Chapter 24: Chapter 24 Scram Chapter 24: Chapter 24 Scram Bai Da was actually really honest, whether facing Ye Xiu or Bai Dan, he just felt that as long as he obeyed, it was good enough!
“Dad, I didn’t mean that, I’m just truly hungry!”
When it came to his dad, he naturally didn’t dare to talk back, he could only sheepishly explain!
“Get out,”
Bai Dan exploded in anger, pointing directly at the front door and yelling!
Bai Da truly listened and immediately started heading towards the door with Ye Xiu, muttering as they walked,
“Wife, let’s leave, Dad is telling us to go home!”
Ye Xiu honestly didn’t know what to say to Bai Da; couldn’t he see that Dad was angry? She jerked her hand away from Bai Da!
She turned around and gave Bai Dan an apologetic look,
“Dad, don’t mind his words. I’ll come earlier tomorrow, please take care of Xingxing!”
It was only at this moment that Ye Xiu’s gaze shifted to Bai Zhi,
She saw Bai Zhi eating her meal obediently, having a bite of eggplant then a spoonful of rice,
Her eating pace wasn’t rapid, but it didn’t come across as rude. On the contrary, she seemed to treat the food seriously, savoring every bite deliciously!
Ye Xiu felt somewhat hungry too!
Ye Xiu didn’t know whether to cry or to laugh, Xingxing didn’t seem to acknowledge their presence at all, or perhaps, he was indifferent!
Being ignored felt terrible!
She really didn’t like it, what did Xingxing normally think?
Ye Xiu turned to leave with Bai Da and hadn’t taken many steps before their belongings got thrown out. Ye Xiu’s eyes stung as she went over and picked them up again.
On the walk home, she remained silent,
Bai Da, fearing she might stumble, held her hand,
Her thoughts wandered, how did Xingxing manage all this time?
To think she didn’t know? She vaguely remembered, sometimes, when he looked at her, there was also expectation and longing,
But later, it seemed to disappear?
Ye Xiu forcefully slapped her own head, startling Bai Da who quickly grabbed her hand!
“Wife, what’s wrong with you? If you need to hit, hit me, not yourself!”
Ye Xiu knew without looking that Bai Da must be looking at her tenderly,
But her heart, it was too overwhelmed to feel moved,
“Bai Da, I’m fine, let’s go home!”
There was a suffocating feeling in her heart, so stifling, but she didn’t know who to talk to or how to!
“Okay. Let’s go home, the kids are waiting for us!”
…
When they got home, the children were sitting at the dining table, obediently looking at them, the food had all gone cold, yet they hadn’t touched it,
Ye Xiu was deeply touched, these kids were really good kids. It was just that before, she hadn’t told them to help with household chores,
“Why aren’t you guys eating?”
Ye Xiu’s nose tingled; it was already past eight, why hadn’t they thought to eat first?
Xixi toddled over with her plump legs, holding Ye Xiu’s hand and looking up at her earnestly,
“Mommy, how could we eat without you and dad coming back? You both must be hungry, shall we serve some food for you? We’re a family, we should eat together!”
The earnest look in Xixi’s eyes warmed Ye Xiu’s heart, she rubbed her little cheek,
“Xixi, you’re so good, but now the rice has cooled down, let me reheat it and this meat, can you wait a little while?”
Ye Xiu was a bit upset; she should have hurried back earlier, she couldn’t believe these kids would refuse to eat while waiting for them!
It really was too careless,
just reheated the rice a bit, gave each a big bowl, accompanied by potatoes and Braised Pork Belly, their eyes all sparkled!
They hadn’t tasted such delicious meat in a long time,
Ye Xiu watched them drooling and finally smiled. This was how kids should be, wasn’t it? What about Xingxing? Would she be pampered, would she, want to eat Braised Pork Belly as well? Ye Xiu shook her head vigorously, trying not to think about that for now.
Ye Xiu served each of them a piece of meat. The next second, her bowl had four pieces; the extra one naturally was picked up for her by Bai Da,
Ye Xiu burst into laughter.
“You guys eat too, don’t pick for me, hurry before it gets cold!”
Though the fatty meat was plentiful and the taste was just so-so, they found it incredibly delicious,
each one eating heartily, large bites and small, not forgetting to serve each other. Without Bai Zhi, this family truly seemed affectionate and loving!
…
Bai Zhi looked at the meat Ye Xiu brought over and actually despised it; it was too greasy, the potatoes almost dissolved, and one could tell the flavor wasn’t very authentic,
But Bai Zhi’s judgement, in Bai Dan’s eyes, meant that Xingxing was hurt. Isn’t it hurtful? If it were him, he would have been so mad that he’d argue with them,
but Xingxing didn’t; his Xingxing was just that well-behaved,
In fact, no wonder Bai Dan spoiled Bai Zhi; she really was good to him and the old lady,
that year the old lady was still around, and Xingxing was just five or six years old, yet she knew to always prepare a dish for grandma because grandma was not in good health,
she would wash grandma’s face, help dress her, and take her for walks—the other boys never did that!
So indeed, Bai Dan felt spoiling Xingxing was never excessive!
“Xingxing, if you don’t want to eat it, don’t eat it. This meat doesn’t look good at all!”
Bai Da moved the Braised Pork Belly aside, thinking maybe he should throw it out to spare Xingxing any discomfort!
Bai Zhi gave a helpless smile; probably only grandparents would say such things,
Anyone else would be called a spendthrift. Nowadays, getting to eat meat isn’t easy; how could you just throw it away!
“Grandpa, no need to throw it away, I like meat, I was just thinking that we really don’t need to change the medicine tomorrow!”
She was just disgusted by Bai Da and the others, so she didn’t want to eat what they brought, but it was meant to honor Bai Dan, how could she throw it away?
She disliked them, but that didn’t mean she could ask Grandpa to dislike them too, right? Moreover, Ye Xiu…
Bai Zhi furrowed her brows, truly a tangled and conflicted person.
The doctor had also mentioned it was okay to go every other day, it wasn’t like going to the market; she really didn’t fancy going to town, there weren’t that many people!
“It’s alright, your mom is much more reliable than your dad, she should know what you have suffered!”
Bai Dan too wanted to protect Xingxing for life, but he knew, he was nearly sixty now, how many years could he live?
What if no one was there to protect Xingxing after he died? Fortunately, his daughter-in-law wasn’t foolish, so naturally, he had to let his daughter-in-law know what hardships Xingxing had endured.
With him around, Xingxing’s tuition and living expenses were never a concern for them; he would take care, as long as Xingxing wanted to study, he would support her all the way till college!
But somehow, he always felt that Xingxing could earn money herself, weren’t the French fries and the Green Bean Cake proof of it?
“Then, Grandpa, shall we buy a couple of stoves?”
Bai Zhi blinked mischievously at Bai Dan, thinking she could actually afford to buy stoves!
A stove costing a dozen yuan, plus a pot, yes, she could experiment with much more stuff,
like French fries which were, of course, tastier freshly fried,
like frying potatoes and then mixing them while they’re cool to make crispy spicy potatoes,
like making dumplings, frying them,
covered with a lid, opened, sizzling sound, aroma spreading instantly, then seeing the sesame seeds on those golden brown fried dumplings…
and that crispy fried bottom…
One bite, and crunch, crunch, the crunchy scorched flavor, mixed with the juice inside, that taste was unbeatable!
Thinking about it now, she was already drooling.
