"Mom, there's still braised pork in the fridge. I'll make it. You go to sleep. We have to get up early to open the shop tomorrow!"
Zhu Qianying couldn't bear to see her mother working so hard. In fact, her mother worked even harder than she and Yan Shao, spending all day in the kitchen.
"I'm not afraid of getting tired of eating braised pork so late. I brought back some braised beef jerky from the store. I'll use it to cook noodles."
As Chen Jing spoke, she went into the kitchen and began to prepare.
Zhu Qianying couldn't persuade her otherwise, so she and Yan Shao went back to their rooms to take a shower. When they came out refreshed, there were two bowls of the same size on the dining table.
"Hey, do you remember when I said you had a big appetite?"
In fact, even now, Yan Shao still finds it strange that Zhu Qianying, who is much thinner than him, can eat just as much as him.
Zhu Qianying was slurping her noodles when she heard him say that. She looked up and rolled her eyes at him.
"How could I not remember?"
The things he said, good and bad, were deeply imprinted in her mind, even though she didn't consciously try to remember them.
"Speaking of which, why do you have such a big appetite?"
To this day, Yan Shao remains very curious.
Or rather, he was vaguely worried.
He was worried that she might not be absorbing nutrients well, which was why she ate so much but didn't gain weight.
Speaking of which, she's even thinner now than she was five years ago. Perhaps it's from the stress of working so hard to make a living?
"This is my fault!" Chen Jing, who had finished tidying up the kitchen, said, picking up where Yan Shao left off.
"Mom!" Zhu Qianying tried to stop Chen Jing from talking nonsense.
Chen Jing ignored her daughter's warning and turned to Yan Shao.
“Back then, Ying’er was still young and was often bullied by the children from the Zhu family. She often didn’t get to eat at the dinner table. I spent most of my time in the kitchen and didn’t know any of this, and she never told me about it either. When she was starving, she would go to the kitchen to find something to eat. Sometimes she was so hungry that she would eat as much as she could. Sometimes, she was afraid that she wouldn’t have enough to eat next time, so she would still eat as much as she could. In the end, her appetite grew bigger and bigger.”
Little did Yan Shao know that the answer to the question he had been curious about was such a heartbreaking one.
"Mom, that's just your opinion, isn't it? I have a naturally large appetite, so how can you say that I've been stretched out of my body?"
After refuting him, Zhu Qianying looked at Yan Shao.
"Don't listen to my mom's nonsense. These days, she always likes to take the blame for many things that happened in the past."
Yan Shao had no intention of taking sides; the real answer was that, and he knew it very well.
He reached out, ruffled her hair, and then spoke gently.
"Hmm, I won't listen to her nonsense. Let's eat before the noodles get soggy!"
Zhu Qianying glanced at his bowl of noodles, which was still more than half full, then looked at her own bowl, which was only half full, and said with great disdain, "Uncle Yan, is this your gruel or mine?"
Yan Shao shrugged indifferently, patted her head to signal her to eat quickly, and then watched her eat heartily with a deep gaze before picking up his chopsticks and eating slowly and deliberately.
Chen Jing tidied up the pots and pans in the kitchen, stood at the kitchen door, glanced silently at her daughter and Yan Shao, and then tactfully returned to her room.
After finishing her noodles, Zhu Qianying said she was very tired and leaned back in her chair with her belly protruding, unwilling to move. After Yan Shao finished his noodles, she instructed him to take the bowls and chopsticks into the kitchen.
"Young Master Yan, put the bowl in the sink. I'll wash it first thing tomorrow morning!"
Zhu Qianying never even considered assigning a young master like Yan Shao to wash dishes.
Young Master Yan has indeed changed a lot for Zhu Qianying and Zizai recently, but as a pampered young master who has been spoiled since childhood, he unfortunately has a severe case of mysophobia. He can change and adapt to other things, but he has not yet been able to adapt to and get used to washing dishes.
Although he had washed it before, to be honest, the process was far from pleasant.
"Now you know how hard it is to get rid of Aunt Lan, huh!"
As Yan Shao vigorously scrubbed the grease off the dishes with hand sanitizer, he couldn't help but grumble.
Unable to stand his nagging any longer, Zhu Qianying got up and walked over, bumping his butt with her own to signal him to go away so she could wash the dishes.
When Yan Shao was bumped by her, all his nagging and complaints disappeared, and he only looked at the snow-white skin at the neckline of her pajamas.
Watching Zhu Qianying squeeze out dish soap and start washing the dishes, he wiped his hands clean, hesitated for a moment, then put his arm around her from behind and hugged her around the waist.
Zhu Qianying stiffened for a moment. Clearly, neither he nor she had fully adapted to this new relationship and new way of getting along.
Yan Shao lowered his head and rested his chin on her shoulder, "Ying'er..."
Zhu Qianying hummed in response, but did not turn around to look at him.
"I..." Yan Shao tragically discovered that he could actually get nervous!
He thought that the stuttering from nervousness that had plagued him since he was thirteen or fourteen years old was a thing of the past!
"What?" Zhu Qianying asked in a calm tone.
Yan Shao took a deep breath, as if he were going all out, "I... can I sleep in your room later?"
Zhu Qianying paused in washing the dishes, and Yan Shao held his breath, waiting for her answer, like a prisoner awaiting sentencing.
With the sound of rushing water, Zhu Qianying placed the bowl under the tap to rinse it. Then, amidst the rushing water, Yan Shao seemed to hear her give a muffled response.
"what ever!"
Overjoyed, Yan Shao forgot himself, tightened his arms around her waist, and lifted her up in one swift motion.
Zhu Qianying was startled. After she came to her senses, she tapped his chin with the back of her head. "Hey, you almost scared me to death! Stop messing around and put me down."
Yan Shao was unwilling to comply, and only pulled her forward a little, saying willfully, "I'll carry you, you wash yours!"
Zhu Qianying rolled her eyes silently. What kind of trouble had she gotten herself into to provoke such a willful and reckless young master?
Originally, wasn't this young master supposed to have become considerate, attentive, and gentle? How come he's turned back into that eccentric and difficult young master Yan?
However, despite her complaints, Zhu Qianying ultimately chose to compromise. After all, it was just two large bowls and two pairs of chopsticks, which could be washed in no time.
Don't let Zhu Qianying's slender appearance fool you; she's not exactly light when you pick her up. After all, with her height, no matter how thin she is, she's still around 100 pounds.
But Yan Shao held her as easily as if she were a rag doll. After she washed the bowls, he carried her to the cupboard and waited for her to dry the bowls with a clean towel and put them in the cupboard before carrying her back to the sink and letting her wash her hands.
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