Chapter Twenty-Eight: Drawing the Line

After Grandma Zhao finished speaking, I neither responded nor knew how to respond.

In the silence that followed, I wanted to compromise but was at a loss for what to say or do.

Zhao Shuihe was a person with a distinct personality. Put kindly, she was “headstrong and willful”; put harshly, she was “grudging and vindictive.”

Because of a careless remark of mine, she had become shamelessly brazen, confronting me at every turn, to the point where I was utterly disgraced. I even felt that no matter if I knelt and begged her for mercy, she might not let me off.

Moreover... I harbored deep reservations about her.

Zhao Shuihe’s sudden and unexpected appearance, combined with the Zhao family’s reaction, indicated that she was quite close to Zhao Haipeng and my old squad leader. Though she often swaggered around under the guise of “Grandma,” it had to be based on some solid grounds—she was recognized by everyone as the legitimate “grandma.”

Most importantly, what exactly was her role? How could someone so young know so many hidden rules that even my old squad leader never fully revealed?

And the Zhao family of Huainan that raised her... what stories and strength did they possess?

At that moment, Zhao Shuihe noticed the complex expression on my face and seemed to sense that I was guessing at her background.

So she chuckled and smiled disdainfully at me. “A grown man staring at a girl like that—aren’t you ashamed? Are you trying to figure out my origins? Spill it!”

What could I say? I smiled faintly, giving nothing away.

But the moment I smiled, I instantly regretted it.

Sure enough, my ambiguous attitude riled Zhao Shuihe’s displeasure and anger once more.

This young girl was stubborn to the core. She pointed at my nose and said, “You ate my noodles! And you mock me! You grin at this old lady and still don’t kowtow! Never seen anyone so disrespectful! I’m about to lose it!”

I looked on indifferently at her fierce yet charming display and suddenly realized... when a beauty loses her temper, the consequences are grave.

Between me and Xian Hongye exchanging glances, I felt that Zhao Shuihe wasn’t just missing a screw—she had no screw at all.

This was my old squad leader’s wake! He hadn’t even been buried yet! What was she trying to do?!

So I sternly warned Zhao Shuihe, “Can you restrain yourself? I’m here to keep vigil!”

My words quickly quieted her down.

She abruptly reined in her wildness, turning to stare at the deathly still face inside my old squad leader’s coffin. Her expression gradually grew heavy.

After a moment, she surprisingly shed tears.

Her tears caught me off guard.

I didn’t know why Zhao Shuihe was crying, but I was certain there was a significant connection between her and my old squad leader—likely something beyond ordinary.

Sure enough, as if to confirm my thoughts, Zhao Shuihe suddenly turned her head, wiped the tears from her eyes, and resumed smiling.

“Haipeng said that when he dies... he hopes to see me smile at his funeral.”

Her words stunned both Xian Hongye and me into silence.

I didn’t understand what Zhao Shuihe meant, but I knew very well that her relationship with my old squad leader was far from ordinary. And the fact that the Zhao family of Huainan sent even a young girl to attend the funeral was surely for a reason.

After a moment, I directly asked, “Did you have a close relationship with my old squad leader?”

Zhao Shuihe didn’t answer my question. She looked at the deceased with a blank expression, lost in thought.

After a while, she suddenly asked me, “Do you want to get rid of the White Food Gu inside your body? Do you want your comrade lying in bed to wake up?”

Her words stirred a tremor in the hearts of both Xian Hongye and me.

Without hesitation, I nodded.

Of course I wanted that! I dreamed of it.

“That’s easy!” Zhao Shuihe nodded slightly. “But... you have to beat me first.”

As she spoke, she pulled a coin from her waist pocket and began rolling it between her fingers.

She was clearly thinking.

I anxiously asked, “Beat you at what?”

Zhao Shuihe didn’t answer immediately. After rolling the coin for a long while, she suddenly stopped.

Then, she clenched the coin tightly in her hand, pondered briefly, and suddenly looked up.

With a slight upward curve of her lips, she said something that stunned me completely.

“I want to have a ‘Heart Combat’ with you.”

“Heart Combat?” I was taken aback.

In all my life, she was the first chef who wanted to engage me in a “Heart Combat.”

Because her words came so suddenly, I was caught off guard and couldn’t respond at once.

Actually, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to answer, but that I didn’t know how.

In the end, it was Xian Hongye who nudged me in the back, snapping me back to reality.

Seeing my astonished expression, she asked curiously, “What’s a Heart Combat? Why does it scare you so much?”

Hearing her words, I adjusted my chin and corrected her, “I’m not scared... I’m surprised! ‘Heart Combat’ is a way chefs compete in their craft.”

“Compete in cooking? You mean like a cooking duel?” Hongye suddenly realized.

But I shook my head, “Not a cooking duel, it’s a contest of the heart! You ordinary people wouldn’t understand.”

Of course, she wouldn’t understand. It seemed that most people knew only about cooking competitions that involved making dishes for tasting—they had no idea what a ‘Heart Combat’ entailed.

So I explained further, “In northern dialect, ‘Heart Combat’ is called ‘Bi Douer,’ as opposed to ‘Cooking Duel.’ It’s a fair and simple form of contest.”

“It’s also the true battlefield where chefs display their real skills!” Zhao Shuihe bit her lip and added.

Then, taking over for me, she explained the meaning and rules of this “battlefield” to Xian Hongye.

The so-called ‘Heart Combat’ is a simplified and extended version of a culinary duel. In the past, it was the most common form of culinary skill exchange.

Unlike the “real knife and real dish” contests seen on TV or in ancient texts, the Heart Combat tests a chef’s professional abilities. No actual dishes are produced.

If a cooking duel judges a chef's overall competence, a Heart Combat assesses and compares a chef’s specific professional skill.

Moreover, unlike popular belief, most skill contests between chefs are conducted through Heart Combat. The cooking battles and culinary competitions that appear on television are actually quite rare.

Because Heart Combat has many advantages that direct cooking battles can’t match, especially in terms of privacy and simplicity, it far surpasses what’s known as a “Cooking Duel.”

This brings us to the specific procedure of Heart Combat.

The process is very straightforward, so simple that two chefs only need to find a “witness.” The rest of the rules and contest items can be decided on the spot, somewhat like a martial arts duel.

For example, if two chefs want to test their knife skills, they only need to find a neutral party and discuss among the three which knife to use, whether to cut potatoes or cucumbers, whether to julienne or slice, whether to judge by quantity or uniformity, whether to use decorative cuts or normal slicing, and so on. Everything can be agreed upon beforehand.

This kind of contest has few restrictions on time and place, is fair and just, and most importantly, after the contest, all that’s spent are a few potatoes. The winner is immediately apparent, and the cost is very low.

Thus, compared to a cooking duel, the difference is stark. The former is specialized, low cost, and highly fair; the latter is comprehensive, costly, and fairness is harder to guarantee.

...And Zhao Shuihe wanted to challenge me to this very straightforward, brief, and simple ‘Heart Combat.’

With that declaration, she frowned and looked at me, waiting for me to accept.

Helplessly, I agreed, “Hongye can be the witness. What skill shall we contest? Knife work or fire control?”

Zhao Shuihe thought for a moment, then shook her head, “At Haipeng’s wake, you’re in mourning—you can’t use knives or fire. We won’t compete in those.”

Then, looking toward the sun gradually setting, she suddenly said to me, “We’ll compete in ‘eye skill.’ Do you dare?”