Chapter 16 – Very Thoughtful

Zhao Hu quickly brought over the small low table and helped set out the bowls and chopsticks.

Zhou Yu politely invited the Zhao family to eat with them, but they declined, “We just finished eating.”

Zhao Hu went to pick up An’an. This time, An’an didn’t refuse—if she didn’t sweeten up to her uncle now, he might hang an oil bottle from the corners of his mouth from pouting!

Zhou Yu pushed the bowl of steamed egg custard forward. “Let Anbao’er eat this.”

The Zhao family initially wanted to refuse, but Zhou Yu’s attitude was sincere, and since they also felt sorry that An’an had never tasted egg before, they hesitated.

Zhou Yu simply scooped out a spoonful and brought it to An’an’s lips, coaxing her to eat.

This was the perfect chance to build rapport!

Of course, An’an wouldn’t miss it. She opened her mouth with an “Ah-woo” and took the custard into her mouth in one bite.

Hmm? Delicious! This was the most delicious bite of food she’d had since arriving in the real world!

Her mother, grandmother, and uncle were all wonderful—very wonderful—and had been doing everything they could to give her the best of everything. But she couldn’t lie to herself and say this steamed egg wasn’t good!

Zhao Hu hesitated just a bit, and An’an had already eaten the first spoonful. He immediately panicked and turned to look at his mother and sister.

Aunt Zhao and Qin Ying tried to stop her, but it was already too late.

While Zhao Hu turned his head, Zhou Yu, smiling warmly, brought the second spoonful to An’an’s mouth.

An’an happily opened her mouth and ate again, then gave Zhou Yu a sweet and adorable smile. Her big eyes sparkled.

Zhou Yu’s heart melted completely. He immediately “snatched” the child from Zhao Hu’s arms and sat her on his lap, feeding her spoon by spoon with great care. Whenever a little custard got stuck at the corner of her lips, he would gently wipe it away with a handkerchief.

Seeing this, Aunt Zhao and Qin Ying couldn’t bring themselves to stop him anymore. At the same time, their hearts ached.

Poor An’an! If only things had been different a few years earlier, she wouldn’t have had to go without even a bite of steamed egg!

An’an blinked her big eyes. Huh? Her energy value had suddenly increased by 0.03?

She turned her head and saw that both her grandmother and mother looked heartbroken, even her uncle’s eyes were red.

In that moment, a wave of sorrow suddenly surged in her heart. She couldn’t help but reach out her chubby little hand and touch her chest.

Were they feeling sorry for her?

Why?

Because she was eating steamed egg for the first time in her life?

Did they feel guilty for not having provided her a better life?

There was really no need!

She, An’an-168, had never indulged in gluttony! She never sought a life of comfort!

She was the top performer in the system world, the king of competition!

She had always been a cold and powerful system!

But right now, she was overwhelmed by an emotion she hadn’t felt before…

Such a strange feeling!

Ding! Energy value +1.

An’an’s eyes widened in shock.

What in the world?

How did it suddenly increase so much?

Her clever little brain started spinning!

Bingo! Got it!

It must be because she had an obvious emotional response—that’s why the energy value increased!

Let’s trigger another one! One more! More! More!

Why isn’t it working?

Oh… emotional feedback wasn’t something she could control with her conscious mind…

Realizing this, An’an felt a little dejected.

Very soon, the bowl of custard was empty. Zhou Yu gently and thoroughly wiped her mouth, then softly tapped her little nose.

Energy value +0.01.

An’an’s big eyes lit up again!

Oh wow! This handsome uncle truly liked her! It seemed feeding really could bring people closer together!

Before the feeding, the handsome uncle just wanted to get close to her mother through her. Don’t be fooled by her baby body—deep down, she was a fully mature system that understood everything!

How could she not see through that little plan?

Qin Ying quickly nudged Zhao Hu. “The master hasn’t had dinner yet.”

Zhao Hu hurriedly took An’an back, feeling very apologetic. “Sorry for delaying your meal.”

“No worries,” Zhou Yu smiled gently, his gaze still lingering on An’an’s fair little face. “I really like this child.”

Honestly, he had never seen a baby so young who wasn’t afraid of strangers and loved to smile. And she was particularly pretty too.

Qin Ying took An’an from Zhao Hu’s arms, and Aunt Zhao handed her the woven grasshopper toy again. But after just a few moments of playing with it, the little girl fell asleep.

Zhou Yu’s gaze naturally shifted from An’an’s face to Qin Ying’s.

He hadn’t seen her in a few days, and she seemed to have gained a little weight. She looked much better than the skeleton-like figure he first met.

Her features were proper and delicate. It wasn’t hard to imagine that her real appearance wasn’t bad at all. Placed next to An’an’s face, they did look quite alike.

He withdrew his gaze and quickly finished his meal. Xu Xia went to wash the dishes, and Zhou Yu wiped down the table clean.

He then invited the Zhao family to sit and pointed to the vegetables in the yard, asking, “I wonder how you usually take care of them?

“We’ve visited most households in the village, but none of their crops look as good as yours.”

The Zhao family exchanged glances.

Aunt Zhao chuckled, “What’s the big deal? We’re all born and raised farmers—growing crops and vegetables is what we do best.

“The others probably don’t tend to them as carefully as we do.

“Sir, take a look. Others water and fertilize row by row.

“But us? We do it plant by plant.”

She motioned for Zhao Hu to pick a basket of vegetables. “Sir, you visited our home and even gave our Anbao some egg custard. We don’t have much to offer in return, so please accept some vegetables.”

Zhou Yu looked closely at the vegetables in the basket and was very surprised. “Your vegetables don’t seem to get pests?”

“Same principle applies to vegetables and crops,” Aunt Zhao said cheerfully. “As long as the seedlings are strong, you’re not afraid of pests.

“It’s not like our field doesn’t have bugs—sigh, to be honest, those bugs are so hardy, even this drought didn’t kill them.

“But my daughter and son don’t mind the hassle. They catch bugs when they have free time. After a while, they cleared out the whole patch.”

“Actually, that was my sister’s idea,” Zhao Hu scratched his head sheepishly. “She said it wasn’t easy for us to get the chance to grow vegetables, so we couldn’t let the bugs ruin it. That’s why we flipped through the leaves and looked for pests.

“Turned out An’an loved to watch us do it! Since she liked it, of course we enjoyed doing it too—so, well, haha…”

Aunt Zhao chuckled as well. “That’s right! My daughter is really smart! This plant-by-plant watering and fertilizing method was her idea too.”

Zhou Yu couldn’t help but glance at Qin Ying again.

Qin Ying gave a faint smile. “There wasn’t much choice. After three years of drought, we were really scared. Even if there’s water now, we still want to use it sparingly.”

“That’s not all!” Zhao Hu slapped his forehead, adding, “My sister also had us hand-pollinate the vegetables!

“We picked off the poorly grown flowers and the ones that were too dense.

“With sponge gourds, winter melons, and pumpkins, we used the male flowers to pollinate them. Sir, take a look—aren’t our gourds growing better than anyone else’s?

“Whether you’re attentive or not really makes a huge difference!”

Qin Ying cleared her throat and pushed Zhao Hu. “Stop talking so much!”