Chapter 57 : The Broken Hairpin

“It really tastes so good,” Yu Xiaopang insisted. “This is called Jin Qian Bing (Golden Money Cake). You see, it’s all sesame, so fragrant!”

Shen Jinxia still shook her head.

Yu Xiaopang got anxious and kept pressing forward, while Shen Jinxia stepped back repeatedly to avoid him.

She backed up until she reached the big tree, with no space left to retreat.

Lingling tried to pull Yu Xiaopang away, saying, “Jinxia already said she doesn’t want it, let her be!”

But she couldn’t budge him.

Shen Jinxia turned her face away from the food being offered to her. She was adamant that she wouldn’t eat it.

As she turned her head with force, a small red doll-shaped hairpin that had been clipped into her hair fell to the ground.

Yu Xiaopang moved forward and stepped directly on it.

Shen Jinxia’s eyes widened in shock. She shouted, “Yu Xiaopang, you stepped on my hairpin!”

Inside the house, Fang Xiaoluo was embroidering a cheongsam and saw Shen Jinxia run back through the window. She came straight inside.

Fang Xiaoluo thought to herself that Shen Jinxia hadn’t been out long, why was she back so soon?

She listened for any noise but didn’t hear anything, so she wondered if the little girl might be hiding something secret, and didn’t disturb her, figuring that Zheng Lanhua was still at home.

After some time, Fang Xiaoluo stood up to make lunch.

She first kneaded the dough, then sliced cabbage, carrots, and white radish for later.

She mixed the white radish and carrots together, sprinkled a little salt to marinate them, and then began to roll out the noodles.

Once the noodles were cut, the radish strips were almost ready.

She removed any excess water, cracked two eggs into the mixture, and added some chopped scallions.

Before boiling the noodles, she first cooked some vegetable cakes.

The red and white vegetable cakes emitted a faint aroma and looked very pretty.

Once the vegetable cakes were done, Fang Xiaoluo began to fry eggs. She cracked five eggs into the pan, frying them until golden yellow, then added water and placed the noodles in the boiling water.

When Zheng Lanhua came in, she too seemed ready to cook.

Fang Xiaoluo directly said, “I don’t want to eat your dark cuisine. I’ve taken over the kitchen, so you won’t be able to show off your wild cooking skills. Plus, I’ve made more food than I need. If you don’t eat, it’ll either go to the pigs or be thrown away.”

Zheng Lanhua didn’t say a word, yet Fang Xiaoluo had already finished speaking for her.

She looked at the beautiful radish cakes, and though she had also made them before, they had turned out black.

Clearly, it was the same radish strips, but Fang Xiaoluo’s cakes were red and white with a nice crispiness, while hers had the wrong color and smell, sometimes even smelling a little foul.

Zheng Lanhua remained silent, glanced around, sat on a small stool, and stoked the stove fire.

She then started to clean the cutting board and other utensils.

During this time, Fang Xiaoluo took out five large bowls, adding salt, soy sauce, vinegar, chopped scallions, and a little bit of lard to each. She then scooped a bit of noodle soup from the pot, mixing it all together.

Once the hand-pulled noodles were cooked, Fang Xiaoluo took them out and placed them into the five bowls, stirring them well to let the noodles absorb the broth.

The broth in the pot was used to blanch the cabbage strips, which were then added to the noodles.

Next, she poured the remaining broth into the five bowls of noodles and topped each with a fried egg.

The five bowls of light, refreshing noodle soup were now ready.

Zheng Lanhua helped bring the noodle soup to the table, pairing it with the red-and-white vegetable cakes, making for a rather nice lunch.

Fang Xiaoluo went to call the children to eat. Shen Haiping quietly washed his hands and sat down at the table.

When she went to call Shen Jinxia, Fang Xiaoluo found her lying alone on the bed, asleep. Her eyes were red and swollen, and there were traces of tears on her cheeks.

Her little hand was still holding the red hairpin that Fang Xiaoluo had bought for her.

“Xiaxia,” Fang Xiaoluo gently called.

Shen Jinxia hadn’t been sleeping peacefully. She felt so sad inside.

This was the first thing Fang Xiaoluo had ever bought for her, and she loved the hairpin so much. She had kept it beside her pillow when she slept.

Yet, Yu Xiaopang had stepped on it, not only getting it dirty but breaking it.

She felt incredibly heartbroken, as if her chest was being crushed. She could hardly breathe.

She had never felt this sad even when there was no food to eat before.

Hearing Fang Xiaoluo call her, she groggily opened her eyes, and the tears she had been holding back flowed again.

Fang Xiaoluo sat down and gently held her in her arms. “Xiaxia, what happened? Tell me, I’ll make it right for you.”

Shen Jinxia nestled into Fang Xiaoluo’s embrace, calling out “Mom…”

The word “mom” made Shen Jinxia’s tears burst forth uncontrollably, and her voice became choked with sobs.

Fang Xiaoluo was a little panicked, wondering if someone had hit the child or if something had happened to her.

She started to feel guilty, thinking back to when Shen Jinxia first came home and she hadn’t checked on her.

She carefully looked over Shen Jinxia and didn’t see any signs of injury.

Shen Jinxia opened her small hand, revealing the broken red hairpin, which now lay flat in her palm. The doll’s face was dirty and unrecognizable.

“Waaah… Mom… the little doll is broken, it must hurt so much…” Shen Jinxia cried, heartbroken.

Fang Xiaoluo gently took the broken hairpin, softly patting Shen Jinxia’s back. “So, Xiaxia is sad because the hairpin is broken, right?”

Shen Jinxia nodded, sniffling, “This was a gift from you, Mom. I really liked it, but I didn’t protect it well. Mom, I feel so sad… so sad.”

Fang Xiaoluo said, “It’s okay. When I bought it, there was also a pink one, it’s very pretty. If this one is broken, let’s go out this weekend and buy a matching pink pair, okay?”

Shen Jinxia looked up, tears still falling. “Mom, you’re not angry that I didn’t protect it properly? You still want to buy me a new one?”

Fang Xiaoluo reached up to wipe her tears. “Our Xiaxia must have tried her best to protect it, why would I blame you? If you like it, we’ll get a new one, that’s completely normal. You’re my dear, sweet daughter, and you’re so thoughtful and well-behaved. A hairpin is nothing. After we get a new hairpin, we can also get a new dress, remember the one I promised you last time? And we’ll get a pretty new pair of sandals too. You should know, Xiaxia, you deserve the best things in this world.”

Shen Jinxia had already stopped crying. She didn’t fully understand what Fang Xiaoluo meant.

Her previous stepmother had told her she wasn’t worthy of anything. She was born to a miserable fate.

She wasn’t deserving of any good things, even something as small as a bun. She only deserved what others didn’t want and lived to serve others.

“I can have the best things, really?”