Are You Ready to Take Off

In the distance, the occasional chirp of insects could be heard.

It was no longer midsummer, and with autumn bringing cooler temperatures, there were far fewer insects calling. Before long, they would disappear altogether.

Su Yang leaned back comfortably on the sofa, smiling as he enjoyed the night breeze. Before long, the girls’ voices drifted out from the house behind him.

“Hey? Where’s Su-san?” Yoshie asked.

“On the balcony~”

The three girls hurried over. Li Yuanying plopped down beside Su Yang with a bright smile. “What are you doing?”

“Enjoying myself,” Su Yang replied calmly, opening his eyes.

“Enjoying yourself? Oh, this place really is perfect for that. We definitely came to the right place!”

“Yeah. What time is it?”

“Almost nine.”

“Damn, then I’d better hurry up and make dinner.” Su Yang stood and headed inside. “You girls relax. I’ll go fix something to eat.”

Yoshie quickly followed him. “Su-san, I’ll give you a hand.”

“Sure.”

The two of them entered the kitchen. Su Yang opened the refrigerator and took a look. The fresh-food compartment was stuffed with all kinds of ingredients and several bottles of milk, while the freezer was packed with assorted fish, shrimp, and other frozen foods. There was enough in the refrigerator alone to feed four people for two days.

Besides the food in the fridge, the kitchen counters were also stocked with vegetables, flour, and other ingredients.

“Aleia really came through,” Su Yang said with a laugh. “She prepared quite a lot for us.”

“Yeah, this should last us several days.”

“Several days is a bit optimistic. Two days should be about right. Anyway, let’s get started. I’m going to make you all a proper Chinese meal.”

“Great! What should I do?” Yoshie asked, standing nearby.

“Let me think. You can wash and chop the ginger, garlic, and things like that.”

“Got it. Leave it to me.”

Yoshie was also an excellent cook—she could easily handle being the main chef—so simple tasks like these were effortless for her.

After giving Yoshie her instructions, Su Yang found a bag of Chinese rice in the cupboard.

He had specifically asked Aleia to buy it beforehand. Since all four of them came from countries where rice was a staple food, they needed some rice if they were going to cook for themselves.

However, Europeans hardly ever ate rice. The local staples were generally bread, potatoes, and oats.

The small supermarkets in the town of Grindelwald did not sell Chinese rice. To buy this bag, Aleia had even driven more than ten kilometers to a Chinese supermarket in Interlaken, so rice was relatively expensive here.

Still, this one bag would be enough to last them for quite some time.

Su Yang quickly rinsed the rice several times, then put it in the rice cooker.

He then began preparing the other ingredients. Yoshie helped beside him, while Li Yuanying and Qingxia sat on the living-room sofa watching television and chatting. Everyone was enjoying the warm, homely atmosphere.

Half an hour later, all the meat and vegetables had been cut and set aside. Su Yang started heating oil in the pan.

The frying pan was somewhat inconvenient to use, but he couldn’t possibly have thought of everything and asked Aleia to buy it all—and even if he had, no one could purchase that many things at once.

So they had to make do. Fortunately, the pan was fairly large, allowing him to just barely stir-fry one dish at a time.

Once the oil was hot, Su Yang tossed in the chopped ginger and garlic. He planned to make stir-fried beef, sautéed shrimp, pan-seared lamb chops, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, greens with garlic, and a seafood soup.

Five dishes and one soup would be more than enough for four people. Li Yuanying and Yoshie did not have particularly large appetites, and although Qingxia looked slightly plump, she probably couldn’t eat much either. So he didn’t prepare too much food.

Once he began cooking, Yoshie stood nearby and watched. “Su-san, it’s been so long since I’ve had your Chinese cooking.”

“It’ll be ready soon. Is there anything you don’t eat?”

“No, I eat pretty much everything.”

“That’s good. If you have nothing else to do, take the beer out and set it on the table. I can have everything ready in forty minutes at most.”

“Okay.”

Yoshie turned around, bent down, and opened a case of beer on the floor beside the refrigerator.

Su Yang instinctively glanced over. The sight instantly reminded him of that night during the typhoon in Japan.

He swallowed, turned his head, and focused on cooking. Some things were dangerous to look at for too long—they could damage your eyes...

Just then, Li Yuanying and Qingxia followed the delicious aroma into the kitchen.

“Wow, what are you making? It smells amazing!” Li Yuanying took a deep breath and hurried over to watch.

“Chinese stir-fry. It’s going to be delicious.”

“Really?” Li Yuanying stared at the food in the pan and swallowed.

“Haha, are you starving?”

“I’ve been hungry for ages. It was fine before I smelled the food, but now the aroma has made my legs feel weak.”

“Then don’t stand here. Go sit down before you faint. I’ll speed things up.”

“Okay.”

Li Yuanying swallowed again before turning and leaving the kitchen.

Sizzle, sizzle—

Su Yang worked deftly, tossing the ingredients in the pan as he stir-fried them. The seafood soup simmered over another burner.

Half an hour later, all five dishes and the soup were ready.

“Ladies, dinner’s ready!” Su Yang called toward the living room after washing his hands.

The three girls immediately rushed into the kitchen to help carry the dishes.

“Wow, wow, I can’t wait!” Qingxia carried out a dish, gave it a sniff, and hurried toward the dining room.

Su Yang found some bowls, served four portions of rice, and carried them to the table with Yoshie.

“Open the beer.”

“On it!”

Qingxia grabbed a bottle opener and quickly opened four bottles. The four of them sat opposite one another in pairs and poured the beer into the glasses in front of them.

Su Yang raised his glass and smiled at the three girls. “Come on, ladies. Let’s start with a toast!”

“Cheers!”

They clinked glasses and drained them in one go. Li Yuanying was the first to finish. She set down her glass, picked up her chopsticks, and said, “I can’t take it anymore! Let’s eat!”

“Haha, all right. Dig in!”

Li Yuanying picked up a shrimp and put it in her mouth. After chewing twice, her eyes widened.

“Holy crap! I feel like cursing! What is this? How can it be this delicious?!”

“You already did curse,” Su Yang said with a laugh.

“Oh my gosh, this is incredible! Let me try the scrambled eggs.”

“Wow!”

Li Yuanying set down her bowl and chopsticks with an exaggerated expression and stood up. Across from her, Qingxia laughed. “Are you about to take flight?”

“I swear, these are the best scrambled eggs I’ve ever eaten! No contest!”

“Sit down already.” Su Yang pulled her back into her chair. “Stop shouting and eat your dinner.”

“Okay, okay. Don’t ask me to drink right now. Let me enjoy my food in peace for a while.”

Su Yang shook his head with a smile and began eating as well.

More than half an hour later, all five dishes and the soup had been completely devoured. Not even a drop of soup remained.

Su Yang scratched his head. “Damn, you actually finished everything. I didn’t make enough. Are you all full?”

“Yep, I’m full,” Li Yuanying said, taking a sip of beer. “Although if there were more food, I feel like I could still manage another bowl of rice.”

“If I’d known, I would’ve made two more dishes. I thought you wouldn’t be able to eat much.”

Yoshie smiled and said, “It’s mainly because your cooking is so good. Plus, everyone was starving, so of course we cleaned our plates.”

“Do you still want Chinese food tomorrow?”

“Yes!” Li Yuanying quickly raised her hand.

“Actually, I don’t just know how to cook Chinese food. I can make dishes from all over the world. Don’t you want to try something else?”

“No! I’ve completely fallen in love with Chinese food. It’s so delicious… Cough, cough, cough.”

Li Yuanying had spoken a little too quickly, causing saliva to go down the wrong way. She bent over and began coughing.

Su Yang immediately patted her on the back. “Why are you in such a hurry? Take it slow.”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” After coughing a few times, she picked up her beer and took a large gulp.

“What about you two? Do you also want to keep eating Chinese food?”

“Mm-hmm. I haven’t had enough yet~” Qingxia nodded.

“All right, then. I’ll make Chinese food again tomorrow at noon. Come on, let’s go sit on the sofa and drink.”

“Okay. You two go ahead. I’ll put these dishes in the kitchen, wash them, and then join you.”

Yoshie agreed and began clearing the dishes. As considerate and capable as ever, she took the initiative to start cleaning up without needing anyone to ask.

Seeing this, Li Yuanying and Qingxia felt awkward about going off to have fun by themselves, so they followed along and helped collect the dishes.

Su Yang smiled. “Since you’re doing the work, I’ll take the chance to slack off.”

“You’re the chef. Don’t worry about anything else. Leave these little chores to us and go sit down and rest,” Li Yuanying said with a broad grin.

“All right, all right. Then I’m off to enjoy a smoke.” Su Yang stood up and walked toward the balcony.

“Ahh, this is nice.” He lit a cigarette and leaned back on the balcony sofa, gazing at the night sky.

More than ten minutes later, the dishes had been washed, and the three girls carried an entire case of beer over to the coffee table in front of the sofa and set it down.

“Su Yang, come in and have a drink!” Li Yuanying shouted.

“Okay, coming.”

……