrived at his residence, Jiang Miao patted the other unmade bed and asked curiously, "Where is the person who originally slept here?" The furnishings inside were all opposite to each other, and it was obvious that two people lived there.
Pei Che didn't care: "I couldn't stand me, so I moved out."
Jiang Miao thought for a moment and asked, "Is it because of the imperial edict?"
"Yes, that brother was afraid that I would covet him, so he moved out overnight. Considering the inconvenience, the warden didn't arrange for anyone to live with me." This was really a relief for Pei Che. He didn't understand why the Imperial College insisted on two people living together. It was really a torment to meet a roommate with bad habits.
Jiang Miao felt a little sad when hearing these words. He had previously thought that Pei Che was not popular and would pick a fight with anyone he met on the street. But he had never expected that Pei Che had fallen to the point where everyone in the Imperial College would exclude him.
Pei Che knew that he had misunderstood Jiang Miao after noticing his eyes. But he did not explain. Instead, he lowered his eyes and pretended to be strong and said, "This is a good thing for me. I can finish my homework without distractions after school. No one is talking to me, so I can concentrate on reading."
"Well, from now on, I'll ask the coachman to send Mu'er over to accompany you every few days." It feels bad to be excluded. Jiang Miao feels that only his lovely brother can comfort Pei Che's wounded heart at this time.
"No!" Pei Che raised his head immediately, and then felt that his reaction was a bit too intense. "I mean, Mu'er only dared to go out when he had someone familiar with him. If you are free, come with him."
Seeing Jiang Miao frowning and thinking, he added pitifully: "If you don't have time, I'll stay alone, which is actually okay."
After he said that, what else could Jiang Miao say? He could only say, "Then I'll bring Mu'er to see you again when I'm free."
Han Hesu: Alone?
(End of this chapter)