Lovely Allergen

Chapter 16: Osmanthus Sugar

"I know why these flowers taste so nice now." Yue Zhishi rotated and stretched his neck. "It's not the flowers that taste nice, it's the time spent on them."

"Hey, that's very well said." Lin Rong was a bit surprised. She then said, her voice filled with emotion, "The amount of time you put into food makes it more delicious. Honestly, not just food, but everything in life is like that too."

Song Yu thought about The Little Prince he'd once read to Yue Zhishi when they were younger. Yue Zhishi might've forgotten all about it by now, but there was particular quote from this bedtime reading story that remained in his memories. 　

[It is the time you wasted for your rose that makes it so important.]

Sometimes he'd think, was that also their relationship? All that expended time and companionship have now become a permanent sunk cost.

After being sifted through, the freshly cleaned osmanthus flowers sat in a large pot, golden and beautiful. Lin Rong sprinkled a little of salt and mixed it into the flowers to remove any bitterness while Song Yu and Yue Zhishi disinfected glass jars with boiling water. The flowers were then separated into two, half to make , and the other half to make .

It was very easy to make osmanthus sugar. One thick layer of flowers was placed into a glass jar before a layer of sugar was poured on top. These two steps were repeated until there was a final layer of sugar on top. After pouring some baijiu over the last layer of sugar, the glass jar was sealed and put aside, waiting only to be put into the refrigerator at home.

"So much sugar." Yue Zhishi stared at the jar, his face reflected on the glass.

"The two of you work so hard at school, you should be eating more sugar."

Yue Zhishi couldn't help but remember Senior Xu Qichen.

He had a face that looked like it needed more sugar.

The style of making osmanthus syrup was very Japanese. Equal amounts of white wine and caster sugar was mixed with three times the amount of water and boiled until the liquid became slightly thick. Lin Rong scooped up a spoonful to give Yue Zhishi to try. The sweetness was just right, so the osmanthus flowers were mixed directly into the syrup.

"I want to give Senior Xu Qichen a bottle."

Hearing Yue Zhishi's sudden words, Song Yu gave him a look, as if he was asking why.

Yue Zhishi hadn't yet answered when Lin Rong, who was mixing the syrup together, also remembered the election speeches. She asked Song Yu, "Those two children also won the award, right?"

"Yes." Song Yu squeezed half a lemon before he went to wash his hands.

"After I heard from you last time, I felt that child Xiao Xu was so pitiful." Lin Rong couldn't help but sigh. "It just had to happen right before he started high school. If it were another person, there would definitely be no way they would continue going to school."

Song Yu didn't continue the conversation, instead immediately giving Lin Rong a look. Lin Rong realised something and turned the topic of the conversation around. "But that child's smart, so he'll definitely end up in either Peking University or Tsinghua."

But Yue Zhishi didn't end up distracted. Just like Song Yu thought he would, Yue Zhishi very directly asked, "What happened to him?"

"Nothing." Song Yu helped his mother pour out the finished syrup, his voice calm. "He got into a car accident during his high school examination period and was heavily injured."

Both his parents also passed away.

"I see..." Yue Zhishi thought about how peaceful Xu Qichen was that day they ate lunch together. Yue Zhishi was the same age as he was when he got into the car accident. But he couldn't put the words 'Xu Qichen' and 'pitiful' together — after all, he himself didn't like to be called pitiful. He thought Xu Qichen would be the same.