“Xiaoxi, dinner’s ready. Come taste it and see if Grandma’s cooking has gotten worse.”
The moment Wen Xi heard her grandmother calling her to eat, she immediately answered,
“Coming, Grandma!”
She hadn’t even reached the bowl yet when the delicious aroma of the noodles reached her.
“Grandma, it smells so good!”
“Come quickly and see if it tastes good.”
“It smells this good, so of course it’s going to taste amazing!”
Wen Xi didn’t hold back. She lifted a mouthful of noodles with her chopsticks and immediately began blowing on them.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
Only after that did she slurp the noodles into her mouth.
“Ah, it’s a little hot, but it’s so fragrant and delicious!”
Seeing her, Grandma couldn’t help teasing her.
“Why are you in such a hurry? If one bowl isn’t enough, there’s still more in the pot. Eating food that’s too hot isn’t good for you. Slow down, Xiaoxi.”
Wen Xi gave an embarrassed little smile.
After swallowing the noodles in her mouth, she opened her mouth slightly, and a puff of steam escaped.
“It’s because Grandma’s noodles are just too delicious. I got carried away because I was craving them!”
“Grandma, you eat too.”
Seeing her like this, Grandma could only sigh helplessly.
“You silly child…”
Still, Wen Xi was willing to listen.
That last mouthful really had been a little too hot.
Now that she wasn’t rushing to eat, her eyes wandered over to her grandmother’s bowl.
Then she reached a conclusion.
Grandma had one fewer fried egg than she did.
And fewer slices of meat, too.
Sure enough, this was the heart of every elder in the world—they always gave the bigger and better portions to their children.
Wen Xi suddenly remembered a joke she had seen in the modern era, though it was the kind of joke that wasn’t really funny at all.
It was about a family of three.
The parents always claimed that they only liked fish heads and didn’t care for the meat, so they gave all the fish meat to their child.
But when the child grew up and bought fish for himself, he only ate the meat and left the fish head for his parents.
Wen Xi looked down on people like that.
She absolutely refused to become someone like that herself.
So without hesitation, Wen Xi reached out and transferred one of her fried eggs into her grandmother’s bowl.
Grandma immediately tried to put it back into Wen Xi’s bowl, but Wen Xi dodged her.
And while avoiding her grandmother’s chopsticks, she even picked up three slices of meat and put them into Grandma’s bowl.
Grandma immediately objected, her brows knitting together.
“Xiaoxi, what are you doing? Why are you giving them to me? Eat what I gave you! You’re at the age when your body is still growing. I’m already an old woman with these old bones. I can’t even digest all this properly…”
At that moment, Wen Xi was desperately trying to keep the bowl out of her grandmother’s reach so she wouldn’t put the food back.
“Grandma, please stop trying to put them back! My hands can’t hold the bowl much longer!”
“Besides, I’m already an adult. Eating more won’t make me grow taller anymore. The only thing that’ll grow is my waist!”
“Grandma, Xiaoxi doesn’t want to become a chubby girl. You just help Xiaoxi eat them, okay?”
When Grandma heard that Wen Xi’s arms were getting tired, she finally lowered the fried egg she had been trying to pick up and gestured for Wen Xi to put the bowl down.
But after hearing Wen Xi’s explanation, she couldn’t help arguing back.
“You’re only eighteen! How can you say you’re not going to grow anymore?”
“And besides, our Xiaoxi is so slender. Even if you ate an entire cow, you still wouldn’t turn into the ‘chubby girl’ you’re talking about.”
Seeing that her grandmother was beginning to get genuinely upset, Wen Xi immediately backed down.
“Grandma, don’t get worked up. I’m sorry. Xiaoxi said something wrong.”
“Grandma, please eat your noodles. I just spent the whole day traveling today and my appetite isn’t very good, so I wanted to ask you to help me finish some of it.”
Grandma looked at her suspiciously.
“Why did you suddenly get carsick?”
Once you told one lie, you had to use countless more to cover it up.
Wen Xi was learning that lesson firsthand.
So she continued.
“I was too excited last night because I was coming to see you, Grandma, so I went to bed late. Then I didn’t have much energy today while traveling.”
The suspicious look immediately disappeared from Grandma’s face, replaced by concern.
“You silly child! If you were feeling carsick, why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“You just sat here with this old woman for half the day even though you weren’t feeling well.”
“If I’d known you were carsick, I should have made you a cup of sugar water as soon as you arrived.”
“Are you still feeling uncomfortable? Will these noodles be too greasy? Should Grandma make you another bowl of plain noodles in clear broth?”
As Grandma spoke, she put down her bowl and started to get up, clearly intending to go make another bowl.
Wen Xi quickly stepped forward and stopped her.
“Grandma, I’m much better after resting for a while.”
“Really. Look, I can even spin around now without any problem.”
As she spoke, Wen Xi spun around in a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree circle to prove it.
When she tried to spin around a second time, Grandma grabbed her.
“You silly child. Grandma believes you. Stop making yourself dizzy.”
Wen Xi immediately took advantage of the opportunity and grinned.
“Hehe, Grandma, eat your noodles. They definitely aren’t hot anymore.”
The noodles in the bowl were indeed cool enough not to burn her mouth anymore.
But they were still delicious.
Wen Xi quickly finished her portion.
Not long after, Grandma finished hers as well.
Wen Xi immediately began gathering the bowls and chopsticks.
“Grandma, you wouldn’t let me cook dinner. Surely you’ll at least let me wash the dishes?”
“I’m an adult, not a little child. I want to help Grandma too.”
“Grandma~ Xiaoxi promises I’ll be careful. I absolutely won’t break a single dish!”
“Grandma~ Grandma~ Just let Xiaoxi do something to help, okay~”
In the end, Grandma couldn’t withstand Wen Xi’s relentless pleading, and Wen Xi was allowed to wash the dishes.
There was only one pot and two sets of bowls and chopsticks, so it was easy enough.
While washing, Wen Xi noticed the hot water in the nearby pot.
She looked at her grandmother, who was standing beside her as she washed the dishes, and asked,
“Grandma, which basin do we use for washing our faces and feet?”
Grandma didn’t answer.
She simply turned around to get one.
Wen Xi quietly followed her.
Then she watched as Grandma opened the cabinet in her bedroom and took out a brand-new porcelain basin.
“I know you like to keep things clean, so I prepared a new washbasin especially for you.”
Wen Xi immediately took the basin with one hand and hooked her other arm around her grandmother’s.
“Hehe, Grandma is the best. Grandma loves Xiaoxi the most.”
When it was time to wash their feet, Wen Xi originally wanted to massage her grandmother’s feet with her hands to show her filial devotion.
She hadn’t expected such a strong reaction from Grandma.
Her grandmother firmly refused, insisting that Wen Xi’s hands were meant to be admired, not used to wash someone else’s feet.
Wen Xi watched as her grandmother kept refusing and dodging her, worried that the old woman might lose her balance on the stool and fall.
So she didn’t insist.
But she did manage to claim the small task of carrying out the basin of used water.
After emptying the wash water, Wen Xi didn’t immediately return to her room.
Instead, she stood in the courtyard and looked up at the night sky.
There were countless stars.
They were bright and densely scattered across the sky.
They looked exactly like the stars she had seen in the mountains in the modern era.
“Xiaoxi, come inside quickly. There are lots of mosquitoes outside.”
Her grandmother’s call interrupted the tiny stirrings of homesickness beginning to surface in Wen Xi’s heart.
“All right, Grandma! I’m coming!”
As soon as she entered the house, she saw Grandma standing in the main room holding a handful of gardenia flowers.
“Grandma, what is it?”
“Xiaoxi, put these flowers beside the head and foot of your bed. That way the mosquitoes won’t bite you.”
“You’ve been traveling all day, so you must be tired. Sleep until you naturally wake up tomorrow. Grandma will keep your breakfast warm in the pot for you.”
“Grandma has to go help one of her old friends harvest wheat tomorrow morning. If you wake up and don’t see Grandma, don’t worry. Grandma will come back and make lunch for you. Understand?”
Her grandmother explained everything in meticulous detail.
Wen Xi listened carefully and waited patiently until she had finished.
She didn’t interrupt or show the slightest trace of impatience.
“I understand.”
“Grandma, stop worrying about me.”
“You have to get up early tomorrow morning, so go to bed and get some rest. I’ll be fine on my own.”