CHAPTER 385: CHAPTER 385: MUXUE AND HU SAN

"Sweet and sour pork is here."

The eldest sister cheerfully brought the dish to the table, and as expected, it was a generous portion. A full large plate of food, the glossy and golden-brown colors made it look very appetizing.

"Thank you." Shen Siyuan was not shy and quickly reached out with his chopsticks to grab a piece.

But someone was even faster, Dou Dou leaned her little head in and took a sniff, inhaling a faint image of sweet and sour pork into her belly.

"Wow, it’s so sweet and delicious." Little stars were almost twinkling in Dou Dou’s eyes.

The little tyke hardly resisted sweets and meat, and now the combination seemed to open a new door for her.

"How can it be so delicious, old grandpa? Your daughter is really amazing."

Dou Dou always had sweet words and never stinted on her compliments to others.

Hearing this, the old man laughed and said, "It wasn’t her who made it; it was my son-in-law."

"What’s a ’son-in-law’?" Dou Dou tilted her head, looking puzzled.

"Silly, that’s the old grandpa’s daughter’s husband," Duoduo explained from the side.

Hearing this, Dou Dou rolled her eyes and counted on her fingers for a while before she finally understood the relationship.

Her silly and adorable antics made everyone laugh, but she herself was none the wiser.

She continued to tell the old man, "Your daughter brought it to the table, so that’s why it’s so tasty."

The old man laughed even louder at this.

"What a darlin’ child you are, so young yet has passed away; her parents must be heartbroken," the old man remarked thoughtfully.

Tao Guangsha and his wife were indeed devastated, and Jiang Wenxin had been seriously ill.

The old man then looked at Duoduo, who had a naive smile on her face, and Xiao Yue, who was solemn.

Just then, the second dish arrived, and the big sister asked, "Would you like to drink anything?"

"I’ll have a Coke," Shen Siyuan thought for a moment and said.

Such hot weather was perfect for an ice-cold Coke.

"Big bottle or small bottle?"

"Give me a big bottle," Shen Siyuan said.

And so, the big sister quickly brought over a large bottle of Coke.

Dou Dou, seeing this, gasped with wide eyes.

"Potato, are you going to drink all this by yourself?"

"Otherwise?"

"That’s not good."

"Why not?"

"Mom said drinking Coke makes you not grow tall. If you drink so much, you won’t grow tall," Dou Dou said earnestly.

Shen Siyuan and the old man were amused by her again.

"Yo, you know about this too? Have you ever drunk it?"

"I have. It’s so tasty that I secretly drank it with dad because mom wouldn’t let me. If she catches me, I’m going to get a spanking."

"So you drank it anyway?"

"Because it’s too tasty, I think it’s worth it more than a spanking."

She said, looking forward expectantly, "Can I have a little bit?"

"Haha, sure, no problem."

Shen Siyuan poured her a glass and placed it in front of her.

Not just her, Duoduo and Xiao Yue had some too.

Duoduo couldn’t wait and leaned in to take a deep sip.

She had never drunk Coke before; she was just curious after hearing Dou Dou talk about it, so she wanted to taste what it was like.

But seeing this, Dou Dou panicked and quickly said, "Enough, enough, don’t drink too much, it’ll make you not grow tall."

Seeing her anxious expression, Shen Siyuan almost couldn’t help but spray out everything he had just eaten.

"Can you not make me laugh?" Shen Siyuan said.

"Oh?" Dou Dou looked dazed and utterly perplexed.

The old man laughed especially loud, and even Xiao Yue couldn’t help but turn up the corners of her mouth.

"Wawa, you are as cute as Ni’er was when she was little," said the old man.

To the old man, this was the highest praise for a child, for his daughter was the most special person in his heart.

But—

Shen Siyuan looked at the elder sister’s robust figure and couldn’t help twitching the corners of his mouth.

Probably because there weren’t many people in the restaurant, the remaining dishes were swiftly brought up one after another, a full table of them, with plates piled on plates.

The elder sister seemed quite curious about whether Shen Siyuan could really finish it all, so she kept glancing over, but with each look, there appeared to be one less dish on the table.

The old man sitting nearby was even more sentimental.

"You have a really good appetite, truly a big eater. In all my years, I’ve only seen one person who could keep up with you," said the old man.

"Oh, who is it?" asked Shen Siyuan while eating without much thought.

A big plate of sweet and sour pork, though large in amount, consisted of only about eight or nine slices, mainly because the slices were large.

But Shen Siyuan was almost eating it one slice per bite; eight or nine bites and it was gone, like a crushing machine, shoveled into his mouth and seemingly straight into his stomach.

Powerful bodily functions, rapidly digesting the food inside his body, he was eating and eating, and soon a slight sweat began to seep out from his body, which was the result of energetic body functions speeding up, producing energy, thus causing a rise in body temperature.

"When I was young, there was a man named Han San from the neighboring village who could eat a lot, a person who could eat several kilograms of sweet potatoes."

"And then?"

"Later, he starved to death."

Shen Siyuan: ...

Grandpa, you sure are a master of small talk.

"Let’s talk about your daughter. You seem like quite an enlightened person, so why would you do something like beating a mandarin duck?" Shen Siyuan asked with some curiosity.

Upon hearing this, the old man heaved a deep sigh and his face showed a hint of regret.

"It’s all old history now."

"I opposed Muxue seeing Hu San because I felt Hu San had a bad character. He stole chickens and dogs from a young age, not someone you can entrust your life to..." the old man said slowly.

The elder sister had a very nice name, Yun Muxue, and the old man was named Yun Haichao, which really amazed Shen Siyuan.

As for the elder sister’s husband, the old man’s son-in-law who could not satisfy him, he was called Hu San; not a nickname or alias, his full name was Hu San.

A woman named Yun Muxue fell in love with a man named Hu San. Without knowing the process, one could imagine a story where a lady of wealth falls in love with a servant of her family.

Of course, that’s just speculation. Yun Muxue was not some lady of wealth, just an ordinary person; but she had been spoiled by her parents and brothers since she was young. Even though life was hard at that time, it could be said that Yun Muxue grew up bathed in that affection.

And Hu San?

His parents died early, and he grew up on handouts, often stealing chickens and dogs from a young age.

Which father would want to entrust his daughter to such a man?

The family was strongly against it at the time, and Yun Haichao even threatened to disown her as his daughter, but Yun Muxue was stubborn and determined to be with Hu San, resolved to do so even if it meant death.

In the end, with no other option, Yun Haichao had to lock her at home to stop her from seeing Hu San.

Yun Muxue protested by going on a hunger strike. Her brother, who adored her, couldn’t bear to see her suffer and secretly opened the door, letting her out.

"Of course, I knew all along what her brother was up to; my own child, I’d know what shit they were going to take just by watching their butt wiggle..." Yun Haichao said.

Sitting across from him, Dou Dou turned around to look at her own butt curiously upon hearing this, then quietly tried wiggling it.

"I raised her for more than twenty years, and she ran away with an outsider without looking back..."

Even now, speaking of it, Yun Haichao still felt resentful.

"When she left home, I caught up with her and told her that if she went with Hu San, she should never come back, that I would no longer acknowledge her as my daughter. I just... I was just speaking out of anger..."

Yun Haichao sighed deeply, and no more had to be said; it was clear what had happened.

Yun Muxue truly never returned.

Shen Siyuan’s gaze shifted toward the counter. Besides the elder sister, there was another man there, short and chubby with greasy skin; it seemed this was Hu San.

Standing side-by-side, they appeared to be either calculating accounts or chatting casually, the smiles never leaving their faces.

"They seem to be very happy together," Shen Siyuan remarked.

But Yun Haichao sighed and said, "They don’t have much ability, earning only money that comes with hard work."

Shen Siyuan turned his gaze back to him.

He knew that when Yun Haichao said so, there must be a reason for it.