Professor Deng was quite surprised to receive the chicken feet sent by Sun Xingyan. She then learned that Xia Baozhu had opened a shop and had been busy with the renovations.
"Oh, Xia is so capable, even when you're so busy you still think of me." Professor Deng asked Sun Xingyan to sit for a while, then put down the lunchbox while leaning on his cane.
"Professor Deng, why did Xia Zhaodi still give you 'Story Club'?" Sun Xingyan took a sip of the murky, dark brown tea that the nanny had brought him. "Why does this black tea taste like milk? Did they add sugar? It's a bit sweet."
"It's just milk tea with sugar. Xia submitted her work to 'Story Collection,' and this must be another one of her pieces that got published, which is why she asked you to bring it."
Professor Deng opened the page with the label inside, and sure enough, Xia Baozhu's pen name, Hua Baoshi, appeared in her eyes.
"What? She can write stories? Let me see." Sun Xingyan leaned closer, craning his neck to look at the "Story Collection" in Professor Deng's hand.
"If you want to read it, just go to the shelf and take that book; it has some of her writings in it too."
"The milk tea you're drinking uses the milk powder that Xia sent last time. She bought it with her first paycheck from her writing."
Hearing this, Sun Xingyan took another sip of milk tea and felt that the taste wasn't so strange anymore, and the color looked more pleasing to the eye.
"It tastes pretty good."
"People in Northwest China drink milk tea with tea bricks and fresh milk. If they don't have that, they can use regular black tea to brew milk powder. If they like it salty, they can add salt; if they like it sweet, they can add sugar. That's grassland milk tea."
"Tongtong and his mother both like it with caramel."
Professor Deng looked at the storybook, picked up her cup of milk tea, took a sip, and found it to be rich in milk flavor. The aroma of tea and caramel removed the milky smell, which she quite liked.
"Xia's article has a folded page."
“Professor Deng, your family has quite a variety of drinks. I’ll try them when I get home.” Sun Xingyan flipped to the fold-out page, looked at Xia Zhaodi’s pen name, and chuckled.
"Hua Baoshi, it's quite a nice name. I can't believe someone as rustic as Xia Zhaodi would have such a pen name. Professor Deng, did you give it to her?"
"No, I didn't even know Xia was writing it. She only showed it to me after she received payment for her article," Professor Deng replied while reading, multitasking.
Sun Xingyan read quickly and finished reading in no time.
"That's all you wrote? I must say, aside from her unpleasant name, Xia Zhaodi is quite capable in every other way."
Professor Deng ignored him; she was reading slowly and was engrossed in an exciting part of the book.
That evening, Feng Huafang saw the boneless chicken feet on the table; their translucent color made them look very appetizing.
"Xiao Chen's chicken feet dish today is really unique."
"It wasn't Xiao Chen who made it; Xia asked Xingyan to deliver it." Qian Shijie returned early and even saw Sun Xingyan reading at his house.
"Xia, Sun Xingyan?" Because of Xia Baozhu's departure, Feng Huafang's wariness of her had gradually decreased. This time, she felt a little disgusted but not much else.
Now, when she hears these two people put together, her first reaction is that Xia Baozhu and Sun Xingyan are not clean.
"Xia rented Sun's house to open a shop on the street behind the municipal party committee's staff quarters."
"The rent there must be expensive, where did Xia get so much money?" If she had that much money, would she be working as a nanny in their house?
"Her husband paid for it," Professor Deng added calmly.
Although Feng Huafang still wanted to get to the bottom of things, she stopped talking when she saw that the family had already sat down at the table to eat.
"Grandma, Aunt Xia's chicken feet are so delicious." Qian Zhitong remembered the address his dad had given him and planned to visit during his vacation.
"Eat more if you like it." Professor Deng put one of his chicken feet into his grandson's bowl.
"Mom, Xia's cooking skills are more than enough to open a shop. The food is crispy and chewy, and this is the first time I've ever had this sour and spicy flavor. It's really good."
Qian Shijie ate two chicken feet, then looked at the last one left on the plate and didn't touch it.
"Okay, when Xia opens her business, go and see if there's anything you can help with."
"I want to go too."
"You still have to study, don't run around after school!" Feng Huafang was unhappy that her mother-in-law was making her husband help other women, and when she heard that her son was also close to that woman, her jealousy flared up, and she immediately scolded her.
“The child likes excitement, let’s see how much time it will take.” Qian Shijie was unhappy with his wife scolding their son over such a small matter, feeling that she was making a mountain out of a molehill.
Feng Huafang had no choice but to suffer in silence. She was afraid that if she spoke out, she would be accused of being jealous. So she could only sulk in her heart and resent that Xia Baozhu was still trying to make her presence felt even after she had left.
On the other side, Xia Baozhu, having finished cleaning the shop, locked the door and was preparing to return to the Leng family home.
A figure ran quickly down the street, followed by more than twenty people, all carrying weapons.
Several of them were carrying watermelon knives that were thirty or forty centimeters long, their sharpness clearly visible even under the dim streetlights.
Xia Baozhu immediately closed the door and went back into the shop. Although she was strong, she was not agile enough. What if she was slow to react and got slashed?
The main reason was that these people didn't look like good people, and she didn't want to meddle in their business.
After the group of people had run off noisily, she opened the door and saw them coming back, cursing and swearing.
A string of profanities burst forth, chaotic and disorderly, except for the loudest one which was still audible.
The figure running at the front was lean and tall, wearing a thin, conspicuous white shirt in this weather, and occasionally turning around to kill the fastest pursuer.
He quickly ran over here, and Xia Baozhu immediately locked the door. They heard cursing coming from the next screening room, followed by screams and wails.
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