Upon hearing Xia Minmin's painful cries, Xia's maternal grandparents rushed to the kitchen, where they saw Xia Minmin fanning herself with her hand while her mouth remained open.
Grandma Xia asked anxiously, "Chunmei, what's wrong with Xiaomin?"
Li Chunmei said irritably, "It's because he's too greedy. He stuffs freshly cooked braised meat into his mouth. I've never seen such a reckless person."
Li Chunmei took a bottle of ice water from the refrigerator and had Xia Minmin hold it in her mouth. Holding the ice water made her feel a little better, but the mucous membrane in her mouth was peeling.
"Serves you right. Nobody's going to take it from you, so why are you in such a hurry?"
Xia Minmin looked pitiful with tears in her eyes, and Li Chunmei didn't know what else to say.
"Mom, what are we having for lunch? I'm hungry!" Xia Minmin said to Li Chunmei, clutching her stomach.
Li Chunmei was amused by Xia Minmin's antics; even in this situation, she still couldn't forget to eat.
Li Chunmei said irritably, "Then what do you want to eat?"
Xia Minmin muttered to herself, "Can we eat at that newly opened Northern-style noodle shop? I want to eat cold gluten noodles!"
Xia Minmin's eyes shone brightly as she looked at Li Chunmei expectantly.
"Mom and Dad, would you like some cold noodles or liangpi (cold skin noodles)? This newly opened noodle shop is really good. Xiaomin has been eating their cold noodles, liangpi, and gluten a lot lately." Li Chunmei gave Xia's grandparents a brief introduction to the noodle shop.
Xia Minmin looked expectantly at her maternal grandparents, but seeing that they were unmoved, she had no choice but to resort to her ultimate move.
"Grandpa and Grandma's food is really delicious, please try some!" Xia Minmin kept shaking Grandpa and Grandma's hands.
"Oh dear, my little darling. Stop shaking me, or you'll break our old bones."
Grandma Xia and Grandpa Xia exchanged a glance, their expressions sly.
Li Chunmei also noticed that Xia's maternal grandparents were teasing Xia Minmin, but she didn't say much. She thought it would be good to let her daughter Caiyi entertain her parents for once.
Grandpa Xia was the first to give in to Xia Minmin's coquettishness, "Alright, we'll have cold noodles and cold rice noodles for lunch."
Xia Minmin hugged her maternal grandparents' waists and jumped around non-stop.
"Thank you, Grandpa. Thank you, Grandma."
After the three of them finished making love, Li Chunmei gave Xia Minmin some change.
"Mom and Dad, what would you like to eat?"
"Xiaomin brought the same cold gluten salad as you to your grandparents, so we can also try Xiaomin's favorite flavor."
"Okay, I'll have a bowl of liangpi (cold skin noodles)! Go ask your dad what he wants to eat!"
"Yes, sir!" Xia Minmin saluted, changed her shoes, opened the door, and went out.
Watching Xia Minmin skip and hop out the door, everyone felt a little helpless, wondering if she was really in pain or just pretending.
Xia Minmin, who had run to her own supermarket in one go, was panting heavily as she leaned against the counter.
Xia Jianguo poured a glass of cold water for Xia Minmin from the kettle on the counter and handed it to her.
"What's wrong? Why are you running so fast?"
Xia Minmin said haltingly, "Dad, do you... want to eat... cold noodles, cold rice noodles, or gluten for lunch?"
Phew... I'm finally out of breath.
Isn't your mother cooking lunch today?
"Yes, we're having a big meal tonight. My grandparents said they wanted cold noodles for lunch."
How could Xia Minmin possibly publicize the fact that she deliberately embarrassed herself?
"Okay, just pack me a serving of cold noodles."
"Okay. Dear Daddy, your good daughter will arrange it for you right away."
When Xia Jianguo heard Xia Minmin's strange tone, he smiled and shook his head, looking helpless.
Xia Minmin ran to the noodle shop without stopping.
"Boss, three servings of cold gluten salad, one serving of cold skin noodles, and one serving of cold noodles, all to go."
The noodle shop owner recognized the customer as a regular; they were all familiar with each other since they did business on the same street.
"Xiaomin, you're here! Uncle will give you extra peanuts today." The noodle shop owner said without stopping his hands from mixing the noodles.
Xia Minmin took out some change from her pocket, calculated the amount according to the price list, and placed it on the cutting board.
"Three servings of gluten, one serving of cold skin noodles, and one serving of cold rice noodles, right?"
Xia Minmin pointed to the money on the cutting board, "No. Uncle, please count the money to make sure there are no mistakes."
The boss glanced at it casually, "No problem."
"Then I'm going home." Xia Minmin ran back carrying five takeout bags.
The noodle shop owner chased after him, shouting, "Slow down!"
"Okay, Uncle!"
When Xia Minmin reappeared at the supermarket, she was carrying five takeout bags.
Standing at the supermarket entrance, Xia Minmin cleared her throat. "Dear Dad, your lunch has arrived. Please enjoy! If you have nothing else, I'll head back now!"
Xia Minmin put down a takeout bag and turned to leave.
"Wait a minute, what's wrong with you today?! You're acting strange."
"Me? I've always been like this! Dad, I'm home now, you can have some cold noodles early."
Xia Minmin thought Xia Jianguo had discovered her embarrassing situation, so she turned around and ran away.
Xia Jianguo watched Xia Minmin run off into the distance and muttered, "Something must have happened. I need to ask Chunmei when we get back!"
Xia Minmin, who had run a short distance, was out of breath and leaned on the doorknob of her own house.
Oh no, I forgot my keys.
Xia Minmin was carrying things in both hands and wanted to ring the doorbell, but the doorbell was too high, so she could only bang on the door.
Clang clang clang…
"Mom, open the door!"
About a minute later, Li Chunmei opened the door, but she was holding a knife in her hand.
Xia Minmin immediately admitted defeat, "I'm sorry, Mom. I won't bang on the door again next time."
"Is that Xiaomin? Is she back?"
"Grandpa, I'm back."
When Xia Minmin heard her maternal grandfather's voice, she felt she could be rescued and slipped into the house, sideways against the wall.
With this support, Xia Minmin became bolder. "Mom, why are you still standing at the door? Come and eat your cold noodles, they won't taste good if they're left out too long."
Xia Minmin took out the disposable lunch box from the packaging bag and placed it on the dining table.
Grandpa Xia had already started eating. "It tastes really good! Our Xiaomin is so picky. It was definitely the right choice to eat with her."
"Right, Grandpa? I think it's delicious too."
Li Chunmei, who originally intended to teach Xia Minmin a lesson, stopped saying anything discouraging since the three of them were enjoying their meal.
"Grandma, when is Sister Qing coming?"
"Your sister Qing will probably arrive around 5 PM. She has tutoring at school today, and school doesn't end until 4:30 PM! Your uncle and aunt will pick her up and then come over together."
"All right!"
"Missing your sister Qing?"
"Um."
After lunch, Xia's maternal grandparents leaned back on the sofa watching TV while Xia Minmin ran downstairs to throw out the trash.
Li Chunmei said, "Mom and Dad, would you like to go to your room and get some sleep?"
Grandpa Xia: "No need. Have you prepared the dishes for dinner?"
"It's all ready. The stir-fry will be done in half an hour."
Grandma Xia couldn't wait any longer, "Then let's play mahjong the four of us this afternoon!"
"The rules of mahjong here are more complicated than back home. Your mother and I haven't played mahjong with anyone in a long time."
Li Chunmei couldn't bear to see her parents looking aggrieved, so she immediately unfolded the folding table and brought out the mahjong set.
When Xia Minmin came back from taking out the trash.
Li Chunmei smiled gently, "Xiaomin, come over and play mahjong, we're one short!"
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