Chapter 172 Chestnut
"Xia, what are you talking about..."

In response to Xia Yu's unclear words, Zhishi fell silent again. The shyness that had just appeared was shattered by Xia Yu's words in the blink of an eye.

"Ah? Did I guess wrong?"

Looking at Zhishi's silent expression that didn't seem fake, Xia Yu explained: "I thought Zhishi you wanted to treat me as a clothes hanger like Sakura... No, it's a clothing exchange partner. Sakura is a girl, but I'm a boy, and I really can't accept those fancy clothes."

"..."

Chise didn't want to talk and turned around silently.

"Hey, Tomoyo, why did you turn back? Even if I guessed wrong, don't be silent."

Just when Xia Yu wanted to continue pestering Zhishi and ask him to explain, another familiar greeting came.

"Good morning, Chise, Xia-san!"

"Morning~"

Hearing the voice, Xia Yu turned around and glanced at Xiaoying, who was full of energy and seemed very happy, and said jokingly: "I didn't even enter the classroom on time today. You've made progress, Xiaoying."

"Huh, I woke up at six today!"

Facing Xia Yu's teasing, Xiaoying raised her head proudly. She didn't sleep in at all today and got up early!
"Good morning, Sakura."

Tomoyo also greeted Sakura, and then said with a smile: "Sakura, you seem to be in a good mood today. Is it related to Tsukishiro brother?"

"You only guessed half right. The other half is... this."

Sakura put her schoolbag down with a smile, then opened it and took out a small cloth bag to show it.

"What is this? Baked cookies?" Xia Yu looked at it curiously.

Sakura shook her head and said, "They're not cookies, they're the chestnuts that Teacher Guanyue gave me this morning..."

"What!!"

Before Xiaoying could finish her words, Li Xiaolang suddenly appeared from nowhere and asked with great concern: "Didn't I tell you to be careful of that teacher?"

"Hey - Mr. Li?!"

Sakura was startled by the sudden appearance of Li Syaoran. Looking at Li Syaoran's serious eyes, she wanted to defend Teacher Guanyue, but before she opened her mouth, Xia Yu once again spoke up to join in the fun.

"Xiao Ming, if you care so much about that teacher, why did you remind Xiaoying?"

"What do you mean?" Hearing this, Li Xiaolang frowned and looked over.

Xia Yu chuckled and said meaningfully, "Now that you have no more opponents to look for the Clow Cards, it's actually more advantageous for you. But not only did you not make things difficult for Sakura, you actually cared about her."

"Yes."

After hearing what Xia Yu said, Xiaoying also realized it belatedly. She looked at Li Xiaolang in confusion, tilted her head slightly and asked curiously: "Why does Li have to remind me all the time?"

"I, I, I, I! That...that kind of thing! That just didn't happen!"

Being stared at by Sakura like this, Li Syaoran's face suddenly turned red, and he stammered and waved his hands, trying to deny something.

"Nothing?"

Xia Yu asked further, looking at Li Xiaolang's shy look, he tried hard to hold back his smile.

If he accidentally laughed out loud, Li Xiaolang would probably be even more embarrassed, so he decided to give this shy child some face.

"Little Wolf!"

At this moment, Li Meiling's voice suddenly rang out, breaking the gradually strange atmosphere.

"You're so annoying! Why didn't you wait for me to put on my shoes before running off?"

Li Meiling complained as she trotted over. When she got closer, she immediately noticed the small cloth bag in Xiaoying's hand. "Oh, these chestnuts look delicious."

Hearing this, Xiaoying withdrew her gaze from Li Xiaolang, looked at Li Meiling and smiled: "Meiling, do you want to eat?"

"You can let me eat it."

Meiling smiled proudly and continued, "I can also teach you how to peel chestnuts most easily."

"Thank you Meiling in advance."

As Sakura spoke, she walked towards Meiling's seat, reached into the bag, took out a handful of chestnuts, and carefully placed them on Meiling's desk.

"Let me give you a hint."

Seeing Sakura's actions, Meiling first put down her schoolbag, then returned to her seat, picked up a chestnut, and peeled it while talking.

"The chestnuts have to be opened first, then like this..."

She first used her thumb to press a crack on the chestnut shell, then squeezed the edges on both sides hard, and the crack turned into an opening. Then she held the opening with her thumb and pried it to the side, and the chestnut shell was easily opened.

"See, this way we can get the pulp out."

Meiling took out the chestnut flesh and showed it to the people watching nearby.

"How amazing." Sakura's eyes lit up; she had learned a new skill.

"I think this is not as easy to peel as my way." Xia Yu shook his head slightly. Before Mei Ling could speak in dissatisfaction, he had already picked up a chestnut and held it in his hand.

"See, this makes it easier to peel chestnuts."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xia Yu's palm holding the chestnut suddenly squeezed hard. The movement was not big. After a few seconds, his palm opened and the chestnut in his palm had been peeled. Even the thin layer of unpleasant-tasting skin on the flesh had been peeled off.

"How is it? This method is very convenient, it doesn't even require two hands, one hand can do it."

Xia Yu showed the chestnut flesh in his hand, then threw it into his mouth, chewing and saying casually: "Although raw chestnuts are crispy and tender, sugar-roasted chestnuts are still more delicious."

After watching Xia Yu peeling chestnuts, Xiaoying smiled awkwardly: "Xia, although your method is very convenient, it doesn't seem to be a method that ordinary people can use."

At least if she were asked to do it, she would definitely not be able to peel the chestnuts like this. It is more likely that she would just crush the chestnuts directly.

"You're clearly using the method of crushing walnuts..."

Li Meiling rarely argued with Xia Yu, but instead made a speechless complaint.

Who peels chestnuts by pinching them open with one hand? This is clearly the way to crush walnuts. However, she couldn't help but admire that this method of cracking walnuts actually cracked the chestnuts. In a sense, it was really amazing.

"Xia, do you like sugar-roasted chestnuts?"

As Sakura and Meiling finished speaking, Tomoyo also spoke, but her attention was elsewhere.

"I like it. Sugar-roasted chestnuts are sweet and soft, but you can't eat too much, otherwise it will be bad for your stomach."

After getting the answer, Zhi Shi asked again: "Then can Xia make sugar-roasted chestnuts?"

Hearing Zhishi continue to ask, Xia Yu was a little surprised, but still answered: "Yes, but I haven't made it for a while, so it might be a little rusty. Zhishi, do you want to eat it? Then I'll make some and bring it over next time."

"No."

Zhi Shi shook his head and said, "I want classmate Xia to teach me how to make sugar-roasted chestnuts, is that okay?"

"This one……"

Hearing this, Xia Yu recalled the process of making sugar-roasted chestnuts. A large iron pot was filled with half a pot of pebbles, and the pebbles and chestnuts had to be stirred constantly during the cooking process, so that the pebbles and the chestnuts in the pot could be heated evenly...

"I don't think it's that good. I'll bring some over next time when I'm done."

(End of this chapter)