As expected, Mimi quickly demonstrated her remarkable talent for eating, as she skipped the breastfeeding stage typical for humans and went straight to solid foods, starting with nutrient-rich vegetable porridge and minced meat.
Chu Xiaohe and Xie Yan initially considered trying formula milk, but Mimi, inheriting the tastes of her father, the deity, showed little interest in dairy products and preferred foods rich in fruit flavors.
At first, the couple was concerned that Mimi might suffer from malnutrition, but Xin Yunmao reassured them.
"Plant spirits don't need to eat; they usually just drink water and bask in the sun," Xin Yunmao said, watching his daughter sit in her tiny chair, waiting to be fed. "Besides, she has half of my spiritual energy, so she shouldn't even need to drink water."
For the deity, drinking water, sleeping, and sunbathing were more like hobbies rather than necessities.
"That won't do," Chu Xiaohe protested, shaking his head. "Mimi is growing; she needs proper nutrition. If you two are too busy, we'll take care of her!"
Chu Zhishui couldn't help but complain: "Dad, you can't just revolve your entire life around Mimi just because you're retired."
She had been trying to bond with her daughter but found herself completely unable to get involved, as the family had already taken over the caregiving duties.
Xie Yan added: "You two are busy with work; just come pick up Mimi on weekends."
Chu Xiaohe: "No need to pick her up on weekends; just come home for dinner and see Mimi then!"
Chu Zhishui looked at her enthusiastic parents and felt completely out of the loop: "..."
The family began discussing Mimi's living arrangements, debating whether to keep her with her parents or send her to live with her grandparents. Chu Zhishui believed that children needed to interact with their parents, but rejecting Chu Xiaohe and Xie Yan outright might hurt their feelings, making the decision difficult.
Fortunately, Mimi's bamboo spirit abilities came into play, and the family soon discovered that she, like Xin Yunmao, could teleport through bamboo.
One day, Mimi stayed at the new home with her parents, and Chu Xiaohe had to reluctantly say goodbye, even taking a small flowerpot with Mimi's roots as a memento. Unexpectedly, during dinner, they found their granddaughter sitting on the old sofa, happily waving at them.
The flowerpot contained Mimi's roots, while the new home's yard had Xin Yunmao's roots, and Chu Zhishui also carried a bamboo talisman, allowing Mimi to travel between the two homes.
After dinner, Chu Xiaohe called Chu Zhishui to let her know that Mimi had come to their home and didn't need to be picked up.
However, just as he went inside to wash the dishes, their granddaughter mysteriously disappeared, prompting him to urgently notify Xie Yan and Chu Zhishui, who then found out that Mimi had returned to the new home.
Chu Zhishui calmed the elders over the phone and looked at her daughter sitting on the soft mat at home, hesitating to say: "Sweetie, you're really something, eating at both places without missing out on either."
Now, the family had set up a toddler play area with a beautiful soft mat and cute toys. Mimi sat in the small enclosure, quietly playing with the toys, her clear round eyes looking at her mother with an innocent and clueless expression.
"Just ate over there, are you going to eat again later?" Chu Zhishui chuckled. "Your dad has been busy in the kitchen for a long time."
Chu Xiaohe and Xie Yan ate earlier, so Mimi had finished her "first half" of the meal there and was now ready for the "second half" at home. Although the little one didn't have complex thoughts, Chu Zhishui couldn't help but think her daughter was clever, undoubtedly inheriting a bit of her mischievous intelligence.
Mimi, pretending not to understand, blinked her watery eyes and stretched out her two little hands, softly saying: "Hold."
Perfect. This was the deity's way of pretending to be clueless, combined with her own tactic of avoiding difficult questions, perfectly blending her parents' traits.
Chu Zhishui knew Mimi was acting cute, but her daughter's blinking eyes resembled Xin Yunmao's, as if she were innocently staring at her, melting Chu Zhishui's heart. She walked over and picked up Mimi.
Holding her daughter, who felt like a little sticky rice ball, Chu Zhishui smelled a refreshing scent and softly hummed a lullaby, teasing: "A little sushi with a bamboo leaf flavor, about to be eaten in one bite."
Hearing this, Mimi mumbled a series of sounds, as if she hadn't expected to be eaten and looked at her mother pitifully.
Chu Zhishui, seeing this, deliberately leaned in to sniff, teasing her daughter by pretending to eat, but ultimately just gave her a kiss.
Mimi nervously waved her hands, waiting for a while without being bitten, she was stunned, then mimicked her mother and returned the kiss, giggling as if she had discovered a new way to "eat."
When Xin Yunmao came out of the kitchen, he saw this warm scene. His gaze softened, and he slowly walked over, wrapping his arms around Chu Zhishui and their daughter from behind.
"Do you want to hold her?" Chu Zhishui felt him embrace her, with Mimi in her arms, she turned around tentatively, "Try again?"
Xin Yunmao had been trying to hold Mimi recently, but for some reason, he kept failing. The deity's nature of being rejected by young children was hard to overcome, and it seemed Mimi would need to grow a bit more before she would allow him to hold her.
"No need," Xin Yunmao said, gently rubbing his chin against Chu Zhishui's hair, holding the mother and daughter in his arms, and murmured: "This way, I've got both of you."
It felt like holding the entire world.
Chu Zhishui looked troubled and cautiously said: "I have some news to tell you..."
"What?"
"Mimi seems to have teleported to my parents' place for dinner earlier," Chu Zhishui said helplessly. "I'm not sure if she's going to eat again later."
Xin Yunmao was puzzled: "She doesn't need to eat."
He couldn't understand where this trait came from; he wasn't someone who cared much about food, and Chu Zhishui didn't seem to be a big eater either.
Chu Zhishui confidently said: "It must be your gene."
"How so?"
"The bamboo turned into a food container."
"..."
During dinner, the table was set with dishes like "Crab Meat with Eggs," "Boiled Shrimp," various seasonal vegetables, and a pot of boneless fish porridge, cooked until soft and easy to swallow, making it look very appetizing.
Through hard work and learning, Xin Yunmao's cooking skills had improved significantly, and he now firmly controlled the kitchen, believing that without him, the family wouldn't have a proper meal.
Chu Zhishui didn't have the heart to tell him that she could cook, having lived alone in Yinhai City and been taught by Chu Xiaohe. She had previously thought it unnecessary to cook, but that didn't mean she couldn't. However, the deity was extremely confident in himself, and she felt it would be unkind to point out his flaws, so she let him continue.
Chu Zhishui and Xin Yunmao sat on regular chairs, while Mimi had her own toddler chair with a small table in front for her bowl.
Mimi sat quietly, smiling whenever she saw her father, and she would occasionally open her mouth, waiting for the next spoonful of fish porridge, showing no signs of picky eating typical of some children, accepting whatever was given to her.
"Didn't you say she doesn't need to eat? Why are you still feeding her?" Chu Zhishui reminded as she watched Xin Yunmao feed the porridge. "Won't she get too full eating so much?"
After all, wasn't it him who said she didn't even need to drink water or bask in the sun?
Now, in an attempt to bond, he insisted on feeding her personally, hoping Mimi would remember the emotional connection brought by food.
"Eating is her hobby; it won't affect her health," Xin Yunmao innocently said. "And she's already opened her mouth; how could I not feed her? It's the same as with you back then."
Chu Zhishui was puzzled: "What do you mean, back then?"
Xin Yunmao confidently said: "Back then, when you wanted to do something to me, I couldn't resist, just like now."
She had wanted to use him as a bamboo chair and a bamboo mat, and compared to her whims, Mimi wanting to eat was a minor issue; he had no reason to refuse.
"???"
Chu Zhishui suddenly found herself unfairly blamed, her eyes wide in disbelief: "You're a father now, and you can still be so shameless in front of a child!?"
"Hmph, what else can I do," Xin Yunmao scoffed. "If my skin weren't thick enough, how could I endure your torment."
"..."
Help! No matter how many years they lived together, he always managed to bring back the frustration of their first meeting.
While others maintained a sense of freshness even after years of marriage, their marriage was filled with constant exasperation, as they were frequently reminded of the deity's unique sense of humor.
Although Mimi had been eagerly looking forward to going to school, her age clearly wasn't suitable for kindergarten, and she would need to wait a bit longer.
Chu Zhishui and Xin Yunmao also took Mimi to the bureau to handle her household registration issues and to meet Hong Ximing.
After learning about the postpartum benefits for employees. As the first production demon of the bureau, Xin Yunmao's existence has improved the bureau's regulations, even qualifying him for maternity leave benefits (??).
Inside the office, Hong Ximing finished handling various procedures and enthusiastically said, "If it's a single child, there might be additional subsidies in the future."
Chu Zhishui smiled, "There should only be her. I am also an only child."
Chu Zhishui had always wanted only one child. Firstly, being an only child herself, she didn't know much about other family situations and naturally imitated her own childhood. Secondly, bearing seeds would affect Xin Yunmao. Thirdly, whether she could teach Mimi well was still uncertain, and perhaps there was no room to consider anything else.
Hong Ximing said, "That's also good. You can bring her to the bureau more often. Did she come today?"
"Yes, she's in the courtyard sunbathing with them, and also looking for Brother Niu to beg for food," Chu Zhishui sighed. "I don't know why she loves eating so much."
Hong Ximing pondered, "Plants don't have a desire for food, so it's probably inherited from you."
Chu Zhishui: "?"
Chu Zhishui widened her eyes, "But I'm not..."
Hong Ximing laughed, "Zhishui, when you first joined the bureau and wanted to resign, what was the first time you had a strong desire to quit?"
Chu Zhishui was stunned. She carefully recalled that although she encountered the aura of a demon on the day she handled the procedures, she still insisted on coming to work the next day, even after discovering Jinyu's true form in the office.
If she had to explore the point of wanting to resign, it should have been after eating the work meal, which was bland and tasteless.
Seeing the other person speechless, Hong Ximing tactfully pointed out, "Generally, it's animals that like to eat, so it really has nothing to do with the Godly Lord."
"......"
Chu Zhishui's expression was dazed. She never expected that the food lover was actually herself, which was why her daughter was so obsessed with using bamboo tubes to carry rice!
