novelraw Chapter 231: Chopsticks
Chapter 231: Chopsticks
“No matter what you say, I’m not giving you a discount.”
Sensing the atmosphere growing a bit heavy, Robin quickly cracked a small joke.
“Hahaha, is that so? What a pity—I worked so hard on my performance.” Leon chuckled in response.
Whether his earlier words had been genuine emotion or just a ploy for sympathy didn’t really matter anymore.
Skipping over that rather realistic topic, Robin continued with her work.
Leon didn’t sit idle either. It was getting late, and it was time to prepare dinner.
Before leaving, Leon still asked, “Will it be done before dinner?”
“Shouldn’t be a problem.” Robin didn’t pause her work. At the moment, she was reinforcing the walls of Leon’s kitchen.
“Then how about I make an extra portion for you too?” Leon offered.
“Sure, I won’t say no to that.” Robin gladly accepted his kindness.With that, Leon returned to his cabin and began preparing dinner.
Since Robin was here, he prepared a bit more food this time. She looked like she had a good appetite, and given what she’d said before about building work consuming a lot of energy, Leon wasn’t worried about leftovers.
Once the ingredients were ready, he stepped back outside and looked toward the still-under-construction kitchen.
The four walls had already taken shape. Robin had left space for two windows and a door frame, and through the window Leon could see her working on the basic kitchen facilities.
She was making a sink and a gas stove. It was hard for Leon to imagine that these fixtures, which looked like something bought from a home furnishings store, were actually handmade by Robin.
“Stardew Valley really is full of hidden talent.” Leon stepped inside, once again awed by Robin’s craftsmanship. After seeing her make a gas stove and sink, it didn’t surprise him as much when she hammered out a cabinet in just two minutes.
Finally, as the last glimmer of sunlight vanished from the horizon and the farm was cloaked in night, Robin straightened up, wiping the sweat from her brow.
“All right, the basics are done. I even wired the place and installed outlets. You can bring that mini-fridge from your cabin and start using it here. From now on, this is your kitchen. If anything breaks from natural wear within ten years, I’ll fix it for free.”
“Ten-year warranty? That’s a long time,” Leon said in mild surprise.
“Of course. And unless you light a campfire inside, I’d bet it’ll last twenty years without a problem,” Robin replied matter-of-factly.
“So… can I start cooking on the stove now?” Leon asked.
“No problem. This time I’ll be the one watching.” Robin nodded.
Leon immediately went back to his cabin and returned with his prepped ingredients.
He dropped a whole chopped chicken into a pot for soup, paired big chunks of beef with potatoes for a stew, and also sliced potatoes into thin shreds for a light stir-fry with just oil, salt, and vinegar.
While Leon busied himself with cooking, Robin didn’t just sit around.
She’d only been contracted to build a kitchen, and aside from the essentials, she hadn’t planned to add anything extra. But seeing how warmly Leon was treating her, she decided to give him a little gift.
Using leftover materials, she quickly made a dining table and a few chairs—no trouble at all for her.
By the time she finished, Leon was almost done cooking. Seeing the brand-new table and four sturdy wooden chairs, Leon teased, “These aren’t going to cost extra, right?”
“That depends on whether your dinner is to my taste,” Robin replied, slumping into one of the chairs and resting her upper body on the table, looking tired but still quick with a comeback.
“As long as you’re not a full-blown gourmet critic, there shouldn’t be a problem.”
Leon brought out a familiar pairing: beef and potato stew alongside shredded potatoes with vinegar. The latter wasn’t entirely authentic—he didn’t have chili peppers, so he’d used black pepper instead—but he’d tasted it before serving and thought it was decent enough.
Though there were only two dishes, Leon had made generous portions—enough to feed four people without issue.
“This looks good. I didn’t know you could make potatoes like this. Usually, Demetrius either boils them into mash and mixes in sauce, fries them into chips, or roasts them whole. I’ve never seen them cut like this.”
As the dishes were served, Robin eyed the shredded potatoes curiously, wondering what they would taste like.
“Try it and see.” Leon fetched two plates of rice, handed one to Robin, and gave her a spoon and fork.
Then he picked up a piece of wood and asked, “Can you help me with something?”
“What is it?” Robin looked at the wood in confusion. “Do you need me to reinforce something? If so, can it wait until after I eat? I’m starving.”
“No, I just need you to make this piece into small sticks—like this shape, narrow at the top and round at the bottom.” Leon wet his finger with a bit of water and drew a pair of chopsticks on the table as an example.
“Oh, that’s easy.” Robin took the wood, gave it a squeeze, and produced perfectly made chopsticks matching Leon’s request.
Seeing the bundle of chopsticks in Robin’s hand, Leon nodded. Her ability really was amazing—he even wondered if she could “handcraft” a mushroom omelette if given a diagram.
“What are you going to do with these little sticks?” Robin asked, curious.
“Eat with them.” Leon picked up two chopsticks and demonstrated how to use them. Robin’s eyes lit up in amazement.
“This is such a clever utensil. More points of contact, and just a bit of finger coordination lets you handle any shape of food. Elegant and lightweight, too—fascinating.”
Even though it was her first time seeing chopsticks, just watching Leon pick up fine strands of shredded potato was enough for her to understand their design and advantages.
“Just something I came up with when I was bored. Beans can be tricky—sometimes you can’t scoop them up with a spoon or stab them with a fork. So I made these,” Leon said casually.
“Looks like you’re good at physics too. These two sticks together are basically a lever,” Robin remarked.
“Let’s eat. It’s just a utensil, nothing worth discussing too much.” Leon didn’t dwell on it. He wasn’t trying to show off—he just preferred chopsticks over forks and spoons.
His earlier versions had been rough, splintery, and easy to break, not to mention uneven in size. Robin’s chopsticks, on the other hand, were smooth, uniform, and neat—like they’d come straight off an assembly line.
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