trouvaille | xiao ✔︎

trouvaille | 29

Day 1 of courting Y/N

Xiao didn't know how to cook.

Except maybe for his favorite dish, Almond Tofu. But other than that, he knew nothing about cooking.

In all of his years of existence, the Adeptus never learned how to cook. An Adeptus like him didn't need to eat in order to survive, and because of that, he didn't take the initiative to learn it.

The food of the mortals tasted bland to him, except for Wangshu Inn's Almond Tofu since it reminded him of the dreams of the people he used to devour when he had to fight. In short, he didn't need to learn how to cook for he didn't even need to eat.

But today was a different case.

The Adeptus had vowed to himself that he would try his best to earn her forgiveness, despite the female telling him that it was okay.

He had asked Verr Godlet for a recipe of a dish that could help Y/N get better, and she had given him the recipe to a dish called Radish Veggie Soup. She had offered to help the boy, but he had declined. As of now, he had all the ingredients ready. The only thing left to do was the actual cooking.

The Adeptus stared at the cooking bowl, reaching out his hands to start the fire. He turned it on, boiling the water in the bowl. Was he even doing it correctly? He too doesn't know the answer.

He stared at the water, watching it form bubbles. What if this poisons her? He winces at the thought.

After a few seconds, he finally decides to pour some of the mint that he had harvested a while ago to the bowl, adding flavor to the boiling water. He accidentally presses his arm against the boiling bowl, and he couldn't help but winced again.

He grabs a cooking spoon-- or was that even the name of the round object? In the end, Xiao decided to call it overlarge spoon. He mixed the bowl, thoroughly spreading the mint around. He does that a few seconds, before leaving it bowl.

He grabs the two pieces of radish that he had gathered, chopping them into pieces (let's not forget about the fact that he almost chopped his fingers off while doing so).

Then, he grabs one tomatoe, slicing it in half. He grabs one of the sliced tomatoe, slicing it in half once again and he did the same to the other one.

Xiao moves back to the bowl, and he decides to add a tiny bit of sugar in the bowl, before mixing it once again. Then, he finally puts the two pieces of radish -- now chopped-- and the tomatoes that were now sliced into four pieces in the bowl. He grabs the overlarge spoon, mixing them again.

He continued to mix it for a few seconds, before letting it boil once again.

A few minutes later, he turned off the fire, and he grabbed a clean bowl. He poured her a serving of the soup, before he prepared her drink.

For her drink, he asked how to make tea (specifically, pop's teas) from Pops Zhou. If he had went to the stone gate to ask help from Mr. Zhou, why couldn't he just buy tea from him? The answer is quite obvious.

He wants to prepare a meal for her that only he cooked.

He quickly made the tea, silently praying that he did all of the rights the old man had told him to. He grabbed a tray, and put all of the things he had prepared for her there.

He put the two silk flowers that he had picked a while ago too near the bowl, before he went to her room.

He knocks at first, and when he heard her tell him to come in, he does so. He walks towards her, placing the dish on the table.

"That smells delicious. Did you cook it?" She asked him, staring at the tray filled with food.

He nodded in response, grabbing a serving to feed to her. "Here, taste it." And she did.

Her eyes glinted in delight once again, and she complimented his cooking. Once he heard her compliment him, he couldn't help but blush once again. "Idiot." He mutters under his breath.

But this time, he says it to himself.

"You know, if you're doing this to earn my 'forgiveness', I hope you know that I already accepted your apology." She says to him, playing with the silk flowers.

"Is it bad to cook for the girl I'm courting?" He questions, gaining confidence.

Her lips parted a little bit, as she was caught offguard. "Since when did you start courting me?"

Then, he smiles.

"Since today."

But Xiao wouldn't say the three words to her yet. He will wait for the perfect time to do so. He was already satisfied knowing that the girl he loved enjoyed his poor excuse of a cooking.

9 days before the Lantern Rite Festival

"AND THEN, THEY FOUND EACH OTHER."