Chapter 110: Sleeping in Separate Beds

On Xiao Jie’s birthday, Yu Xiangnian got up early and rode her bike to the market to shop for ingredients.

She bought ribs, beef, fresh shrimp, various vegetables, and seasonings, filling up two baskets.

In the morning, Xiao Jie went to the cemetery to visit his father, and in the afternoon, he went to school.

Yu Xiangnian and Cheng Jingmo began their preparations at home.

Yu Xiangnian was in charge of making the cake.

She cracked five eggs into a bowl and started mixing, adding flour, sugar, baking soda, and other ingredients, stirring until the batter was very thin.

Without an oven or rice cooker, Yu Xiangnian could only cover the bowl with a clean plastic bag, tying it tightly to prevent steam from getting in.

Then, she put it in a pot to steam.

Cheng Jingmo watched her every step but didn’t dare ask questions, afraid of revealing his lack of knowledge.

He assumed it was a steamed cake with added eggs.

Cheng Jingmo was responsible for washing and cutting vegetables. Yu Xiangnian instructed him to slice the beef very thin.

Yu Xiangnian explained that they were making hotpot, so the ribs needed to be cooked first to make the broth, then various vegetables would be added to cook in the broth.

Cheng Jingmo understood this as simply making a pot of mixed vegetables.

The cake was steamed, and Cheng Jingmo’s tasks were completed.

Yu Xiangnian checked the time and told Cheng Jingmo to hide the cake and take it out when it got dark.

She then started making the hotpot dipping sauce.

She combined minced garlic, ginger, chili powder, green onions, cilantro, sesame seeds, and the miso sauce she had asked for from Liu Zhen into a bowl, then poured hot oil over it and mixed. Finally, she added a little salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.

She had never made cake or dipping sauce before; she had only seen them on videos.

Whether it would be good or not was unknown, but it was done!

When Xiao Jie came home from school, he saw the table full of raw ingredients.

He looked at Cheng Jingmo with confusion, and Cheng Jingmo gave him a “don’t ask, I don’t understand either” look.

Yu Xiangnian announced, “Alright, the birthday star is back, let’s start eating!”

Cheng Jingmo put the pre-cooked rib soup into the coal stove, and the three of them sat by the stove.

Yu Xiangnian gave them a dipping sauce, “The soup is boiling now. Put the vegetables into it to cook, and dip them in this sauce when they are done.”

She demonstrated by putting a piece of beef into the pot for a few seconds and then dipping it in the sauce, “Just like this.”

In mid-September, though the temperature had dropped a little, it was still over twenty degrees Celsius, and all three were sweating as they ate.

Though it was her first time making it, Yu Xiangnian thought the hotpot tasted quite good.

Cheng Jingmo thought so too, thinking that although Yu Xiangnian’s cooking wasn’t great, the hotpot tasted pretty good.

Xiao Jie enjoyed it as well and found it new and exciting.

In the past, on his birthdays, his father would cook him a bowl of egg noodles.

This was his first time eating hotpot.

He was surprised that his aunt, who wasn’t great at cooking, could make hotpot.

“Aunt, where did you learn to make hotpot?”

“At a place called ‘Somewhere Hotpot’!”

“What’s ‘Somewhere Hotpot’?”

“It’s not a person; it’s a place!” Yu Xiangnian explained, “It’s a place where no matter what second you freeze time at, there’s always a waiter pouring plum soup!”

Cheng Jingmo was baffled.

Xiao Jie asked, “Is the plum soup good?”

“It’s not as good as the bayberry soup I make!”

Xiao Jie wanted to ask more, but Yu Xiangnian said, “‘Somewhere Hotpot’ also has noodle-flipping service. Since it’s your birthday today, I’ll give you a portion.”

Xiao Jie’s eyes were full of anticipation!

Cheng Jingmo felt an uneasy premonition rise in his heart.

A person who didn’t even know how to knead noodles was going to flip them?!

Sure enough!

Yu Xiangnian held the noodles with both hands, shook them a bit, and then the noodles broke!

“Tsk!” Yu Xiangnian looked at the broken noodles with dissatisfaction, then put them into the pot and told Cheng Jingmo, “You eat this noodle.”

She took another one, shook it twice, but then didn’t dare to shake it further. When she turned around and came back, the noodle had already broken.

No one saw when it had broken.

Yu Xiangnian awkwardly said, “I’ll eat this noodle.”

She hesitated and picked up the third noodle.

She only had three noodles prepared; if this one broke too, she’d be really embarrassed.

Cheng Jingmo said, “Let me do it.”

Yu Xiangnian, relieved, quickly handed the noodle to him.

Cheng Jingmo held both ends of the noodle and shook it in the same way. The noodle got longer and thinner.

“That’s good enough. Put it in the pot to cook,” Yu Xiangnian told Xiao Jie. “You eat this noodle.”

In the evening.

Yu Xiangnian put a cone-shaped hat made from newspaper on Xiao Jie and stuck a candle on the cake.

Since they didn’t have birthday candles, she used a regular candle that was as thick as a finger, just for the sake of it.

After singing happy birthday, making a wish, blowing out the candle, and eating the cake, the usual procedures were completed.

Yu Xiangnian cleared her throat, “Xiao Jie, happy birthday!”

Xiao Jie understood the hint and said to Cheng Jingmo, “Uncle, I’m eight now. Starting tonight, I can’t sleep with you anymore. Dong Jiannan doesn’t sleep with his parents anymore!”

Xiao Jie’s words took Cheng Jingmo by surprise; he wasn’t prepared at all.

Cheng Jingmo could only negotiate with him, “From tomorrow on, you can sleep alone.”

“No way!” Xiao Jie said, “The teacher said that after five years old, you can’t sleep with adults anymore. I’m already eight!”

Cheng Jingmo said, “How about this, you sleep alone first, and after you’re asleep, I’ll come in to sleep.”

Xiao Jie still shook his head, “You can sleep with my aunt.”

Yu Xiangnian secretly gave Xiao Jie a thumbs-up.

The kid hadn’t been taught how to say this; he just knew it on his own, much better than Cheng Jingmo!

Cheng Jingmo recalled what Yu Xiangnian had said on their wedding day and glanced at her with a guilty look.

Yu Xiangnian frowned, her face twisted in a distressed expression.

Xiao Jie asked again, “Why do Dayi and Dong Jiannan’s parents sleep in the same bed, but you and Aunt don’t?”

Cheng Jingmo: “…”

Yu Xiangnian sighed, her mouth pouting, “Today is Xiao Jie’s birthday, only once a year. Just go along with him and don’t make him unhappy. Besides, at his age, he should be sleeping in a separate bed anyway.”

Seeing Yu Xiangnian’s reluctant expression, Xiao Jie remembered what Yu Xiangnian had told him: “The prettier the woman, the less you can believe what she says!”

Xiao Jie fell into deep thought.

His aunt was the most beautiful in the compound, so should he believe that saying “the prettier the woman, the less you can believe her”?

If he pushed his uncle to sleep with his aunt, would he be causing trouble for his uncle?

Seeing Xiao Jie’s lowered eyes and his silence, Cheng Jingmo thought Xiao Jie really didn’t want to sleep with him.

He could only reluctantly agree, “Alright, from tonight on, you’ll sleep alone.”

“Wuhu!” Yu Xiangnian cheered internally, her face more reluctant than Cheng Jingmo’s.

It wasn’t that she had any ill intentions towards Cheng Jingmo. His injuries needed at least another month of rest before he could be active again.

But, this layer of ambiguous tension between them was finally broken!