Chapter 16

The first thing Si Nanyu did after walking through the door was announce to Qin Hua that she wouldn’t be drinking. Qin Hua blinked in surprise for a moment, then nodded. “Then we won’t drink.” She pointed off toward the yard. “In that case, go pick some rapeseed greens. They’re at the very edge of the vegetable plot.”

Relieved, Si Nanyu answered, “Okay,” and stepped over the threshold into the vegetable garden Qin Hua had mentioned.

Qin Hua lived alone in a two-story house with a garden, and the so-called vegetable plot was just that garden converted over. The rapeseed greens were even grown under a plastic hoop house for warmth, so they could be enjoyed for a stretch longer.

Besides the greens, plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits were planted there as well, a lush stretch of green that was clearly tended with meticulous care.

Once Si Nanyu had picked the greens with single-minded focus, she looked over with growing suspicion…

From everything Si Nanyu knew of Qin Hua in the past, and from the implications in the exchange between Wen Qingyan and Qin Hua, Qin Hua was a very busy woman. It was doubtful she could have spared the time to keep such a tidy garden.

She gave the greens a quick rinse under the tap, then walked over toward the kitchen and asked casually, “Mom, do you really have time to look after a vegetable garden these days?”

Si Nanyu’s personality hadn’t changed much. When something didn’t add up, she still asked straight out. But the question left Qin Hua flustered.

The ladle clanged against the rim of the wok. The Boiled Meat Slices in Chili Oil were momentarily forgotten as she stared at Si Nanyu, at a loss for words.

Qin Hua and Si Xueyi, Si Nanyu’s father, had been childhood sweethearts. Only, Si Xueyi had tested into a university in Xijing, while Qin Hua had not, staying in their hometown county to attend a vocational college and study accounting.

They were a year apart. When Si Xueyi started his business, Qin Hua worked as his assistant, and once it began to take shape, she became the company’s finance manager. Having struck out early in the world, and with her decisive personality, she had always been brisk and commanding, someone who got things done yesterday.

Moments like this were rare for her.

At least, in the eighteen years of memories Si Nanyu possessed, she had never once seen Qin Hua struck speechless in front of her.

Their eyes met, and even a faint thread of awkwardness seemed to radiate off Qin Hua…

After a few breaths of that awkwardness, Wen Qingyan quietly stepped up beside the two of them. Looking at the fresh rapeseed greens, she asked Qin Hua, “Mom, are you making Nanyu’s favorite Mala Dry Pot?”

“You’ll have to add cilantro, then. Nanyu loves cilantro.”

Like timely rain after a drought, Wen Qingyan rescued the flustered Qin Hua, who snapped back to herself and nodded vigorously, smiling. “Of course. A Mala Dry Pot without cilantro? Unthinkable.”

It was true that Si Nanyu loved Mala Dry Pot, and true that she loved cilantro.

Those two remarks, delivered with such obvious indulgent fondness, left her with no choice but to turn her attention to Wen Qingyan.

There was no helping it. The things Wen Qingyan knew about her were enough to make her blush.

Any lingering stubbornness from moments ago melted away entirely, and instead she fidgeted, glancing shyly at Wen Qingyan.

She felt genuinely regretful about her earlier attitude.

But Wen Qingyan had no time to spare for her right now. She was busy chatting with Qin Hua, and even pulled the woman off toward the kitchen.

Si Nanyu could only watch longingly as the two of them turned their backs to her.

Though Wen Qingyan’s move had stunned her for a moment, Si Nanyu hadn’t forgotten Qin Hua’s reaction earlier. But she remembered nothing, and she wanted to ask yet didn’t dare, afraid of stirring up trouble, afraid of some consequence she couldn’t bear.

And clearly, Wen Qingyan knew everything. Her smoothing things over had made Si Nanyu blush, sure, but the way she took Qin Hua’s side was no act.

Just look at them now, the two of them “hiding” away in the kitchen, whispering about who knew what.

Watching them left a bad taste in Si Nanyu’s mouth. Both of these people were bound together because of her, yet here they were keeping secrets behind her back.

She pursed her lips, reminding herself that with her memory gone, she couldn’t afford to be reckless.

“I’m going to pick some cilantro,” she called toward the kitchen. Wen Qingyan looked back at her first, then Qin Hua, who waved her off a little too eagerly. “Go on! If you love it, pick plenty!”

Only after watching Si Nanyu disappear back into the vegetable plot did Qin Hua let out a breath. “Whew! Just now, I had no idea what to say to her…”

“Then say nothing at all. After all…”

“There’s nothing left to it anyway.” As Wen Qingyan spoke, her gaze stayed fixed on Si Nanyu, betraying little emotion. Qin Hua opened her mouth, then thought better of it.

Instead she said with a sigh, “Who’s to say whether Nanyu losing her memory is a blessing or a curse.”

“Neither a blessing nor a curse.”

“More of a headache.”

Wen Qingyan’s eyes were still locked on Si Nanyu, but now there was feeling in them, annoyance and helplessness. The rapeseed greens in her hands had been picked apart to the point of being inedible.

Qin Hua took them from her and deftly changed the subject with a smile. “Keep tearing at them like that, and there won’t be any greens left for your favorite Boiled Meat Slices.”

“We’re having beef today. Thin and tender.”

“Mom’s cooking has always been superb. Very few other people’s food I can actually stomach.”

Wen Qingyan rarely handed out compliments, so this time she meant every word. She had never cared much about food one way or the other, but Qin Hua’s cooking was genuinely that good, and gradually she had grown to love Boiled Meat Slices. Just not too spicy. Qin Hua knew her tastes and kept the heat mild, letting the aroma carry the dish instead.

Both Si Nanyu and Qin Hua were first-rate cooks, so shared meals like this had always, in the past, been something that genuinely delighted Wen Qingyan.

“A-Yu, come help with the dishes!” Qin Hua’s bellow called Si Nanyu over from her battle with the cilantro.

The Boiled Meat Slices in Chili Oil and the Boneless Chicken Feet were done, along with the Braised Eggplant and the Shredded Pork in Beijing Sauce. Only the Mala Dry Pot and the fall-apart tender ribs hadn’t been touched yet.

Qin Hua pointed at the ribs. “I stewed them exactly the way you like. Come mix the sweet and sour sauce!”

Si Nanyu had learned her sweet and sour sauce from Qin Hua in the first place, but the student had long since surpassed the master. Everyone agreed that Si Nanyu’s version tasted better.

And “everyone” included… Wen Qingyan, Qin Hua, and Si Nanyu herself.

At those words she perked right up. She shot a glance at Wen Qingyan, who stood nearby holding a plate, and cracked her knuckles, eager to show off.

She had made it at home just a few days ago, but Si Nanyu still performed with great enthusiasm, first helping set the finished dishes on the table.

At last, the Mala Dry Pot and the Sweet and Sour Ribs came out together.

Every dish on the table was a favorite of the three of them, but the Sweet and Sour Ribs vanished the fastest. Partly because the portion was small, sure, but also because it was simply delicious, and the sprinkling of sesame seeds made it all the more appetizing.

Si Nanyu knew Wen Qingyan loved them and kept pushing them her way. “Wifey We… uh!”

“Wifey-uh?”

“Si Nanyu, what on earth kind of way is that to address someone!” Qin Hua couldn’t bear to listen anymore, setting down her chopsticks to scold her. Wen Qingyan, seated across the table, showed no reaction at all.

She was used to it. For days now, Si Nanyu had kept flip-flopping like this, yet had never once managed to say the thing she wanted to hear.

“I wasn’t! I just… I just…” At a disadvantage, Si Nanyu darted a glance at Wen Qingyan, whose expression was calm and indifferent as she slowly lifted slices of beef to her mouth. That made it even harder to explain, so she simply changed the subject. “I just… thought I saw Si Jiamu at the gate.”

“Does she live around here?”

She was asking Qin Hua, but her gaze lingered on Wen Qingyan a beat too long, so she missed the flash of panic that crossed Qin Hua’s face.

Done with picking at Si Nanyu for now, Qin Hua glanced this way and that, then appealed to Wen Qingyan. “Little Wen, why don’t you and Nanyu stay over tonight?”

Wen Qingyan, who had been content to stay out of it, finally showed some expression. She frowned at the pleading Qin Hua and… at Si Nanyu, blushing all over again.

She lowered her head and pressed a hand to her forehead…

Honestly, are all mothers and daughters the same? The moment there’s a problem, they change the subject!