Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Grandma, are you going to make something delicious? Can second brother and I help you?”
An An looked up. Having not seen his grandmother for a long time, he suddenly missed her delicious cooking. He liked and loved all her dishes the most.
“Sure. It’s just right as your parents will be busy unpacking your luggage. You boys can help me. Shall I teach you two how to peel potatoes?”
Zhang Manhua smiled, recalling that there were still leftover potatoes in the kitchen from yesterday. She could not help but smile and ask, “I will cook potato pancakes for you guys today; is that alright?”
“Okay! Everything grandma cooks is delicious. I also wanna eat roasted meat, braised pork trotters with chestnuts, and tofu!”
The older boy immediately named three dishes. It could be seen how much he missed his grandma’s cooking.
“Okay. I will make everything my grandkids wanna eat today. Go on; what else do you wanna eat?” She smiled patronizingly at the two. All the uneasiness she had felt these past few days were instantly wiped out.
“Mom, I’ll put these things in the kitchen for you.”
Ji Ziming stood at the entrance, watching his children circle around the older lady and hug her tightly the moment they entered. He could not help but smile and subconsciously call the older woman ‘mom’. Anyway, he would marry her daughter one of these days.
“Okay. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, mom; I’ll bring these things over and sort them out for you.”
“No need; no need. You and Ge Ge should unpack the luggage first. I’ll handle this stuff myself. Plus, I have these two precious helpers with me.”
She lowered her head to look at An An and Ji Chi when she said this.
“Grandma, let’s go!”
“Okay. Follow me, then.”
After saying this, she brought the two kids into the kitchen. She then turned to look at her daughter, who was moving things from the sofa. Although her eyes flashed with confusion, she did not say anything.
The man accompanied Pei Ge in her room—the one they were going to sleep tonight. He would share a room with her while the two kids would each have a room.
Even when she returned to China, her mother kept everything in this house neat and tidy. Her room, in fact, was as she left it. The Winnie-the-Pooh plush that she liked was still on top of her pillow and seemed to be welcoming her back.
“Ge Ge, why didn’t you explain to your mom why our daughter isn’t with us today?”
She unloaded their stuff while answering, “It’s the same if I tell her at the dining table later.”
“Aren’t you afraid that mom will get anxious?”
“Wait a moment; when did I agree to you calling her ‘mom’?”
She turned to look at him, her eyes wavering.
The proposal had not even happened, yet he was already calling her mother that.
“Why?”
He suddenly moved closer to her as his large hands went around her thin waist. His voice was low and seductive. “Are you unhappy that I’m calling your mother ‘mom’?
“Hurry up and let go. It’ll be bad if my mom comes in and sees us. Let go.”
“I won’t; what can you do to me?”
His lips curled up as his eyes flashed with slyness. His voice was clear with a hint of smile. “I won’t let you go in this lifetime.”
“Okay, okay; I know. Let go for now as I need to unload our luggage, or else how do you plan for us to sleep tonight?”
“Sleep as a man and a woman.”
“Are you crazy?!”
She exasperatedly slapped his chest, scolding out of embarrassment, “What are you thinking? You’re always playing around.”
“Then, shall I be serious for you to see?”
He peered into her eyes with his deep-set ones and raised an eyebrow, making her eyes turn hot, too.
“I… I don’t wanna see it. Just let me go, alright?”
She purposely avoided his gaze, internally screaming for help. She had yet to recover from being tortured by him the night before. If they were to go at it now, she would likely be paralyzed in bed.
“Sure. I’ll let go, but you must promise me something.”
“What is it?”
She became cautious but could not guess what it was he wanted.
“You should let me know if you’re meeting either Gu Zhengrong or Egger. I want to go with you.”
His gaze turned solemn.
“Okay. I promise.”
She was startled, thinking that he wanted something that she could not do, yet it turned out that he was just feeling jealous and wanted to follow her wherever she went.
“Can you do it?”
His eyes darkened as he emitted a chilly air.
“I can. Of course, I can.”
She nodded. Everything was fine if he let her go.
The two unloaded their things and arranged everything in the room first before returning to the living room. Zhang Manhua was still making lunch with the two children. Both boys looked adorable while peeling potatoes. A huge potato turned into a peach core in their hands. Luckily, the two only peeled two of it.
“You two, play outside for a bit. I will take over here.”
Pei Ge smiled at her two children. They were clearly very bad at this task, but they still refused to leave and were even reluctant to do so.
“Mommy, you should be with daddy. Grandma having us two here is enough.
The older boy did not even look up. He refused to leave if he did not cleanly peel the potatoes in his hands.
“Listen to me; if you continue peeling that potato in your hands, it will become inedible and grandma won’t be able to make pancakes for you anymore.”
“Why?”
He looked up at her with incomprehension in his bright and clever-looking eyes as his lips pouted. “I’m peeling it very neatly.”
“It’s precisely because you’re peeling it very neatly that there’s nothing left of the potato.”
She was torn between a laugh or a cry. Seeing the disappointment on the boys’ faces, she could only bear with it and continue. “I will take over from here; you two, wash your hands and play with daddy.”
“Fine! We, men, will leave. The kitchen is a place for women, so we’ll leave it to mommy.”
The boy thought it through and decided not to keep peeling. There would be nothing left for them to eat later.
…For it would have been thoroughly peeled by them.
His mother was stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter. She looked at the two adorable children in front of her with sparkling eyes and said, “When you leave the kitchen to me and your grandma, what will you men do?”
“We will protect you and grandma.”
Ji Chi answered solemnly as if he were an adult.
“You want to protect me, huh?”
She looked at her younger son. It turned out that he had already placed so much importance on her without her noticing it.
“Mhm. I want to protect mommy and Auntie Jingwan.”
If she was said to be excited when she heard his first statement, then the excitement completely disappeared when she heard the next.
“Anyway, why did we not invite her to come with us?”