Chapter 20 "Aying, can I stay here tonight?"
When the doorbell rang, Xing Xiaochu immediately jumped off the sofa and ran to the door barefoot.
The kitten who was playing with Xing Xiaochu's slippers saw his owner running away, so he immediately dropped his slippers and ran over. However, he couldn't stop and bumped into Xing Xiaochu's heel, falling over.
Xing Xiaochu didn't pay attention to the kitten that had fallen down beside him. Instead, he looked at Qi Ying, who was holding a cake with a smile on her face, and said in surprise, "Why... did you come back so early?"
"Didn't I tell you on the phone? I'll get off work early today to celebrate for you." Qi Ying walked into the house, blocked the kitten's head from going out with his foot, handed the cake to Xing Xiaochu, and closed the door: "How about we have hot pot at home tonight?"
Xing Xiaochu was staring at the cake in her arms in a daze. Suddenly she heard Qi Ying talking about eating hot pot, so she looked up at her and said, "Hot pot...how can we eat it at home?"
Qi Ying looked at her with a smile and said, "You haven't...ever eaten hot pot before, have you?"
Yes, I haven’t eaten it.
Xing Xiaochu's mother passed away early, and her father would not waste money to treat her to hotpot. Xing Xiaochu watched her classmates go to eat hotpot, and occasionally took a look at the hotpot restaurant when passing by, but she never dared to go in.
I’m afraid it’s expensive.
She has no money.
Qi Ying looked at Xing Xiaochu's confused look and comforted him, "It's okay. It doesn't matter if you haven't eaten it before. I will teach you slowly in the future."
Xing Xiaochu held the cake, looked at Qi Ying and nodded.
In the kitchen, Qi Ying was busy, while Xing Xiaochu was sitting at the dining table, hugging the kitten, looking at the cream cake in the transparent box.
The cake is just an ordinary fruit cake with four kinds of fruits on it: blueberry, pineapple, mango and grapes. The main body is wrapped in white cream, and on the greeting card in the middle are four big characters "Success in the Imperial Examination" written on it.
The kitten struggled to get out of Xing Xiaochu's arms, and its little white paws tried to pull at the ribbon on the cake, but Xing Xiaochu grabbed it back.
"Shh-"
Xing Xiaochu raised his index finger and placed it between his lips, and said to the little guy, "Don't touch it, it's very expensive."
The kitten protested and meowed, and wanted to play with the ribbon.
Qi Ying heard the noise coming from the dining table, curiously poked her head in to take a look and said with a smile: "Xiao Chu, if Guazi wants to play, just let him play and don't get on the table."
Xing Xiaochu pricked up his ears, sat up straight, looked at Qi Ying and asked her: "Is it okay?"
Qi Ying smiled and nodded.
The little kitten twisted its butt and climbed onto the table, opened its mouth with not yet fully grown teeth and bit the ribbon. Xing Xiaochu had no choice but to untie the ribbon and took Xiao Guazi to play under the table.
The kitten likes ribbons very much. When Xing Xiaochu flicked it gently, it would come over with a hissing sound. When Xing Xiaochu flicked it again, it would come over with a hissing sound again. Sometimes it couldn't brake and would slide a long distance, then run over again with its tail erect, holding the ribbon and chewing it.
Xing Xiaochu smiled so much that her eyes curved. She picked up the ribbon and smiled happily at the little kitten hanging on it.
The child played and frolicked with the cat for a while, and Qi Ying had almost prepared the ingredients. He was putting them on the dining table one plate at a time. Xing Xiaochu saw this and immediately threw the ribbon to the kitten and let it play with it by itself, while she ran to the kitchen to help.
Qi Ying didn't hesitate to ask her to bring all the vegetables and meatballs she liked to the table. Finally, he found an induction cooker, put a big pot on it, and started to put the hot pot base into it. After a while, all the red oil turned into water, and the whole room was filled with a strong smell of spices, accompanied by a fragrant and spicy smell. It was a bit choking, but smelled good.
Finally, Qi Ying took out two cans of drinks from the refrigerator and then sat down at the dining table.
Xing Xiaochu's eyes lit up when he saw the steaming hot pot in front of him, and he asked Qi Ying curiously: "Is this hot pot? It smells so good."
Qi Ying opened the drink, handed it to Xing Xiaochu, and said, "It's definitely not as delicious as eating at a restaurant. Let's go out to eat when the weather is cooler."
Xing Xiaochu nodded.
She is happy even when eating at home.
Qi Ying blanched meatballs, vegetables and meat rolls, and also prepared a simple hot pot dipping sauce for Xing Xiaochu. Xing Xiaochu was reserved at first, but after taking a bite her eyes began to light up. She ate whatever Qi Ying picked for her and she was not picky and ate a lot. Qi Ying liked to feed her.
After eating for a while, Xing Xiaochu had almost finished her meal. She touched her stomach and felt a little full. Qi Ying was drinking a beverage and watching a lively variety show on TV. When she saw Xing Xiaochu put down her chopsticks, she turned around and asked her, "Are you full?"
Xing Xiaochu secretly glanced at the unopened cake on the table, and Qi Ying understood what the child meant.
This is wanting to have cake and eat it too.
"Come." Qi Ying stood up, took the small plate, fork and knife that came with the cake, handed them to Xing Xiaochu and said, "Cut the cake."
Xing Xiaochu raised her beautiful eyes and looked at Qi Ying. Seeing that Qi Ying was very serious about asking her to cut the cake, she did not refuse. She stood up, took the knife and fork from Qi Ying's hand, and prepared to cut the cake.
The cake box was opened, and Xing Xiaochu was a little nervous holding the plastic knife, not knowing how to start. Qi Ying encouraged him and said, "Cut it however you want."
Xing Xiaochu hesitated, and finally cut the knife between the mango and the green grape.
The feeling of cutting the cake was very strange. It seemed to have no substance when the cake knife cut it, and it was soft and fluffy, almost the softest thing Xing Xiaochu had ever cut. She handed the first piece of cake to Qi Ying, her pair of beautiful black eyes staring at Qi Ying eagerly without saying a word.
Qi Ying could naturally see Xing Xiaochu's mood. She took the cake from the other person's hand and her fingertips briefly touched Xing Xiaochu's.
"Thank you." Qi Ying whispered to her.
Xing Xiaochu's ears turned red, and he lowered his head and cut a small piece for himself.
The variety show in the living room was playing loudly. The two of them sat on chairs and ate cake, and no one spoke.
Qi Ying felt that the taste of this cake was a little different. She didn’t know if it was her illusion, but she always felt that there was a faint scent of osmanthus on the cake, which was light and cool, yet very fragrant and sweet.
Qi Ying raised her eyes slightly and looked at Xing Xiaochu who was sitting opposite her and eating cake in small bites. She felt that the scent of osmanthus at her nose was getting stronger and stronger.
"Sister?" Xing Xiaochu looked at her and tilted his head in confusion.
Qi Ying immediately came back to his senses, turned his head to the side and coughed, then said: "This cake tastes good. Let's order this cake for your birthday next time?" After saying that, Qi Ying thought of something, turned his head to look at Xing Xiaochu, and asked her, "When is your birthday?"
The 18-year-old coming-of-age ceremony is quite important, and Qi Ying feels that she should celebrate it well for her child.
Xing Xiaochu said, "September."
Qi Ying smiled and said, "Okay, then we'll celebrate your birthday and I'll treat you to a good meal when we go out for dinner."
Xing Xiaochu nodded and smiled happily.
***
After having dinner with the children and simply clearing the table, Qi Ying stuffed some pocket money into Xing Xiaochu. It was already past nine o'clock, so she made an excuse to rest and went back to her room, then returned to the alley behind the store.
Qi Ying touched her stomach. She always had an illusion that even if she ate in the game, she would not be too hungry in reality.
But after all, she didn't have dinner. When Qi Ying walked out of the alley, she was wondering whether she should buy some midnight snack to eat at home. But when she just came out of the alley, she saw that the lights in her own store were still on.
Qi Ying said 'huh' and muttered in confusion: "Did Ruoxin leave the lights off when she got home?"
She walked to the door with doubts, but found a figure walking in the dim shop. Qi Ying frowned and reached out to push open the door.
Shi Yu was trying on a shirt in front of the mirror when he heard the door ding. He turned around and said, "The boss is not here. If you have anything to do, let's do it another day... Hey, Aying? You're back~"
Qi Ying looked at Shi Yu in his shop, then glanced at the time on his mobile phone.
"It's almost ten o'clock, why are you still here, Miss Shi?" Qi Ying looked at her in surprise and asked, "Is there something wrong with the dress?"
"Of course there is no problem with the dress made by Aying." Shi Yu put down his shirt and walked over, holding Qi Ying's arm intimately. Just as he was about to speak, he smelled a very cool scent of osmanthus.
Shi Yu is not Xing Xiaochu, so if she has any questions she will ask directly.
So Shi Yu looked at Qi Ying in surprise and asked her: "Why do you smell like perfume? Did you go out with someone tonight?"
Qi Ying raised his arm and sniffed: "Is there? Why can't I smell it?"
As she spoke, Qi Ying pulled her hand out without leaving a trace. After she walked around the house and didn't see Xia Ruoxin, she asked Shi Yu in confusion: "Where is Ruoxin? Isn't she in the store?"
Shi Yu laughed, stood at the door with his hands behind his back and said to Qi Ying: "Don't you see what time it is now? She must have gone home."
Qi Ying frowned and looked at Shi Yu, seeming to want to say something but stopping himself.
Shi Yu said calmly: "When I came to see you this afternoon, Boss Xia said that you had gone out for something and were not in the store. I was unwilling to leave like this, so I simply waited for you to come back in the store."
As she spoke, she looked at Qi Ying with a slight complaint: "Where on earth did you go? I asked Boss Xia but she didn't tell me. Why did you come back so late and smell of perfume? Did you... go on a date with some woman?"
Qi Ying pursed his lips uncomfortably, frowned slightly and said to her: "No, I was... accompanying my friend's daughter. She just passed the entrance exam, and I went to celebrate with her."
Shi Yu didn't believe it: "You're talking nonsense. The perfume on you can't fool me. Which girl in school wears perfume? You must be out on a date with someone."
Qi Ying was a little annoyed. Seeing Shi Yu still blocking the door, she didn't want to continue chatting with her about this topic. Qi Ying was also concerned about why she was still in her store at this time. So Qi Ying asked her, "You're so late, aren't your family members worried if you don't go home?"
"I'm already this old, they can't control when I go back." Shi Yu saw Qi Ying changed the subject, and didn't pursue the previous question. He turned around and walked to the chair next to him and sat down. He crossed his legs and swung his toes. He leaned back against the backrest with a smile and said to Qi Ying: "Aying, can I stay here tonight?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com