Thanks to those few cups of mint mung bean soup, Haohao and Sheng Nian had become quite popular among the other kids—especially since they’d discovered that their own mothers/grandmas/great-grandmas couldn’t make mung bean soup as good as Sheng Nian’s aunt’s.
For two days in a row, Haohao showed up at Sheng Nian’s place right on time.
Even though Hu Li had already fed him dinner before letting him out, he always managed to catch Sheng Qiu and Sheng Nian still eating, so he’d end up helping “clean up” the leftovers.
Hu Li was a bit speechless. How could her son have zero self-control? She knew Sheng Qiu’s cooking was delicious, but this was getting ridiculous. To make up for the gap between her cooking and Sheng Qiu’s, she’d been buying roast duck or roast goose every single day.
Before this, just putting roast duck or roast goose on the table would make the whole family eat an extra bowl of rice. Now, the only one still eating that extra bowl was her husband, Zhang Yuejun. Even Hu Li felt that the roast duck and goose weren’t as tasty as before—the flavor hadn’t changed, but she just missed Sheng Qiu’s cooking more.
Maybe sensing that the family wasn’t excited about dinner, Zhang Yuejun came home early today, bringing with him some KenKen Chicken he’d specially bought.
“Don’t just stare at it—eat up!” Remembering the fried chicken wings and drumsticks his wife had brought back before, Zhang Yuejun had been craving more ever since. So today, he’d bought extra.
Hu Li couldn’t muster any interest just from the smell. The KenKen Chicken tasted the same as always, but maybe because it had cooled down on the way back, it wasn’t as fragrant as fresh-out-of-the-fryer. Plus, the drumsticks weren’t nearly as big as Sheng Qiu’s—hers were all meat and incredibly satisfying.
“Xiao Li, what are you spacing out for? Eat up!” Zhang Yuejun said, handing his wife a fried chicken leg first.
Then he turned to his eldest son, who was sitting quietly without any sign of craving, and placed the specially ordered kids’ meal in front of him. “Haohao, you said you wanted KenKen Chicken, right? Go on, eat.”
It was indeed his favorite KenKen Chicken. Haohao unwrapped it and took a bite of the burger.
It tasted just like before—pretty good.
But Haohao kept sneaking glances at the fried chicken leg in his mom’s hand. He’d had fried chicken legs at Niannian’s house before, and they were so delicious. His parents had shared some with him, but now he couldn’t quite remember the taste anymore.
It must’ve been just as good as what Little Auntie Niannian made, right?
“Dad, can I have a big chicken leg too?” Haohao looked at Zhang Yuejun with puppy-dog eyes.
It was just a small request, and Zhang Yuejun was happy to oblige. He handed a drumstick to his son. “Here, eat up.”
Haohao couldn’t wait and took a big bite—then his face fell.
“Why isn’t it crispy?”
The fried chicken legs Little Auntie Niannian made were crispy on the outside. Why was this one soft?
“Aren’t all fried chicken legs crispy?” Zhang Yuejun took a bite himself. Oh wow, it really was soft. He remembered them being crispy before.
Hu Li had also taken a bite and felt that these drumsticks—which used to be pretty good—couldn’t hold a candle to Sheng Qiu’s.
“Takeout never tastes as good as fresh out of the fryer. It’s normal for it not to be crispy,” Hu Li said, then remembered that Sheng Qiu had given her a small bowl of sweet and spicy sauce after helping her fry the chicken wings and drumsticks. She’d been dipping other things in it over the past few days, and there was still a little left.
Once she dipped her fried chicken leg in Sheng Qiu’s sweet and spicy sauce, Hu Li found it much more delicious.
Zhang Yuejun shamelessly leaned over to dip some too. As he ate the KenKen Chicken drumstick, his mind kept drifting back to the ones his wife had brought home the other day—those flavors were truly unbeatable.
Haohao naturally wanted to dip some too, but it was spicy, and Hu Li wouldn’t let him.
“Alright, Haohao, you’re still little. You can’t eat spicy food yet. When you’re older, you can have some. For now, eat your kids’ meal—haven’t you been asking for it for ages?”
“Exactly! This kids’ meal is to celebrate Haohao starting kindergarten next week!”
Seeing Haohao still pouting, Hu Li dropped a bombshell: “And tomorrow, Mom will take Haohao to buy his favorite toy. Does that make you happy?”
“Really?” Haohao perked up immediately.
“Of course! Now finish your kids’ meal.”
Haohao nodded happily. But after just two bites, he heard a knock at the door, followed by his friend Niannian’s voice.
“Haohao, Haohao, are you home?”
Before Hu Li and Zhang Yuejun could get up, Haohao slid off his chair and ran to open the door.
Seeing Niannian, Haohao was overjoyed. “Niannian! What are you doing here? Did you come to play?”
Sheng Nian shook his head. “Haohao, my aunt made pineapple fried rice today, so I came to invite you over to eat. Would you like to?” When he saw his aunt making such a fun new dish—fried rice with fruit—his first thought was his good friend Haohao.
So Sheng Nian had begged his aunt to let him invite Haohao over to share.
Haohao had shared his toy car with him, so he wanted to share pineapple fried rice with Haohao.
“Yes, yes, yes! Niannian, thank you!” Haohao jumped up excitedly and immediately started heading for the door.
“Haohao, my aunt said I need your mom’s permission before I can invite you over.”
Hearing this, Haohao went pattering over to Hu Li. “Mom, Niannian came to invite me over to his house for pineapple fried rice. I want to go.”
“Auntie Hu, can Haohao come eat at my house?”
With both kids looking at her with those big, hopeful eyes, how could Hu Li refuse?
“Sure, go ahead, go ahead.”
“Yay! Thanks, Mom.”
“Thank you, Auntie Hu.”
The two boys headed out hand in hand, and Hu Li couldn’t help but smile with a warm, pleased look.
Ever since Haohao started playing with Sheng Nian more, her son had become so much more polite. In the past, he’d have bolted out the door without even asking her.
“Pineapple fried rice? Can fruit fried with rice actually taste good?”
Zhang Yuejun’s muttering reached Hu Li’s ears, and she shot him a glare.
“With Sheng Qiu’s cooking skills, that pineapple fried rice is bound to be delicious.”
“Ah, I’m just curious. I’d really like to try what fruit-fried rice tastes like.”
Hu Li sighed inwardly. She was curious too—she’d love to taste that pineapple fried rice—but unfortunately, they’d only invited her son.
Sigh.
She never thought she’d be envious of a little kid.
The object of her envy, Haohao, was currently eating away happily with his spoon.
Looking at the pineapple bowl beneath the rice, Haohao carefully touched the green leaves on top. He hadn’t expected that Little Auntie Niannian’s pineapple fried rice would not only taste amazing but also look so beautiful.
After swallowing a mouthful of fried rice, Haohao looked up at Sheng Qiu and asked a little sheepishly, “Little Auntie, after I finish the rice, can I take this pineapple bowl home with me?”
It was such a pretty bowl—he wanted to eat out of it again tomorrow.
“Of course you can. But it won’t last very long once you take it home.” Seeing how much Haohao liked it, Sheng Qiu didn’t want to pour cold water on his excitement—but with the current weather, it wouldn’t keep for more than a few days.
“Can it last until next Monday?” Haohao pressed.
Sheng Qiu put down her spoon and asked, “Haohao, why do you need it to last until next Monday?”
“Because I’m starting kindergarten next week, and I want to bring the pineapple bowl with me.” A bowl this pretty would make all the other kids jealous. And if anyone wanted to call him “big brother,” he might even let them touch it.
Sheng Qiu was surprised. “Haohao, you’re starting kindergarten next week?”
Haohao nodded. His mom had already told him.
Sheng Nian, who had been quietly eating his pineapple fried rice, looked up when he heard Haohao mention starting school. His eyes were full of envy. He’d heard Mingming say that kindergarten was a lot of fun, and he wanted to go too.
But Mingming had also said that kindergarten didn’t take kids who were too young. So Sheng Nian had been wishing he could grow up fast—ideally by tomorrow, so he’d be old enough for kindergarten.
But before he could reach that age, his best friend was already about to start.
“Starting next week, I’ll be at kindergarten during the day. We can only play together in the afternoon after my mom picks me up,” Haohao said. Though he was a little sad he couldn’t play with his good friend Niannian during the day, he was also excited about going to kindergarten—because it meant he was growing up, and also because his mom would buy him his favorite toy.
“Okay. Haohao, will you still come play with me in the evenings?”
“Of course! We’re best friends.”
The two little ones immediately became all warm and affectionate again. Sheng Nian even scooped two extra spoonfuls of his pineapple fried rice over to Haohao, making Haohao keep calling him his “best bro.”
Watching the two little guys act so devoted to each other, Sheng Qiu couldn’t help but laugh. As she laughed, her mind wandered to the topic of kindergarten.
Haohao was only a few months older than her Sheng Nian. She hadn’t really thought about kindergarten before, mainly because Sheng Nian was still so young. But if Haohao could go, maybe her Sheng Nian could too?
Sheng Qiu had noticed the envy that flickered in Sheng Nian’s eyes when Haohao mentioned starting school.
Aside from anything else, kindergarten would let him meet plenty of other kids and help develop his hands-on skills—definitely better than staying home all day.
The more Sheng Qiu thought about it, the more tempted she became.
That night, while telling Sheng Nian a bedtime story, she asked him directly if he wanted to go to kindergarten.
Her answer came in the form of Sheng Nian’s delighted little eyes. If he hadn’t been in bed already, he would’ve jumped right up.
“Little Auntie, can I really go to kindergarten with Haohao?”
“Of course you can—as long as Niannian wants to.”
“I want to! Little Auntie, I want to go to kindergarten!”
“Alright, alright. Niannian will start with kindergarten, and later you’ll go to elementary school, middle school, high school, and college.”
“Will Little Auntie always be with me?”
“Of course. Little Auntie will always be with Niannian. Niannian has paid me a lot of wages, after all.”
The little boy’s eyes shone with determination. “When I grow up and earn money, I’ll pay Little Auntie even more, so she can stay with me forever.”
At just four years old, Sheng Nian had already made a grand vow to get rich—even though he was still illiterate.