“Zhou Cheng, how can we let you cook?”
Liu Fen was genuinely distressed.
Cooking was women’s work, wasn’t it? In Liu Fen’s mind, kitchen matters were entirely women’s domain – not out of self-deprecation, but from years of ingrained traditional thinking. Besides, Zhou Cheng was a guest! He’d come from Beijing to Shangdu, and on his rare visit, how could they let him cook?
Liu Fen didn’t think Xia Xiaolan should do the work either – if she’d known, she would have returned from the store earlier to cook.
Zhou Cheng himself saw nothing wrong with it. “Aunt Liu, I’m just kneading dough. I have the strength for it.”
Xia Xiaolan found it puzzling – whoever could cook well should cook, and if Zhou Cheng wanted to help, it was because he had the strength. What was there to discuss? If nobody wanted to cook, they could hire someone or eat out. She was happy Zhou Cheng wanted to cook, but there was no need to make a big fuss about it.
Mother and daughter had a generation gap.
In thirty years, men cooking and doing housework would become commonplace in small families. What Xia Xiaolan found normal, Liu Fen found shocking. As Liu Fen was about to speak again, Grandmother Yu tugged at her:
“Just sit down and eat.”
A token protest was enough to show consideration – saying too much might make Zhou Cheng uncomfortable. Grandmother Yu had just criticized Xia Xiaolan for not caring about Zhou Cheng by not inviting him to eat, but at crucial moments, everyone knew where the old lady’s heart truly lay.
The four sat down to eat. The main dishes were steamed buns and millet porridge, accompanied by cold shredded radish, stir-fried lamb with green onions, bean sprouts, and stir-fried cabbage with black fungus. Xia Xiaolan and Zhou Cheng cooked the dishes together. Without a refrigerator, and with weather warmer than winter, nobody kept many ingredients at home except potatoes and onions – other vegetables were bought fresh for immediate use.
Zhou Cheng had only arrived in the afternoon, and it was already past six when they returned from the university. It was too late to buy more ingredients.
Supermarkets that stayed open until 9:30 PM didn’t exist yet – they were lucky to have lamb, which Liu Fen had bought that morning. Zhou Cheng wasn’t picky; this meal was already quite good. When making the buns, Grandmother Yu asked if he preferred savory or sweet filling, and Xia Xiaolan suggested making two with sugar filling.
Now Zhou Cheng was contentedly eating the white sugar and sesame bun, wanting to hum with happiness.
Though he had a sweet tooth, he usually held back for fear of being teased, and there weren’t many chances to eat sweets at work. With sugar melting in his mouth and sesame seeds leaving their fragrant taste, Zhou Cheng was thoroughly enjoying himself.
Seeing his genuine enjoyment, Liu Fen relaxed a bit.
Zhou Cheng’s sudden appearance in Shangdu could only be because of the Fan Zhenchuan matter! Liu Fen had been nervous, worried Zhou Cheng might judge Xiaolan negatively, but seeing them eating together so intimately, with Zhou Cheng attentively serving dishes, Liu Fen thought he probably didn’t have any negative opinions about Xiaolan.
What mother doesn’t worry about her daughter? Liu Fen’s mood improved.
The Fan Zhenchuan situation was a big trouble, but if Zhou Cheng had fought with Xiaolan first, things would have been truly desperate.
After the four finished eating, Zhou Cheng was particularly apologetic: “Aunt Liu, I came in such a hurry, I didn’t bring anything from Beijing…”
This wasn’t Zhou Cheng’s usual style.
Coming empty-handed to his future mother-in-law’s home? Even that fool Kang Wei wouldn’t do such a thing, yet here was Zhou Cheng. He had been in a rush – taking emergency leave overnight, heading to the train station early in the morning, arriving in Shangdu at 4 PM, finding Grandmother Yu’s house empty, then hurrying to the university library without delay. Zhou Cheng hadn’t rushed inside immediately because he’d checked the entry records – “Xia Xiaolan” had signed in but hadn’t signed out yet.
After waiting for Xia Xiaolan and walking home while displaying their affection, Zhou Cheng had forgotten about buying anything.
His thoughts had been entirely on Xia Xiaolan, neglecting everything else.
Liu Fen wasn’t picky – during New Year, Zhou Cheng had sent so many gifts, more than most families’ engagement gifts. Zhou Cheng wasn’t stingy at all, and Liu Fen kept shaking her head, “Having you here is enough, we can’t let you keep spending money. Your work must be tough – don’t buy too many things in the future.”
Buying for Xiaolan was fine, but getting things for the whole family was too much – no salary would be enough!
Though Zhou Cheng’s work unit provided food and lodging, Liu Fen guessed his salary wasn’t high. After several months in the provincial city, her experience had broadened considerably. Regular customers at the store would chat idly about someone’s monthly salary, mentioning how many family members worked, not needing their share, using it all for clothes, and so on.
Every job had its pay grades based on seniority.
Zhou Cheng’s workplace must be the same – ordinary workers’ salaries would differ from cadres’, and experience mattered. Zhou Cheng was so young – how long could he have worked, how much could he earn?
Liu Fen was practical. Zhou Cheng was handsome, had saved Liu Yong, and had a respectable profession. The young man was beyond reproach.
How could she complain about Zhou Cheng’s income?
Marriage wasn’t about conditions – material circumstances could be improved through hard work, but if the person wasn’t right, nothing was right. It must be said that while some of Liu Fen’s views were outdated, others showed simple wisdom and depth.
She now earned a salary, and besides wages from the store, Xia Xiaolan gave her living expenses. This money was more than Liu Fen could spend, so when Zhou Cheng mentioned staying at a guesthouse, she secretly slipped money into his pocket.
Outside Grandmother Yu’s door, Zhou Cheng pulled out the money – more than ten large notes.
“Xiaolan, I’ll keep this money.”
He neatly arranged the bills – why refuse? It was from his mother-in-law, the meaning was different. Zhou Cheng felt like boasting to someone – usually sons-in-law curry favor with mothers-in-law, but who’d ever heard of a mother-in-law giving money to her son-in-law?
Xia Xiaolan was speechless – it was just over 100 yuan, but Zhou Cheng’s expression was as if he’d received 100,000! If he was happy, let him be happy. Xia Xiaolan didn’t deflate his joy, just felt a bit sour: “My mom likes you.”
It was true affection – why else would she hold him back and earnestly advise him not to spend so much money?
She’d even mentioned Zhou Cheng’s tough life at work, telling him to save his allowance for better meals. Mothers could be so different in personality. Zhou Cheng decided he needed to quickly win over his mother Guan Hue – with Liu Fen being so protective of him, he couldn’t accept Xiaolan facing cold treatment from his mother at the Zhou family home.
Zhou Cheng found his guesthouse and then walked Xia Xiaolan back. At Grandmother Yu’s door, he wasn’t too forward, just gently kissed Xia Xiaolan’s forehead.
“Get some rest. Are you going to the library tomorrow? May I pick you up in the morning?”
Xia Xiaolan nodded.
After a moment’s thought, she stood on tiptoe and kissed the corner of Zhou Cheng’s mouth.
“Zhou Cheng, I know your work is special, and we often can’t meet normally, but I’m very happy you came as quickly as you could this time.”
She increasingly felt her weight in Zhou Cheng’s heart.
It was heavy, putting Xia Xiaolan under pressure but also moving her.
This incident made Xia Xiaolan believe that while her initial feelings for Zhou Cheng might have been lesser, it wasn’t because Zhou Cheng wasn’t good enough – he was too good. She just needed more time, entering the emotional state more slowly.
She would catch up eventually.
Seeing her eyes glistening with emotion, Zhou Cheng’s heart beat wildly out of control, sending tingles through his chest.