"Okay, when you go tomorrow, tell Mom about a friend of mine who's decent."
"Who?"
"Chen Siming."
"Got it."
Xu Xiuhe didn't want Shen Yin to overwork herself, so after entering the small building, he went straight into the kitchen. He put on Shen Yin's pink floral apron.
Shen Yin stood at the doorway, watching Xu Xiuhe wear her pink apron, and felt no sense of incongruity.
"You're going to cook?"
"Yeah, you've been working too hard. Take a rest tonight. I'll cook, though it won't be as delicious as yours, but it'll be edible. You'll have to make do."
Zhengzheng ran from behind Shen Yin and entered the kitchen.
"Dad, food, Zhengzheng will help Dad cook."
"Good, Dad thanks Zhengzheng."
"Thank you Zhengzheng," Zhengzheng repeated to himself.
Shen Yin walked into the kitchen and carried Zhengzheng out.
"Zhengzheng, let's not disturb Dad. Mom will take Zhengzheng for a bath first, okay? Smell yourself, are you not smelly?"
The little one lowered his head, pulled his clothes, and sniffed, but couldn't smell anything. Then he lifted the other side of his clothes.
"Mom, not smelly," the little one sniffed, his expression exceptionally sincere.
Shen Yin felt softened and amused again.
"Okay, Zhengzheng is not smelly, but Zhengzheng will smell nice after a bath."
Xu Yunzheng toddled into the bathroom.
Shen Yin followed behind, but before she entered, the little one stuck his head out from behind the door.
"Mom, hurry hurry."
Shen Yin took big steps into the bathroom and closed the door, adjusting the bathroom temperature.
"Zhengzheng, take your hat off first," Shen Yin said to Xu Yunzheng as she adjusted the water temperature.
Zhengzheng took off his hat, then his decorative little backpack, and tried to pull his T-shirt over his head.
"Mom mom, can't see."
Just two seconds after Shen Yin had adjusted the water temperature, the little one said he couldn't see. Shen Yin hadn't even turned off the faucet yet, but immediately turned around.
"What's wrong?" Shen Yin panicked. Just a few days ago, she had told him that the eyes were the windows to the soul. How could he suddenly tell her he couldn't see now?
Xu Yunzheng's shirt was stuck around his neck, and he tried to pull it off.
"Covered mom."
Shen Yin exhaled. She had thought he really couldn't see. Zhengzheng was still so young, what if he really...
"Zhengzheng, your eyes were just covered by the shirt, not that you can't see."
"Zhengzheng's eyes were covered, not that he can't see," Xu Yunzheng imitated Shen Yin's words, even adopting a similar tone.
Shen Yin turned off the faucet, carried Zhengzheng to the baby tub, took off his pants, and put him in the tub.
"Mom, little ducks," Zhengzheng pointed at the toys in the cabinet.
Shen Yin took out all his little ducks and put them in the water.
"A group of ducks swam under the bridge in front, come come and count them, two four six seven eight," Shen Yin sang teasingly.
"Quack quack quack, two four six seven eight," Shen Yin was genuinely shocked. Why was there such a big difference from the last time with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star? She even doubted if it was the same person singing.
Did Xu Yunzheng lack a musical gene? Not a single note out of the nine words was in tune.
"Zhengzheng, let's learn to dance in the future. You can't sing in front of others, but you can sing in front of Dad and Mom. Except for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."
"Okay."
Shen Yin applied bath gel on Zhengzheng, and the little one rubbed a few times, producing bubbles.
"Mom, bubbles. Fragrant."
"Yeah, Zhengzheng will be fragrant too in a bit."
Shen Yin rinsed the bubbles off Xu Yunzheng and dried him with a towel.
"Don't want skirt," Xu Yunzheng said unhappily.
Recently, Shen Yin had come across a particularly soft fabric, pink and not too large.
She had originally planned to make a sleepwear for Xu Yunzheng, but there wasn't enough fabric to cut. So she directly made the fabric into a sleep dress.
When worn, it looked like a girl's dress. The first time Xu Xiuhe saw Xu Yunzheng dressed like this, he was dumbfounded. He asked Shen Yin if she wanted a daughter. Next time they had another child, they could have a girl for a complete family with both son and daughter.
Shen Yin...
Could they really decide whether to have a son or daughter? That should happen naturally.
"Wear it to sleep. Can't go around with your privates exposed," Shen Yin said.
It was only then that Xu Yunzheng obediently put on the pink dress.
Shen Yin carried Zhengzheng out. Xu Xiuhe was placing the stir-fried dishes on the dining table.
"Look, you and Dad are matching in pink dresses," Shen Yin joked.
Hearing this, Xu Xiuhe looked down at his own pink floral apron, then up at Xu Yunzheng. Indeed, their dresses looked alike.
"Smells nice, Zhengzheng hungry, want food," Zhengzheng commented.
Shen Yin placed Xu Yunzheng in the high chair, and Xu Xiuhe served him a bowl of porridge.
Xu Yunzheng picked up the spoon, took a sip, and put it in his mouth.
"Tasty, Mom drink, tasty."
Shen Yin glanced at the porridge in the bowl, which contained tomatoes, rice, and shrimp.
"Looks quite tasty," Shen Yin sat down too.
Xu Xiuhe continued bringing out the dishes.
Fish-flavored shredded pork, green pepper with eggs, and shredded potato.
"Just home-cooked dishes. I haven't learned any new ones yet. We'll have to make do with these."
Shen Yin also took a sip of the porridge. It was indeed delicious, not too salty, but very fresh.
It exceeded her expectations for how tasty it would be.
"Wow, that's amazing. This porridge is so delicious. How did you make it?"
Xu Xiuhe started to feel proud. Maybe he was just gifted and managed to reproduce the dish after glancing at an online recipe.
"Tasty, right? It's my first time making it. Am I a natural talent?"
"How did you make it?"
"It's simple. I kept the fresh shrimp heads and peeled the shrimp tails, setting the tails aside."
"Then what?"
"Then I stir-fried the shrimp heads first to release the oil, then added the diced tomatoes and stir-fried them together. I added some seasonings, water, and rice, and simmered it for half an hour. When it was almost done, I added the shrimp tails. Finally, I added scallions and cilantro."
"You're quite skilled," Shen Yin praised sincerely.
It was really delicious. She felt that with this skill, Xu Xiuhe could open a take-out store. So this was the result of pondering over food. She loved pondering herself, but didn't expect Xu Xiuhe to have picked it up too. Not bad.
"Eat more if it's tasty. I'll make it for you often in the future."
"You're not going to cook the porridge directly in a pot on the gas stove, are you?" Shen Yin asked, shaking her head. Although she hadn't been there long, it was the first time she had seen someone cooking porridge in a frying pan. Xu Xiuhe could certainly be considered talented.
Xu Xiuhe nodded innocently. "What's wrong? Can't I do that?"
"Well, you can," Shen Yin said. "But as you just said, I've made a note of it. I'll do it too. Believe me, the next time I make it, it'll taste even better."
