CH 24

Xu Qingchuan opened the door next door with a bowl of rice cakes.

Mrs. Wang didn’t like Mrs. Xu, but she didn’t show it to the younger generation, and Xu Qingchuan was a talented person. Although he only wore a white scholar’s robe, he didn’t look shabby. 

Worrying that her loud voice would scare him, Mrs. Wang specially changed her tone and said, “Why are you still sending things? There is no need to be polite.”

Xu Qingchuan pursed his lips and smiled, “Mother fried the rice cakes right now. Thinking that you didn’t make a stove to cook when you moved here, she just made some.”

“Xu Jinchai still has a bit of conscience,” Mrs Wang muttered and took the sea bowl. After seeing the number of rice cakes in the bowl, the smile on her face stagnated.

“The number of rice cakes at home are not enough, auntie forgive me,” Xu Qingchuan bowed politely.

Mrs. Wang hummed, “You don’t need to make up for your mother, good boy. She must have done it intentionally!”

Xu Qingchuan touched his nose embarrassedly.

He didn’t have much to say after delivering the things, so he said goodbye and went back to his home.

In the main room, Gu Yin and Xiao Wu’an were cleaning together. When Mrs. Wang came in with a bowl, Xiao Wuan sniffed with his little nose and said, “It smells so good, mother!”

Mrs. Wang put the sea bowl on the table, “It’s not your mother that smells good, it’s the fried rice cakes.”

When he was still in Batou Village, Mrs. Wang would give the two children some stuff fried in oil every month, but since Gu Yin fell ill, the food at home got very bad. In addition, they were fleeing and staying in an inn. They almost always had dry food and hot water, not to mention Xiao Wu’an, even Gu Yin drooled unconsciously when she smelled it.

“Go to the kitchen to get chopsticks. Do you want the old lady to serve you?” Seeing the greedy cats, Mrs. Wang smiled a little.

Xiao Wu’an blew out like a small whirlwind, and brought three pairs of bamboo chopsticks in a blink of an eye.

“Mother, eat first,” Xiao Wu’an handed them first to Mrs. Wang.

Mentioning that, Mrs. Wang’s temperament came up again, “What am I going to eat?! She gave two rice cakes to three people, you eat!”

Xiao Wu’an glanced at Gu Yin timidly. She took the chopsticks and cut the rice cake into small pieces, revealing the crystal and full grains of rice inside.

“That’s fine, let’s eat together. If you don’t eat, how can we both eat?”

Being coaxed by Gu Yin, Mrs. Wang reluctantly picked up the chopsticks, picked up a piece and tasted it, but said in disgust, “Hmph, this Xu Jinchai is more stupid than me since she was a child. She was blinded by this oil and fried to old age!”

But disgust turned into smile, and Mrs. Wang still laughed while eating.

Gu Yin and Xiao Wu’an then moved their chopsticks.

The two rice cakes were divided, and the three were full.

Mrs. Wang had no time to spare, and asked Gu Yin and Xiao Wu’an to tidy up the house. She went out to buy things. The food they brought from Batou Village had already been eaten during that time, including oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, grain, rice, and firewood. Additional purchase was required. There was also some simple furniture in the newly rented house, but there were no small things and mattresses.

Before reaching the door of Xu’s house, Mrs. Wang specially slowed down, rubbing her stomach and shouting, “Oh, my children are filial, and even if I say I didn’t want to eat, they have to let me eat first. Unlike some people, who deliberately gave two cakes for three people. I don’t know what they thought!”

When Mrs. Xu heard it in the room, she stopped doing her work. She put the bowl and came out of the room, “You’re talking so much, you can’t keep your mouth shut even if you eat?!”

“Oh, oh, why are my children ao filial? I’m so happy, why can’t I tell people?”

Across the door, the two of them sighed again in unison, and then went back to their own business.

On Gu Yin’s side, after watching Xiao Wu’an finish eating the last piece of rice cake in the bowl, she went to the stove to wash the bowl first, and asked him to return it, and then cleaned up the stove.

Not long after, Xiao Wu’an came back from next door with a piece of caramel in his hand.

He handed it to Gu Yin as if offering a treasure, and said cheerfully, “Sister-in-law, look, the candy that Aunt Xu gave me! Eat it, it’s for you!”

Since leaving Batou Village, Gu Yin had never seen him so happy.

Gu Yin blocked his hand delivering the candy, “Eat it yourself, sister-in-law doesn’t like sweets.”

Xiao Wu’an took out a handkerchief from his arms again and wrapped the caramel, “Then I’ll wait for mother to come back.”

Gu Yin didn’t feel good when she saw him looking at a piece of caramel like it was treasure.