It wasn’t just Grandpa Kang whose stomach and mind were at odds—the newlywed couple upstairs felt the same way. They couldn’t even tell if it was the baby in the wife’s belly kicking up a fuss or their own stomachs protesting.
Other families who knew the Shengs—like Ming Ming’s and Fei Zai’s—and even those who didn’t, all chose to keep their windows tightly shut.
Sure, closing the windows made things a bit stuffy, but at least it blocked out some of the aroma, making it possible to actually get through dinner.
If anyone had looked up at Building 8 from outside, they’d have noticed that only a handful of windows were open; the vast majority were sealed tight.
Sheng Qiu had no idea about the effect she was having on the whole building. Right now, she was busy getting the kids to sit down for dinner.
In fact, she didn’t even need to call them—the moment they caught the scent, the little ones had already torn their attention away from the TV. Both Kang Kang and Hao Hao had TVs at home, so the television wasn’t anything special to them. What was special was the food.
The meals at home were nowhere near as good as what Nian Nian’s aunt made.
After confirming that everyone had washed their hands properly, Sheng Qiu gave the word—and three pairs of chopsticks shot toward the biggest, tallest plate on the table: the cumin lamb chops.
Both Hao Hao and Sheng Nian were skilled with their chopsticks. Even though the lamb chops were on the larger side, they managed to clamp them firmly and bring them to their bowls.
The fragrant lamb chop sat right in front of Sheng Nian. He’d meant to take a bite and then, as usual, praise his aunt’s cooking—but once he took that first bite, he couldn’t stop.
So good! This meat is so good!
Sheng Nian’s taste buds were discovering a whole new world through the spices.
Hao Hao needed no introduction. Even if Hu Li had been standing right in front of him, his eyes would’ve been fixed solely on the lamb chops. After two bites, he got fed up with chopsticks and just grabbed the meat with his hands. Within moments, his whole face was a mess.
Only Kang Kang was still struggling, his little face scrunched up with effort as he tried to pick up a lamb chop. But his chopstick skills weren’t quite there yet—he just couldn’t get a grip. And seeing Hao Hao and Sheng Nian already digging in while he hadn’t even gotten one into his bowl made him even more anxious.
Sheng Qiu had wanted to let Kang Kang practice—chopsticks get easier the more you use them—but with his face all pinched and on the verge of tears, she finally picked one up and placed it in his bowl.
“Eat up—Hao Hao’s already almost done with his first one.”
All his frustration about not being able to pick one up vanished instantly. He’d fallen behind by a whole piece of meat!
Sheng Qiu watched as Hao Hao polished off one lamb chop in no time. His face and hands were a complete disaster—some had even gotten on his clothes. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for Hu Li.
After two chops, Hao Hao licked his lips and reached for another. Auntie’s lamb chops were the best in the whole world.
But Sheng Qiu couldn’t let him just eat meat. She nudged the zucchini three-delight rolls toward him.
“Hao Hao, try one of these zucchini rolls. They’re delicious too.”
Eyeing the delicate little rolls, Hao Hao took her suggestion and popped one into his mouth. His chopsticks were already heading back toward the lamb chops—but detoured mid-way and went for another zucchini roll instead.
This veggie roll is so good too!
For a kid who didn’t like vegetables, reaching for a vegetable dish twice was proof enough of how much he liked it—and he actually went back more than twice.
Sheng Nian and Kang Kang, who’d just caught up to Hao Hao with the lamb chops using their chopsticks, also reached for the zucchini rolls.
The cumin lamb chops and zucchini rolls were great on their own, but the hot-and-sour seaweed salad was perfect with rice.
Sheng Qiu had a bite of lamb chop, then went straight for the seaweed salad. For her, the sweet-and-sour flavor with just a hint of spice was a match made in heaven with rice—it brought out the fragrance of the grains and whetted her appetite like crazy.
The three kids, who’d been going after the lamb chops and zucchini rolls nonstop, found it a little strange that Auntie was eating so much of that dark seaweed salad.
The lamb chops and rolls were so delicious—why wasn’t she eating those?
Hao Hao couldn’t figure it out, but that didn’t stop him from reaching for the hot-and-sour seaweed salad. Sweet, sour, and a little spicy—he needed a bite of rice to balance it out.
After that, every couple bites of lamb chop, he’d go back for some seaweed salad.
Hao Hao the little foodie couldn’t resist—and soon Sheng Nian and Kang Kang followed suit, taking occasional bites of the seaweed salad too.
Sheng Nian and Kang Kang had each saved half a cup of juice to drink with their meal, but by now they’d completely forgotten about it. As for Hao Hao, his cup was already empty—so even if he remembered, it wouldn’t have mattered.
Since there weren’t many dishes, Sheng Qiu had made larger portions. The three kids plus herself finished everything except for some leftover lamb chops and zucchini rolls in the kitchen. The seaweed salad, however, had been polished off entirely—thanks to Sheng Qiu’s particular fondness for it.
The leftovers wouldn’t go to waste—Sheng Qiu planned to divide them between Hao Hao and Kang Kang to take home.
She and Hu Li had a good relationship, and they often exchanged gifts. But would Hu Li mind taking leftovers?
If Hu Li had known about Sheng Qiu’s concern, she’d have jumped in without hesitation: of course not! The lamb chops hadn’t even been touched by anyone else, and besides, she hadn’t always had enough to eat in her younger years—she’d never turn her nose up at good food.
The cumin lamb chops were definitely better hot, and by now they’d cooled a bit. Sheng Qiu reheated some and packed it along with some zucchini rolls, planning to give the rest to Hu Li when she came back.
After the three little ones were full, they wanted to go downstairs to play with their friends. Sheng Qiu didn’t stop them—but before they left, Sheng Nian and Hao Hao made a quick trip to the kitchen.
All four of them headed out together, though Sheng Qiu and the kids had different destinations.
Kang Kang’s house was just downstairs. The time spent waiting for the elevator was longer than the ride itself, and it took less than a minute to walk to Kang Kang’s front door.
It hadn’t even been half an hour since dinner, but Grandpa Kang, sitting and watching TV, already felt hungry again. He hadn’t always been like this.
As he’d gotten older, Grandpa Kang felt his body wasn’t what it used to be—his sense of taste had dulled, and his digestion had worsened.
Back in his younger days, he could put away four big bowls of rice in one meal. Now, one small bowl filled him up—and if he ate too much of something good, he’d be too stuffed to sleep at night.
But lately, he’d been eating a full bowl of rice and still lying awake at night, hungry. His mouth was craving food like never before.
Sitting on the sofa watching TV, Grandpa Kang was restless—his attention long gone from the screen.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his wife busying herself in the kitchen. Quietly, he tiptoed over to the cabinet and pulled out a tin can. It was something his son had bought for the family—usually only his daughter-in-law had a few pieces. Grandpa Kang had always turned his nose up at them.
Old folks like him didn’t go for that kind of cookie.
But judging by how practiced his movements were, this clearly wasn’t his first time.
He’d just eaten one piece and was about to go for another when a knock came at the door.
Grandpa Kang chewed faster, set the remaining cookies on the table, and covered them with a newspaper before heading to answer the door. But the closer he got, the louder his stomach’s protests grew.
He’d only just eaten a cookie, after all.
The moment he opened the door, Grandpa Kang understood exactly why his stomach was acting up—because the aroma that hit him head-on was the very same one that had been wafting in through the window all day.
“Hello, I’m Sheng Qiu. Is Kang Kang’s grandmother home?”
Seeing a sturdy old man at the door, Sheng Qiu quickly realized this must be Kang Kang’s grandfather. But since she’d never met him before, she wasn’t sure what to say—so she simply asked for Grandma Kang.
Just the smell alone was already making him drool. Grandpa Kang smiled at the young woman at the door, forcing himself not to let his gaze drift toward the plate in her hands. “Hello, hello—I’m Kang Kang’s grandpa. Let me get her for you.”
He stepped aside to let Sheng Qiu in, then called toward the kitchen: “Old lady, come quick—we have a guest!”
Sheng Qiu didn’t step inside, nor did she notice Grandpa Kang swallow hard as he turned.
Hearing the commotion, Grandma Kang came out of the kitchen. Her face lit up the moment she saw who it was. “Nian Nian’s aunt! What brings you here? Come in, come in, have a seat!”
“No, no—I just had some leftovers from today’s meal. Don’t worry, they haven’t been touched. I hope you don’t mind?”
Grandma Kang had already caught the aroma, but she’d assumed it was just lingering from earlier. She never expected Sheng Qiu to actually bring some over.
“Mind? Of course not—I’d love it! Your cooking is every bit as good as Guangyuan Restaurant’s!”
Sheng Qiu felt too embarrassed to accept such high praise—she didn’t have the nerve to compare herself to professional chefs. She just had the advantage of living in an age of information overload.
“Come in, come in, sit down for a bit.” Grandma Kang nudged Grandpa Kang aside and warmly invited her in.
“I really can’t—I haven’t cleaned up at home yet. Besides, the cumin lamb chops are best eaten hot, so I wanted to bring them down right away. Here you go—I’ll head back now.” Sheng Qiu handed the plate over and turned to leave.
Hearing that, Grandma Kang didn’t insist. After all, there’d be plenty of opportunities in the future.
“Alright then—let me just transfer these to a clean plate.”
Before she could even head to the kitchen, Grandpa Kang had already dashed over and came back with a clean plate.
His unusual eagerness made Grandma Kang give him a couple of extra glances, but she didn’t think much of it—Sheng Qiu was still waiting.
Once she’d handed off the food, Sheng Qiu was ready to leave—but not before Grandma Kang pressed a bag of mangoes into her hands. No matter how much Sheng Qiu declined, she couldn’t refuse.
She’d brought over some food, and ended up leaving with more.
Standing in front of the elevator, Sheng Qiu couldn’t help but smile at the thought.
Meanwhile, back inside, Grandma Kang closed the door and was about to put away the food for her son and daughter-in-law to enjoy later—when she turned around and saw her husband already pulling out his bottle of liquor and settling down in front of the plate Sheng Qiu had brought.
“Hey, you old—”
Before she could finish, Grandpa Kang had already picked up a piece of lamb chop.
The lamb was tender, roasted with cumin—the fragrance fully unlocked. No wonder the aroma drifting in was so irresistible. And the taste? It more than lived up to the hype.
She’d planned to save it for the younger couple, but the sight of her husband digging in so eagerly made Grandma Kang’s mouth water.
Oh well—Nian Nian’s aunt had said to eat it while it was hot. So she might as well have a taste.
Unsurprisingly, both of the Kang grandparents were utterly won over by the cumin lamb chops and zucchini rolls.
By the time Sheng Qiu finally got back home after waiting nearly fifteen minutes for the elevator, Hu Li had already returned. Sheng Qiu brought over the reheated lamb chops and zucchini rolls, earning profuse thanks from Hu Li.
So many people had enjoyed her cooking tonight—it made Sheng Qiu genuinely happy. But what she didn’t know was that the number of admirers extended far beyond those she’d met.
The next day, when Sheng Qiu went to pick up Sheng Nian and Hao Hao from kindergarten, she noticed quite a few gazes drifting her way.
If they’d been adults, she might have chalked it up to them having an eye for beauty. But the ones staring at her—without any pretense of subtlety—were children. Even as their parents pulled them along, they kept turning their heads to look at her.
Strange. Really strange.
Sheng Qiu quickened her pace, leading Sheng Nian and Hao Hao home.
It wasn’t until they were inside the elevator that she finally let out a breath of relief. Looking down, she noticed a thin layer of sweat on both kids’ faces—they’d clearly been walking a bit fast. She’d completely forgotten she had two little ones with her.
“Sorry, you two—Auntie forgot about you.”
Sheng Nian shook his head. Next to him, Hao Hao pumped his fist and said, “Auntie, were we dodging bad guys? That was so fun!”
“You both did great back there. Auntie wants to reward you—what would you like?” Sheng Qiu was even mentally prepared to spend a good chunk of money.
She knew her own Nian Nian well enough—he just liked picture books, which didn’t cost much.
As for Hao Hao, she’d heard from Nian Nian plenty of times about the remote-control cars he kept getting. Those things cost several hundred yuan even in 2025—better ones could run into the thousands. In this era, they definitely weren’t cheap.
A few hundred at least, she figured.
“Really? Anything we want, Auntie?” Hao Hao looked at her excitedly.
Sheng Nian didn’t speak, but his eyes held the same hopeful uncertainty.
“Of course, really.”
“Yay! Auntie, then I want a huge jar of popcorn—bigger than the one Nian Nian had!” Hao Hao had been completely won over by the popcorn yesterday. He’d praised Auntie’s popcorn and cooking countless times at kindergarten today.
Several kids had been drooling just listening—but a few didn’t believe anything could be that good. In their minds, the best thing ever was KFC. Hao Hao strongly disagreed.
Unless he could let them taste it for themselves.
He’d been planning to ask Nian Nian for some, but now that Auntie was offering a reward, of course he’d ask for popcorn! Then he’d prove to everyone that Auntie’s food was the best in the world.
“Just a jar of popcorn?” Sheng Qiu hadn’t expected his reward request to be so simple.
Hao Hao shook his head and corrected her: “A big jar—really big.”
Popcorn was easy to make—the only thing was prepping the kernels. But she still had plenty left from last time, so she could make it anytime. A jar or a big jar made no difference to her.
“Alright—Auntie will make it for you tonight.”
Hao Hao happily wiggled his hips and started dancing a new routine the teacher had taught that day. His wide grin made him look adorably goofy.
Once Hao Hao had named his reward, Sheng Qiu turned to Sheng Nian, waiting for him to speak up.
Sheng Nian looked eager. “Auntie, can I have bunny-shaped steamed buns?”
Today at school, he’d seen another kid bring steamed buns shaped like little bunnies—they were so pretty. But that kid only let everyone look, because her grandma had made them just for fun.
Sheng Nian really liked them too.
“Bunny-shaped steamed buns? Is that what Nian Nian wants?”
The first thing that came to Sheng Qiu’s mind was those cartoon-style steamed buns she’d seen online. They were adorable—brightly colored and fun-shaped. Not just kids, but even adults found them hard to resist.
Sheng Qiu was no exception. Some were not only beautiful but also tasty. She’d tried making them herself a few times, using vegetable juice for coloring. It was a bit of a hassle, but the results were pretty good.
A plain bunny-shaped bun didn’t even need coloring—it was simple.
“Can you actually eat them?” Sheng Nian had only seen the other kid holding it in their hand—he hadn’t realized you could actually eat it.
Sheng Qiu nodded. “Of course. How about Auntie makes you a bunny with red bean paste filling?”
Plain buns were boring—there had to be some filling. Originally, she’d thought about custard filling, but that was more complicated than red bean paste, so she’d stick with the simpler one for now.
“Okay! Thank you, Auntie.” Sheng Nian’s eyes sparkled as he looked at her, convinced his aunt was the most amazing person in the world—she could even make bunny-shaped steamed buns with red bean paste!
Hao Hao, who’d been cheerfully bouncing around on his own, grabbed Sheng Nian’s hand. “Nian Nian, will you share your bunny bun with me?”
He’d seen the bunny-shaped bun today too, but he was only interested in the edible kind. The rest didn’t matter to him—it definitely wasn’t as fun as his remote-control car.
But Auntie could make edible bunny buns—and that got Hao Hao interested again.
As his best buddy, Sheng Nian was very generous. He nodded right away. “Of course.”
“Yay! Thanks, Nian Nian!”
The two little ones held hands and chatted all the way home.
Once Sheng Qiu unlocked the door, she let them go inside first. She didn’t feel like making anything too complicated for dinner tonight—something simple would do. So she decided to make a pizza and some spinach and tofu dough drop soup.
Two kinds of carbs, main course and main course—she felt great about it.
Even though it was a carb-heavy meal, the spinach and tofu dough drop soup actually had more spinach, tofu, and eggs than dough. The main purpose was to keep the pizza from being too dry.
For the pizza, Sheng Qiu used whatever she had on hand: bell peppers, onions, shrimp, mushrooms—and most importantly, a thick layer of cheese.
She’d had to go to a department store for the cheese—you couldn’t find it at the local market. She’d picked up a few other things while she was there too, so she could make spaghetti and steak for the kids another time.
She made two 6-inch pizzas—not because she didn’t want to make bigger ones, but the oven was too small to fit any more. Two of these were enough for the four of them, especially since they also had the soup.