366 6.04 – Food Lady – The Wheel Of Time
+— Author’s note —-+
Edited by Psycho S.
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Xuan Mu performed abdominal thrusts on the little toddler, as if this was not the first time it happened. It was as if it was he, himself, who choked the little boy. He repeated the actions until the sweet object flew out of Ying Xiong’s mouth, “Pack up your toys, we’re going home.”
Instead of listening to the orders, the teary-eyed Ying Xiong showed the toy truck out of the sand field and sat at the back of it. He waited for Xuan Mu to pick up the scattered toys while being obediently silent, or more like...obediently lazy.
“...” The young lady watched on the side silently. The man didn’t bother to pick up the toys and began to pull the truck with a toddler sitting on it outside of the park, giving nobody a chance to protest.
Thinking about never seeing his toys again, Ying Xiong cried out while pointing at the playground, “Daddy! Daddy!” Stop, stop, he was going to pick them up! He was going to pick them up, ok?!
Xuan Mu would never heed to the little toddler’s spoiled ways. But of course, there would always be someone that would fall under this Stinky Bun’s charm. The good-natured lady ran towards them with a bag of toys. Who said Stinky Bun was like a little version of him? That was a tiny Bing Shi right here.
“You should have left them for the other kids,” Xuan Mu said to the panting lady with a vaguely polite smile, taking the bags of toys from the satisfied Ying Xiong, he threw them into the trash can, “I know you meant well, but I can’t allow you to spoil my son.”
.....
“...” Being ignored this whole time, the woman was left speechless when the man started a conversation with her. They seemed to be heading to the same hotel complex. She dated single men of different ages and statutes, but the relationship never lasted for longer than three days. The lack of sparks and the men’s overly high enthusiasm would cause her to get bored and lose interest soon. She had great visuals, lots of money to her name... In essence, she was the miss CEO who was independent who just so happened to attract many affluent men.
His left hand was inside his pants pockets so she couldn’t check his status. His son was an obvious sign though. Taken men were never her type, but his striking blue eyes combined with those contradictory exotic features would catch anyone’s attention. It’s been a while since she felt butterflies in her stomach.
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Noticing the family of three, the hotel’s manager welcomed them with a wide smile, “Mr. Xuan, young master...and,” he looked at the woman, finally having a chance to meet the mysterious mother, “Mrs. Xuan, right?”
“What?” The woman was taken aback, “No, you’ve mistaken me with someone else...”
“Mommy?” Ying Xiong lifted his eyes at the food lady with puppy eyes. Give him one more candy, please.
When the manager looked at the woman with an odd gaze, she searched for the culprit’s father in fluster, asking for help. Hey! Explain the misunderstanding!
“Enough candies for today,” Xuan Mu pulled the sulking Ying Xiong on the truck towards the elevators, “Why is mommy not coming? She doesn’t like disobedient children.”
This boy liked to play in the playground for this sole reason. He would even sell his soul for some candies. Tiny Bing Shi or not, Ying Xiong still carried some traits that had nothing in common with his parents, like being too lazy.
Xuan Mu’s words and Ying Xiong’s pitiful puppy eyes that kept looking in her direction caused the food lady to receive even odder gazes.
· · ———- · ???· ———- · ·
Wan Li, the famous business queen, felt her heart melting at the sight of a little boy in a black bathrobe, opening the doors of the hotel room by himself. She was never a child person, but with this boy, she felt some close connection.
Ying Xiong got angry at his father and ran away from home in search of snacks, taking XiaoPu and his snake plushie along, he complained endlessly in a baby blabber. Mommy, come home and do something. He was sick of Daddy’s yucky vegetables. As a response to his grievances, the ring on his father’s left hand suddenly disappeared and the light hanging off the ceiling of his father’s room switched off.
Before Wan Li could approach the little guy, a bigger guy ran out of the hotel room while pinching the bridge of his nose, looking very exhausted. Curious, and somehow worried, she followed them to the hotel’s restaurant. As shameless as she usually was, she would never make a move on a married man. But there were no rings on his fingers so really, who could blame her?
After Xuan Mu seated Ying Xiong inside a feeding chair, he waved at the food lady to accompany them. He heeded his wife’s words and let their son get used to interacting with other people.
Wan Li accepted the invitation and put her romance advances on pause until she found out his true circumstances, “You really have nice eyes,” her pouting lips curled up with mischief as she winked at him, “I know some food which will definitely cheer you up. Let me treat you.”
Smiling at her compliment, Xuan Mu didn’t refuse when the playful lady took him and Ying Xiong outside. She let them wait in front of a beautiful lake, then returned with a bag of fast food, “...”
Seeing his strange expression, Wan Li gave Xuan Mu a hamburger and a can of cold beer. Able to afford such a hotel, she thought he was from an influential family who never tried out commoner’s food, “This is what I lived off when I started out my own business. You never had one before?”
‘Is she serious?’ though Xuan Mu, ‘This is supposed to cheer me up?’
“Of course I did. Just surprised that the owner of LW’s brand would enjoy this type of food,” spewing out some lies, Xuan Mu fed the little guy on his lap some salty french fries with ketchup.
As a personal nutritionist, Xuan Mu’s hard work for his family member’s health was never appreciated enough. His wife would rather have him do something more productive while his son hated his recipes, “Ying Xiong, what do you say to a pretty lady?”
Thank you? Ying Xiong grinned from ear to ear at the pretty lady while being fed the yummy fries, “Mommy!”
So the man knew who she was. Did he approach her to get a collaboration? Whatever. Wan Li shushed the little guy awkwardly, “Do I look like your mommy?”
Ying Xiong compared Wan Li to his mommy. Before he could answer, he tasted a sour lemon on his tongue, his face scrunched and shook around in a big NO.
“...” While enjoying her hamburger, Wan Li got a bit surprised by the man’s attentiveness to his son, to the point of ignoring his surroundings. Though curious, she wasn’t nosy about the whereabouts of the mother nor his identity.
After feeding the little guy some french fries, the man took a big bite of the hamburger.
“How is it?” Wan Li asked about his opinion.
“Very much to my taste.” It tasted bland and artificial which was just like his life. The longer Xuan Mu watched how the two enjoyed the food in a genuine bliss, the more depressed he became. Bing Shi only knew how to enjoy her food in fake pretense. He found out the possible reason behind her relationship with food, and the disgusting reveal made him unable to close his eyes for days. He let the stinky bun get a taste of his burger. This guy... He couldn’t even ask where his ring was, “Thank you for the free food.”
“Darling, I never accept words as payment,” leaning closer, Wan Li’s lips curled up in grace.
+– ANTIPIRACY NOTE–+
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