The three people present immediately tensed up.
"What's wrong? Is Xiaowen feeling unwell?"
Chen Ke and Chen Zhuo quickly stepped forward and asked, "Mom, what's wrong?"
Song Xiaowen's face stiffened for a moment before he suddenly became shocked and overjoyed, exclaiming in disbelief, "...He...he moved!"
Zhou Shanhuai didn't react for a moment. "Moved? Moved? Who moved?"
Chen Ke and Chen Zhuo couldn't help but laugh when they saw Zhou Shanhuai's blank expression as a new father.
Seeing this, Song Xiaowen glared at him resentfully, "Who did you say moved?"
Only then did Zhou Shanhuai slowly come to his senses. His eyes widened in disbelief as he asked, "Did...did the child move? He moved?"
"Who else could have done it? You pig-brain!"
At this moment, Zhou Shanhuai, even if he was a pig-headed fool, was a happy pig-headed fool. With an excited expression and eyes full of joy and tenderness, he gently placed his hand on Song Xiaowen's stomach. After feeling for a while, he raised his head with a puzzled look, "No, there's no movement."
Chen Ke finally couldn't stand it anymore and explained, "Dad, how can the baby keep moving? The baby is more likely to move when it's awake. Now you take Mom upstairs to rest, and maybe she'll get lucky and feel it again later."
Feeling fetal movement is a blissful experience for expectant parents, and this happy moment should naturally be enjoyed by the two of them alone.
"But you haven't eaten yet—"
"Oh dear, my brother and I are both grown up and we can't even cook a meal? Don't worry about us, go upstairs with Dad and rest." Chen Zhuo interrupted Song Xiaowen before she could finish speaking.
"But--"
"Alright, no more buts. I'll cook some noodles and we'll find a place for my brother to rest after we're done. You don't need to worry about anything. All you need to do now is go upstairs and have a good talk with Dad about your future brother or sister. Just make sure he's well in your belly and doesn't bother you."
"Are you sure you don't need our help?" Song Xiaowen asked, still worried, as Zhou Shanhuai escorted her up the stairs. This showed that she truly regarded Chen Ke and Chen Zhuo as her own children. Even though one of them was now an adult and the other a grown young man, in her eyes they were still children who couldn't cook or take care of themselves and needed her, their mother, to help them.
"Oh, what help are you going to give? The biggest help you can do is to keep the children from worrying." Zhou Shanhuai secretly gave Chen Ke and Chen Zhuo a thumbs up and then half-helped, half-supported Song Xiaowen upstairs.
Seeing that Song Xiaowen had finally gone back to rest, the two of them breathed a sigh of relief. After Song Xiaowen became pregnant, the whole family was very worried about her health, after all, she was so old and had always been in poor health.
“Mom is like a child now, you have to coax her to listen to her.” Chen Zhuo smiled.
Chen Ke nodded. "You've done a great job. In just a few months, you seem to have grown up a lot."
"Maybe it's because we're suddenly going to have a younger brother or sister. I won't be the youngest in the family anymore, so of course I have to mature and make sure they admire me, their second brother, from the moment they're born!"
Chen Ke knew, of course, that Chen Zhuo was saying that on purpose. What had truly made him mature in such a short time was his ever-expanding knowledge and experience. However, he did not expose it. The rift between the two brothers had not been truly resolved, but in the face of national affairs, they could completely disregard these personal matters.
As Chen Zhuo spoke, he walked towards the kitchen. "I only know how to cook noodles, so I'll just cook two bowls and make do?"
"Sure, I'm not a picky eater."
Chen Zhuo smiled and rolled up his sleeves to wash the vegetables. "I know you're not a picky eater, you just eat more of what you like and less of what you don't."
Chen Ke raised an eyebrow. "You noticed that? Then tell me, what do I like to eat, and what don't I like to eat?"
"You like to eat meat, but you prefer pork and beef, and don't like lamb. You don't like seafood, you like freshwater fish, but you don't like fish with bones. As for vegetables, you like eggplant and potatoes, and you hate leafy greens the most." Chen Zhuo spoke calmly, listing Chen Ke's preferences one by one without stumbling over a single word, as if he had memorized them deeply.
Chen Ke dared to guarantee that even the original owner himself probably didn't know his dietary preferences as well as Chen Zhuo did.
"What did you do while you ate? You just kept observing me?" Chen Ke asked as he walked into the kitchen.
Chen Zhuo looked at him in surprise, "What? Bro, don't you hate cooking and washing dishes the most?"
"Help you? Preferences aren't static; what you didn't like before, you might like now."
"...So you don't like the big white steamed buns you used to like anymore?"
The question was so casual, but Chen Ke paused, his hand that was rolling up his sleeves faltering, and a dark glint flashed in his eyes.
Is Chen Zhuo testing something?
But Chen Zhuo raised a puzzled face to look at Chen Ke, his tone perfectly normal, "Hmm? Brother, I'm asking you, why don't you like eating steamed buns anymore all of a sudden?"
Chen Ke smiled and answered casually, "I always felt that Shanghai steamed buns were a bit lacking; I got tired of them after a while."
Chen Zhuo nodded, seemingly agreeing with the viewpoint, "Indeed, they're not like old-fashioned steamed buns; they don't taste as good."
"Have you washed the vegetables? I'm going to boil water to cook the noodles."
"Okay, then I'll poach two more eggs."
The topic was quickly dropped, and the two brothers began cooking noodles together.
Finally, Chen Ke realized that Song Xiaowen's worries were not unfounded. Chen Zhuo's claim of being able to cook noodles really meant just boiling them until they were cooked through, resulting in a bowl of noodles with only a little salt and vinegar.
However, Chen Ke had to admit that the noodles looked quite good.
However, even without tasting those two seasonings, Chen Ke knew that the flavor was extremely ordinary.
The noodles were served, and Chen Zhuo handed chopsticks to Chen Ke, "Brother, try it and see how it tastes." His eyes were full of anticipation.
Chen Ke put on an act, picking up a mouthful of noodles with his chopsticks and putting it in his mouth. He chewed it a couple of times, then his eyes suddenly lit up and he gave Chen Zhuo a thumbs up. After swallowing the noodles, he exclaimed, "It's really well cooked, very delicious."
"Really?" Chen Zhuo was secretly delighted, thinking that it was fortunate that he had asked Aunt Liu about the method of cooking noodles beforehand, and now it came in handy.
Then he lowered his head and took a bite himself: ......
Chen Ke: "Isn't it delicious? Eat it quickly, or it won't taste good if it clumps together."
Chen Zhuo was on the verge of tears; this mess wasn't tasty at all.
His brother really knows how to coax him.
That evening, Chen Ke was preparing to rest in his guest room for the night, but Chen Zhuo, unusually a little embarrassed, invited him to sleep with him. Considering that he was currently adopting an encouraging and warm approach to education for Chen Zhuo, Chen Ke agreed.
As soon as the two lay down on the bed, Chen Ke regretted it.
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