Chapter 75 Tender Corn "If you keep neglecting me like this, I'm going to..."
The kitten wobbled towards the small bowl, as if she knew the food inside was for her. Seeing her approach, Big Yellow slowly backed away a few steps and lay down, watching the kitten out of the corner of his eye, his tail wagging rapidly.
He knew the kitten's mother, who was also a beautiful calico cat with long fur as handsome as him.
Chen Mian quietly hid in the corner, holding her breath, afraid of scaring the kitten outside the door away. Heaven knows how long she had been squatting there for the kitten.
To be precise, she was the first mother cat to stalk the cat and diligently fed her every day, but unfortunately, the mother cat was very wary and didn't give her any more opportunities to show off.
But it doesn't matter now, she'll definitely succeed this time. After all, the flower language for stray cats is "first come, first served."
While the kitten was licking the goat milk powder with its tongue, Chen Mian quickly and stealthily reached out and grabbed the adorable kitten.
"Mimi, from now on you'll take my surname, hehe!" She tucked the silly little cat in one hand and picked up the cat's food bowl with the other, then went back to her room with a smile.
After closing the windows and doors, I put the kitten in the cardboard box.
This is the birthing room she prepared in advance for the mother cat, with soft little blankets laid out inside, just waiting for her to deliver the kittens and become a grandmother.
Who knew the mother cat ran away a few days before giving birth, and who knows how she raised her kittens all by herself outside.
Chen Mian gently stroked the kitten's fur. She muttered occasionally, "You're quite sturdy, baby. Did your mother only have you?"
“My mom gave birth to both of us at once.”
The kitten was disturbed while eating, and angrily let out a "ah" and fiercely bit its owner's finger. The owner was completely immersed in that sweet, cuddly meow.
Chen Mian: "Okay, don't be angry, don't be angry. You eat slowly, I'll go make you some new meat to eat, so you can grow taller, okay?"
She got up and went to the kitchen, making sure to close the door behind her. "Mom, are we having chicken today?"
Lin Huijun was washing vegetables, shaking the water droplets off her hands: "Why do you suddenly want to eat chicken today? Didn't you say it was too dry last time?"
"Oh dear, I just want to eat today." Chen Mian grabbed her mother's arm and shook it back and forth. "And can we eat the tender corn in the field too?"
If she directly said she wanted to use chicken to make cat food for the kitten, she would definitely be nagged. But if she said she wanted to eat some herself and offered to give the kitten a little bit of meat to try, no one would say anything.
Lin Huijun calculated the days and it should be ready. When she went to check last time, the ears of corn had already formed, but the kernels had not yet formed. Another half month has passed, so it should be ready soon. Tender corn is all about the sweet taste of not being fully ripe.
With that thought in mind, she stopped washing the vegetables in her hands and said, "Let's go pick corn in the field, and let your dad catch the chickens."
"Okay!" Chen Mian happily picked up her small basket and went to the field with her mother.
The corn was indeed ready to eat. She looked at the plump, juicy corn in her hand with a smile, knowing she could go back to her stall and make money again.
One person picked more than a dozen ears of corn and walked back in another direction. When passing by the vegetable field, Lin Huijun took the opportunity to check the condition of the field. She had bought some new vegetable seeds a few days ago, and now the field was full of green seedlings.
But upon closer inspection, there seemed to be a lot of weeds inside. "Mianmian, is there something wrong with the seeds you bought? Why are there so many weeds?"
Chen Mian: "I don't know, I just bought it from a roadside vendor. It's okay, I'll just come back and pull it out tonight."
"And those peach trees over there, they look a bit wilted," Lin Huijun said, pointing to a spot in the distance.
This is the first time they've planted these peach trees, so they're very precious to them. They've never been so particular before; the fruit trees in their yard were just left to grow haphazardly. Sometimes, if they threw a fruit pit in the yard, a sapling would sprout up the following year.
The thousands of peach trees in the field are rare varieties that they've never even seen before, and they have no idea how to care for them.
Chen Mian was also very troubled. After a while, she blurted out, "I feel that it might be like a person, lacking nutrition. I'll call Hehe and ask her when I go to the city tomorrow."
Lin Huijun looked away, picked up the basket from the ground again, and walked slowly along the road, chatting with her daughter every now and then.
Upon hearing Chen Mian say that she wanted to send some tender corn to Li Hongmei tomorrow, she scolded, "Why didn't you say so earlier? We could have picked more and taken it back."
Chen Mian: "No, that won't do. Hongmei loves this the most. I'll go to the field tomorrow morning to pick the freshest ones for her."
“That girl Cuiping, what isn’t her favorite food? When she was little, her dad used to laugh at her, saying she’d marry a chef when she grew up.” Lin Huijun couldn’t help but sigh as she spoke. “Sigh, her dad has been dead for many years now, and she has her own children.”
Chen Mian frowned. "Why does Mom still call her Cuiping? She doesn't like that name."
Lin Huijun: "I know, it just sounds natural, right? I'll definitely change it next time."
.
In a villa in the western suburbs.
Li Hongmei had just finished cooking lunch, and the fumes from the kitchen made her stomach churn uncontrollably. "Ugh..."
"Are you even letting people eat?" Wang Shuqin sat calmly at the table, a piece of braised pork between her chopsticks. "You should spit it out. It's disgusting."
"Here, my grandson, Grandma will give you this piece of meat."
Wu Cong: "Thank you, Grandma. I'll go help Auntie serve the dishes."
Li Hongmei covered her mouth and quickly walked out of the kitchen, saying, "You guys eat first, I'm going back to rest for a while."
Behind her, Wang Shuqin grumbled, "If you ask me, you young people these days are too precious. I used to be able to harvest wheat even when I was heavily pregnant, and you're already giving me attitude as soon as you get here..."
"Ha, I knew it. Now that things are like this, do you think you'll still dare to mistreat my grandson?" "Mistreat" was a new word Wang Shuqin had learned from a TV drama these past few days; it was quite trendy. "Sure enough, people say stepmothers don't care about their children as much as biological mothers. You could pretend when my son was home, but as soon as he left, your true colors came out..."
Li Hongmei didn't go upstairs. Instead, she washed her face in the bathroom on the first floor, splashing cold water on her slightly haggard face. She swept all her hair back, rubbed her temples with her index finger, and her eyes were filled with unspeakable irritability.
Just as she was about to go out and argue with the old woman again, Chen Mianmian arrived carrying corn cobs.
"Look what I brought you, you'll definitely love it!" Chen Mian proudly held up the cloth bag in her hand, which was full of corn.
The light green outer skin wraps around the tender yellow inner core, and the rich aroma of corn fills the air. Even Li Hongmei felt her morning headache was relieved by the smell.
"Ta-da!" Chen Mian smiled and took out another exquisite little basket from behind her. The basket contained cooked corn that had been boiled that morning, covered with a cotton quilt, and it was still warm.
Li Hongmei casually wiped the water droplets from her hands onto her clothes, completely unconcerned that it was a designer dress worth over a thousand yuan that her husband had specially brought back for her from the south.
He picked up a corn cob and couldn't wait to eat it.
Wang Shuqin, who was sitting at the table, had already heard their conversation and smelled the aroma of corn. She was just waiting for Li Hongmei to hand her the corn and invite her to eat first.
Unexpectedly, Li Hongmei started eating first and even pulled Chen Mianmian to sit on the sofa.
Enraged, she shoved her chopsticks into the rice in her bowl. If looks could kill, Li Hongmei would probably be dead several times over by now.
She pretended to be calm and continued eating the corn in her hand, asking her friend, "Have you had lunch? If not, all the dishes on the table are freshly made and still warm."
Following her gaze, Chen Mian saw the four dishes and one soup on the table: braised pork, stir-fried green beans with pork, braised eggplant, salt and pepper shrimp, and seaweed and egg drop soup.
"Your family doesn't eat any vegetables at all?" Chen Mian said softly. "No wonder you're a wealthy family."
Li Hongmei didn't deliberately lower her voice, leaning back on the sofa, "The old lady is afraid I'll mistreat her precious grandson."
“I cooked three meals a day according to the standards in the book, changing the dishes each time. But because there was a stir-fried vegetable dish in every meal, she insisted that I was abusing her grandson and that her grandson was not getting enough to eat.”
Chen Mian: "Where's your husband? Doesn't he do anything about it?"
“He’s not here; he’s away on a business trip and won’t be back until next month,” Li Hongmei said.
"All right."
Li Hongmei: "You need to see him? I thought you came here specifically to see me."
Seeing that her friend seemed to be getting angry, Chen Mian quickly coaxed her, "I definitely came here specifically to see you. I also have a business opportunity to discuss with him to see if there's a chance for cooperation."
She briefly shared her thoughts with her friend, "My mom also made you a dress, and the embroidery on it was done with a sewing machine. I was so busy packing extra corn for you when I left that I forgot."
Chen Mian scratched her head sheepishly, "I'll definitely remember to bring it for you next time."
Li Hongmei: "It's alright, I'll just come to your house to get it." She'll also stay at Chen Mian's house for a few days to get some peace and quiet. She's had enough of this old hag anyway, so let whoever wants to serve her serve her.
He acts like an empress dowager at home every day, ordering her around to do this and that, never giving her a moment's peace.
He would provoke her from time to time by bringing up Wu Wei's deceased ex-wife, as if he was afraid she would have a single day of peace.
When Old Wu is home, his wife puts on such a good act, never letting him do this or that, ha...
"Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore. Wait for me to get some clean clothes, then we'll go out for a nice meal."
After Li Hongmei finished speaking, she got up and went upstairs. A little while later, she came down carrying a backpack.
Wang Shuqin screamed, "Where are you going? And you're carrying such a big bag!"
Li Hongmei remained silent and walked towards the door. Wang Shuqin got up to stop her, but was blocked by the smiling Chen Mian. "Auntie, don't worry about it. Just stay home and keep your grandson company."
The two went out and went to the Poplar Restaurant on Yuquan Street, where Chen Mian was also hungry.
While eating, Chen Mian suddenly slapped her forehead, "Oh no, I almost forgot again, I still need to call my sister."
Li Hongmei: "It's okay, let's go after we finish eating."
.
In the evening, Chen Mianmian and Li Hongmei were crocheting a little hat for her unborn child. The kitten was earnestly fighting with a ball of yarn at her feet, its tiny mouth tearing at the yarn fiercely, and the scattered yarn on the ground was licked wet.
At the door, Ji Yu arrived again, holding a small bunch of wildflowers. He sneaked in through the crack in the door, wanting to look at the stars and moon with his girlfriend and chat about their life ideals.
Li Hongmei: Then I'll leave?
Ji Yu hung her head in frustration, like a big dog being ignored by its owner, and said in a huff, "If you keep not spending time with me like this, I'm going to throw a tantrum."
"How are you going to cause trouble?" Chen Mian asked with a smile in her eyes, unable to resist teasing him.
Li Hongmei then picked up the kitten and went to chat with Lin Huijun; it was best not to disturb the young couple.
Ji Yu: "If you don't stay with me, I'm going to go study for my college entrance exam."
"?" Chen Mian never expected to hear this answer. "What's gotten into you? Your ideals are so lofty today."
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Author's note: The update time for the main package is getting increasingly tight. I'm going out for hot pot with my girlfriends tomorrow night, so I can only hope that the main package's typing speed will improve.
I felt dizzy from working today; my blood and energy are depleted. [Cracking emoji]
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