A voice message came from the other end. Liu Hai smiled and opened it, and a weak child's voice came through:
[Heaven smiled upon me: "Dad, I want noodles too!"]
With a cheerful smile, Liu Hai sent a voice message: "Nini, wait for Daddy, I'll bring you something to eat later, okay?"
He was originally so hungry that he wanted to eat something to tide him over, but upon hearing Nini's voice, he immediately changed his mind, even though it would take him an hour to get to his home in the suburbs.
"Hello, could you also pack the braised noodles to go?"
Looking at the noodles on the table, Su Bai didn't understand but respected it. He quickly took two takeout containers, separated the noodle soup, and tried his best to prevent the soup from affecting the noodles' elasticity.
Liu Hai picked up the two full bags and quickly left the shop, then rode his electric scooter, huffing and puffing, towards the outskirts of the city.
An hour later, Liu Hai picked up the bag and felt the temperature at the bottom. It was only slightly warm. He hurried home, pushed open the iron door that had been repaired many times but was replaced with stainless steel, and scraped the ground with a screeching sound.
"A-Nian, Nini, I'm back!"
The woman called Anian carried Nini out and saw him taking out food one by one from the small square wooden table.
Ah Nian was surprised:
"Ahai, why did you buy so much stuff?!"
"We still have some food at home, so we can make do with this."
Liu Hai stepped forward and took Nini. She was waving her arms and legs, begging her father to hold her. She was moving around on Anian's body and was almost out of control.
"Aren't we going to S City tomorrow? When I was delivering food to this restaurant, I noticed that it was packed with people. Since we haven't eaten out in all these years, I decided to pack some of their food to bring back and try together."
However, some of the dishes were already cold when he took them out. Since there was no microwave at home, Ah Nian took them, poured them into a plate, put them in a pot, added water, and heated them. Because there were only a few bowls at home all year round and not many plates, he could only heat them on a plate before pouring them into a takeout container.
The steam carried the aroma of delicious food, and Nini couldn't contain herself, calling out in her soft voice:
"Yes, Nini wants some! The meat smells delicious, Daddy, can I have some?"
Nini grabbed Liu Hai's collar, as if trying to break free from his grasp and walk down, extremely anxious.
Liu Hai quickly put Nini, who was squirming and wriggling in his arms, down. She climbed onto the stool, lay on the table, and sweetly called out:
"Mommy, come quick, Nini wants to eat!"
"Okay, okay, I'm coming right away!"
Ah Nian heated up the last dish and then brought over three bowls filled with rice.
Seeing her parents sitting beside her, Nini happily wiggled her little body and picked up the small pieces of food that her father had prepared for her from the bowl.
He shoved it into his mouth, his eyes shining, and couldn't help but cheer indistinctly:
"Dad, you're amazing! This is so delicious!"
"Mmm, if it's delicious, Nini should eat more."
Seeing her happy little face, Ah Nian shook his head and said indulgently, praising Nini, who was not as prone to accidentally spilling food as usual:
"Nini is so good, she ate her food properly today!"
Liu Hai picked up a piece of food for A Nian with his chopsticks:
"You should eat something too, don't just focus on her."
After Nini finished eating, Anian let her play with her toys by herself, eating while feeling melancholy:
"Ahai, have you found a job over there?"
Liu Hai sighed, but couldn't help putting down his chopsticks, his mouth still full of slurred words:
“Keep doing this job. I can travel more and earn more there, so you can focus on taking care of Nini at the hospital.”
Ah Nian looked at Nini on the ground, who kept coming to her for food, and sighed:
"Maybe I should find a job there, otherwise we won't be able to afford the rent."
Liu Hai swallowed the food in his mouth and took a sip of water to moisten his throat:
“Speaking of which, I asked around and found out there are some odd jobs near the hospital. You could go check those out, that way you'll have time to take care of Nini.”
"That's all we can do."
Ah Nian kept stuffing food into his mouth, exclaiming as he ate:
"I just don't know when I'll be able to go back to Qingshui and eat such delicious food again."
"Yes, we will bring Nini back after we heal her."
The two looked at Nini, who was introducing the toys to them, with affection in their eyes and a hint of heartache in their expressions.
Nini has always been very perceptive. She sensed the change in the two of them, especially when Anian turned away to wipe her tears. She immediately went up to hug her mother.
"Mommy, don't cry, Nini isn't in pain."
Upon hearing this comforting remark, Ah Nian cried out, "How could our little Nini have gotten such a problem?!"
It turned out that Nini had a congenital heart disease. Liu Hai and his wife, refusing to believe in their fate, raised her until she was three years old, almost exhausting all their assets. Even their relatives avoided them, afraid that they would ask them for money.
They heard that there was a specialist in S city who was very good at treating this disease, and they begged for the specific hospital. They decided to go to S city to look for opportunities in the next few days.
——
"Zhizhi, are you tired?"
Fu Jue finally managed to escape from company affairs and sneaked away to the warm food stall.
Tao Zhizhi seemed to have found a place to rest, leaning against him softly and bonelessly, and said coquettishly:
"I'm so tired. The customers today were so enthusiastic, and there were so many people eating noodles."
He touched Tao Zhizhi's tired face, feeling a pang of heartache, and spoke softly:
"Zhizhi, can we stop using live streaming to attract customers?"
"Or I can find you a few kitchen helpers, so you won't get too tired from having too many people around."
Upon hearing this, Tao Zhizhi's eyes widened, and she swallowed back the word "system" that was almost out of her mouth:
[How do I find a kitchen helper?! Would you let me leak this for 100 million?]
One Hundred Million jumped out just in time to hear the host's puzzled thoughts:
"Don't tell anyone else, okay? I'm only bound to you and the shop!"
"Oh well."
After a moment of thought, a childlike electronic voice sounded:
"However, the host can purchase kitchen helpers with happiness points, but they usually have a time limit."
It pointed to the system item storage area above, reminding Tao Zhizhi:
"Host, have you forgotten? You can still use the Vitality Water you got before."
Tao Zhizhi was taken aback. She had indeed forgotten that she had this item. She looked through the items she had acquired, picked up the Vitality Water and examined it carefully, muttering to herself:
"But it can only be used a few times, and we still need to find a kitchen helper."
"How many times can it be used?"
Tao Zhizhi inadvertently revealed her innermost thoughts, and Fu Jue looked at her with a puzzled expression, as if he was searching for an answer.
Her mind went blank, but she calmly responded:
"Oh? It's nothing, I was just thinking about finding a kitchen helper."
"That--"
"No need, I've already thought of someone!"
Tao Zhizhi smiled at him, interrupting him, and pointed to her own clever head.
Fu Jue sighed regretfully, looking at her with a pitiful expression:
"Hey, Zhizhi, you're making me feel so useless."
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