Si Jiuyin looked up and saw He Qinqin, her expression freezing for a moment.
If it weren't for He Qinqin's irritating voice and the way she called him "Mom," she wouldn't have recognized him as the same He Qinqin she had seen more than half a month ago when she transmigrated.
The temperature in the kitchen was high, and He Qinqin was working and sweating a lot, so her makeup was ruined.
Lacking the money and energy to take care of her hair, He Qinqin's hair was frizzy and looked even drier and yellower under the light. Her face was also sallow, with heavy dark circles under her eyes, as if her life force had been drained.
Unfortunately, He Qinqin's pink down jacket got dirty in the kitchen today.
She looks like an adult wearing children's clothes, and she looks sloppy.
Seeing Si Jiuyin's complicated expression, He Qinqin assumed that it was her long-lost "Mom" that touched Si Jiuyin's heart.
He Qinqin was overjoyed and quickly stepped forward with the insulated container: "Mom, you've been here with the children for so long, haven't you eaten yet?"
As He Qinqin spoke, she opened the thermos, which contained yellow and white rice porridge: "This is pumpkin and millet porridge that I cooked myself. Pumpkin can lower blood sugar and is good for your health."
When Si Jiuyin saw the porridge in the thermos, she almost lost control of her facial expression. He Qinqin liked porridge so much, was she a rice spirit in her past life?
Let alone Si Jiuyin, even regular viewers who watch the show would feel like throwing up at the sight of porridge.
[He Qinqin, if you want to show some concern for your mother, shouldn't you put a little more effort into it?]
Thank you, He Qinqin. I've completely developed PTSD from eating porridge.
I think He Qinqin was just putting herself in others' shoes. After all, she loves porridge, especially with pumpkin added...
[Is He Qinqin really so insincere, treating Si Jiuyin, her mother who meticulously raised her and spent no less than 50 million on her upbringing, like dirt?]
Si Jiuyin could easily guess He Qinqin's motives for volunteering at the kindergarten.
She regretted it and started trying to make amends by returning to the Si family, but Si Jiuyin thought that the thermos would at least contain something like goji berry chicken soup.
The result? That's it?
The original owner treated He Qinqin so seriously partly because she was afraid of failing her old friend if she didn't take good care of He Qinqin, and partly because she had developed feelings for her as she cared for her.
Si Jiuyin gave a wink to Fu Shu, the secretary-general beside her, and Fu Shu immediately stepped forward to roll out the dough with the children in Si Jiuyin's place.
"Miss He, amnesia shouldn't be one of the aftereffects of your injury from trespassing into a fire, right?"
Si Jiuyin stood up and slowly wiped her hands: "You've already signed the adoption termination agreement, so what right do you have to call me 'Mom' now?"
He Qinqin's confidence was shattered by Si Jiuyin, and her eyes became incredulous: "Mom, have you lost your memory? This porridge was made by me for your fortieth birthday."
"You love it!"
When He Qinqin brought this up, memories of the original owner surfaced in Si Jiuyin's mind. She felt it was quite incongruous; how could this ungrateful wretch possibly cook for the original owner?
"Sorry, you said it yourself, it was when I was 40, I don't like that now."
Si Jiuyin looked at the thermos and saw that a layer of rice paste had formed on it last week: "And your porridge has already gone cold."
Just then, two little girls ran over hand in hand. One of them, with braided pigtails, looked at the thermos on the table and blinked her bright, deer-like eyes: "Pretty, Auntie, are you hungry?"
The little girl has a hearing impairment and has some difficulty organizing her speech.
"Clang clang clang~"
As she spoke, she and another little girl with a bun hairstyle pulled out a three-tiered food box from behind them, as if presenting a treasure.
The food box was quite large, almost half the height of the two girls. They struggled to carry it, their cheekbones straining, their eyes wide open – they were incredibly cute.
Si Jiuyin looked at the food box expectantly, her tone completely different from when she had spoken to He Qinqin: "What's inside?"
Upon hearing this, the little girl with the bun hairstyle gestured in sign language to the little girl with the braids.
Secretary-General Fu Shu was afraid that Si Jiuyin wouldn't remember the two children, so she said to Si Jiuyin, "The little girl with braids is named Xiao Ke and has a hearing impairment. The little girl with a bun is named Xiao Ai and is mute."
The original owner visited once a month, and the Mindful Beauty Kindergarten had a deep impression of these two children. Si Jiuyin nodded in understanding: "I remember."
"Xiao Ke acts as Xiao Ai's 'mouth,' and Xiao Ai acts as Xiao Ke's 'ear.' The two are like twin sisters."
After watching Xiao Ai's sign language, Xiao Ke understood what Si Jiuyin was saying.
She proudly puffed out her chest: "It was a surprise dinner prepared by our kindergarten children for our beautiful auntie!"
As they spoke, the two little children opened the food box.
He Qinqin looked at the food box carried by the two children, not caring much. What did these kindergarten kids know? It was probably just some cookies and cupcakes with saccharin in them. She knew that Si Jiuyin never ate such poorly made food.
Xiao Ai was responsible for placing the plates from the food box onto the low table in front of Si Jiuyin, while Xiao Ke was responsible for announcing the names of the dishes.
Xiao Ke proudly introduced, "Ta-da! Eel, eel rice ball!"
Five rice balls, each the size of a child's palm, lay on a plate. The tender white rice wrapped around the eel and then drizzled with sauce. Si Jiuyin could already smell the aroma.
Xiao Ai carefully and attentively brought out the second plate, while Xiao Ke introduced it with the same enthusiasm: "Ta-da! Shrimp, corn and egg casserole!"
Just then, a thin little boy with dull, unfocused eyes excitedly raised his hand and said to Si Jiuyin, "Pretty auntie, my dad and I caught the shrimp!"
Si Jiuyin recalled the little boy's family background: the boy's eyesight deteriorated with age, eventually leading to blindness. However, his hearing was exceptionally good, and he often went fishing at sea with his father.
After the little boy popped out, other children started popping out one after another while Xiao Ai was reciting the names of the dishes.
"I husked the corn!"
"Pretty auntie, the vegetables were grown by my grandma!"
"The pork comes from my uncle's black pigs, raised in the countryside!"
......
The children took turns showing off their achievements, like a relay race, and they were all eager for Si Jiuyin to see them.
The children who couldn't speak had friends who "spoke up" for them, a scene that was both adorable and heartbreaking.
Si Jiuyin, a woman who had been navigating the business world for decades and was as strong as an eagle, couldn't help but shed tears at this moment.
Although some dishes were burnt or not perfectly shaped, it was precisely these "imperfections" that made Si Jiuyin feel even more grateful for the children and their parents' love and care.
There are nine dishes of various sizes, including desserts, laid out on a table.
Compared to these exquisite dishes, He Qinqin's bucket of cold pumpkin and millet porridge seemed utterly unworthy of being served.
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