Lin Hu couldn't wait any longer. He grabbed a piece of toast and stuffed it into his mouth, his lips covered in peanut butter.
His cheeks were bulging from chewing, and he mumbled with food in his mouth, "Grandma, the soy milk is so sweet!"
As he spoke, he raised the milk cup and took a big gulp. The icy milk dripped down the corner of his mouth and onto the enamel bowl with the bear on it. He stuck out his tongue and licked it, which made Lin Li laugh out loud.
Lin Yao sat in the chair with his back straight, gently stirring the congee in the bowl with a small spoon. He waited for it to cool down a little before scooping up a spoonful and slowly putting it into his mouth.
He chewed slowly, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the peanut butter on his brother's lips. He reached out and handed him a napkin, his voice soft and gentle.
"Tiger, wipe your mouth."
As Lin Yao grew up, he became increasingly quiet and his personality became more and more composed.
I don't know who it came from.
He is nothing like the temperament of Boss Lin and his wife.
Lin Li sat opposite them, her elbows resting on the edge of the table, her chin supported by her palms, watching them eat, her eyes filled with a soft and warm smile.
The morning light streamed through the French windows and fell on her moon-white dress, the lace trim shimmering with a faint golden glow.
"Eat slowly, no one's going to take it from you."
She picked up the teapot on the table and poured some tea into her celadon cup. The fragrance of Biluochun tea mixed with the aroma of breakfast filled the air.
"Tell me, what are your plans for today?"
Lin Laosan was slurping bamboo-pressed noodles when he heard this. He looked up, noodles still clinging to the corners of his mouth. He wiped them away with his hand and gently placed the rough earthenware bowl on the table.
"Mom, I've arranged to meet Mr. Yu in a little while to discuss opening a hotel together."
His eyes lit up, and his sleepiness vanished. "Mr. Yu has finally relented on the project I mentioned to you last time, saying we can discuss it in detail today."
"Okay, you should learn from Mr. Yu carefully."
“I know,” Lin Laosan scooped up a spoonful of noodle soup and drank it down. The hot soup slid down his throat, soothing him and making him sigh comfortably.
"I will learn a lot from Mr. Yu this time."
He picked up a tissue and wiped his mouth, his eyes revealing the sharpness of youth. "If this hotel opens, we can expand our business to Tsim Sha Tsui, which is much better than staying in our current shop."
Lin Li looked at the longing in her son's eyes and nodded with a smile.
"Grandma, my brother and I are waiting for our tutor today."
Lin Yao put down the spoon, placed his small hands on his knees, and spoke in a soft but clear voice.
He glanced at his older brother, who was still engrossed in eating, and gently touched his arm. "Brother, Grandma is asking us questions."
Lin Hu then raised his head, his mouth still stuffed with the last bite of toast, and mumbled, "Yes! The teacher said he would teach us to speak Cantonese and also learn arithmetic!"
He swallowed the food in his mouth, a slight look of distress on his little face.
“But Cantonese is so difficult. Yesterday, Uncle Fu taught me the word ‘morning’, but I kept saying ‘early birth’ instead.”
Lin Li was amused by him and reached out to ruffle his soft hair.
"Take your time learning, no rush. We just came from Beijing, it's normal to feel unaccustomed to it."
"You two need to study hard with the teacher so you can catch up with the school's pace when school starts, otherwise your classmates will laugh at you."
"I won't be laughed at!"
Lin Hu puffed out his chest, looking proud. "When I was in Beijing, I always got 100 on math tests!"
He stretched out his little hand and made a "100" gesture, but he stuck out his index and middle fingers, which made Lin Laosan burst out laughing.
"That's a fool, an idiot."
Lin Laosan flicked his forehead, his tone teasing but his eyes full of affection.
"I'm not stupid!"
Lin Hu glared angrily at Lin Laosan, slammed his little hand on the table, making the enamel bowl bounce. "My little brother said I'm smart!"
"Alright, alright, stop arguing."
Lin Li smiled and smoothed things over, picked up the fruit plate on the table, picked out the biggest strawberry and handed it to Lin Yao, and then took a blueberry and stuffed it into Lin Hu's mouth.
"Yaoyao, eat more fruit. Huzi, after you finish eating, let Azhen take you to wash your hands. If the teacher sees you all dirty, she'll scold you."
Lin Hu obediently swallowed the blueberries, smacked his lips, and said, "Blueberries aren't as sweet as candied hawthorns from Beijing."
He suddenly remembered something, tugged at Lin Li's sleeve and shook it, "Grandma, when can we go back to Beijing? I miss Grandma Wang's fried noodles."
Lin Li's heart skipped a beat, as if she had been stung by something.
She remembered Granny Wang, who always loved to sit in the sun at her door in the hutongs of Beijing, the old locust tree in her yard, and the rich aroma of the soybean paste in her noodles.
She patted Lin Hu's hand and said in a gentle voice, "When the holidays come, Grandma will take you back to visit."
"Really?"
Lin Hu's eyes lit up, like two glistening black grapes. "Can we go play with Xiao Wei? He said he'd teach me how to climb trees and raid bird nests!"
"No stealing bird nests."
Lin Li put on a stern face, but her tone was not intimidating at all, "Birds also have mothers. If you destroy their homes, the mother birds will be sad."
Lin Yao nodded gently from the side: "The book says that birds are friends of humans."
Lin Hu pursed his lips and didn't say anything more. He lowered his head and slowly drank the milk in the bowl with a spoon. His little face was full of reluctance, but he knew that his grandmother was right.
Lin Laosan watched the interaction between the three generations of the family, his smile never fading.
He quickly finished his bowl of wonton noodles, picked up his suit jacket draped over the back of his chair, and stood up.
"Mom, I should go now. I have an appointment with Mr. Yu at eleven o'clock."
He straightened his tie with practiced ease. "If you come home late tonight, you don't have to wait for me for dinner."
Be careful on the road.
Lin Li looked up at him, her gaze lingering on him for a moment, "Call home when you're done talking."
"knew."
Lin Laosan walked to the door to change his shoes, the leather shoes making a dull sound as they stepped on the doormat.
He glanced back at his mother and nephew at the dining table, waved, opened the door, and went out.
The door was gently closed, leaving behind a faint scent of cologne.
Lin Hu and Lin Yao had finished their breakfast, and Ah Zhen went to clear the dishes.
The food cart was pushed back to the kitchen, leaving behind a mess on the table and a faint aroma of food.
Lin Yao took out a small notebook from his pocket, opened it, and saw a few Cantonese words written crookedly in pencil, with the Mandarin pronunciations marked next to them.
Is Yaoyao reviewing his lessons?
Lin Li leaned closer to take a look and saw that "Hello" was written with "Lei Hou" next to it, and "Thank you" was written with "Wu Gai" next to it. She couldn't help but laugh.
"You can't memorize it like that. When the teacher comes later, she'll teach you how to pronounce it properly."
Lin Yao nodded, carefully put the notebook away, and placed it in his breast pocket.
Lin Hu ran to the living room carpet, picked up his Transformers toy and fiddled with it, making "clanging" sounds to imitate the sounds of robots fighting, as energetic as a perpetual motion machine.
Sunlight slowly climbed the wall, casting moving shadows on the clock.
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