Shen Qi had never acted coquettishly before.
But she had often seen Shen Baozhu do it.
Copying someone else’s method wasn’t a problem for her.
Xu Ailian remained silent for a long while, so Shen Qi urged again.
“Mom? Is there no food at home?”
Shen Congjun cleared his throat lightly. “Go cook some noodles for the child.”
Xu Ailian forced a dry laugh and stood up to go to the kitchen.
“Thank you, Dad!” Shen Qi flashed a sweet smile. “Dad is still the one who cares about me most.”
Shen Congjun felt inexplicably uncomfortable.
Shen Baozhu couldn’t help stealing several glances at Shen Qi.
She noticed that Shen Qi had cut her hair.
The thick bangs were thinned out, and the dry ends were trimmed to shoulder length.
Revealing a face that was both familiar and unfamiliar.
So this is what Shen Qi really looks like?
Shen Baozhu was secretly startled.
She remembered when Shen Qi first returned to the Shen Family—dark-skinned and skinny.
Her eyes were always cast downward, shoulders hunched, often showing only the top of her head when spoken to.
But the Shen Qi before her now had sparkling peach blossom eyes, her sunken cheeks had filled out, and her skin tone was similar to that of normal girls.
She… had become pretty.
Not just ordinarily pretty, but the kind that catches your eye at first glance.
A sense of fear grew in Shen Baozhu’s heart.
If Yi Ge were to see Shen Qi like this, would he… would he like her?
Oh!
Now she understood!
Shen Qi wasn’t actually looking for a job—she had gone to get her hair cut.
She wanted to attract Yi Ge’s attention by making herself prettier.
Why is she lying through her teeth?!
Shen Baozhu opened her mouth, wanting to expose Shen Qi’s lies, but remembering what Shen Congjun had said to her yesterday, she swallowed her words.
No rush. She would wait for the right opportunity to reveal Shen Qi’s true nature, to let Mom and Dad see what a terrible person Shen Qi really is!
Distracted and irritated, Xu Ailian ended up overcooking the noodles until they were mushy.
She indifferently served them in a bowl and called Shen Qi over to eat.
Shen Qi sat at the dining table, looked at the bowl of noodles resembling pig slop, and smiled.
“Thank you, Mom.”
“Wash your own bowl after eating.”
Xu Ailian turned and went back to warm herself by the stove.
Shen Qi picked up a bite to taste—just as she expected, there wasn’t even any salt added.
Shen Qi didn’t force herself. She carried the bowl to the kitchen to fix it.
Mushy noodles weren’t inedible; in these times, many sick people ate them as nutritional meals.
Shen Qi turned on the stove again, fried an egg for herself, and noticing a few tomatoes among the ingredients, took one to peel, chop, and cook into the noodles.
She garnished the finished dish with some chopped scallions and sesame oil—making it both appealing and delicious.
Without range hoods in those days, the aroma from the kitchen quickly wafted into the living room.
Xu Ailian was very displeased.
“See? She thinks my cooking isn’t good enough and has to fix it herself. If I’d known, I might as well have let her cook from the start, saving me the trouble.”
Shen Congjun didn’t respond. In his view, this was just trivial family nonsense not worth his attention.
Shen Jinan sniffed the air, feeling a bit tempted.
His mother’s cooking wasn’t as good as Shen Qi’s. He hadn’t eaten much at dinner, and now the smell was making him hungry.
“Shen Qi, give me that bowl. You can make another one for yourself,” Shen Jinan said impulsively, walking over and ordering her around.
Shen Qi ignored him and focused on eating.
She was truly hungry and ate quickly, finishing the bowl of noodles in less than ten minutes.
Shen Qi went into the kitchen to wash her bowl, completely disregarding Shen Jinan.
Shen Jinan: …
He really wanted to slap Shen Qi across the face!
But he couldn’t.
Dad’s here. If he dares lay a hand on you, his father would beat him to death.
Shen Jinan complained indignantly to Shen Congjun: “What kind of sister is she? She won’t even give me a bowl of noodles!”
Shen Congjun shot his son a glare but didn’t respond.
It wasn’t that he favored Shen Qi, but as a boy, being so petty over food made Shen Congjun feel his youngest son was truly embarrassing.
They were both his sons, yet the eldest was sensible and accomplished while the youngest seemed like he was picked up from somewhere – just looking at him was irritating.
Fortunately, the boy would graduate from high school in two and a half years. He’d definitely be sent to the troops then for proper training, which should whip him into shape.
Shen Qi dried her hands and sat on the sofa, ignoring the unusually silent atmosphere after she joined, and watched TV by herself.
Shen Congjun cleared his throat and said, “Your eldest brother’s closed training is ending soon. He’ll have a two-day leave.”
“That’s wonderful.” Shen Qi smoothly responded, “When he returns, Mom should cook several good dishes to nourish him.”
Shen Jinan rolled his eyes disdainfully.
Just wait until big brother comes back – he’d complain bitterly then.
See if big brother doesn’t scold her!
Only then did Shen Qi realize what they had been so happily discussing earlier – Shen Jibei was getting leave.
Speaking of Shen Jibei, he did have some luck. When he joined the military, he was selected by the air force troops to become a pilot.
If she remembered correctly, in a few months, he would be promoted.
Promotion…
Shen Qi fell into deep thought.
Early the next morning, Shen Qi woke up as usual, used up all the hot water in the thermos, and went out.
After transferring buses, she bought breakfast at the bun shop near Lili Hair Salon and arrived at the shop entrance at 7:50.
Chen Li was unlocking the door when she heard someone call her. She glanced back but didn’t stop what she was doing.
“Li-jie, I didn’t know what filling you like, so I bought both pork buns and red bean buns, along with soy milk.”
“Hmm.”
Chen Li seemed in low spirits, speaking softly.
Shen Qi noticed this and toned down her smile slightly.
After placing the breakfast on the table, Shen Qi went to light the coal stove.
Chen Li sat on the sofa and unceremoniously took out the buns and soy milk to eat.
After lighting the stove and washing the coal dust off her hands, Shen Qi came over to have breakfast too.
“Li-jie, are you married?” Shen Qi suddenly asked.
She had wanted to ask yesterday, but since they had just met, Shen Qi felt it inappropriate to ask too much and held back.
But today Chen Li’s condition was clearly off, and Shen Qi feared something might be wrong, so she risked being disliked to ask.
If she remembered correctly, Chen Li’s husband-killing incident should happen after the New Year.
With less than two months until the New Year, Shen Qi wanted to quickly understand the situation between Chen Li and her husband to figure out how to help her.
“Did you come here to learn haircutting or to gossip?” Chen Li retorted bluntly. “Focus your attention where it should be.”
Shen Qi got an earful, but she wasn’t upset. She smiled and said, “I just thought I should get to know you better since we’ll be master and apprentice for a long time.”
Chen Li responded with a noncommittal cold laugh, finished her breakfast in a few bites, tossed out “mop the floor after eating,” and went out for a smoke.
Shen Qi sighed, quickly finished her bun and soy milk, and went to mop the floor.
Although Chen Li tried hard to control her expression, Shen Qi could still tell she was in a bad mood.
Whenever she had time, she would go out to smoke.
Such a heavy smoking habit?
Shen Qi couldn’t help but recall how in her previous life, Chen Li had no cigarettes to smoke in the prison cell—probably forced to quit.
There were fewer customers today than yesterday. After finishing the last customer’s haircut around six o’clock, Chen Li instructed Shen Qi to clean up and prepare to close the shop.
Just as Shen Qi was tidying the counter, the shop door was violently kicked open.