Liu Chen was returning to Beijing, and Liu Fang quickly helped pack.
Of course, saying she was helping pack was just her sitting on the sofa directing Chen Long to take out the luggage from the house, wipe them clean, and then place them in the yard to sunbathe.
After talking with Ren Yu, Old Master Chen saw the luggage in the yard and was puzzled:
"Brat, why are you sunbathing luggage now?"
After saying this, Old Master Chen glanced up at the sky. There was a bit of sunshine, but not enough to warrant taking out the idle luggage to sunbathe.
Hearing the old master's voice, Chen Long looked over and explained:
"Chenchen said she'll be back in Beijing the day after tomorrow. We're just airing out the luggage so it doesn't smell musty after being stored for over ten days."
"Back to Beijing the day after tomorrow?!"
Old Master Chen repeated this loudly, then turned to look at Ren Yu behind him and asked in a low voice:
"Why didn't you tell me about this?"
Ren Yu smiled slightly, "If I say I didn't know, would you believe me?"
"Hmph!" Old Master Chen snorted in anger, "Who would believe that!"
-
Ren Yu walked to Liu Chen's room door and raised her hand to it, stopping there for a full minute before taking a deep breath and silently going downstairs.
Unaware of this, Liu Chen had just completed six hours of study within the system. Upon returning to reality, Liu Chen's mind was filled with the knowledge he had just acquired. For some reason, the more he studied, the more he felt time was running out.
Seeing the countdown for the system's one-on-one tutoring class decrease day by day, Liu Chen even wished he didn't have to go back to school and could just stay home and focus on the system's tutoring.
But Liu Chen knew this was impossible, as one needed a legitimate reason to explain the knowledge acquired.
It wasn't until the door was knocked again that Liu Chen finally broke free from his study state. After such a long period of study, he felt a bit lightheaded.
When he opened the door and saw Ren Yu, Liu Chen was momentarily stunned. It wasn't for any particular reason, but simply because after studying for so long, seeing Ren Yu standing alone in the hallway outside the door, Liu Chen suddenly remembered...
He had just agreed to be her girlfriend, hadn't he?
Was it just now? Why did it feel like a long time ago?
Ren Yu, who had been waiting outside the door, saw Liu Chen's dazed expression when he opened the door. She sighed slightly. Forget it, she had been pushing her to agree. If she really pressed her about not telling her about returning to Beijing, Chenchen might actually break up with her.
Thinking of this, Ren Yu felt a sense of defeat and even self-doubt.
Was it wrong to have pushed Chenchen into confirming their relationship like this?
As she was thinking this, Ren Yu saw Liu Chen, still looking dazed, point a finger at her.
Liu Chen's somewhat soft voice could be heard:
"Boyfriend, why are you frowning?"
Ren Yu's eyelids drooped slightly as she looked at Liu Chen in front of her, who looked like she had just woken up, wearing a somewhat disheveled pair of pajamas, with a hint of white peeking out from the neckline.
At this moment, all her hesitation and struggle vanished, leaving only one thought.
So be it if I am despicable, so be it if I am lowly, as long as you are mine, everything is fine.
Having made up her mind, Ren Yu walked past Liu Chen and closed her door, saying, "Because I'm troubled. Should we eat hot pot first or eat the fried rice cooked by the old master himself?"
After saying this, Ren Yu placed her hands on Liu Chen's shoulders, gently massaging them, and walked along with her:
"The old master said his fried rice is superb. Back in the day, whenever he made it, his wife would eat it all before Uncle Chen even got a chance."
As they walked towards the stairs, Liu Chen, before she could express her thoughts, was interrupted by a rumbling sound from her stomach.
Upon reaching the downstairs dining area, Liu Chen saw the basin of fried rice on the table, with the grains of rice not yet separated, and knew her premonition was correct.
Back then, perhaps Chen's wife devoured it to prevent the old master from poisoning their son with his fried rice?
"Come, come, so everyone can try my cooking, I specially cooked a large pot of rice today."
Old Master Chen, with a beaming smile and confident expression, began serving everyone rice into their bowls.
The old master's estimation of the amount of rice was quite accurate. This basin of rice, including Summer and Winter, was just enough for one bowl per person.
After Old Master Chen happily served everyone, as he sat down to enjoy his own bowl, he saw a dark hand quickly snatch away his bowl of fried rice right in front of him and pour it into his son's bowl.
Old Master Chen followed the dark hand upwards and saw his son Chen Long's face.
"Dad, your fried rice is amazing, truly the best!"
Saying this, Chen Long gave Old Master Chen a thumbs-up and then buried his head in eating.
Liu Chen, eating the fried rice which had hardly any salt and only tasted of egg, had to secretly give Chen Long a thumbs-up.
Amazing! To prevent the well-intentioned lie of Mrs. Chen from being exposed, he managed to finish a whole bowl of rice in less than two minutes.
"Eat, eat! Eat your head off! That's my rice! If you're not full, there's plenty of plain rice in the kitchen!"
Seeing Old Master Chen getting quite angry, Chen Long quickly got up and served a bowl of plain rice from the kitchen to the old master's spot.
"Hmph!"
Old Master Chen, looking at his son's swift actions, couldn't continue to be angry and had to quietly sit down and eat.
As he ate, Old Master Chen suddenly said:
"Chenchen, you must never find someone who only knows how to make fried rice like your grandma, okay?"
Liu Chen looked at the old master's determined expression and nodded, "I remember."
Hearing this, the old master's furrowed brow finally relaxed. He hesitated for a moment, glanced at Ren Yu sitting quietly eating beside Liu Chen, and his gaze lingered on her hands holding chopsticks for a while.
"Chenchen, you also need to remember that the girls in our family are not allowed to cook. If they can't learn, the kitchen will be set on fire whenever they cook, bowls and chopsticks will be broken, and even frying an egg will be burnt."
Liu Chen, hearing the old master's 'hint,' was overjoyed. Nodding and smiling, she said, "That's right, Grandpa, how do you know me so well?"
Hearing this, Old Master Chen was immediately satisfied and nodded repeatedly:
"Our family's children, how could Grandpa not know them?"
After saying this, Old Master Chen's mood greatly improved, and his appetite increased. After finishing his bowl of rice, he picked up his bowl and went to the kitchen to refill it.
While refilling, he saw a bowl of fried rice still on the cupboard and stopped. He muttered to himself:
"They must be taking turns eating, someone hasn't picked theirs up yet... This fried rice will be bad if it gets cold."
Muttering softly, Old Master Chen couldn't resist taking a brand new small spoon and scooping two spoonfuls from the overflowing bowl of fried rice into his own bowl.
"I'll just taste it, just taste it."
Using his chopsticks to feed the fried rice in his bowl into his mouth, Old Master Chen chewed twice and was stunned.
Standing dazed in the kitchen, after several seconds, Old Master Chen raised his hand to wipe away the tears in his eyes and ate the rest of the fried rice in his bowl.
After finishing, he placed his bowl and chopsticks in the sink and said with a smile in a low voice:
"Old woman, we have a group of good children!"