Looking at the large bowl of steamed buns that Liu Tonghua brought over, Lin Lele's eyes widened in disbelief: "Is this what you eat every day?"
"Of course not," Liu Tonghua explained. "We just had guests at home."
Lin Lele looked at him strangely. Did this mean that even a big steamed bun was considered good?
However, considering that not everyone has Chen Yu's conditions, Lin Lele did not dwell on the matter any longer.
Suddenly, Qiao Xin, who had just entered the kitchen to help serve the dishes, exclaimed in surprise, "Wow! There's even pickled mustard greens!"
Lin Lele was speechless again.
Soon, dinner was laid out on the table: six large steamed buns, a small bowl of porridge, and a small dish of pickled vegetables.
"Xiao Chen, Xiao Lin, don't be shy, eat while it's hot," Liu Tonghua said.
"Aunt Liu, then I won't stand on ceremony." Chen Yu replied with a smile, while giving Lin Lele a warning look at the same time.
Seeing this, Lin Lele could only force a smile and say, "Thank you, Aunt Liu."
As he spoke, he picked up a steamed bun and took a bite, trying to enjoy this simple dinner with a positive attitude.
Chen Yu was the same. Chewing on the steamed bun in his mouth, Chen Yu was somewhat surprised that the steamed bun tasted pretty good.
This is understandable, after all, Qiao Meng is such a good cook, her mother Liu Tonghua's cooking skills are naturally not bad either.
After getting used to eating rich and heavy meals, it's nice to occasionally enjoy simple, plain food.
Lin Lele nodded repeatedly, muttering, "Not bad, not bad. It would be even better if you could add some sugar."
"How can you be so tactless? What era are we living in? You want to put sugar in a steamed bun? Do you know how precious sugar is these days?" Qiao Xin retorted without any politeness.
"Xiao Xin!" Liu Tonghua scolded, "How can you talk to a guest like that?"
Then she turned to Lin Lele and said apologetically, "Lin, Xiaoxin is being silly, don't take it to heart. She didn't mean any harm, she's just a bit blunt. Resources are indeed scarce right now, and luxury items like sugar are even rarer. You can eat it with pickled vegetables and steamed buns, that will make it taste better."
Lin Lele nodded thoughtfully upon hearing this, then tore a slit in the steamed bun and, to everyone's astonishment, stuffed a large handful of pickled vegetables into it.
She gently closed the bun, and the warmth of the bun instantly locked in the aroma of the pickled vegetables before taking another bite.
"Ptooey! Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!" Lin Lele frowned as soon as she took a bite and quickly spat out the food in her mouth.
"What is this? Is it expired?" Lin Lele complained, pointing at the dish of pickled vegetables on the table with a bitter expression.
Actually, it's unlikely to be expired. At temperatures below -70 degrees Celsius, even fresh vegetables, let alone pickled mustard greens with additives, wouldn't rot.
However, not spoiling is one thing, but the taste after thawing at extremely low temperatures is often greatly reduced, especially for pickled mustard tubers that require a certain level of humidity and temperature to maintain their crisp texture.
After being frozen and thawed for a long time, the pickled mustard tuber became soft and mushy and the flavor was unbalanced, which explains why Lin Lele reacted that way.
"You...you've gone too far!" Qiao Xin's face changed instantly, and tears even welled up in her eyes. "We treated you kindly, and it's one thing if you complain, but how can you be so disrespectful to our food? Do you know that this dish of pickled vegetables was specially borrowed from the neighbor's house by my mother to entertain you?"
There wasn't much pickled mustard greens to begin with, and Lin Lele had just taken nearly two-thirds of it with one chopstick. She wanted to stop her, but seeing the way her parents were staring at her, she held back in the end.
However, to her surprise, Lin Lele was wasting food so much that she could no longer stand it.
Qiao Gang and Liu Tonghua were also somewhat displeased with Lin Lele's behavior, and surprisingly did not stop Qiao Xin immediately.
The Qiao family's old servant, Tian Yuan, frowned deeply and looked at Lin Lele with displeasure. He knew what the pickled vegetables meant to the Qiao family; Liu Tonghua had gone to great lengths to borrow them.
Upon seeing this, Chen Yu immediately rebuked Lin Lele, "Lin Lele, what exactly do you want to do?"
He was genuinely angry at this moment. This was his first time meeting his father-in-law and mother-in-law, and Lin Lele had been so rude in this setting. He even began to suspect that Lin Lele had done it on purpose.
Chen Yu took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, and then turned to Qiao Xin and Liu Tonghua, saying sincerely, "I'm really sorry. Lele hasn't experienced much hardship, and she's not very bright. She doesn't think things through when she does things. I apologize to you on her behalf, and I hope you can forgive her rudeness."
"It's alright, it's alright. She's just a young girl, it's normal for her to be a little spoiled sometimes." Liu Tonghua quickly waved her hand. Although she was somewhat dissatisfied with Lin Lele's behavior, she chose to be tolerant out of consideration for Chen Yu.
"Chen Yu, you call yourself a big boss, yet you couldn't even find a smarter secretary! I bet you're having an affair with your secretary!" Qiao Xin sneered.
The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere in the entire room froze.
"Qiao Xin! Shut up!" Qiao Gang angrily stopped Qiao Xin. "I think you've been spoiled rotten by your mother!"
His voice carried an undeniable authority, causing Qiao Xin to involuntarily shrink back.
Lin Lele originally wanted to argue with Qiao Xin, but seeing Qiao Gang reprimanding Qiao Xin so sternly, she couldn't help but shut her mouth.
"Xiao Lin, don't mind what Qiao Xin said. To be honest, I haven't gotten used to this kind of food either, but there's nothing I can do about it, these are the conditions now," Qiao Gang comforted Lin Lele.
"Right? I knew it! These pickled vegetables are expired and inedible." Lin Lele seemed to have found support after hearing Qiao Gang's words, and her voice carried a hint of smugness.
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