Chapter 7
The Chinese moaned when sunlight hit her closed eyes and rolled over, trying to avoid having to wake up like a cat that wasn't in the mood for anything. She pulled the covers over her head to block out the sunlight completely but the lack of air only helped finish waking her up.
With a groan she threw the covers to the side and sat up, looking around Hitomi's living room, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. A look at the clock told her it was 9:30.
She wondered if her friend was still sleeping. She told me she was usually an early riser.
Leifang got up from the retractable sofa and pulled her pink T-shirt down, which had rolled up just under her breasts and revealed to the world her most shameful secret, that being a pair of panties with a cute panda on it.
Her friend was teasing her to death yesterday when she saw them for the first time but ultimately she found them extremely cute. With a giggle she wondered what Hitomi would say when she found out she had more than one.
She knocked softly on the bedroom door and opened it slowly, peeking inside to see her friend still lying in bed but not sleeping. The younger girl lifted herself onto her elbows, gazing at her friend with glazed over eyes and sniffling every time she inhaled a breath.
"Hey..." she greeted her friend in a nasal voice. Leifang pushed the door open and walked over to her friend, sitting down on her bed.
"Is everything ok? You don't look good"
"I'm fine. I'll make us some breakfast" Leifang pushed her friend down just as she was about to get up. Taking another look at her friend she gently brushed her friends bangs aside and cupped her forehead. No fever. That was a good sign.
"I think it would be better if you stayed in bed" She may not have a fever but that could change if she overexerted herself. She thought about what her mother once did when she had a cold as a child. Bed rest was the first thing that came to mind.
"It's just a cold. I'm fine, really," the German insisted futilely, her eyes about to close. "I just-just give me five minutes and I'll be up"
"You'll stay in bed. Get some more rest; I'll take care of breakfast" Leifang said in a cheerful tone, already set on her plan and got up.
"You sure it's ok?"
"Don't worry your pretty head over it, I'm fine!"
"Alright, wake me when you need my help" Hitomi sunk into her pillow and closed her fully. The Chinese left the room, closing the door quietly.
Somehow this situation seemed awfully familiar to her. Grabbing her toiletries she went to the bathroom to freshen up. Afterwards she looked through her friend's cabinets, checking off a mental list of things she needed for her mother's special cold soup.
Unfortunately Hitomi only had one ingredient on hand, so the Chinese had to go shopping. She just hoped she could find someone that understood her. She grabbed a fresh set of clothes, a red sleeveless turtleneck and a white skirt that went down to her knees, checked her purse if she had enough exchanged Euros and walked towards the bedroom to check onto Hitomi, who was now sound asleep.
As she put on her shoes she grabbed her friend's keys and a bag from the coat hanger. As she stepped outside a man was just coming out of his apartment. Leifang recognized him from the day before; he was one of the people that ignored her. He looked at her in confusion as she closed the door behind her and walked to the steps, her head held high in defiance to yesterday's events.
She was about to walk down the steps when the man's voice stopped her.
"Hey, you" he called after her. In English. The Chinese turned her head towards the man, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. She forwent her elaborate braids for the day. The young man didn't wait for her reply. "So YOU must be Hit-girl's friend"
Who was this strange man? His face was rather long and thin, with sharp features, midsized lips and a pointed nose. All in all he was a rather gaunt, but tall person.
"Hit-girl?"
"Yeah, Hitomi. Hit-girl, because her name starts with Hit and she hits like a truck" The lopsided grin on his face told her that this was a little inside joke that only he got. He closed the door to his apartment.
"I'm Viktor Hager by the way. I'm sure she didn't mention me but she and I are friends. And YOU must be Leifang. She told me about you, not everything mind you," She noticed him eye her up and down. "But she told me a few things"
"Yes, I'm Leifang," she narrowed her eyes at him ogling her so openly. Did Hitomi know that her neighbor was a creep? "Nice to meet you. I guess"
"I guess? Damn that hurts" he rubbed the back of his head with one hand and pushed his glasses up with the other. "Never mind it is a pleasure"
He looked at her friend's apartment door. "Where is Hit-girl? Gone helping in her old man's dojo?"
Leifang shook her head; she still wasn't sure what to make of the man. "No, she got a cold and is resting"
The Chinese saw worry creep into his eyes. "A cold? Well she didn't have an umbrella with her..."
He looked back towards her again. "And where are you headed? Down to the pharmacy?"
Leifang shook her head and showed him her list. "I want to make her a special Chinese soup, but she is missing some ingredients"
Viktor held out his hand to ask permission if he could read the list. She thought about it for a few seconds before handing him the slip of paper.
He eyed the list for a moment before groaning and crossing his eyes. "Figures...uh Chinese isn't exactly my area of expertise so could you tell me what that says?"
"Eggs, chives and ginger" She translated to him.
"Does it matter what kind of ginger and chive?" he asked.
"I don't think so"
"Good, then I can help you. Today is Saturday and that means the weekly market is open. No better place to get those ingredients fresh" he told her. "I wanted to buy some stuff anyway so I can show you. And I suppose you could need me as a translator. People in this town aren't all too good with English, never mind Chinese or Japanese"
Leifang thought about that. He seemed to be honest enough and if he tried something, well she beat up scarier and bigger people. "Alright...Viktor was it?"
He smiled. "Yeah, let's go"
The young man and Leifang walked over the marketplace. It was buzzing with people. Old ladies talking to each other about various things, mothers trading the latest gossips and their children looking at candies from various stands or bugging their mothers to continue onwards so they could get back home.
The Chinese looked at all this with curiosity. It wasn't too different from the markets back home, maybe a little smaller but that was to be expected in a town much smaller than she was used to.
Viktor was leading her through the crowd of people. He had asked her if it was ok for him to buy his stuff first so that they could go back together, it didn't really make any difference to her so she agreed, in her mind already going through how to cook the soup or at least trying to remember how it was cooked.
He was carrying a few bags already as he led her to a stand that sold various herbs. "Alright just let me handle it"
He spoke to the man on the other side of the stand and Leifang continued looking at the people. Her eyes landed on a little girl that kept bugging a little boy who was trying to get her off him. The Chinese chuckled to herself. Now that seemed familiar.
'Thanks a bunch' Viktor said in German and nudged Leifang with his elbow. She tore her gaze away from the two children and followed Hitomi's friend. "Ok only the eggs now. That one's easy. Lots of stands here sell eggs"
And like he said it didn't take them very long to get the eggs and make their way back to the apartment via the tram.
"Thank you for helping me out" she said with a smile; she had wrongly judged him earlier, even if he did ogle her he seemed to be a nice enough guy from what little she got to know over the past hour. She opened her purse to pay him back what he had paid for the ingredients.
Smiling he held up his hands, with palms in front. "Ah don't mention it. By the way, sorry if I came off as weird earlier, I'm not much of a people person. And keep your money"
"But-" she wanted to protest but he cut her off. "Just keep it. Think of it as my contribution to her getting better, considering how much money I saved by eating stuff she cooked it's the least I can do. I won't take no for an answer, oh and take these!"
The young man handed her a small bag with oranges. "I think she will appreciate freshly pressed orange juice"
Seeing how Leifang had no other choice she took them and gave him a mock salute with the back of her hand flat against her brow. "Yes, sir!" she grinned and gave him a wink.
They said their goodbyes and the Chinese went back into the apartment, discarded her shoes and brought the bags into the kitchen. She opened the cabinet where she saw the pots and pulled out a medium sized one, filling it with water and putting it on the stove.
The Chinese turned on the stove and pulled out all the ingredients from the bags, starting to cut the herbs. As she heard that the water was starting to boil she took a quick look around for the sugar and found it in a handy little dispenser. She added a pinch into the water.
Hmm it shouldn't hurt if I add a bit more. She thought and generously added more into the water. She stirred it with a spoon until it dissolved completely into the water and then returned to cutting the herbs and after that cut the ginger like she remembered her mother doing it years ago; or at least she thought so.
After adding the herbs she turned the temperature of the stove down a little and stirred it from time to time, putting in the ginger and adding the raw egg last, all the while eating some snacks she found in one of the cabinets to sate her own hunger, until white foam started to form itself around the egg. She recognized that as a clear sign that the soup was done, so she poured it into a bowl.
Was the foam supposed to stay? She wondered for a moment, while she put the soup on a tray. Ah, not important!
She cut two of the oranges and made her friend a fresh glass of orange juice, putting it on the tray as well and, not forgetting to add the spoon, she took it and carried it towards the bedroom, a cheerful smile on her face as she hummed one of her favorite melodies, using her elbow to open the door.
As she walked in she saw that Hitomi was already waking up. "Hey you."
The German rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Hey...what is that smell?" She was sounding a little better after sleeping a little bit, Leifang noted. The Chinese walked over to the bed.
"I made you a special soup for your cold." She told her friend, placing the tray onto her friend's lap once she sat up enough. Hitomi gave her a thankful smile and took a sip from the orange juice to quench her thirst a little, savoring the taste.
"Thanks, I already feel better." Hitomi said and grabbed the spoon, looking curiously at the soup; it looked kind of funny with the foam and the egg swimming in it like a small island. Leifang clasped her hands in front of her, eager to have her friend try the dish.
"Weeeell, thanks for the food!" the Karateka said and dug in. After the first few spoonfuls she took another sip from the glass, pursing her lips a little. "It... tastes pretty salty. Especially the foam."
Leifang blinked and looked at her friend in confusion. "That's funny it's supposed to taste a bit sweet... Maybe I should've added some more sugar."
"There is sugar in it?" Hitomi creased her brows and took another look at the bowl but continued to eat. After a while the brunette placed the spoon back onto the tray, grabbed the glass and downed the last of its content. She pointed at the dish with her forefinger. "I don't know how I should tell you this..."
"Yes?"
"...It tastes pretty bad. It has no sweetness and the salty foam is just...I think you got the recipe wrong." Hearing that Leifang slumped her shoulders. Maybe cooking it from memory was a bit too much for her.
"Sorry, guess I was in over my head."
Hitomi placed the tray onto her nightstand and pushed her covers aside, stood up and placed her hands onto the Chinese's shoulders. "Come on, don't feel bad. I already feel better thanks to sleeping a little longer. So how about I go take a shower and then we will check out that recipe online and try again?"
"Are you sure you're up to it?"
"Hey, I'm made of sterner stuff than that." Hitomi grinned, held up her right arm and flexed her biceps. Both of them burst into laughter.
"Alright alright, we'll do it your way then."
"Good." She said and pushed Leifang out of the room.
After having taken a shower Hitomi led her friend to her PC where they looked up the soup and found the correct recipe. Turns out that Leifang should have removed the foam before serving the dish, and when they went into the kitchen the German pointed out that Leifang mixed up the sugar with salt, which explained why the taste was off. Both of them shared another laugh and luckily for them there were still enough ingredients left over to try again.
This time they managed to pull it off and Hitomi had another recipe to add to her collection. And while they cooked Leifang told her friend how she had met Viktor and how he helped her getting everything.
It was a fun day.
Guess the feeling like shit and helping each other out thing came full circle now huh?
By the way, that soup is actually quite nice.
Well until next week :)