#THE WONTONS

[inthefaceofadaffodil]

[rejectedfables]

"how to reconcile Chu Wanning's cooking skills vs Mo Ran's love of The Wontons", a Guide:

(NOTE: I have only read the first two official English translated volumes, and scoured the internet for spoilers-- if there's later canon confirmation of something that I haven't encountered yet, I don't know her)

Chu Wanning is shown cooking things badly (such as the cabbage and tofu stew), and cooking specific things very well (the wontons). He is also implied to have cooked other things at least tolerably well as Chu Fei. Evidence:

The wontons are described thusly, with the implication that they're just as good every time Mo Ran has had them:

Conclusion? Chu Wanning can cook at least this one thing consistently, and Mo Ran loves it every time. As far as we know Mo Ran is the only one who's ever eaten them, so him loving them is not actually an endorsement that they ARE good-- just that HE thinks they are.

When he's going to make the cabbage and tofu stew, this is Chu Wanning's response to being asked if he even knows how to cook:

Conclusion? Chu Wanning is at least not confident enough in his cooking abilities to claim proficiency. I would be tempted to chalk this up to "he's so skilled at other things and so critical of himself that he's downplaying his cooking skills" except he absolutely flubs the recipe so badly that it's unrecognizable, and everyone who eats it gets sick.

When Mo Ran is half asleep, and believes himself to still be in his previous life with Chu Fei, he says this:

Conclusion? Chu Fei frequently cooked non-wonton food for Taxian-jun, which Taxian-jun enjoyed enough to request more of it.

I've compiled options of what this all might mean when put together:

Probably authorial intent: Chu Wanning isn't a BAD cook he's just a SLOW and METHODICAL cook, and that does not lend itself to batch cooking like he was expected to do in Mengpo Hall.

POSSIBLY authorial intent: Chu Wanning is a REALLY GOOD cook when he knows a recipe, but had never made the cabbage and tofu stew before and had no real instructions, so he fucked it up and got an unfair reputation for being a bad cook. This is a loose parallel to how he is broadly misunderstood as a person.

Sappy/sad option: the wontons are fine but the fact that they were made FOR MO RAN makes them special to Mo Ran. He's associated them with feeling good, and because he thought they were from Shi Mei, his happy memories of them weren't warped or stolen by the flower, leaving them as his favorite memory of food. They're untainted by hatred, and therefore they are the best.

Funny option (not supported by canon): Mo Ran just has bad taste.

Funniest option (not technically UNsupported by canon >_>): Chu Wanning is a bad cook, and frequently hurts himself while cooking. Unbeknownst to Mo Ran, the flower's bloodlust can literally be sated with literal blood. Mo Ran's memories of the wontons are his least tormented by the flower, because while eating them he's consuming Chu Wanning's actual blood, so the flower is sated and pleased. They taste the best to Mo Ran because their secret accidental ingredient (blood) overwrites their actual mediocre flavor.

My favorite option: The reason the wontons are the best food Mo Ran has ever eaten is because they're literally just... all of Mo Ran's favorite foods combined into one dish. Chu Wanning isn't a good COOK so much as he's an encyclopedia of knowledge about Mo Ran. The wontons are perfect because they're perfect for Mo Ran specifically.

[catfindr]

[daily-deliciousness]

Wonton soup

[angelofalls]

One thing about me? I'm always munching on something xD

[antontual]

wonton ♡

[boyblundering]

quick silly tim scribbles

[antikristrecipes]

Sweet Cheesy Corn Wontons

[foodffs]

How to Make Wontons

Follow for recipes

Is this how you roll?

[radio-charlie]

[fattributes]

Spicy Chicken Wontons

[royal-food]

Sweet Corn Wontons

[intotheelliwoods]

[catfindr]

[daily-deliciousness]

Wonton char siu noodle soup

[movedmovedsoup]

HEY HEY HEY!!!! IM SO HAPPY YOU DECIDED TO TAKE REQUESTS! YOU GOT THIS❤️ I was wondering if you could write a fic with Vance Hopper x a fem reader who is really shy around him? And they both got a huge crush on eachother? Tysm! ❤️❤️

yes of course !! tysm for being my first ask 💕 NO PROOFREAD

DISCLAIMER!!! VANCE MAY BE A LITTLE CC!

Vance x fem! shy! Reader

“don’t be a stranger!”

part two is here !

‘oh dear god’

is all you could possibly seem to repeat in your head as you approached the grab n go corner store, sure it was always the to-go spot for kids and teenagers but the popularity seemed to burst especially around the summertime or spring season. as of right now it was the end of the school year, may of 1978. there were only two weeks left of the seemingly never ending school year. this meant joy for you, as you could spend some more time with friends and sleep in late. but the thing was, at the current moment why where you practically dreading your very existence?

because he was there you could see the mop of blond hair slightly moving around from the store window as you walked up to the store that’s was littered with teenagers and kids of every age. of course you weren’t alone, you were with your dear friend tracy. now..tracy sure she wasn’t the most brightest of the bunch but she definitely knew when love was in the air..even if it was believed to be one sided. just a few days prior you had confessed to her how you had a crush on pinball vance for practically the entire school year. now the confession didn’t really get a reaction out of tracy, only lightly scoffing and saying it was obvious for the longest time ever. pointing out the stolen glances, the pace of how you walked becoming ten times faster when he was around in the halls and most noticeably how you couldn’t keep your eyes off of him! but who could really blame you? despite his aggression vance was deemed quite the good looker, often sought after by other girls and made other boys envious. hearing the familiar ‘ding!’ of the front door to the store brought you back to reality, seeing as tracy had opened the door for you to come in, to escape the beginnings of the hot colorado summer.

“you really need to make it less noticeable y/n.” tracy whispered to you with a cheeky smile, the freckles dawning her tan skin were made more evident with the expression. you were caught even more off guard, lips frowning into a straight line. you knew you had been caught in the trace, eyes instinctively wandering to vance. who as always was hunched over the pinball machine that sat snug in the corner by the drinks. gulping quietly as tracy took your hand, leading you through the isles demanding you to pick whatever you’d like, it was her treat. seeing as you tutored her for the chemistry test and she got a good grade, tracy wanted to repay you back. and for someone who only had a dollar fifty to their name..you didn’t mind at all. the two of you leaned on the freezer doors glancing absent minded at the never ending supply of colorful drinks. opening her lips to speak, your chatty best friend seemed to quickly shut her mouth. which definitely wasn’t common..at all. you had noticed and furrowed your brows in confusion, hands immediately patting yourself down just incase something was on you.

“trace? what is it? is there something on me?” you questioned before getting semi-fed up by her silence, eyes shooting up to look at her. you noticed how she wasn’t looking at you, rather behind you, further away than you. following her gaze it landed to the noisy pinball machine, you could hear your heart practically beat inside of your ears. the gaze you had dropped down to the cold tile floor, marked with sneaker imprints. not daring to lift up the gaze but curiosity bit at you as you could hear tracy let out the smallest ‘Ooooo’ mocking hum before drawing her attention to another isle. working up enough nerve to allow your eyes to see what she was ‘Oooing’ and Ahhing’ about. only then did you practically wish to be claimed dead right there and then, a whole six feet under. well because of the circumstances you were currently in that would possibly happen very soon. looking back at you was vance hopper, yes pinball vance yes the boy you had been hopelessly crushing on since last september. he seemed to be trying to not make it obvious he was staring at you, once realizing you were looking right back at him he snapped his eyes back to the game.

cursing under his breath as he dug into one of his pockets, shoving a quarter into the slot before beginning again. god was he hoping his hair would’ve at least covered his eyes from an angle. he just felt no short of hopeless, pure hopelessness. the two of you had a few run ins during the school year from what he could remember you two shared a class or two..before he got switched because he beat a kid to a pulp in one of them. sure you were more on the quiet side when it came to people you didn’t know well. but whenever the two of you seemed to cross paths it would be downright awkward ! for example, one instance you had dropped your books in the halls. vance, who was on a good streak decided that he wanted to help out, before he could even get to the proper distance. you grabbed the fallen books and scrambled out of his way, shoving past him. and if anything that confused him a whole lot more. it was unusual, usually girl’s would’ve killed a man to be in that position and he semi-knew that. with a few more interactions between the two of you, one of them being how you had to tutor him for a week or so earlier on in the year made him feel a certain way about you, the feeling was a little unfamiliar.

as you walked around the isles trying to keep a distance away from the blonde you heard tracy’s voice call out to you about some new ‘seveteen’ magazine article coming out. filled to the brim with excitement you hurried over, it didn’t once hit you that the magazine display was right next to the pinball machine. it was too late, rushing over to tracy you seemed to lose your balance for a moment, ankle rolling as your side hit into the pinball machine. it was like everyone had gone silent in the moment, you had stumbled back, tracy quickly disappearing behind the magazine rack with slight worry and excitement bubbling within her. vance had taken a sharp breath throwing his hands into his hair in frustration. “which one of you dumbfucks did this?!” he yelled in frustration, the cashier inching towards the phone. knuckles turning a white color as he clutched the sides of the machine, chipping off paint as he did so. as some kid from the crowd yelled out a “it was that girl!!!” pointing directly at you, you were trying to hide yourself into the corner of the shop, mind racing with thoughts as you awaited the impending doom. ‘oh dear god, oh jesus does he even hit girls?? if he didn’t before then i’m sure he definitely will now’ shutting your eyes with anticipation, nose scrunched up and all.

but yet nothing came, in fact everyone was shocked but felt safe enough to return to the chatter that was there before. fluttering open your eyes you looked back to vance who was letting out a distressed sigh. not knowing if you should make a break for it or feed into your curiosity you took the risk of inching closer to him. throat threatening to close up the more you got closer, leaving the original hiding spot you were in. “aren’t you uh…gonna hit me..?” you mumbled quietly, voice barely above a whisper. the boy simply scoffed and looked over to you with a hard to read expression. “i don’t mess up girls you should know i have s’more class than that.” you let out a breath you didn’t even know you were holding feeling like lady luck was on your side. but quickly put your attention back to him as he spoke once again.

“and plus, why would i wanna hurt a pretty face like yours again..? y/n was the name wasn’t it?” his usual rough and threatening tone was definitely taken down a few notches, instead it was a little more lighter and arguably softer. sure it was obvious his voice was straining from not speaking his usual level but he didn’t wanna scare you off, not now that he has you in his presence. his words made your face feel all hot and as if your heart was about to fall from its placing and onto the floor because of how fast it was beating. you only seemed to let out a small chuckle and nodded to his question, not noticing the small smile that slowly appeared onto your lips. but vance definitely took it into account, he liked the smile he saw. thinking you should smile a whole lot more than the usual, worried expression he saw plastered onto that cute face. not allowing another moment of silence to go by he cleared his throat with a boyish grin. “now i’m not letting you fuck with any of my damn rounds again that’s for sure, i need to be repaid y’know i didn’t think about making you bleed for nothin.” immediately your guard went up again not knowing what he was insinuating exactly. the blonde noticed this and rolled his eyes shaking his head. “don’t you fucking get it?” his tone immediately reversed back to his usual one as if he was getting defensive about something. “im asking if you wanna see that new movie with me, chainsaw massacre??” he mumbled looking to the side with his arms crossed as if he was admitting something embarrassing.

“oh!” was the only sound to leave you, mouth formed into a ‘O’ shape as you blanked for a minute. trying the absolute best not to just clam up and run away from him..like you always did. you fished out a piece of paper from your back pocket, gently stuffing it into the breast pocket of his scuffled jean vest. the piece of semi-crumpled paper held your information, well just the house phone number.

“don’t be a stranger vance, pick me up at eight thirty sound good?”

the words that left you seemed almost uncharacteristic from anybody that knew you. and to yourself honestly. you weren’t sure what just gave you the courage to speak that way, especially to someone as intimidating as vance ‘pinball’ hopper. but seeing the mixture of surprise and even the smallest dash of excitement wash into his face, it was definitely worth it. but of course you weren’t overly confident, quickly running off to tracy who was waiting outside with the snacks she had purchased after the near death experience you had just earlier before. she had a knowing look on her face, and when look in your eyes matched hers the two of you shared a excited grin before squealing and laughing the entire way home.

meanwhile vance was left in the grab n go , back facing the rest of the store as he stared back to the pinball machine with its flashing lights. in the reflection you could see him grinning..like a total idiot.

——————————————————————————

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR REQUESTING THIS! i had lots of fun writing this but i’ll admit i didn’t expect this to turn out so long :”) i hope you don’t mind me slightly changing the whole shy aspect towards the end! AND NO !! I DID NOT PROOFREAD THIS IM SORRY ! asks are always open !