Qin Mei covered her nose, then poured another ladleful of water. Seeing the fire was completely extinguished, she was finally satisfied.
She helped Jing Qi to a seat in the courtyard. 'I'll wait for the smell in the kitchen to fade before I go back in,' she thought.
When Qin Xiang returned from buying groceries, he saw Qin Mei and Jing Qi sitting in the courtyard. He parked his bicycle, and holding up the net bag, he looked at Qin Mei and asked teasingly, "Little sis, is the rice cooked?"
Qin Mei thought for a moment, an embarrassed look on her face. "It's half-cooked."
Qin Xiang took this to mean she had drained the rice and was steaming it. "The meat was sold out, so I couldn't buy any. I got tofu instead, and the roast duck that Jing Qi likes."
