Tao Rui lit a bonfire in the open space in the yard, stuffed the prepared seasonings into the chicken's belly, wrapped it with two layers of lotus leaves, and covered it with mud together with Xinxin.
Xinxin thought it was a new game and had a blast, giggling non-stop. Du Yawen filmed them nearby, and watching their interaction on camera, a warm feeling welled up in her heart. This was exactly the kind of family she'd ever wanted: cozy, warm, happy, and close. She was truly grateful to Tao Rui for leaving his job and coming with her to such a wonderful place. Perhaps this would be their new beginning.
Tao Rui fiddled with the beggar's chicken somewhat awkwardly, dug a hole and buried it in the soil.
Du Yawen laughed and said, "Is this okay? You look very unskilled. You haven't done it twice, right?"
Tao Rui spread his hands and shrugged, "Yeah, I hope there's enough seasoning."
He suffered a lot in the last world, and that was when he learned how to get food in the wild.
He really couldn't cook at home, but he was quite adept at roasting chicken, fish, or lamb over a fire. Beggar's chicken was a rare delicacy back then. Later, however, he gained some experience in cultivation, and his food became spiritual fruit. He no longer needed to eat these foods during his fasting period, and I really hadn't eaten them in years. I hope the taste isn't too different.
Xinxin was a bit scared of the fire, yet also a bit excited. Tao Rui coaxed her away from it, practicing walking around the grape trellis. Du Yawen and Meng Xue, a young artist, prepared vegetable salad, fruit salad, and Xinxin's baby food on the stone table. They would glance at Xinxin from time to time, and Du Yawen couldn't help but wipe her hands and take pictures of them with her phone, capturing Tao Rui's first time playing with a child outdoors.
Meng Xue exclaimed, "The child is like an angel, and Xinxin is so beautiful. Honestly, I never could have imagined what 'jewel-like cuteness' looked like before. Seeing Xinxin today really broadened my horizons. Xinxin is truly adorable, super, super cute."
Du Yawen smiled happily. "Thank you. She would be very happy if she knew you liked her so much. Usually girls your age find children annoying. I was a little worried that you wouldn't be able to enjoy your dinner. After all, children do make a lot of noise when they play."
Meng Xue shook her head. "I'm not annoyed. Maybe it's because I've loved drawing since I was a child, which makes me more patient. Also, I have a tomboyish older sister who never gave me that close sisterly feeling. I've always wanted a soft and adorable younger sister. That way, I would definitely be the best sister in the world. But unfortunately, my parents didn't have any more children."
"You don't know, if there really is a child sticking to you every day, you will never have a rest. Children are not always cute." When Du Yawen thought of Xinxin being a headache, she was really tortured.
Du Yawen suddenly felt depressed, but she didn't show it. She smiled and continued to make complementary food for her child, paying attention to whether the child fell.
Tao Rui was worried Xinxin would get tired, so after playing for a while, he put her in the rocking chair and let her rock for a while while he took a break. He squatted by the fire with a thick branch and stirred it a few times, then asked the system: "Can you scan whether the chicken is cooked?"
【able. 】
[Then you watch the chicken and call me when it's cooked to perfection.]
The system said: [Brother Rui, have you ever thought about learning to cook? Using the system to check the heat is a bit like cheating.]
Tao Rui said matter-of-factly, "I bought the system for convenience, and checking cooking temperatures is one of them. I'll discuss cooking skills when I'm more interested. Right now, I need to master everything related to venture capital. I can't waste the original owner's memories."
What he said made so much sense that the system simply fell silent and displayed the image of the campfire and the beggar's chicken on the virtual screen, and considerately displayed different colors so that when the image turned green and was cooked, he could see it without being reminded.
Tao Rui liked this convenience. He played the game of lifting the chicken high with Xinxin for a while, and then as soon as the beggar's chicken was cooked, he took Xinxin to dig it out and smashed the mud on the outside together.
"Dad is so great!" Xinxin was sitting on a small stool. When she saw Tao Rui take out a chicken from the mud lotus leaf, she clapped her hands with joy.
Tao Rui tore off a thin strip of meat from the chicken leg and handed it to Xinxin, "See if the beggar's chicken made by dad is delicious."
"Smells good! Smells good!" Xinxin held the shredded meat and put it in her mouth. She didn't know whether it tasted good or not, but something so fun to make must smell good.
Du Yawen held her in her arms and said softly, "Xinxin, don't swallow it. Just take a bite and taste it. Mommy will chop the chicken into small pieces and mix it with the porridge. It will taste just as good."
Seeing that she was about to get up, Tao Rui hurriedly said, "You hold the child and eat. I'll do it." He beckoned Meng Xue to sit over and said with a smile, "Just eat it with your hands. This kind of dish is best eaten by hand. You two can each have a chicken drumstick."
There was a small table next to the fire, and on it were the side dishes they had made. In the middle was a beggar's chicken, freshly taken out of a lotus leaf. Meng Xue sat down across from Du Yawen, and Du Yawen directly put a chicken drumstick on her plate. "Eat it quickly and try my husband's cooking. To be honest, this is my first time eating his food, but it looks cooked, so it should be fine."
Du Yawen was a little worried that the food was not good and would give the girl an upset stomach, so she tried it herself first. She found that the beggar's chicken was soft and tasty, with a particularly good texture, a hint of barbecue, and moderate saltiness. Although it was not super delicious, it was at the level of an average restaurant.
She looked at Tao Rui in surprise and said incredulously, "You can do this. This chicken is delicious. I didn't expect you to have this skill."
Tao Rui chopped up a piece of chicken and said with a smile, "That's a relief. This is my second time making it, and I was worried I hadn't mastered it yet. The most important thing is that it's cooked through. If you like it, I'll make more for you in the future."
Meng Xue was also surprised. "Second time doing it? Brother Tao must be talented." She suddenly laughed. "Brother Tao, now that you've revealed your talent, you won't be able to escape from now on. You'll have to help Sister Yawen cook more in the kitchen."
"I'm good at making these wild and exotic dishes, but Yawen is better at making the real dishes. It's called division of labor and cooperation, and it complements each other perfectly." Tao Rui took the chopped chicken mixed in the porridge and fed Xinxin a bite. "Baby, is it delicious?"
"Delicious! Love it!" Xinxin smacked her lips to show her love. Her adorable look melted the hearts of the three of them.
Tao Rui picked up Xinxin and fed her while saying, "Yawen, you eat first. I'll take care of Xinxin. You two can eat more. If it's not enough, I'll cook some noodles. Don't leave any for me."
Du Yawen quickly put down the chicken and wiped her hands. "Let me feed her. You've never fed her before, so you eat first."
"You were the one who took care of me before. It's a rare opportunity for me to have some free time. Why don't you take advantage of it and relax? Eat quickly before it gets cold." Tao Rui smiled at her, lowered his head and fed Xinxin another bite. He also carefully wiped the corners of Xinxin's mouth with soft gauze without any impatience.
Seeing that he was taking good care of the children, Du Yawen hesitated for a moment and then continued eating. This feeling was quite novel. Her husband was taking care of the children, and she didn't have to worry about anything. She just didn't know how long this sense of ease would last.
In fact, this kind of relaxation lasted longer than she thought. After dinner, Tao Rui asked her to take the child back to the house to take a shower, while he tidied up the things outside and cleaned up. After Tao Rui returned to the room and took a shower, he took over the child again.
"I'll comfort Xinxin, you take a rest. I'll tell her a story to put her to sleep." Tao Rui enjoyed this kind of personal time for the first time, and he cherished it very much. He was very motivated to do anything.
Du Yawen looked at them worriedly for a while, and found that Xinxin was very happy and well-behaved with Tao Rui, so she gradually felt relieved.
Tao Rui took a storybook, sat at the head of the bed and told Xinxin a story in a soft voice. Xinxin held Tao Rui's hand, leaned on his arm happily, slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep. Tao Rui closed the book, kissed Xinxin's forehead lightly, and smiled unconsciously.
Du Yawen captured this heartwarming scene and stared at the photo in a daze, feeling that this might be what she had been looking forward to.
Sometimes she couldn't understand why she had to have children.
The child was cold, hot, crying, or sick. She could not bear the pain for the child and could only provide a little help.
When she raises the child, she will leave her and live her own life.
When she is old, her children will be in their thirties and have to support the family and work hard for their careers. How can they have so much time to take care of her and care about her?
After she died, the children, after feeling sad, still had to continue living their own lives, and even gradually forgot many things about her.
So why did she have children?
She also felt that this was wrong. She loved Xinxin, she knew that very well. Furthermore, Xinxin was already born. She had brought her into this world, and Xinxin had no choice but to become her daughter. She had to take responsibility, give Xinxin a happy childhood, teach her to be an independent and sensible person, and work hard to make money. If Xinxin became mediocre in the future, at least she could leave her some money and property to ensure she had a good life.
Sometimes she felt that death was like the extinguishing of a light, and that once she was no longer in this world, she no longer needed to care about anyone. At other times, she felt that she had to be filial to her parents and raise her daughter, and that she had to live well. These two thoughts tore at her nerves, and she couldn't tell which was right. She was always troubled, and her mood would sink.
Just like now, after taking pictures of Tao Rui and Xinxin, she couldn't help but think, what's the point of taking these pictures? I might not even look at them later. Communicating with Meng Xue seemed unnecessary. In a few days, they might never see each other again. So what difference would it make whether they communicated or not?
Tao Rui looked up and saw Du Yawen in a daze. The doctor had said it was best not to give her too much room for random thoughts. He walked over and kissed her on the cheek, then looked at the photos on his phone. "What are you thinking about? We took a lot of photos today. How about we pick some out and buy a photo printer? We can put these into an album. From now on, every year, every trip, every anniversary, we can print out our favorite photos and put them in the album. We can look at them whenever we think of them, okay?"
Du Yawen was attracted by his proposal. "Okay, that sounds great."
Working together proved more enjoyable than Du Yawen had imagined. Tao Rui made her laugh several times, which made her feel relieved. Afterward, Tao Rui went to study for further studies, while she turned on her computer and wrote down her thoughts from the day.
When choosing content permissions, she hesitated for a long time on the option of "viewable only by myself" and finally chose public.
She didn't use her real name in her writing, and the place names were all fictitious. No one on the internet knew who she was, so perhaps... this could be considered a channel for communication with others. She had been wrong before. Communicating with Meng Xue was useful. This was what doctors called output. She needed to actively output, and she hoped to get better soon.
She opened WeChat and accepted Meng Xue's friend request. Their Moments were visible for three days, so they didn't see much, just wishing each other goodnight. Just as she was about to put her phone down, she saw another friend request. The other person's name was "Mu Tu Mu Tu," which looked like a combination of her last name, "Du Du."
The reason for applying is to find someone with whom I can confide my secrets. I am not allowed to reveal my true identity and all real information must be kept confidential.
The other person's profile picture was a long-haired girl from behind. For some reason, Du Yawen felt a little familiar, but on second thought, she didn't know anyone like her. It was like fate: someone she also wanted to confide in without revealing her real identity, someone who probably shared the same last name, Du, and even the profile picture was pleasing to her. After some thought, she clicked "Agree."
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