Sheng Chun’s apartment wasn’t just in a great neighborhood—the layout and decor inside were far above the current standard.
A three-bedroom, one-living-room, one-kitchen, one-bathroom layout left Sheng Qiu astonished.
From what she remembered, her sister had originally gone out to work alongside others. Although wages in Yangcheng were high these days, there was no way a few years of factory work could buy a place like this.
As for renting—that was even more unrealistic.
Rent in a neighborhood like this definitely wouldn’t be cheap, and if someone could afford to buy such a place, why would they ever rent it out?
Unable to figure it out, Sheng Qiu set the question aside for now.
She left Sheng Chun’s master bedroom untouched and moved her things into the guest room instead. Though it was smaller than the room Sheng Chun and Sheng Nian shared, compared to the factory dormitory, it was practically heaven.
At last, she wouldn’t have to fall asleep to the sound of other people’s sleep-talking and snoring.
After putting all her things away, Sheng Qiu gave the kitchen and living room a quick clean and tidy-up. Since this was going to be her home for a while, she felt better knowing she’d cleaned it herself.
While Sheng Qiu cleaned, Sheng Nian sat on the sofa keeping her company. But he was still just a little kid, and he’d been running around all day—before long, he slumped over on the couch and closed his eyes.
When Sheng Qiu turned around, she saw him sprawled out on the sofa, fast asleep.
This kid.
She smiled helplessly at the tiny figure. She’d told him earlier to go rest, but he’d refused, insisting he wanted to stay with her.
From his nervous little gestures, Sheng Qiu could tell he was still a bit worried.
Probably scared she might leave him.
She gently picked Sheng Nian up, planning to carry him to his own room to sleep. But the moment she opened his door, she stopped in her tracks.
The care put into the room showed how much Sheng Chun loved her son—cream-colored curtains, a polished wooden bed, cute animal patterns on the wardrobe, a display case full of toys by the bed, and a soft rug laid out in front of it.
But the cream curtains were a tangled mess hanging off the window sill, billowing in the wind blowing in from outside. Half the blanket had fallen off the bed. The wardrobe door was open, with clothes hanging out upside down. Toys were scattered everywhere, and both the carpet and floor were covered in little black footprints.
The messy, dirty room made Sheng Qiu hesitate to even put him inside.
She sighed and decided to carry him to her own room instead. But first, she’d have to give him a wash.
Originally, she’d planned to just let him sleep as he was tonight and deal with washing him in the morning. But if she was putting him in her own bed, he’d definitely need a scrub.
When she’d picked him up earlier, Sheng Qiu had noticed a dark gray ring of grime around his neck—who knows where it came from.
She carried him into the bathroom and gave him a good scrubbing. She’d been worried he might wake up, but even after he was all clean, he didn’t open his eyes.
She dried him off, wrapped him in a towel, laid him on her bed, then went to his room to find him some fresh clothes to change into. By then, Sheng Qiu felt completely worn out.
She took a quick shower herself, too tired to deal with anything else, and climbed into bed.
Whatever needed to be done could wait until she woke up.
Sheng Nian had a dream—a dream where, in addition to his mom, he also had a beautiful auntie who cooked delicious food. The three of them lived together happily.
When he opened his eyes, he saw his auntie sleeping right beside him.
It felt so good to have Auntie around.
Sheng Nian tiptoed out of bed. Now that he was with his auntie, he wanted to help her just like he helped his mom.
Sheng Qiu was jolted awake by a loud thump from outside. She turned to find that Sheng Nian, who had been sleeping soundly beside her, was gone. Her drowsiness vanished in an instant.
Not even bothering to put on shoes, she rushed out the door and saw Sheng Nian standing there with a washbasin, his pants legs soaked.
His first reaction was nervousness—he’d accidentally knocked over the basin earlier.
He usually followed his mom around, but Auntie hadn’t woken up for a long time, so he’d thought he’d get some water himself. He just hadn’t expected the basin to be too heavy—it slipped and spilled, soaking his pants.
“Auntie, I-I’m sorry. I spilled the water.” Sheng Nian confessed obediently, hoping his auntie wouldn’t be mad.
Sheng Qiu didn’t say anything at first. She looked him over carefully, even reaching out to check, and confirmed he was fine. Only then did her anxious heart settle down.
As for the spilled water—
“That’s okay. Niannian is still little right now. When you’re a bit bigger, you won’t spill it anymore. Later, we’ll mop it up together. But first, let’s find you some dry clothes to change into.”
Right now, Sheng Nian was still wearing the thin short-sleeved shirt and long pants he’d slept in.
The fact that his auntie hadn’t scolded him made him instantly relax. Hearing her words, he nodded eagerly.
Sheng Qiu found Sheng Nian a set of army-green short-sleeved shirt and shorts to change into and told him to go grab the mop. She quickly went back to her room, changed into fresh clothes, and came out to mop up the spilled water with him.
After tidying up Sheng Nian’s room together, Sheng Qiu took him to the market to buy some ingredients.
She asked Sheng Nian what he liked to eat, but after thinking for a moment, he just shook his head.
He didn’t really know what he liked.
If he had to name something, Sheng Nian really liked the egg pancakes from yesterday, and the Kěn Kěn Jī kids’ meal was also delicious.
That answer made Sheng Qiu frown slightly.
Even though Sheng Nian was only four, likes and dislikes should be pretty easy to tell apart, right? He shouldn’t have trouble naming his preferences.
At the market, Sheng Qiu bought ingredients as well as some seasonings and cooking utensils.
When she’d cleaned the kitchen the night before, she’d found an old-fashioned rice cooker—the kind with a lid that flips open—along with a wok. So today, she only added a clay pot to her collection.
She could use it to make some soup later.
Since they’d been busy all morning, going back home to cook breakfast would’ve taken too much time. Instead, she bought some steamed buns on the way, and by the time they got home, Sheng Nian had already finished his.
Sheng Nian thought the meat buns his auntie bought him were delicious—the white skin was soft and fluffy, and the filling had savory juice inside. He ate two in a row and still didn’t feel full.
But Auntie hadn’t eaten yet.
He liked the meat buns so much, surely his auntie would too.
Sheng Qiu had no idea what was going through Sheng Nian’s mind. If she had, she probably wouldn’t have given him the buns in the first place.
He was only four, after all—when kids that age found something tasty, they didn’t know when to stop and would just keep stuffing themselves. Sheng Qiu remembered her mom once telling her about a friend whose kid ate so much he threw up.
She wasn’t about to let that happen to Sheng Nian.
Back home, Sheng Qiu told Sheng Nian to sit and watch some TV while she took the ingredients into the kitchen.
Not having a refrigerator still felt strange to her. If she had one, she could’ve bought more ingredients and made wontons, dumplings, and buns to store in the freezer—ready to cook up anytime.
Too bad. With only 648 yuan left to her name, she couldn’t afford a fridge.
She consoled herself by thinking that at least this way, every day’s ingredients would be fresh.
Today she bought a few eggs, some shrimp, a rack of pork ribs, and some vegetables.
She hadn’t originally planned to buy shrimp, but the ones at the market looked so big and cheap that she couldn’t resist. There was also some great seafood, but she wouldn’t be able to finish it in two meals, so she suppressed her impulse.
That was one advantage of a coastal city—seafood was always more accessible than inland.
Alright, enough thinking. She’d focus on prepping lunch.
With just the two of them, Sheng Qiu planned to make only two dishes—no leftovers, since she had no fridge to store them.
For lunch: steamed egg custard with shrimp, and stir-fried water spinach. For dinner: braised pork ribs and some bok choy.
Aside from the shrimp needing a bit of prep work, everything else was easy to handle.
She’d thought about making a soup too, but considering their appetites were limited, she gave up on that idea. At times like this, she desperately wished Sheng Nian would grow up faster—then they could have three dishes and a soup for every meal.
Two dishes looked a bit sparse.
Sheng Qiu skillfully deveined the shrimp, split their backs open, and peeled them—quickly finishing most of them.
Looking at the neat, whole shrimp arranged on the plate, she felt deeply satisfied.
Yes, this was what she should be doing. Spending all day on an assembly line handling plastic parts just wasn’t for her.
Suddenly, she felt a tug on her hem. Looking down, she saw Sheng Nian looking up at her.
“What’s wrong, Niannian? Are you hungry?”
She sped up her prep work, hoping to get lunch on the table sooner, while also marveling at how fast Sheng Nian’s digestion was—two buns and he was hungry already.
Come to think of it, she’d need to find where to buy powdered milk and get some for him, so he’d grow up tall and strong.
“Auntie, here.”
Sheng Nian said as he pulled out a stack of something he’d been hiding behind his back and held it up to her.
Sheng Qiu focused her eyes—and nearly dropped the shrimp in her hand. If her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her, what Sheng Nian was holding was a stack of big black 10-yuan bills.
“N-Niannian, where did you get this money?”
“Auntie, you can buy whatever you want. Niannian has money.”
Sheng Nian had noticed his auntie stopping for a long time in front of a fish stall today. He felt like she really wanted something, but in the end, she’d left without buying anything.
After thinking it over, he was sure it was because she didn’t have enough money.
If Auntie wanted something, then Niannian would help her get it.
“Niannian, where did this money come from?” She hoped he hadn’t just taken Sheng Chun’s savings.
When Sheng Nian saw that his auntie still wouldn’t take it, he stubbornly stuffed the whole stack into her arms.
“This is Niannian’s money. Auntie can spend it however she wants.”