Wang Huiting was meticulously pondering the gift list, treating this task as a matter of great importance. Normally, she didn't have much say at home, and this was the first time she had been involved in such a significant decision. Although names immediately came to mind when Su Ruyi brought it up, she still deliberated carefully for a long time before solemnly writing them down.
After all her years of schooling, this was the first time Wang Huiting had written so conscientiously—each stroke was exceptionally neat.
"Do you think this list will work?"
Wang Huiting nervously handed over the list, her eyes filled with anticipation.
Su Ruyi, shelling longans with her head tilted to glance at the list, saw eight names in total—half were factory leaders, and half were neighbors and friends. The factory leaders' names were accompanied by their positions, making it clear at a glance.
"This should do. If you've missed anyone, you can add them later. Besides longans, take some other fruits too."
Wang Huiting happily agreed, then added after a moment's thought, "With so many rare fruits, if we pack them in a nice basket to make a fruit basket, it would look much prettier and more upscale!"
"Good idea. Let's do that then."
Being affirmed made Wang Huiting's little face flush with excitement. "Should I go buy the baskets now? One of my classmates' families makes baskets—they're really well-made and not expensive. If I buy a lot, they might even give me a discount."
Wang Huiting was impatient by nature, and this time she didn't even wait for Su Ruyi's reply before rushing out to ask her mother for money.
Wang Huiting chattered away explaining to Li Mei, not forgetting to add at the end, "Big Sister said so too."
Li Mei had initially wanted to say something but stopped upon hearing this, telling Wang Huizhen to go inside and get the money for her.
After a moment's thought, Li Mei put down her work and walked in to look at Su Ruyi. "Ruyi, what about your grandmother's side…"
Su Ruyi directly made a stopping gesture. "All of this was prepared by my mom. They're not included."
Ms. Su Ying had no fondness for that side of the family. She had known what they were like ever since she married Tong Aihua. It was only because of the distance that things hadn't gotten messy. Over the years, whenever Tong Aihua sent money to Su Ruyi, that side of the family never hesitated to make unpleasant remarks.
Su Ruyi had even less affection for them. Moreover, her father had only recently gone missing, and they were already eagerly trying to snatch the money. She'd be a fool to get close to them.
Wang Huiting took the money and hurried off to buy the baskets. Just as the meal was ready, she returned home carrying a large stack of baskets.
Li Mei's cooking skills were excellent—the large table of dishes looked extremely tempting. There were braised pork, pork belly with tofu, dried radish with cured meat, stir-fried chili with sausages, blanched Chinese cabbage, and pork rib with winter melon soup.
The aroma had long since aggressively wafted into Su Ruyi's nostrils, testing her utmost willpower to resist starting early.
Tong Yunyun's eyes hadn't left the dishes on the table. Although she loved eating longans, compared to fruit, she preferred meat!
"Wow, this is like New Year's! No, even New Year's meals aren't this good!"
Tong Yunyun was overjoyed. If Su Ruyi hadn't been watching her like a hawk, she would have already tried to sneak a taste.
Li Mei wiped her hands on her apron, always somewhat cautious around Su Ruyi. "My cooking isn't great—I just threw something together. Please make do and don't mind it."
Su Ruyi widened her eyes dramatically. "Auntie Mei, if your cooking is considered 'not that great,' then there's no one in the world who can cook well. Just the aroma alone tells me it's amazing!"
"As long as you don't mind it."
"If I still complained about this kind of skill, I'd be utterly ungrateful."
Without standing on ceremony, Su Ruyi waited until everyone was seated, urged them to start eating, then picked up her chopsticks and took a piece of braised pork.
It melted in her mouth, leaving a rich fragrance. The fat was tender but not greasy, perfect in color, aroma, and taste.
"Auntie Mei, your skills are absolutely incredible! If you opened a restaurant, you'd have customers flocking in like clouds."
This time, Su Ruyi's praise was completely sincere, without any exaggeration.
Seeing this, Li Mei felt relieved and smiled. "It's not as good as you say. I only know how to make simple home-style dishes, nothing fancy."
"Auntie Mei, your biggest flaw is being too modest. If I had your skills, I'd strut around like I owned the place."
Originally, Su Ruyi had just come by following orders, planning to leave after finishing her business. But after this meal, she found herself reluctant to part with Li Mei's cooking.
Su Ruyi could cook too, and her dishes were passable, but she was extremely lazy about it. She only cooked when the mood struck her, at most once a day, and would give up within a month.
That's why she used to hire someone to cook for her at home—she was tired of takeout and didn't like eating out all the time.
Now that she was here, her biggest problem was meals. She really didn't want to cook for herself at all.
Especially given her current financial situation, the cooking environment would definitely be poor.
She was the type who had all the gear but no idea—couldn't cook much, but insisted on having all the tools. Only in a beautiful and convenient kitchen did she feel any motivation to cook; otherwise, she had no desire to even start.
No one had ever praised Li Mei like this before, and her ears turned red.
"If… if you like it, I can cook for you from now on."
Su Ruyi laughed. "Great, you said it yourself."
Wang Huizhen and Wang Huiting watched in astonishment. Their mother's cooking was indeed delicious, but Su Ruyi was way too good at compliments—they'd never seen anyone so generous with praise.
What shocked them even more was Su Ruyi's appetite. Because Su Ruyi had mentioned her large appetite beforehand, Li Mei had cooked extra.
It was customary to prepare more than enough when guests came over—better to have too much than too little.
On top of that, Li Mei had made enough for at least three more people, and Su Ruyi actually finished it all. In the end, she even asked for some noodles to soak up the remaining sauce before saying she was full.
Tong Yunyun initially tried to keep up with her but soon gave up, simply watching her eat instead.
The little one kept glancing at Su Ruyi's stomach, wondering how she could eat so much yet still have a flat belly?!
Li Mei was starting to worry but didn't dare ask, lest it seem like she didn't want to feed her.
Su Ruyi noticed but didn't care. This was just her appetite now—if she worried about others' opinions, she'd go hungry, wouldn't have the strength, and that was absolutely unacceptable.
Su Ruyi ate to her heart's content. "I'm strong, so I eat a lot."
Wang Huiting marveled, "Your figure totally doesn't show it."
Just looking at her appearance, Wang Huiting felt she could easily take Su Ruyi down. But in reality… they had all witnessed what happened earlier.
Su Ruyi wasn't particularly short, standing at about 168 cm, but she had a typically small frame and head, appearing slender and delicate, giving off a fragile impression.
In the south, aside from being slightly taller, she would still be considered petite, but here she seemed even more frail.
Su Ruyi rolled up her sleeves and flexed her wrist, revealing well-defined muscle lines on her originally slender arm.
"Don't be fooled by my thin appearance—I'm all muscle."
Even before gaining strength, Su Ruyi wasn't as fragile as she looked; she had inherited some of her mother's physical stamina, but her small frame made her appear delicate.
Tong Yunyun watched with envy: "I need to eat more too!"
After the meal, Su Ruyi wanted to take a bath. She felt she was starting to smell, and if it weren't for the lack of a private bathroom here, she would have taken a shower long ago. She had forced herself to wait until after the meal.
Qing Province was in the northern region, where public bathhouses were the norm.
Su Ruyi was reluctant deep down, but she had no choice but to adapt to the environment.
She had attended university in the north, where the dormitories had no private bathrooms—only two washrooms per floor—so bathing meant going to the bathhouse.
Su Ruyi endured it for one semester. Although she could manage and never refused to enter the bathhouse, she never got used to it.
The bathhouse with private stalls was too far from the school, and the round trip by bus made her feel like the bath was wasted, so she just made do.
However, in the second semester, she bought an apartment near the school, solving the problem. When she graduated, she sold the apartment and even made a profit.
Now, she was back to square one.
Tong Yunyun led the way to the bathhouse. The kid was practically reeking. She was always running around outside, covered in sweat, and disliked going to the bathhouse, so Su Ruyi dragged her along.
On the way, Tong Yunyun was still unwilling, claiming she had bathed just a couple of days ago. Su Ruyi shut her up with an ice cream.
Many people along the way pointed and whispered behind her back, but Su Ruyi pretended not to notice.
When they reached the bathhouse, Tong Yunyun hesitantly followed Su Ruyi toward the women's section. Someone spotted them and mocked:
"Isn't that Tong Yunyun? Aren't you a boy? Why are you going to the women's bath? You're so old now—are you trying to be a pervert?"
Tong Yunyun's face flushed red instantly: "No way! I'm going to the men's section. You're mistaken!"
As she said this, she tried to head toward the men's side, but Su Ruyi grabbed her.
"What are you doing? You agreed just now, and now you're backing out? This is deserting at the last moment."
The person who had mocked them was still watching and even pulled others heading to the bathhouse to point and laugh at Tong Yunyun.
Tong Yunyun felt even more humiliated. She pressed her lips together stubbornly and said, "I'm not bathing. I'll wait for you outside."
"Hey, don't skip it! Come to the men's side—let the guys see if you've got a little bull… Ah! What are you doing!"
Su Ruyi directly whipped her towel across the person's face, making them cry out in pain.
Su Ruyi said coldly, "If you don't know how to speak, then shut up!"
"Who do you think you are! How dare you hit me? Do you know whose turf this is?" The woman was furious, clutching her face and about to confront Su Ruyi, but her companion pulled her back.
"Why are you stopping me!"
The woman glared at her companion, who quickly whispered a few words in her ear. The woman's eyes widened, and her expression toward Su Ruyi shifted.
"Hmph, whatever. I can't be bothered dealing with someone from the countryside. So uncivilized." With that, she turned and walked away.
Tong Yunyun lowered her head, not letting Su Ruyi see her expression.
"Are you still going to bathe?"
Tong Yunyun shook her head.
Su Ruyi didn't press her this time, realizing she had overlooked this issue earlier.
"Then you can go back, no need to wait for me."
Since she was already here, Su Ruyi definitely wanted to enjoy a proper scrub-down and didn't like having someone waiting around.
Only then did Yunyun raise her head: "Didn't you want me to come?"
"But you're not willing." Su Ruyi patted her head, "Alright, I'm going in now. If I don't bathe soon I'll be killed by my own stench."
As Su Ruyi changed into her locker tag and prepared to enter the bathhouse, Yunyun followed along.
Su Ruyi didn't say anything, but Yunyun proactively defended herself:
"Boys my age, like so-and-so, also follow their mothers into the women's bathhouse."
Su Ruyi: "…"
Yunyun was already ten years old this year!
Damn, was she even going to be able to bathe in peace now!