Chapter 59: I Added Half a Ladle of Water!

"My mother is chatting with others at the entrance of the alley. Didn't you see her when you went out just now?"

Li Xiangdong took his daughter from his wife's arms and told Zhou Yuqin to eat in peace.

Seeing his grandfather shake his head, Li Xiangdong understood immediately. Mother Li must have taken her group of old lady friends and relocated to another spot to continue showing off.

"You don't need to worry about it. When dinner time comes, I'll boil two more packs for my mother and father to eat."

Looking at the instant noodles in front of him, Li Xiangdong just took a curious bite and then lost interest. He had eaten his fill of them in his past life and was now numb to instant noodles.

He picked up a noodle with chopsticks, blew on it, and placed it in his daughter's hands for her to hold and eat herself.

Seeing his daughter sitting in his arms, squinting and smacking her lips—obviously thoroughly enjoying the meal—he chuckled, "Is it delicious?"

"So delicious, Third Uncle! Instant noodles are amazing!"

Like Zhu Bajie eating the ginseng fruit, Li Xiangdong finished the noodles in his bowl in two or three bites, then tilted his head back to drink down the soup as well.

He rubbed his mouth, walked over to Li Xiangdong, and asked with lingering aftertaste, "Third Uncle, are there any more? This isn't enough."

"Do you have an iron throat? Don't you know it's burning hot? What if you ruin your stomach eating like this?!"

Li Xiangdong's helpless tone was mixed with anger.

Li Xiangdong scratched his head. "It's not hot. I was afraid it wouldn't be enough, so I added half a ladle of cold water to the bowl."

"..."

Damn it!

Li Xiangdong felt as if his emotions had been fed to a dog...

"Stop pestering your third uncle. I haven't finished the noodles in my bowl yet; come over and take it away."

Sister-in-law Li couldn't even muster any more anger toward this foolish son of hers. She called Li Xiangdong to her side and took the empty bowl from his hand.

Then she picked up her own untouched bowl of instant noodles, shoved it into Li Xiangdong's hands, and waved him away.

One leaves, and another arrives.

Li Xiaohai held a large bowl in his hands, wobbling as he walked over. "Dad, I finished my noodles too. Only the soup is left."

Seeing his wife about to fish out the noodles from her own bowl for their son, Li Xiangdong said, "You eat yours, let him eat mine."

Zhou Yuqin asked curiously, "You're not eating?"

Li Xiangdong shook his head. "I don't feel like it. I don't think it's as good as the hand-rolled noodles my mother makes."

Zhou Yuqin did not respond to this remark.

She thought to herself that her man was taking pity on her and wanted her to eat more, but what he said was clearly nonsense to fool ghosts.

No matter how good the homemade noodles were, could they possibly taste better than instant noodles?

The others also assumed that Li Xiangdong was just used to flattering Mother Li and had said it off the cuff; no one took it seriously.

Unaware of what they were thinking, Li Xiangdong took the bowl from his son's hands and fished out two noodles to leave for his daughter to eat slowly.

He handed his own bowl to Li Xiaohai. "Be careful not to spill it."

Li Xiaohai grinned broadly. "Dad, you're the best!"

With two successful examples of free instant noodles right before him, Li Xiaobo copied them and approached Second Sister-in-law.

Only the eldest, Li Xiaojiang, looking at his two younger sisters still chewing slowly and his three younger brothers who had successfully scored a second bowl, could only sit blankly on his stool and swallow his saliva.

Noodles eaten, soup finished.

Old Mrs. Li instructed them not to wash the pots and bowls, so that when making corn mush for dinner, the pot would still retain some of the instant noodle oil and flavor.

Li Xiangdong picked up his daughter and returned to the west wing room with his wife. Li Xiaohai followed them into the room like a tail.

Li Xiangdong placed the daughter from his arms onto the *kang* and said to Li Xiaohai, "Spin around once for me to see."

Obediently following his father's request, Li Xiaohai spun around in place.

"Lift your feet."

Looking at his somewhat dazed son, Li Xiangdong smiled, "Not bad, quite clean. Go to the *kang* and play with your sister."

Li Xiaohai kicked his shoes off onto the floor and happily climbed onto the *kang*.

Zhou Yuqin was tidying up the things Li Xiangdong had brought back. When she picked up the lunchbox, she felt it heavy in her hand. Opening the lid, she exclaimed, "Oh my! Why did you bring back so much meat? Why didn't you open the lid as soon as you got back?!"

Li Xiangdong slapped his forehead. "I forgot. Hurry up and smell if it's spoiled."

Li Xiaohai was squatting in front of his sister, playing with the little braid on her head. Hearing there was meat, he turned to look at Zhou Yuqin. "Mom, I want to eat meat."

Li Xiaozhu chimed in, "Eat~ meat~"

"You guys never get enough of eating. We'll eat these when dinner is ready later."

With that, Zhou Yuqin brought the lunchbox to her nose and sniffed it, then breathed a sigh of relief. "Good thing it's not spoiled."

She placed the lunchbox on the table, intending to add a meat dish for the family tonight.

Li Xiaozhu suddenly cried out, "Hit~ you~"

Her little braid was yanked too hard by her brother, hurting her. With a wrinkled little face, she kept waving her hands to slap Li Xiaohai's arm, wanting him to let go.

Seeing his daughter on the verge of crying, Li Xiangdong said to his son, "Why aren't you letting go? Can't you see your sister is about to cry?"

"Don't cry, don't cry."

Li Xiaohai hurriedly let go, then sat on the *kang* and scooped his sister into his arms.

He even mimicked the way his mother usually coaxed his sister, making soothing sounds while gently patting Li Xiaozhu's back.

Li Xiangdong and Zhou Yuqin smiled at the siblings and continued tidying up.

Taking out two packs of instant noodles separately, Zhou Yuqin locked the rest along with the milk candies into the cabinet.

"The leader arranged for me to accompany the truck to Tianjin tomorrow. I'm telling you in advance—I won't be back tomorrow; I'll only be back the day after."

Hearing her man's out-of-the-blue remark, Zhou Yuqin felt a sudden wave of panic.

Although their past days hadn't been satisfactory, even back in the countryside when her man went back to the city to ask his parents for money, he would always go and return on the same day.

Hearing suddenly that he wouldn't be back tomorrow, it took her a long time to process it.

"Then where will you spend tomorrow night? On the train? Do you need to bring a quilt?"

Li Xiangdong shook his head. "The leader didn't say, and I'm not sure either. There should be a special guesthouse, though if you ask me, sleeping on the train is actually better. A sleeper berth is much more comfortable than a hard wooden bed in a guesthouse."

Zhou Yuqin urged, "Then you must be very careful when you go out on your own. When you encounter trouble, don't try to be a hero; avoid it whenever you can. If you really can't avoid it, at the worst we'll just suffer a bit of bullying. As long as you can come back safely, that's all that matters."

Li Xiangdong was initially a bit touched, but the more he listened, the stranger it sounded.

"Are you sending me abroad? Or sending me to the battlefield? Should you also sing a ballad of 'Waiting for Husband's Return' for me?"

Zhou Yuqin laughed and gave him a push. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Green poplars sprout, willow catkins fly~ Waiting for my husband to return, yet he does not return, who has my husband fallen for~"

Hearing the strange tune hummed by her man, and seeing her son and daughter playing on the *kang* both staring with wide-eyed gazes, Zhou Yuqin blushed and tapped and pinched Li Xiangdong.

"Can't you be serious? The children are still in the room, what kind of nonsense are you singing?"