The door bang shut as Momo went out onto the rooftop carrying a basket of her laundry. It was the weekend and she was doing her weekly washing. The sun was up in the sky and her wet clothes would dry before the day was over. She whistled a tune as she worked, feeling the wind in her hair and sun shining on her face. When she finished hanging up her clothes, she grabbed the basket and returned to her small apartment. Sana was lying on her stomach on the floor and a popsicle as she browsed through her phone. She looked up as Momo entered and put down her phone, rolling onto her back to stare at her.

Momo averted her gaze from Sana’s and continued on with her cleaning. “Your puppy eyes don’t have any effect on me you know,” she said as she squirted some detergent into the sink. She the tap for the hot water and tried not to show any reaction as Sana came up behind her and rested her head in the crook of her neck.

‘You know you love me. Why don’t you let me copy just this one time?’

Momo shook her head adamantly, knowing that she had yet to let Sana copy her once and if she succumbed to the temptation, it would be even harder to refuse her the next time.

‘If you never work, you will never learn. And anyway, you’ve been doing well even without my help so you should be fine.’

She continued scrubbing the pot in the sink and smiled as she felt Sana whine into her shoulder. Sana could certainly be very persuasive at times and it was hard to resist her charm.

‘Fine. But you have to treat me then.’

‘Treat you? To what?’

‘I dunno. You can decide that. You usually make good decisions for these kind of things.’

‘Alright then. Go do your homework. Dinner will be ready in an hour.’

Sana pouted but sat down at the table and took out her exercise books and pencil case to begin working. Momo shook her head at that, for a second imagining herself as a mother to Sana. She smiled wryly and bent down to look through the drawers of her fridge. They were fully stocked and she thought about what to cook. She turned to look at Sana who was diligently working and an idea came into her head. Having made up her mind, she took out some chicken strips and lay them out on the chopping board. She scooped up two cups of rice into the pot she had finished washing and filled it with water to the halfway mark and set it onto the stove on medium heat.

She glanced at Sana to make sure that she was still working and not feigning it then cut the chicken into small strips. The meat was cold and a bit tough but her sharpened knife easily cut through it and she placed the strips into a bowl. She poured some soy sauce and sesame oil to season the meat and used her hands to mix the marinade into the chicken. She finished mixing and washed her hands quickly before getting out three century duck eggs from the pantry and sliced them into tiny cubes. Once that was done, she stirred the pot with a ladle as she waited for the water to boil. After waiting for a minute or two, she poured the chicken and egg cubes into the pot and sprinkled some salt using a mill.

The congee might have seemed to be a tough meal to prepare but Momo had been cooking since she was a young girl and she had made the recipe countless times. The motions were ingrained in her mind and she didn’t require any special measuring implements, seasoning and adding ingredients based on feeling. She placed a lid on the pot and took a seat as she waited for it to cook. She stood beside the counter waiting until sometime later, she lifted the lid and steam wafted through the air from the simmering congee. She spooned a bit of the broth to test the taste and smiled to herself, pleased with her work. Looking up as she heard a sharp intake of breath, she saw Sana standing in front of the counter with her eyes wide and staring at the contents of the pot.  

‘Wah, that smells really nice. What is it?’

‘What do you think it is?’

Sana leaned over and sniffed a couple of times, sighing as she realised what was in the pot. “You made century duck egg congee? That’s my favourite!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands in delight. Momo nodded and gestured for her to clear the table as she moved the pot over. Sana grabbed two bowls and spoons and Momo ladled some of the steaming congee into their bowls before they dug in, the room soon became silent save for the occasional moan of pleasure.

‘That was one of the most satisfying meals I’ve ever had.’

‘You flatter me yet again, but it seems to be working.’

“I’m serious,” Sana said, patting her belly with a significant look at Momo who was doing the same. Momo laughed and leaned over to pour them both a cup of tea. A dark gold liquid streamed into their plastic cups and Sana eyed it dubiously. The air was filled with a bitter smell, like smoked wood on a summer’s day and Sana watched as Momo drank heartily.

‘What’s this?’

Momo glanced at Sana who was holding the cup at arm’s length and held back a grin. “It’s just tea. I received it as a gift from some old lady,” she explained. Sana took a sip and immediately coughed, screwing up her face in disgust as she smacked her lips to get rid of the taste. She recovered as she placed the cup back onto the table and continued to frown.

‘So how is it?’

‘Well uh, green tea is green.’

‘You’re not wrong there.’

Momo laughed as Sana lay back, having her stomach satisfied for the night. “More for me then,” Momo said absentmindedly, taking a second sip as they fell into a companionable silence.

‘More for me.’

~

Mina waited as the teacher finished her lecture then made off for the tram as she had done so for the previous two days. Today was their last outing in the city for their project and she had come to enjoy sitting doing nothing as she was catered for. The employees at t