After promising to bring back the basin when he delivered more loaches tomorrow, Marco hurried away, clutching the precious candies.

  Back at Marco’s home sat a little girl. Her eyes were large and beautiful, yet they lacked any luster of sight. Her hands moved with practiced ease, twisting straw into rope, occasionally reaching to her right to pull a few fresh stalks of dry hay to continue the braid.

  "Sofia, open your mouth, quick!" Marco shouted happily as he ran up to her.

  Sofia didn't think twice. When they were little, other kids would tell her to open her mouth just to shove mud or straw inside, but she trusted her older brother completely. As soon as she parted her lips, a small, hard object was popped inside. Pushing it with her tongue, she felt a wave of sweetness—cool and refreshing.

  "It’s a peppermint drop! I traded some loaches to the new soldiers for it. Is it sweet?" Marco watched her intently, quietly swallowing his own saliva.

  Sofia nodded. "So sweet, and so cool. Did you eat some too, brother?"

  "I did! I already ate mine—two of them, actually!" Hearing his sister say it was sweet, Marco felt as if he could taste it himself. His eyes crinkled into crescents as he laughed.

  Hearing that her brother had also eaten, Sofia’s smile deepened, making the candy in her mouth seem even sweeter.

  When Roan returned, he happened to witness this scene of his brother coaxing his sister. He silently tossed a bundle of hay into the corner of the house.

  Sofia couldn't see, so she believed whatever Marco told her. But how could Roan miss the longing in Marco’s eyes? The boy was currently licking his own palm. A bit of sugar coating from the peppermint had rubbed off in his hand; though he couldn't really taste much, a lick was enough to feel like he’d had a treat.

  "Big brother, you’re back!" Marco saw Roan just as he finished licking his palm. Undeterred by embarrassment, he skipped over to take the machete and tools from Roan’s hands.

  Roan felt a pang of heartache, but he wouldn't show it in front of his siblings. He didn't hand the bamboo to Marco, instead giving a simple order: "Go to the woods and gather some firewood."

  It was nearly the end of the workday, and the sky was growing dark. Sending him for wood now could only mean one thing.

  Something good was waiting!

  Marco’s eyes lit up.

  He sprinted to the kitchen, grabbed a basket, and raced up the mountain. After a brief show of gathering branches and dry leaves, he reached into the hollow tree where his brother usually hid things. Sure enough, his hand met the feathers of a lifeless wild pheasant. Digging deeper, he found four wild eggs.

  Hiding the treasures in his basket, Marco made his way home, picking up real firewood along the way. Even though the main goal was the haul, he made sure to gather enough wood so Sofia wouldn't worry about the house running out of fuel.

  The pheasant was too precious to eat; Roan would take it to town at night to trade for money. But the wild eggs were for the three of them.

  "Brother, can I have one egg?" While Roan was cooking, Marco hovered around him, circling for a long time before finally stammering out his request.

  Roan had known the boy had something on his mind, but he hadn't prodded, waiting for him to speak. "What for?"

  "I want to trade it for candy," Marco admitted, a bit embarrassed.

  If that city girl was willing to trade candy for worthless loaches, what about a wild egg? Surely a wild egg is better than some loaches?

  In Elena’s eyes, however, a wild egg wouldn't necessarily measure up to a properly cooked loach, provided one had the right culinary skills."

  Watching Elena use salt to kill the loaches, Anita was fascinated. She thought Elena was incredibly brave; she wouldn't dare touch those things. When they first bought them, she had tried to grab one out of curiosity, only to be terrified by the slimy, icy, and frantic wiggle.

  Like a snake...

  Once the loaches were dead, Elena gutted and decapitated them while Anita watched with wide eyes. The only seasoning available in the camp was ginger. She was dying to see how the "culinary expert" Elena would turn a muddy loach into a tasty soup.

  Elena’s cooking skills had been forced out of her by her mother, but over years of labor, she had mastered the craft. She knew that boiling loaches or crucian carp directly would result in a fishy, muddy mess. However, a different approach would yield incredible fragrance.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  First, gut and clean them. If you have the patience, remove the gills entirely. Then, marinate them in some of her father’s liquor for ten minutes.

  But there was no liquor in the camp. What now?

  Elena finely chopped the ginger and mixed it with the loaches, letting it sit for ten minutes. That should do the trick for the fishy smell.

  The next step was frying. Just like making Braised Pork, frying them until fragrant was the secret to a rich broth. Elena smeared a tiny bit of lard at the bottom of the pot—just a tiny bit. The amount of lard each person was allotted was meager and strictly rationed; once it was gone, there would be no more.

  Once the loaches were fried to a crispy, golden-brown—the color of toasted bread—she cranked up the heat and added water.

  Ssssss!

  The onlookers were practically drooling. As the bubbles rose, the soup turned a milky white. There wasn't a hint of a muddy smell; only a fresh, savory fish aroma permeated the barracks.

  Since they weren't very close yet, everyone tried to hide their swallowing and decided to chat instead. Hearing that the loaches were traded for Anita’s candy, Luis and the others offered to pay her back.

  Anita refused. "My candy isn't worth much; it’s Elena’s skill that’s precious. Just give me an extra bowl of soup later, and my candy will have been well spent."

  The person who contributed the goods and the labor naturally deserved more, but the basin of loaches was quite large. After cleaning, there was plenty to go around. Everyone could have a bowl filled with loach meat, and there was enough broth for a second serving each.

  "If there’s extra soup, we can save it to cook noodles tomorrow," Tomas, who usually didn't say much, suddenly spoke up. Seeing everyone look at him, his face flushed slightly. "My aunt works at a noodle factory... she stuffed some noodles into my bag when I left for the countryside."

  The group had been eating together for two days now. Aside from things that were impossible to separate, Elena was quite meticulous. Everyone steamed their own rice in their own lunchboxes; if you brought less, you went hungry; if you brought more, you kept the leftovers. No one took advantage of anyone else.

  Since Anita had contributed her candy, Tomas felt his noodles were a fair trade. "It’s just... not a huge amount."

  Even if the amount was small, it wasn't like the candy. Anita could afford to be generous because Elena had only used six pieces for the whole basin. Currently, fruit drops were two for one Peso, and cheaper peppermints were three per Peso. If there were broken bits in the jar, you might even get four or five.

  Trading two Pesos for a giant pot of soup was a steal in Anita’s eyes. Living together required everyone to give something.

  Elena had the culinary skills, and Lucy was under her wing, being looked after by her. The two young men contributed their heavy labor, while Anita only handled the kitchen cleanup every day, which made her feel quite guilty.Besides, looking at Tomas’s clothes, it was clear his family wasn't well-off.

  "I'll buy a portion’s worth from you with cash," Anita suggested. "Don't say no. There are five of us; we’re not eating just an ounce or two. Noodles are proper staple grain."

  Elena also craved noodles. "The clerk is right. Tomas, if you want to contribute, you can help Luis carry more wood and water, or water the vegetable garden."

  "Can I pay instead of doing extra work?" Luis asked, shrinking his neck. He didn't want to take advantage, but he didn't want to work more either. After a long day, he just wanted to clean up and rest.

  Lucy laughed. "It’s not like we’re asking you to work the moment you finish eating. Just get it done in your spare time."

  Luis blinked and then laughed sheepishly. Tomas smiled too. He was an introvert and had been anxious about getting along with the other youth. Now it seemed that, aside from the troublesome Sienna, everyone was quite decent.

  After two days together, they had grown familiar. They no longer used formal titles like "Fellow soldier So-and-so" but simply called each other by their names.

  Amidst the laughter and chatter, Elena spotted a child standing not far away, hesitating to step forward.