“Aunt Gu, what delicious food are you making?” Wang Yanhui finally couldn’t resist and poked his head into the kitchen to ask curiously.
“I’m making mooncakes. When they’re done, you can try them for me first.”
“Oh, great!”
Wang Yanhui called out happily and quickly went to get his brother Wang Yanchao and Gu Rui.
Soon, the three children turned off the TV and lined up by the kitchen door, waiting to eat mooncakes.
When Gu Xingdong returned, he saw the three little ones anxiously guarding the door and couldn’t help but laugh, “What are you guys doing, waiting for your share of the money?”
Rui Rui turned back and explained, “Dad, Mom is making flaky mooncakes.”
“Yes, Uncle Gu. She’s also put milk, white sugar, and eggs in them. Aunt Gu said we can help taste them when they’re done. I can’t talk anymore, I feel like I’m drooling.” Wang Yanhui covered his mouth, then turned back to keep staring at Chen Lishu’s hands.
Children didn’t have many snacks back then, and most home cooking was done sparingly with oil. It was no wonder that Chen Lishu’s use of lard, milk, white sugar, and eggs, along with the rich aroma, made the children drool.
“Uncle Gu, aren’t you tempted?” Wang Yanchao asked, turning back.
Gu Xingdong said with a straight face, “It’s alright, your Uncle can endure it. I’ll take all the leftovers after you guys have had yours.”
“Ah?” Wang Yanhui exclaimed, turning to look at Gu Xingdong, and pleaded, “Uncle, can you leave some for us?”
Gu Xingdong suppressed a smile and shook his head, “I’m afraid not.”
His refusal immediately earned him three resentful little glances from the children.
“Don’t listen to your uncle, you three eat first, and you can share the rest with him.”
Chen Lishu came out with a plate holding several freshly made flaky mooncakes. “You’ll be eating dinner soon, so each of you is only allowed one. These things crumble, so you can only eat them by the table, got it?”
“Aunt Gu, you’re so good!” Wang Yanhui said, subtly glancing at Gu Xingdong. Although he envied Gu Rui for having a good mother, this father didn’t seem as great, even competing with children for food.
“You try the mooncakes I made too, see how they are.” Seeing the children eating happily, Chen Lishu picked up a mooncake and handed it to Gu Xingdong.
Gu Xingdong took it, “Finally remembered me. I thought it was only their share.”
Chen Lishu laughed, “You’re so old, and you’re still jealous of the children.”
She then turned to the three children, “How do they taste?”
“Good.” “Delicious.” “Very delicious.”
Seeing the unanimous praise, Chen Lishu returned to the kitchen and finished making the remaining mooncakes.
This time, she used five catties of flour and made nearly thirty mooncakes in total.
When Zhao Guiying came to call the children for dinner, Chen Lishu gave her five. She kept five for Gu Xingdong, and planned to take the rest to the city for everyone to try.
Because making mooncakes took up a lot of time, Gu Xingdong made hand-pulled noodles for dinner, and Chen Lishu fried an egg sauce.
“Son, how does it taste? Are Dad’s noodles okay?” Gu Xingdong asked confidently.
Rui Rui nodded, “Delicious, and the egg sauce is especially fragrant.”
Gu Xingdong suddenly felt his question was a bit redundant. He always felt it was better not to ask.
After dinner, Chen Lishu was about to clear the table, but Gu Xingdong stopped her. “You made so many mooncakes this afternoon, and there are only these few bowls. I’ll wash them later.”
Seeing this, Rui Rui put away his stool and came over to pat Chen Lishu’s back.
Feeling the excellent treatment from her husband and son, Chen Lishu couldn’t help but laugh, “I think you two should pace yourselves. It’s better to go slow and steady. If you put in too much effort at once, I’ll feel a sense of loss if I don’t get this treatment next time.”
“Don’t worry,” Gu Xingdong’s voice came from the kitchen, “Our service will only upgrade, not regress. I’ll reward you properly tonight.”
Chen Lishu’s face immediately turned bright red, “The child is still here.”
Gu Xingdong came out with a rag to wipe the table, and upon hearing her words, he raised an eyebrow and teased, “What are you thinking? I’m going to give you a leg massage later.”
Chen Lishu knew he was saying it on purpose, so she ignored him.
At night, after the couple finished their washing and saw Rui Rui back in his room to sleep, Chen Lishu thought about Zhang Xue and asked, “Does Li Weimin have a girlfriend now?”
Gu Xingdong stretched out his arm as she got into bed, “Probably not. Are you going to introduce someone to him?”
“Yes,” Chen Lishu nodded, “My classmate Zhang Xue.”
Thinking about their potential connection, Chen Lishu sat up again, “You have no idea how fated they are. Let me tell you…”
After she recounted the whole story, Gu Xingdong nodded, “They are indeed quite fated. I’ll ask him tomorrow.”
“It’s getting late, let’s go to sleep,” Gu Xingdong said and went to turn off the light.
Chen Lishu, “It’s a bit early to go to bed at barely nine o’clock. How about I read for a while longer?”
Gu Xingdong, “The timing is just right after some exercise.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the room plunged into darkness…
The next day, Chen Lishu woke up to find it already bright outside.
After cooking some rice porridge and boiling eggs, the mother and son finished their breakfast, and then Chen Lishu took Rui Rui back to the city.
Li Weimin felt uneasy today. Ever since the morning roll call, Gu Xingdong’s gaze had been subtly falling on him, making him very apprehensive.
He couldn’t help but recall everything he had done in the past few days. He had trained diligently without slacking, and certainly hadn’t spoken ill of him behind his back. Could it be that he was in a bad mood and wanted to ‘make an example’ of him?
However, this thought was quickly dismissed.
Yesterday was the weekend, the day Chen Lishu returned home. Gu Xingdong couldn’t possibly be in a bad mood.
Yet, Gu Xingdong only occasionally glanced at him without saying anything, making him nervous until after breakfast. As he was about to return to his dormitory to get something, he suddenly heard Gu Xingdong say, “Come to my office for a moment.”
Li Weimin thought what was coming was inevitable and could only follow Gu Xingdong upstairs with a stiff upper lip.
At this moment, he began to understand Wu Zheng’s pain. The worst that could happen was a fifty-kilogram weighted cross-country run, but actually, even that wasn’t that bad.
“Close the door.”
He had to close the door too? How serious could this be? Maybe he should just admit fault first?
Unfortunately, his dull mind couldn’t figure out what mistake he had made.
“How old are you this year?”
Gu Xingdong asked, while taking out paper and pen from his drawer to record. This was a task Chen Lishu had assigned him, and he had to complete it well.
“I’m twenty-five in actual years, twenty-six in nominal years, twenty-seven in Chinese reckoning, and twenty-eight in informal reckoning.”
Gu Xingdong suddenly felt the pen in his hand was a hindrance and wanted to throw it at him.
Li Weimin was also confused, not knowing why Gu Xingdong was asking this.
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
“No.”
“Have you dated before?”
Li Weimin shook his head and replied truthfully, “I wanted to, but no one was willing.”
At this point, he suddenly had a realization. His heart filled with excitement, but it also felt a bit unbelievable, so he tentatively asked, “Leader, are you trying to introduce a girlfriend to me?”