CHAPTER 46: CHAPTER 46 FULL COVERAGE

Fan Xiuying leaves.

Old Jiang and Jiang Lei come back.

They don’t have to work this afternoon.

Old Jiang had the morning shift.

Jiang Lei followed his father to learn driving, so they went to and from work together.

Jiang Xiaoxiao made lunch.

She had honed her cooking skills long ago.

After all, she had lived in the countryside for many years in her past life, learning everything she ought to.

Although she later worked at the county hospital in the town.

Back in those days, people who started families and worked always cooked their own meals.

Unlike now when there are restaurants and takeout everywhere.

She fried some hot and sour potato strips, added a cold cucumber dish, and a Mapo tofu.

It’s a modified version of Mapo tofu, as their family didn’t have any minced meat.

Luckily, her mom could make chili bean paste, and their family never lacked it.

A pot of rice.

Her parents’ grain supply ticket provided ten pounds of rice a month.

Today at noon, she used up two pounds of rice.

Jiang Lei smelled the aroma and rushed into the kitchen.

"Mom, I’m starving! Oh my gosh, is the sun rising from the west today? Dad, come quick and see, our Xiao Xiao is actually cooking in the kitchen!"

Jiang Xiaoxiao shoved a peach into his mouth.

"Eat quickly!"

Jiang Xiaoxiao cheerfully watched her big brother gobble up the peach in a few bites.

Old Jiang peeped his head in.

The daughter who never stepped into a kitchen is actually cooking in one.

"You child! Why do you need to cook? You’ve never cooked before; you might burn yourself. Get out, get out! Let Dad handle this. Where did your mom go? How could she leave you alone at home to mess around; what if you burn the kitchen? It’s too dangerous."

Old Jiang was still haunted by the psychological shadow of his daughter’s last pot-burning incident.

He simply couldn’t forget it.

Jiang Lei looked eagerly as his sister gave the last peach to Old Jiang.

He felt a bit resentful.

It’s tasty!

Really tasty.

"Dad, you’ll be too busy cooking; let me help you by eating this peach."

He reached out to grab it.

Jiang Xiaoxiao slapped his hand.

He winced in pain.

"What, are you really my sister? This is murder of your brother."

Jiang Xiaoxiao glanced at him, "This is Dad’s, just one, everyone gets one, don’t think about taking advantage."

Jiang Lei touched his head, "Who sent these? Just two, that’s not enough to eat."

"What nonsense are you talking about? How can anyone send you a whole basket to eat your fill? To send you two, especially in these times, is a huge favor!" Old Jiang chastised his son for being unaware of good fortune.

Jiang Lei smiled wryly, touching his head, "I’m just saying. I’m wrong, Dad, don’t glare at me; I’m scared. I’ll go and serve the meal, alright!"

Obediently went into the kitchen to serve the meal.

Three dishes and a soup, with a tomato egg soup.

Fan Xiuying walked in just in time to see a table of ready cooked dishes.

"Wow, Old Jiang, your cooking is great today. I smelled the aroma even before entering the door. Good thing you came back early today and made the meal ready, otherwise if I came back and cooked, it’d take an hour, and we’d starve."

Old Jiang looked at his wife.

"I didn’t make this meal. Can you guess who did?"

His wife looked fresh and tender today.

It seemed like the wrinkles on her face had diminished a lot.

Especially her skin looked full and smooth.

"If you didn’t make it, then Jiang Lei did. Xiao Xiao couldn’t have cooked, but Jiang Lei’s cooking skills aren’t great either. These three dishes and soup look decent enough."

Fan Xiuying’s gaze hovered over Jiang Xiaoxiao and Jiang Lei.

The son and daughter smiled at her mysteriously, without telling who cooked.

"Mom, today it was your daughter Jiang Xiaoxiao who cooked. You have to try her cooking later. I’m not afraid of anything, just scared she’ll kill the salt merchant."

Jiang Lei evaded Jiang Xiaoxiao’s playful slap with nimble movements.

"Oh, Xiao Xiao, why did you have to cook? Couldn’t you wait for Mom to cook? What if you got scalded?"

Jiang Xiaoxiao’s forehead dropped three black lines.

Her mom and dad both shared the same tone, saying the same thing.

Could it be that she’s utterly unreliable?

Indeed!

Her previous cooking experiences indeed made it hard for others to trust her.

"Mom, hurry up and eat, taste my cooking, maybe today there’s a surprise."

Jiang Xiaoxiao pressed Fan Xiuying to sit down.

Sure enough, she noticed after eating the peach.

Her mom had indeed undergone a noticeable change.

After the years of toil, Fan Xiuying seemed quite weathered.

Almost fifty years old yet looked like sixty.

But today, there was a great change, no, a sudden shift from skin tone to overall appearance seemed to make her look younger, at least several years younger.

Now she looked young.

The peach seemed to have a substantial effect.

Other aspects hadn’t shown yet.

But for now, this was already quite pleasantly surprising.

Fan Xiuying lifted her bowl.

She checked the dishes, pondering which was the safest to eat.

Her trust still wavered about her daughter.

The result was three pairs of chopsticks holding amidst the three dishes and a soup, not knowing what to eat.

You’re looking at me! I’m looking at you.

Waiting for the other to be the guinea pig.

Jiang Xiaoxiao darkened.

In anger, she grabbed a chopstick full of potato strips.

Chewed forcefully.

Fan Xiuying felt awkward.

Hurriedly grabbed a chopstick’s worth of potato strips.

"Xiao Xiao, for your first time cooking, this is quite an achievement. It’s definitely delicious. Don’t worry, today your dad will finish all this food, leaving not a morsel."

Old Jiang was just about to protest why he had to finish it all.

His stomach was weak; it should be Jiang Lei who finished it.

What’s the son for, if not to take the fall?

His wife stomped him hard under the table.

Old Jiang shut his mouth obediently.

What his wife said was what it was.

Old Jiang obediently picked up the potato strips into his bowl.

"Hehe, I’ll finish it all. I said I would."

One bite.

His eyes brightened.

Wow, this tastes really good.

No weird flavors, the hot and sour potato strips tasted quite delicious.

Fan Xiuying took a chopstick’s worth of potato strips too.

Jiang Lei hesitated over what to do.

He had been watching his parents’ expressions for a long time, but didn’t detect any discomfort.

Apparently, no one would kill the salt merchant.

Could he give it a try?

He hadn’t dared to try other dishes yet, afraid of being the guinea pig.

So he also grabbed some potato strips.

Then...

Then three pairs of chopsticks started flying across the dishes swiftly.

Especially the Mapo tofu’s taste was pleasantly stunning, smooth, tender, fresh, and spicy.

Though it lacked meat, it was incredibly tasty, especially with rice.

That huge bowl of steamed rice was quickly polished off, and all the dishes on the table, not to mention the items, even the soup was all gone, leaving it spotlessly clean.

Old Jiang looked at his bowl of white rice.

Because he moved his chopsticks slowly, all the dishes were gone, so he could only chew on his plain white rice.

Resentfully looking at his wife, son, and daughter who were already filled and satisfied across from him.

Where was his promise to finish it all? Where was the promise?