“Delicious!!!”
The two children cried out almost at the same time, their eyes sparkling as if they had found a priceless treasure, even though what they held was nothing more than shrimp and clams from the stream near the orphanage.
As for Nash, he was used to bold, spicy flavors in his old world, so the food in front of him tasted far too bland. Some of the clams still carried a hint of earth, while a few bites had tiny grains of sand crunching between his teeth. Even so, their freshness was undeniable. The meat was firm, springy, and naturally sweet.
He picked up another crayfish. Its hard shell reflected the faint firelight from the fireplace, which had yet to be fully lit.
“Watch closely.”
As before, he expertly peeled the shell, twisting the joints with his fingertips until they came loose. Then he picked up a small stone he had prepared while drawing water for cooking and brought it down on the crayfish’s claw with a loud crack. The shell split open, revealing the pale pink meat inside.
“There’s meat in the claws too. You have to do it like this.”
He pulled the meat from both sides and handed one piece each to Tiny and Mei Li.
“From here on, peel them yourselves.”
Just then, Nash instinctively looked up.
Around the small fire, the other children in the orphanage were watching silently. All eleven of them—six girls and five boys.
Some pressed their lips tightly together. Others swallowed so hard their Adam’s apples bobbed. In the silence, the faint sounds of their growling stomachs seemed to compete with one another.
Those eyes weren’t greedy. They belonged to people who were simply hungry.
“Um… can we share some with them?”
Tiny spoke softly. He felt bad asking Nash, but his heart was too kind to bear watching this scene. He knew every one of these children. They had grown up together, though he was closest to the two sitting in front of him.
“Yeah. I’d like to ask you the same.”
Mei Li added her voice, gentle but serious.
Nash looked at the children again, and their faces overlapped with memories from his past.
He nodded.
“Sure. Call them over. Tell anyone who managed to get bread to bring it with them. Don’t worry about going hungry. I’ll find more tomorrow. You two bring yours too.”
His firm voice made the two children break into wide smiles.
“Okay!”
They answered together before getting up to call the others.
Nash stood and moved the still-warm cooking pot to the center. The children slowly approached, hesitating as if they were afraid the food would vanish if they walked too quickly.
Now all eleven children sat in a small circle around the pot.
“Let’s see how many pieces of bread we have. Take them out so we can count them,” Nash said.
The children who had bread held it out nervously. A few pairs of hands trembled slightly. Altogether, they had sixteen and a half loaves. The half loaf was smaller than a palm.
“Don’t be afraid. I guarantee you’ll have more food tomorrow.”
He spoke slowly and clearly, as if making a promise he would never take back. Some of the children looked up at him, not quite ready to believe him—but wanting to.
“Someone go help take the pot of water off the stove,” Nash ordered.
Two boys hurried to lift the pot down from the fire and set it aside before returning to sit obediently.
“Give everyone one piece of bread, and keep the rest in the communal reserve. Tiny, Mei Li, help teach them how to peel the shrimp and clams. And as for what’s in this pot…”
Nash picked up a piece of bread, tore it in half, dipped it into the lightly fragrant cooking broth, and took a bite.
“Eat it like this. And eat these vegetables too. Everyone has to eat them.”
He thought of the word vitamins from his old world, then remembered that the people in front of him were orphans. To them, food was food, no matter what it was.
Nash peeled one shrimp of each kind and carefully arranged the meat on clam shells. He added water spinach and water mimosa, then ladled broth over them until everything was soaked. He set aside another half slice of bread separately for Uncle Brad.
“All right. Everyone finished peeling? Go ahead and eat,” Nash said.
Tiny and Mei Li smiled at the other children and nodded encouragingly. Some of them were still afraid because of the stories they had heard about the “hard things in the water.”
But the light fragrance and the expressions on the two older children’s faces convinced them to put the first bite in their mouths.
Silence.
For one moment, it was as if time had stopped.
Then—
“Deliciouuuuuus!!!!”
The cry rang through the room.
Some of the children even began to cry. They had never tasted such sweet, springy meat in their lives. Its soft, juicy texture contrasted sharply with the coarse-textured bread.
Nash watched them and smiled without realizing it. It was a smile he hadn’t calculated or planned, but he quickly reined it in a little, afraid that another stabbing headache might come.
But afterward, no warning sounded. There was only the noise of chewing, swallowing, and contented sighs.
Before long, the shrimp and clams were nothing but shells, and the vegetables had vanished from the pot.
“Put the shells in the pot and leave them there. We’ll deal with them tomorrow morning,” he ordered flatly. “And go get the cups from the pile of kitchenware.”
Before long, four wooden cups were brought over. Nash picked up one, ladled in some of the still-hot broth, and rinsed all the cups before splashing the water into the pot of shells he had set aside to wash tomorrow.
“From now on, we’re going to boil our drinking water every day. I know the water in the stream looks clear, but it isn’t safe.” He handed out the cups one by one.
“Why?” Tiny asked curiously.
Nash froze. How the hell was he supposed to explain germs?
“There could be things in the water that make us sick,” he said evasively. “I overheard some priests and doctors talking about it in the city once.” He continued making it up without batting an eye.
“I’ve seen that happen too, when I worked in a noble household, but I thought it was just the nobility being fussy.” Tiny nodded as he spoke, then turned to Nash. “You really do know a lot. Thanks for telling us.”
Nash shrugged. “No problem. All right, we’re full now, so let’s get ready for bed.”
Just then, the old wooden door at the side opened. Brad walked in a little earlier than usual. Today, he had been worried about the fire—and about the uneasy feeling telling him the children might be doing something dangerous.
When he saw Brad, Nash quickly picked up the food he had prepared for him. “Uncle Brad, try some. They ate everything. If you don’t believe me, ask them.”
“It really is delicious, sir. I guarantee it,” Mei Li said. The other children nodded together.
Brad chuckled softly. “Oh? Then I’ll give it a try.” He immediately put it in his mouth.
His eyes flew open. “Whoa, this is delicious! These really are the things you caught, right? This springy meat is from those hard things?” His astonishment was obvious in his voice.
“See? I told you,” Nash said with a smile.
“All right, I believe you. You’ve got better meat to eat than we soldiers stationed in this village. You’re something else. I’m going to add some firewood so you can sleep.” Brad walked over to feed more firewood into the fireplace, and the glowing red flames slowly roared to life.
But when he turned around, he found Nash standing in his way.
“What is it?” Brad asked curiously.
“A moment ago, you said we had better meat to eat than you did. In that case, I’ll bring you a little more next time. But in exchange, could you answer a few questions for me?” Nash’s voice was polite, but there was a clear note of bargaining in it.
Brad raised an eyebrow in surprise. “You know how to bargain too?” He chuckled softly, clearly impressed. This kid was more clever than he had thought.
“Well, tell me what you want to know. What kind of questions? If I can answer them, I will.”