Wearing the large gold bracelet given to her by her daughter, Tong's mother kneaded and rolled the dough with great vigor, and in no time at all, the oil-splashed donkey hoof noodles were on the table.
Qi An buried his head in the large bowl and slurped down his food with great relish.
As expected of the hometown delicacy that Tong Qian specifically told her to try, the noodles were incredibly chewy, with hot oil poured over the spicy Qin peppers, and then topped with vegetables.
The aroma of that oily fragrance hits you right in the head; it's truly exceptional.
This is Tong Qian's mother's specialty noodle dish, which Tong Qian has been eating since she was a child. No matter where she went during her school years, she always missed this dish.
Tong's mother peeled a few cloves of garlic and asked her if she wanted some.
Qi An waved her hand in refusal; she didn't like the taste of garlic.
The mother laughed and said, "You silly girl, if you don't eat garlic with your noodles, it won't be half as delicious."
After saying that, Tong's mother started eating noodles and garlic, and Qi An finally couldn't resist his curiosity and took a small bite of noodles with garlic.
This opened the door to a new world.
Qi An finished two bowls of oil-splashed noodles before reluctantly putting down his bowl, knowing that eating any more would frighten the old lady.
Seeing her eat so heartily, Tong's mother was also very happy; Qianqian hadn't had such a good appetite in a long time.
Tong's mother actually knew that her daughter had been forced to go on blind dates in recent years, and she harbored a lot of resentment towards her, and was no longer as close to her as before.
But she had no choice. Her daughter already lacked a father to protect her; if she also lost her husband and children...
After she dies, she will be all alone in this world. Who will care about her and take care of her?
The thought of Tong Qian being alone and helpless in the future made Tong's mother so worried that she couldn't eat or sleep.
Qi An lazily sprawled on the sofa, trying to win the old lady over.
"Mom, the oil-splashed noodles you made are absolutely amazing. You could open a noodle shop and make a fortune."
The mother couldn't stop smiling: "If you like it, I'll make it for you every day."
Qi An glanced at her sideways: "Liar, if I get married, will you come with me to marry someone else?"
Tong's mother choked for a moment, then quickly added, "Then Mom will teach you how to make it. It's actually very simple. First, knead the dough with warm water..."
Qi An interrupted her: "Stop, stop, stop. I'm not learning. I don't like cooking."
The mother patiently advised, "How can you not learn? If you can't cook, your in-laws will despise you. Listen to me, Mom will teach you slowly."
Besides cooking, I also need to learn to do housework, otherwise what will I do when I get married?
Qi An sighed, "Here we go again. This old lady really knows how to seize any opportunity."
Some of the most disgusting things girls hear from their mothers from a young age are things they've never heard before.
If you're this lazy, your in-laws will despise you to death in the future.
If you can't cook or do housework, you'll be kicked out by your in-laws in the future.
With such a bad temper, you'll be beaten to death by your in-laws in the future.
...
The mothers didn't realize that they weren't raising daughters; they were raising daughters-in-law for their husbands' families.
Because they grew up hearing these words, and after becoming mothers, they took them as gospel and repeated them to their daughters.
And so, generation after generation, the primitive discipline of girls was completed.
Qi An didn't understand. Was every girl born with a legendary husband's family?
Tong's mother did not favor boys over girls. She cherished her daughter Tong Qian and did not let her do any housework. She was even willing to risk her life for her.
However, she subconsciously accepted that her daughter would have to serve her parents-in-law and take care of her husband after she married into his family.
Seeing that Tong's mother was still nagging, Qi An expressionlessly reached out his hand: "Give me back the gold bracelet."
Tong's mother rolled her eyes: "Get lost. I'm only doing this for your own good. Can't you just listen to me? Would your mother ever hurt you?"
"You're just ruining me. I don't need a man to support me; I'm comfortable and carefree on my own. Why do I have to find a man to have his children and take care of his whole family? Am I crazy?"
Tong's mother: "You're still young, so of course you feel that being alone is fine. But what will you do when you get old?"
Qi An: "What else can you do when you get old and die? Getting married isn't like becoming an immortal, it doesn't make you live forever."
Besides, I've lived a carefree life for decades, isn't it only natural that I should suffer a few years in my old age? And you won't even be around by then, why are you worrying about this?"
The mother retorted angrily, "Pah, pah, pah, what nonsense are you talking about? It's all my fault for spoiling you too much. Starting tomorrow, I'm not going to serve you anymore. Let's see how you'll feel comfortable then."
Qi An said nonchalantly, "Whatever, I can order takeout. There are so many restaurants on the street, and those handsome waiters are all bowing and scraping as they invite me in to eat."
"You...you kids these days are too selfish. You only think about your own comfort and are unwilling to take responsibility."
If everyone were like you, remaining unmarried and childless, the country would be doomed, and humanity would go extinct.
Qi An was amused: "Wow, I didn't know you had such a broad perspective. You even care about the future development of the country and humanity."
"Life is only a few short decades. I just want to live comfortably and happily. Let the saints worry about those great things."
"As for responsibilities, I will naturally take on what I am supposed to take on, such as you raising me when I was young, and I taking care of you when you are old. Apart from that, I have no responsibility to anyone."
Forcing yourself to take on a bunch of responsibilities you didn't originally have is just asking for trouble; in short, it's insane.
Tong's mother roared, "Nonsense! So according to you, all people who get married and have children are sick and abnormal?"
Qi An said, "No, it's a personal choice. I don't understand it, but I respect it. As long as they're willing and enjoying it, that's fine too. Anyway, I'm not willing."
Unable to argue with Qi An, Tong's mother started to resort to unreasonable and disruptive tactics.
"I don't care, you just have to get married and have kids. You won't have to work hard, Mom will help you take care of the kids after they're born, and you'll be back to normal."
Qi An thought for a moment and asked, "Do you really want to take care of the child?"
"Nonsense, of course I want to."
Qi An clapped his hands: "That's easy. You give me another brother or sister. I'll pay for it and you can raise him. When I get old, he can take care of me in return."
The mother, who had been menopausal for several years, was speechless.
Qi An was still being sarcastic: "This idea is brilliant! Mom, think about it, this way you can take care of the child and you don't have to worry about no one taking care of me after you die."
"At least we're related by blood, and I raised him with my own money. Isn't that much more reliable than just finding any random man? I'm so clever!"
The mother stared wide-eyed, speechless with anger for a long time: "You wretched thing, are you trying to anger me to death?"
Qi An smiled and said, "Isn't this killing two birds with one stone? What kind of partner do you want? I'll find you someone."
Tong's mother pointed at her with a trembling finger and cursed, "Bullshit! You little brat, you need to be taught a lesson!"
Qi An said innocently, "I don't mind that you found me a stepfather, I don't object to you having a second child, and I even bought you a big gold bracelet. What else could you be dissatisfied with?"
Tong's mother was so angry that her face turned red. She ran to get a feather duster, but Qi An skillfully hid in the room.
The next few days were like this.
As long as it doesn't involve marriage or having children, the two are a loving mother and a filial daughter.
Once this topic comes up, it can turn into a mother-daughter feud in no time.
Although Tong's mother said she wouldn't care about her daughter, she still cooked her delicious meals in different ways every day.
Qi An always infuriated the old lady, but he never missed a single meal he cooked, showing off without any embarrassment about receiving charity.
She also tampered with a short video app that Tong's mother frequently used, so that every video Tong's mother saw when she opened the app terrified her.
Without exception, all of them involved women who were brutally murdered or even dismembered by their boyfriends or husbands.
Qi An still made some intentional or unintentional remarks in front of Tong's mother.
"Tsk tsk, no partner, at most you'll die alone, but at least you're a complete person, and even if things are miserable, you can still survive."
Once you have a partner, you never know when they might end up in a septic tank, sewer, refrigerator, or pressure cooker—you couldn't possibly piece them back together.
The mother retorted defiantly, "Pah, pah, pah, those are extremely rare cases. You're unlikely to encounter such a perverted beast."
Qi An scoffed: "Those girls thought the same thing before they died; everyone thought they wouldn't be so unlucky."
Even the lowest probability event, once it happens to someone, becomes 100%.
The mother scolded her daughter for overthinking, but secretly knelt down in her room and prayed to the gods.
"Dear gods, please bless my Qianqian so that she may marry a good husband and have a good child. May all her sins come to me."
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