Chapter 37: The Outcome (1)

Although Su Ting had adapted well to the innovative dishes introduced by the canteen chef after her pregnancy, He Dongchuan still brought up the idea of having Auntie Wang come to take care of her that afternoon.

Su Ting hesitated after hearing this. “Would my parents be okay without her?”

“It should be fine. These past few years, Auntie Wang’s main job has been taking care of Xiao Yan. After he came to Pingchuan Island, she had a lot of free time and now only prepares breakfast and dinner.” He Dongchuan explained.

The He family didn’t mind Auntie Wang having less work. She had worked hard all her life and deserved to enjoy her later years. But she herself felt uneasy, thinking she was taking the He family’s salary for nothing. It was only after Cheng Xiaoman had a long talk with her that she finally eased up a little.

“The military unit and the hospital both have canteens, so even if Auntie Wang comes to Pingchuan Island, they’ll still have places to eat.” He Dongchuan continued before shifting the topic. “But it’s up to you. If you don’t think it’s necessary, then forget it. My mom is just worried that the canteen food is too plain, and you won’t get enough nutrition during pregnancy.”

Su Ting hesitated and said: “We’re not lacking fish, meat, or eggs. Even if I eat at the canteen, the nutrition should be fine, right?”

She really didn’t want Auntie Wang to come.

If she had to name the best part of her current life, it was definitely the freedom. There were no in-laws watching over her, and He Dongchuan was easygoing. She could sleep in as much as she wanted and skip housework if she didn’t feel like doing it.

Although she had a good impression of Mother He and knew from her predecessor’s memories that Mother He liked her, she was not the original Su Ting. With a different personality, there was no guarantee that Mother He would still like her.

When living apart, Mother He naturally found her pleasing in every way, but living together would be a different story.

Even though Auntie Wang was not Mother He, she had worked for the He family for over ten years and had raised both He Dongchuan and He Yan. Her status in the He family was certainly not low. Even if she wasn’t a biological mother-in-law, she was still an elder who could discipline her when necessary.

Su Ting felt that unless absolutely necessary, she shouldn’t bring an unnecessary burden onto herself.

Seeing her reluctance, He Dongchuan said: “Then I’ll talk to my mom again.” Though he believed that having Auntie Wang take care of Su Ting would give him more peace of mind, it was ultimately Su Ting who would be the one taken care of, so her opinion mattered the most.

Due to her morning sickness, Su Ting had temporarily stopped drinking milk. As a result, figuring out what to do with the daily milk deliveries became the biggest problem in their household.

There was no way around it—He Yan didn’t like drinking milk. Having one glass every morning was already a struggle for him. A second glass? Absolutely not.

Milk wasn’t something that could be stored for long either. With the weather so hot, if they didn’t finish it in the morning, it would start to develop an off-flavor by evening. Waiting for He Dongchuan to come home to drink it wasn’t an option.

After much thought, Su Ting decided to start making milk tea.

Her original plan was to give verbal instructions while letting He Dongchuan do the actual work. But since he left too early on workdays and by the time he got home, the milk would already be spoiled, the idea had been put on hold.

Now, with an excess of milk going to waste, Su Ting couldn’t help but feel tempted. Although her attempt at making braised pork had failed before, milk tea wasn’t that complicated. Maybe… just maybe… she could pull it off?

Once she had made up her mind, she got to work right after breakfast.

The ingredients needed for making milk tea were simple—just milk, black tea, and white sugar. All three were readily available. Su Ting rummaged through the cabinet to gather the ingredients, then instructed He Yan to fetch the clay pot so she could begin.  

Don’t ask why she used a clay pot. She would have preferred to use a milk pot, but they didn’t have one at home.  

In special times, one couldn’t be too particular.  

Following the tutorial she remembered, Su Ting heated the clay pot, then poured in the tea leaves and white sugar, stirring them slowly.  

While she was at it, she glanced at the coal stove and felt that the fire was a bit too strong. She remembered that every tutorial she had seen before warned about using low heat for this step. But unlike a gas stove, a coal stove’s flame wasn’t easy to control. After watching it for a moment, she decided not to sweat the small details and continued stirring the tea leaves and sugar.  

He Yan had already been skeptical about frying tea leaves and sugar together. Watching Su Ting’s expression shift from doubt to hesitation and then to a “whatever” attitude only made him more uneasy. “Mom, can you really eat what you’re making?”  

Su Ting joked: “Of course not. Milk tea is for drinking.”  

But He Yan failed to appreciate her humor and continued asking: “Then… can we really drink it after cooking it this way?”  

“It should be fine.” Su Ting replied, but without much certainty.  

Great. Now he was even more worried.  

He Yan sighed and continued watching Su Ting stir the sugar and tea leaves. As she fried them, he started smelling something odd. He sniffed the air—yep, the strange smell was still there.  

Looking over at his mom, she was still stirring, as if she hadn’t noticed anything wrong.  

He couldn’t help but remind her: “Mom, is the stuff in the pot burning?”  

“Burning? It shouldn’t be.” Su Ting said as she bent down to sniff the contents of the pot. “Hmm… maybe a little, but not too bad. Adding water and boiling it should fix it.”  

Saying this, she picked up a ladle from the counter and poured some water into the pot.  

As she added the water, she used a spatula to stir the tea leaves and sugar at the bottom, making sure everything was mixed well before stopping. Then she covered the pot with a lid and said: “Let’s let it simmer for a while and see if the burnt smell goes away.”  

“If the burnt smell disappears, do we keep cooking it?”  

“Of course! If there’s no burnt smell, that means it worked.” Su Ting declared confidently, even though she was just guessing. “Once the water boils, we’ll add the milk, let it cook a bit more, and the milk tea will be done!”  

“But what if the burnt smell doesn’t go away?”  

Su Ting sighed regretfully. “Then we’ll have to throw it out.” She had used quite a lot of sugar just now.  

Feeling nervous, Su Ting stayed bent over, watching closely as the water boiled, afraid the burnt smell wouldn’t dissipate.  

Luckily, she had good fortune today. As it simmered, the burnt smell faded. The only issue was that the color of the water looked a bit strange. Since she had never made milk tea before, she couldn’t tell whether this was normal or if she had burned it after all.  

Su Ting hoped for the best. Sticking to her original plan, she poured the milk into the pot once the water started boiling.

As soon as the milk entered the pot, its aroma quickly spread, blending with the tea leaves and white sugar to create an enticing caramel fragrance.  

It was a familiar scent.  

Su Ting took a deep breath, then looked up, her face full of pride. “How is it? Smells pretty good, right?”  

He Yan took a deep sniff as well and nodded enthusiastically. “Mhm! Mom, when will the milk tea be ready?” He was beginning to look forward to the taste.  

“As soon as the milk is heated.” Su Ting said, handing the spatula to He Yan. “Keep stirring while I find something to strain it with.”  

She left her seat and walked to the cabinet, opening the door to rummage through it. She remembered they had a strainer used for frying dough balls.  

After finding the strainer, she returned to the coal stove. Seeing that the milk was already boiling, she went outside to grab two enamel cups and began straining the milk tea.  

The process went smoothly. Although the mesh of the strainer wasn’t fine enough to remove all the tea leaves, the milk tea still looked decent and smelled wonderful.  

“Try it.”  

Su Ting handed one of the enamel cups to He Yan, who eagerly took it and took a small sip.  

The freshly brewed milk tea was still hot, so he held it in his mouth for a moment before swallowing. Then his face scrunched up into a little frown, his lips pursed as he said: “The taste… is weird.”  

“How could that be?” Su Ting refused to believe it and took a sip from her own cup.  

The moment the milk tea touched her tongue, her brows furrowed. It really was strange—it had a slight bitterness from the burnt tea leaves and an overpowering sweetness from too much sugar.  

Seeing Su Ting’s shoulders droop in disappointment, He Yan felt bad. He took another sip and said: “I think I can still drink it.”  

“Forget it, don’t force yourself.” Su Ting took the enamel cup from He Yan’s hands. While the milk tea wasn’t completely undrinkable, the taste was far from pleasant. There was no need to make the child suffer.  

“Mom…”  

Su Ting waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. You know what they say—failure is the mother of success. If I didn’t get it right today, I’ll try again tomorrow. If tomorrow doesn’t work, I’ll try the day after. I refuse to believe I can’t brew a drinkable pot of milk tea.”  

He Yan had originally wanted to comfort her, but after hearing that, he silently swallowed his words.  

Comfort Mom?  

He should probably save his sympathy for himself.  

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