Fu Xiaotang was somewhat baffled by Dorothy’s straightforward and bold statements. Is that really how it is? She thought of Fang Junjie’s stern face at that moment. Could A-Zun be mad at me because of this? She vaguely felt it wasn’t, but then again, what Xiao Tao said made sense. The more she thought about it, the more confused she became. In her distraction, a ladle of hot oil somehow ended up on her hand while she was preparing the hotpot base.
First, Fu Xiaotang felt a cool brush on the back of her right hand, as if something was slowly moving over her skin, then she heard Dorothy’s scream. Only then did she realize it felt like a red-hot iron plate had scraped her hand, and the burning pain suddenly surged up, unbearable. She involuntarily cried out, and saw Dorothy and Chef Yao rush over, grabbing her hand and holding it under cold water. Yao Bo kept calling for the apprentice, Xiao Shui, to fetch soy sauce. After the heat had subsided a bit, they applied a layer of soy sauce.
Fu Xiaotang watched in a daze as everyone rushed around for her, as if the hand wasn’t hers. When applying the ointment, she looked carefully at her hand; it was red and slightly swollen with shiny blisters, quite scary. Dorothy was almost in tears, stomping her foot and exclaiming, “What do we do now? Oh, it’s all my fault, blabbering nonsense and making you lose focus, causing you to spill hot oil on your hand. And you, being such a grown-up, how could you let this happen? Now, Master Junjie will surely scold me to death. No! Why are you crying? I’m not even crying.”
Fu Xiaotang reached out with her uninjured hand to wipe Dorothy’s tears, feeling a strange, carefree happiness in her heart. If A-Zun sees me burnt like this, maybe he’ll soften up and not be angry anymore…
That evening, when Fu Xiaotang stood in front of Fang Junjie’s desk, she quietly hid her bandaged hand behind her back. However, Fang Junjie didn’t even look up; he was wearing gold-rimmed glasses, moving the mouse, and clicking on the computer.
“A-Zun,” Fu Xiaotang hesitated for a moment, finally gathering the courage to speak timidly, “I…”
