As mealtime approached, Sheng Qiu didn’t let them eat too much. She only gave each of them a small slice of cake, just enough for a taste.
While the two were enjoying their cake, Sheng Qiu went into the kitchen to make dinner.
The ingredients had already been prepped earlier; all she needed to do was stir-fry them.
There was a small stir-fried chicken dish, stir-fried garlic shoots with sliced pork, braised tofu, and finally a shrimp-skin loofah soup.
All quick and easy dishes.
But don’t think that just because they’re quick dishes, they don’t taste good. In fact, if made well, these dishes are all quite flavorful. The key is getting the timing right—overcook them and you lose the deliciousness; undercook them and they taste bad.
Sheng Qiu had studied and practiced for a long time to develop this level of skill.
In less than half an hour, the aroma of the food wafted out of the kitchen.
“Auntie, can we eat now? Haohao’s tummy is growling.” Haohao had been hovering at the kitchen door with his little bottom sticking out ever since the smell started drifting out.
Even Sheng Nian, who had been quietly reading a picture book, seemed to catch the hunger and felt his stomach rumble too.
“Alright, alright. Go wash your hands and come get the rice.”
As soon as Sheng Qiu said that, Haohao dashed off to the bathroom like a whirlwind, not forgetting to drag Sheng Nian along with him. In less than half a minute, the two little ones were standing in front of Sheng Qiu with their clean little hands held out.
She carefully inspected them, paying special attention to Haohao’s hands, and after confirming they were clean, she started serving the rice.
Even though he had been practically ready to dive into the pot earlier, Haohao now politely gave way to Sheng Nian.
“Niannian, is this enough?” Sheng Qiu served the rice according to Sheng Nian’s usual portion.
Sheng Nian took a look and said, “Auntie, give me a little more.” He hadn’t eaten enough at lunch, so he wanted to eat a bit more for dinner.
“No problem.” Sheng Qiu immediately added another scoop.
“Thank you, Auntie.”
Sheng Nian held his rice bowl and didn’t leave, waiting for Haohao to join him.
Just as Sheng Qiu picked up a bowl to serve herself, Haohao spoke up hesitantly.
“Auntie, can I have a different bowl?”
She agreed to this small request right away, assuming Haohao had taken a liking to another bowl. Not to brag, but the set of bowls and plates she had were newly bought from the mall and weren’t cheap.
The next second, Haohao pointed at the large soup bowl and said, “Auntie, I want that one.”
Sheng Qiu felt a little helpless. With so many nice bowls around, why did he have to pick the big soup bowl? But since she had already agreed, she used the big soup bowl to serve him.
“Auntie, please give me lots of rice! A whole bowl full.” Haohao looked especially eager.
With such a big bowl of rice, he’d definitely be full.
Goodness, if she really filled Haohao’s bowl to the brim, the rice cooker would probably be just about empty.
“Haohao, you might not be able to finish that much. Growing food is not easy, so we should cherish it. Auntie will give you some for now, and if you’re still hungry after finishing, I’ll add more, okay?” Even if Haohao could eat a lot, Sheng Qiu didn’t dare let him go unlimited—she couldn’t afford to deal with the consequences if he got sick from overeating.
After saying that, she was a little worried Haohao might not understand. Although this chubby little guy was usually cheerful, that was only when food wasn’t involved. When it came to eating, Sheng Qiu had seen the tug-of-war between Haohao and Hu Li.
Haohao looked at Sheng Qiu, remembering that Auntie always kept her word. After thinking for a moment, he nodded. “Okay, Auntie.”
“Then Auntie will give you the same amount as Niannian for now, and add more after you finish.”
Sheng Qiu told the two little ones to start eating first, but when she came out after serving her own rice, both of them were still waiting for her—though Haohao’s head was practically drooping into his big soup bowl.
Sheng Qiu wasn’t one to spoil the mood. Sheng Nian and Haohao were waiting for her, and that was their thoughtful gesture.
“Alright, let’s eat!”
“Yay, let’s eat!”
Haohao immediately went for the chicken. The tender meat was so well-seasoned that it made him sway with delight.
So chicken wasn’t only good when made into fried nuggets—Auntie’s cooking was super delicious too! “Auntie, this chicken is so good! You cook way better than Mom.”
“Of course! My auntie makes the best food.” Sheng Nian had first picked up a piece of tofu. It was so soft that it practically melted in his mouth without much chewing, and it went perfectly with the rice.
“If it’s tasty, eat more. Let’s finish all the dishes.”
With Sheng Qiu’s rallying cry, Sheng Nian and Haohao responded enthusiastically, shoveling food into their mouths.
There was a bit of sauce left in the stir-fried chicken dish. Sheng Qiu mixed it into her rice, and the grains became more flavorful and rich, so delicious she could almost swallow her tongue.
Occasionally, she’d pick up a piece of garlic shoot—such a treat! If only the garlic shoots could be saved for the next meal, the flavor would reach another level, but unfortunately, they wouldn’t last that long.
The clever little rascal Haohao saw how much Sheng Qiu was enjoying her rice and wanted to mix the stir-fried chicken sauce into his own. But Sheng Qiu had already used it all. His eyes darted around and landed on the tofu dish—there seemed to be some sauce in that plate too.
The braised tofu with its sauce mixed into the rice was so good that Haohao finished his entire bowl clean.
So delicious~ Broth mixed with rice is the best meal in the whole world.
Both of them had eaten rice mixed with broth, and Sheng Nian certainly wasn’t going to be left behind. Once he started, he couldn’t even bother to talk.
Sheng Qiu had initially been asking Sheng Nian how his day at kindergarten went, but by now she was eating so blissfully that she’d completely forgotten about it. Not that it mattered—even if she had asked, Sheng Nian and Haohao would have been too busy eating to answer.
Without comparison, there’s no contrast. Compared to the food at home, the kindergarten meals were really not good.
When Sheng Qiu went to get more rice, she had two little tails following behind her.
One big scoop for me, one small scoop for you, and one small scoop for him too.
She had actually added extra rice earlier, thinking they might not finish it all, but who knew that after just one round of seconds, it was all gone. Sheng Qiu looked at Haohao a little sheepishly.
She had just told him earlier that he could get more rice after finishing his bowl.
Now there was no rice left to add.
But Haohao didn’t care about that at all, because he was busy splitting the remaining braised tofu sauce with Sheng Nian.
After downing the last sip of shrimp-skin loofah soup, Sheng Qiu couldn’t help but let out a long, satisfied breath. There was nothing quite like the comfort of a full stomach. At lunch, she hadn’t had much of an appetite because Sheng Nian wasn’t there, but dinner had more than made up for it.
Haohao’s belly was now round and bulging. Even though he wanted to eat more, he simply couldn’t.
Sheng Nian had also overeaten at dinner.
All three of them collapsed onto the sofa, unable to move.
“So full, so happy. I wish I could eat at Niannian’s house every day.” Haohao couldn’t help but sigh.
Sheng Qiu glanced at Haohao’s round belly and laughed. “Haohao, if you did that, you’d definitely turn into a ball.”
“I’d be okay with that.”
“Auntie, Niannian wants to turn into a ball first.”
Sheng Qiu: ??? Since when is turning into a fat ball something good? And why are they fighting over it?
After resting for a bit, Sheng Qiu began clearing the dishes. Sheng Nian helped pass things to her, and Haohao followed suit, imitating him. Their enthusiasm kept Sheng Qiu busy trying to keep up with them.
While things were warm and cozy on this side, Hu Li had finally finished balancing the books at her shop. She called Zhang Yuejun’s factory, but his work wasn’t done yet, and it looked like he wouldn’t be able to come home that night.
Seeing the sky darken, Hu Li packed up and quickly found a car to take her home.
Her son had started school today—it was his first day, a time when he’d be struggling to adjust. Hu Li had originally planned for her husband to pick him up and take him out for a nice meal, but not only did they not get a nice meal—they hadn’t even gone to pick him up at all.
Hu Li felt a pang of guilt.
She and her husband had indeed been neglecting Haohao a bit. But Hu Li wasn’t willing to stay home full-time to take care of her son. She had worked hard to build her clothing store, and she absolutely wasn’t going to give it up.
Zhang Yuejun managed a factory and could occasionally help with the child, but it wasn’t sustainable in the long run.
Yet they didn’t want to shortchange their son either. Zhang Yuejun’s family was out of the question, and Hu Li’s own mother was busy taking care of her brother’s kids and couldn’t come over. Hu Li also didn’t want to send Haohao away to live with relatives.
It was really a dilemma.
Carrying guilt toward her son and anxiety about their future life, Hu Li arrived back at the neighborhood.
With two cans of yellow peach canned fruit and a box of White Rabbit candies in hand, Hu Li knocked on the Sheng family’s door.
“Oh, Haohao’s mom, you’re here! Come in, come in.” Sheng Qiu stepped aside and welcomed Hu Li inside.
“Thank you so much for today, Niannian’s auntie.”
Hu Li chatted as she walked in, and the sight that greeted her was Sheng Nian and her son playing with building blocks together. The two of them looked so focused that she hated to interrupt.
But while Sheng Nian was still absorbed in the game, Haohao had already spotted his mother.
Even though he had eaten well and played happily at Niannian’s house today, Haohao hadn’t seen his mom all day. He immediately put down the blocks and ran straight into Hu Li’s arms.
“Mom, Mom! Haohao missed you so much.”
That “missed you” made Hu Li want to cry. “Mom missed you too, so as soon as work was done, I came right away to pick you up. Let’s go home.”
“Yay!”
Hu Li placed the things she’d brought on the table. “Niannian’s auntie, thank you so much for today. We’ll be heading off now.”
“No, no, please take these back.” She had only watched Haohao for a while, fed him dinner, and let him play with Niannian for so long—Sheng Qiu felt she didn’t deserve the gifts.
“Niannian’s auntie, if you don’t accept them, I won’t feel comfortable asking for your help again in the future.”
With Hu Li saying that, what could Sheng Qiu do but accept? Still, she cut a slice of cake for Hu Li and gave her some homemade cookies to tide her over until she could have a proper meal.
Back home, Hu Li listened to Haohao chatter about what had happened at school that day—there were lots of crying kids, but he hadn’t cried—and then about the food at Niannian’s house. The latter topic went on for quite a while, and he even kept smacking his lips as he talked.
If she hadn’t felt her son’s round, full belly, Hu Li would have thought he hadn’t eaten dinner at all.
Feeling guilty for not picking him up today, Hu Li had a sudden burst of maternal affection and asked Haohao what he wanted for dinner tomorrow night, ready to pull out all the stops to make it up to him.
“Mom, tomorrow I want to eat at Niannian’s house! Your cooking isn’t as good as Niannian’s auntie’s.”
The maternal warmth that had just bloomed in Hu Li’s heart instantly vanished.
Hmph. Her cooking might not be as good as Sheng Qiu’s, but her slaps could definitely make Haohao’s butt ring loud and clear.