第三章 厨房是谁的

On the weekend morning, Mia decided to make a "formal French breakfast."

She put on an apron, set the tableware on the table, and even turned on her phone to play some French music.

"Cooking should have a sense of ceremony," she said to herself.

She walked into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and froze.

The refrigerator was covered with small sticky notes.

"Xiaomei's meat, don't touch," Mia read out. "Xiaomei's vegetables, don't touch. A Kai's, don't eat if expired. Zhou Zhou's, don't touch; if she's hungry, she'll order takeout. Fruits, everyone's."

"Everyone's fruits?" Mia asked. "Who is 'everyone'?"

A Kai poked his head out from the room: "Everyone means all of us, including you."

"Then can I take an apple?"

"Yes," A Kai said, "but you have to let Xiaomei know."

"By the way," A Kai came out, holding his phone, "Guys! Today is a new show - 'French roommate challenges Chinese food'! Mia, what are you going to make?"

"French breakfast," Mia said.

"What's there to challenge about French breakfast?" A Kai said. "Why don't you make a Chinese dish? Braised pork, how about that?"

"Braised pork..." Mia thought for a moment. "Okay, I'll try."

She opened her phone, searched for a video tutorial on braised pork, and watched it carefully three times.

"Step one, caramelize the sugar," the video said.

"Caramelize the sugar?" Mia asked A Kai. "Where is the sugar?"

"The sugar is..." A Kai looked at the refrigerator, "under Xiaomei's 'sugar' label."

Mia found the sugar and looked at the video again: "Then... add soy sauce."

She looked around at the seasoning bottles, picked up a dark-colored one, and poured it in.

"Are you sure this is soy sauce?" A Kai leaned in.

"The video said soy sauce is dark," Mia said confidently. "This color is right."

A Kai looked at the bottle - it was vinegar.

"...You poured in vinegar," A Kai said.

"Impossible," Mia said seriously. "It's as black as soy sauce. In France, anything black is sweet."

"What you're holding now is brown sugar," A Kai said.

Mia fell silent.

The comments were flooding: "Hahaha", "Brown sugar as soy sauce", "French people cooking is thrilling."

Mia looked at the "braised pork" in the pot, which was slowly turning black.

"It's okay," Mia said. "We French believe: if the plating is good, half the battle is won."

She picked out the blackened meat pieces one by one, placed them on Xiaomei's beautiful plate, and put a mint leaf on top.

After arranging it, she nodded with satisfaction: "See, it's beautiful."

A Kai held up his phone, silent for three seconds: "Guys... this is 'dark cuisine aesthetics'."

Comments: "LOL", "I give this plating full marks", "It looks like it can't be eaten."

At that moment, the door opened. Xiaomei came back from work.

She saw Mia standing in front of the stove, the pot was black, the plate was hers, and in it were black things.

"My plate!" Xiaomei shouted, "And my sugar! My vinegar! My..."

She glanced at the refrigerator, and her voice suddenly stopped.

On the refrigerator, Xiaomei's label had been torn off half by A Kai, because he needed a "good angle" for his livestream.

"A—Kai—!" Xiaomei's voice pierced through the entire 302.

Ten minutes later, the four people sat at the table, looking at the plate of "French black braised pork".

"Try it," Mia said. "The plating is so nice, the taste shouldn't be bad."

A Kai picked up a piece, put it in his mouth, chewed, and had a complicated expression.

"How is it?" Mia asked.

"How to put it..." A Kai said, "It's not inedible, it's just... weird."

Mia also picked up a piece, tasted it, and frowned: "...Indeed, it's not quite like what my mom makes."

"What dish does your mom make?" Xiaomei asked.

"French stew, with red wine," Mia said. "Tomorrow I'll teach you how to make French stew, which my mom taught me."

"Let's do it tomorrow!" A Kai immediately raised his phone. "'French Roommate Challenges French Stew in China' - this title is more attractive than Braised Pork!"

"Okay," Mia said. "But first, you need to put Xiaomei's fridge labels back."

A Kai glanced at Xiaomei and shrank his neck: "...Okay."

In the evening, A Kai knocked on the door again.

"Mia!" A Kai said excitedly, "My livestream is on fire! The comments all say they want to see the next episode! Next weekend, you do it again. I've already thought of the title: 'French Roommate Challenges Dumplings'!"

Mia thought seriously: "Okay. But I need to learn how to make dumplings first."

"No problem!" A Kai said, "You can learn while doing it; it's funnier when you mess up."

Mia looked at him and asked, "A Kai, are you encouraging me or using me?"

"Both!" A Kai said, and then ran away in a flash.

Mia took out her notebook and wrote a line:

"A Kai said he wants to watch me mess up."