Grain

...

Clouds drifted alongside the migrating geese, and the sunset's glow clung to the slanting rays of the sun. It was dusk.

In the dormitory.

Uesugi Akizuki carefully imitated Su Ze's technique of slicing thin shreds of radish while cooking.

With utmost caution, she brought the knife down onto the radish on the cutting board, each cut slow and deliberate, as if she were a craftsman meticulously carving rocket fuel.

Soon, she had a large bowl of finely crafted... radish cubes.

The little airhead was confused. She remembered Su Ze cutting it the same way, and then he ended up with a beautiful bowl of radish shreds!

This was her first time cooking on her own. Su Ze had told her to learn how to take care of herself.

Su Ze had burst into her dark world like a divine being, bringing light with him. He had taken her hand and led her out of the darkness, into a real world where light and darkness alternated.

She trusted Su Ze completely and always listened to him.

Since Su Ze wanted her to learn to take care of herself, she decided to do just that. She began to learn how to live.

It was the evening of the fourth day since she and Su Ze had parted ways. After spending three days eating, sleeping, and lazing around with her sister and Meng Xingyao, she had finally refused their help today, declaring that she wanted to try living independently and taking care of herself.

Meng Xingyao had seriously considered her decision and agreed with the idea that a girl should learn to be independent.

The world wasn’t gentle; on the contrary, it was cruel. Uesugi Akizuki couldn’t grow up under everyone’s protection forever.

She needed to have the ability to protect herself and to live independently. These were essential skills for surviving in this world.

Having observed her sister’s way of life, she felt she could do it too, so she started by learning to cook for herself.

The little airhead recalled Su Ze’s actions in the kitchen and tiptoed to turn on the gas stove.

A burst of flame roared to life, startling her so much that she stumbled backward, tripped over her own feet, and fell to the ground with a thud.

The sudden noise had truly frightened her. She stared, wide-eyed, at the circular flame burning at the bottom of the pot, then pursed her lips and stood up.

She tossed the radish cubes into the pot. Sizzling sounds erupted as the cubes spread across the pan and began to pop. The reason they were popping was... she hadn’t added any oil.

Uesugi Akizuki didn’t understand why this was happening. She pursed her lips, sniffed the rising burnt smell, and looked utterly bewildered.

Then, imitating Su Ze’s movements, she earnestly stirred the radish cubes in the pot, added oil, salt, cooking wine...

In the end, the little witch with wine-red hair stared intently at a large bowl of something pitch black, something that was nearly impossible to identify. A deep sense of frustration rose within her.

She sighed. At least... she had made something. At least... she could cook now. At least... it was edible... probably.

She placed the radish cubes into a bowl, feeling as if she had gone through eighty-one hardships, like the monk Tang Sanzang, and finally obtained the sacred scriptures.

Except these scriptures looked like a female knight rescued from goblins—utterly charred and unrecognizable.

She carried the large bowl of blackened food to the table. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the sun was setting, and the clouds in the sky looked as if they had been scorched by fire.

The slanting rays of the setting sun poured into the living room through the windows, turning a section of the room into an ocean of orange light.

The little witch with wine-red hair sat barefoot on a tall chair, half her body hidden in the shadows of the light.

She picked up a spoon, scooped up a mouthful of the radish cubes, now blackened from too much soy sauce and overcooking, and, holding her breath against the nauseating burnt smell, closed her eyes and took a determined bite!

She froze for a long, long time. The bitter, acrid taste rushed straight to her nostrils. It was disgusting! But she didn’t spit it out.

Her mouth, filled with the blackened radish cubes, opened slightly, her pink lips now stained with a bit of black. Outside the window, fallen leaves were swept up by the wind and drifted slowly downward.

Uesugi Akizuki’s mouth moved as she struggled to swallow the radish cubes. Then she lowered her head, scooped up another spoonful of the blackened mess, and, despite the pungent smell that made her want to recoil, she earnestly ate it, one bite at a time...

“Every grain is precious...” Su Ze had once picked up a few grains of rice that the little airhead had accidentally spilled on the floor. Without hesitation, he put them in his mouth and ate them. He gently patted her head, which was frozen in shock, and said tenderly, “We mustn’t waste food. Be careful when eating, and don’t let any food fall.”

“It’s dirty!” Uesugi Akizuki, barefoot on the sofa, stood up and tried to pry open Su Ze’s mouth to retrieve the grains of rice!

Su Ze, both amused and exasperated, picked her up in a princess carry and set her back on the sofa. He smiled, though there was a hint of bitterness in his eyes. “It’s not dirty... Anything that keeps people alive isn’t dirty...”

His eyes seemed to drift into memory, and he let out a dry, bitter laugh before forcing a smile. “Do you know? Before the old man appeared, anything—whether it had dust or dirt on it—wasn’t considered dirty as long as it was edible.”

His reminiscing expression shifted slightly, as if he had recalled something else. He looked at the confused, dazed little airhead and hesitated before speaking. Sitting beside her, he pinched her cheek gently and said with a tender smile:

“Be a good little airhead who cherishes food.”

“But society has progressed now. Food... isn’t scarce anymore. What happened back then won’t happen again, so you don’t have to pick up food that’s fallen on the ground if you don’t want to. But I hope you’ll learn to cherish food as much as possible. At the very least, eat carefully and don’t mess around so much that food ends up on the floor.”

Su Ze’s words echoed in her mind.

Perhaps only those who have experienced war can understand the preciousness of peace. Perhaps only those who have endured famine can grasp the immense significance of the phrase, “Food is the essence of the people.”

From that day on, the little airhead ate with great care, taking each bite cautiously, afraid that even a single grain might fall.

As she ate, a few tears fell into the bowl. She started to gag—it really was disgusting.

But she didn’t stop. She wolfed down the radish cubes, shoveling them into her mouth and swallowing them whole.

It seemed she really did need her sister’s help to learn how to cook properly.

After finishing, the little airhead let out a long sigh. Her stomach felt heavy and uncomfortable, as if the blackened radish cubes were fermenting inside!

Her pink lips were stained with black marks. She licked them, and the marks faded slightly.

Uesugi Akizuki sat on the sofa for a while, tears welling up in her eyes and streaming down the tracks left by the earlier tears.

She curled her legs up, buried her head in her knees, and hugged herself tightly. Outside, the sun had almost completely set. The last rays of the setting sun illuminated only the upper half of the living room, and only the upper half of the little airhead’s body.

It was the fourth day since she and Su Ze had parted. The gentle smile of the white-haired boy kept appearing in her mind, lingering like a shadow.

Why hadn’t the boy returned yet?... Tears fell drop by drop... She missed Su Ze.

Even though Su Ze had told her not to feel sad when she thought of him, every time she did, she was filled with fear and loneliness—fear that Su Ze might never return, and loneliness because he wasn’t by her side.

She really couldn’t bear to be apart from the boy who was as warm as sunlight...

If he were to appear by her side now, she would surely give him a big hug... He was her treasure, the one and only treasure in the world.

At this thought, she smiled. Yes, the boy was her treasure. That gentle, sunny boy who cherished food belonged to her...

But the boy who had made a marriage promise with her under the moonlight wasn’t by her side now...

The living room, though large, felt eerily empty and frightening. It was occupied only by a girl curled up on the sofa, silently crying.

The floor of the living room was dim.

As the last of the sunset faded, no lights were turned on in the living room.

The dark sky had no stars to illuminate the dimness inside.

A breeze stirred, making the curtains sway gently and casting moving shadows. It also tousled the wine-red hair of the girl curled up on the sofa, her hands trembling slightly as she hugged her knees, as if seeking comfort in her sleep...