Chapter 14: Gap

“Zhuzhu, ah.” Xu Chunian tore off a piece of meat, blew on it to cool it down, and fed it to Zhuzhu.

Zhuzhu opened her mouth and ate it.

“Delicious?”

Zhuzhu nodded. She had played with her for the whole afternoon, and Zhuzhu was still a little unfamiliar, but she wasn’t as scared as she was the first time she saw her. When she was with Zhuzhu, Xu Chunian unconsciously assumed the role of a mother.

“Dinner will be ready soon.” Xu Chunian tore off another small piece of meat and fed it to her. “Hungry? I’m hungry too.”

Zhuzhu didn’t open her mouth this time. She pushed her hand away.

Xu Chunian looked at her. “You want me to eat it?”

Zhuzhu nodded.

“No, you eat. I already snuck a piece earlier.” Xu Chunian tried to feed her again.

But Zhuzhu insisted on pushing her hand away.

She was like a little angel. Xu Chunian rolled her eyes and divided the remaining meat in half, feeding half to Zhuzhu and eating the other half herself. “Zhuzhu, go to the kitchen and find Grandma and Grandpa.”

Zhuzhu tilted her head and looked at her.

Xu Chunian wiped her hands with a wet tissue on the table. “Go see what dishes Grandma and Grandpa have made.”

Zhuzhu stood up from the floor, hugged the cup on the coffee table, and went to the kitchen.

“Oh, Zhuzhu, what brings you here?” Bai Hui’s voice came from the kitchen.

Xu Zhen was also very touching. “Zhuzhu came to bring Grandpa some water.”

In a short while, Bai Hui, afraid of the kitchen fumes affecting the child, put some ribs in a small bowl. “Zhuzhu, dinner will be ready soon. Go play with Mom for a while, okay?”

Zhuzhu obediently nodded, holding the pig doll under her chin with one hand tightly gripping the small bowl.

Xu Chunian got the ribs as she wished, sat on the sofa, and fed Zhuzhu while eating herself.

*

Dinner was very sumptuous. Xu Zhen rarely cooked, and though his attitude towards Xu Chunian was a bit cold, most of the dishes on the table were her favorites.

Xu Chunian had been clamoring for a divorce for a year, and it had caused a lot of tension between them. She hadn’t seen Zhuzhu for a long time either. Whenever she saw Xu Zhen and Zhuzhu together, she would go crazy, pushing Zhuzhu to the side of the road in front of everyone, scaring them so much that they didn’t dare to go looking for her.

In the afternoon, Jiang Huaixu ran into Xu Zhen and learned that he was taking Zhuzhu on a business trip. Feeling a little sorry for his trouble, Xu Zhen took her over. Zhuzhu probably didn’t have any memory of her grandparents, but she didn’t want her father to be too tired, so she immediately took Xu Zhen’s hand.

As Jiang Huaixu’s figure disappeared into the security checkpoint, Zhuzhu’s eyes made Xu Zhen feel sorry for her. He picked her up, and Zhuzhu just quietly hugged Xu Zhen’s neck, not crying or fussing, her eyes fixed on the direction where Jiang Huaixu disappeared.

“We don’t have chopsticks for Zhuzhu. We’ll buy a pair tomorrow.” Bai Hui said as she peeled shrimp for Zhuzhu. “And a bib too.”

Zhuzhu held the spoon and ate obediently.

Bai Hui put a plump, white shrimp into Zhuzhu’s bowl. “Zhuzhu, next time you come, Grandma will make you delicious pig trotters, okay?”

Zhuzhu nodded.

Hearing “pig trotters,” Xu Chunian’s eyes lit up. “Mom, I want to eat braised ones. I haven’t had them in so long.”

“That’s because you don’t come back.” Bai Hui snorted.

“I was studying…” Xu Chunian pursed her lips, suddenly remembering that she wasn’t 18 anymore.

Xu Zhen tugged at Bai Hui’s sleeve under the table.

It was rare for her to come back, and he didn’t dare say anything more to annoy her.

From the moment she stepped through the door, Xu Zhen and Bai Hui had been a little cold towards her. At least compared to before she came here, the difference was huge. Although she knew it was her 24-year-old self who had been acting up, Xu Chunian still felt a little strange.