Chapter 254: Slowly Savoring
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Gurgle!
Su Wenwu’s stomach started to growl again, and he felt a little shy.
Only then did Su Binglan realize he was hungry. She put down the sesame oil, took a mooncake, and gave it to Su Wenwu. “Here, Third Brother, have a mooncake as a filler first but don’t overeat. Save your appetite for the hotpot later.”
“Okay.” Su Wenwu reached out to take the mooncake but remembered he had not washed his hands yet, so he said, “I’ll go and wash my hands first.”
Shen Qiuhua was on the sidelines preparing the water for Su Wenwu, so he quickly washed his hands, took the mooncake, and started eating. He had never seen such a delectable mooncake before.
He took a big bite and quickly ate, as it was a habit he had developed when he worked out there. He could not control himself.
After biting into the mooncake and chewing it, he thought it was sweet and soft. Moreover, it did not taste like the sweetness back then. It was a fragrant sweetness that lingered in his mouth.
Su Wenwu’s eyes lit up as he ate. He widened his eyes and looked down at the mooncake with an incredulous expression.
‘What kind of insanely delicious mooncake is this? It’s completely different
from what I used to eat.’
The mooncake was very soft, so he almost bit his tongue from taking such a big bite. That was because his family’s previous mooncakes were quite hard, and he might have trouble eating if he did not bite hard enough.
However, he did not need much biting force when he ate the mooncake Su Binglan gave him as it was light and soft. Su Wenwu lowered his gaze and curiously looked at the mooncake’s filling. He noticed it was different because it was yellow.
“What is this, Little Sister?” Su Wenwu resembled a curious child at that moment.
Su Binglan patiently explained, “That’s an egg yolk mooncake. There are other mooncakes with other fillings, too, so you can try them later. Still, you mustn’t overeat just yet. One mooncake will do for now since we’ll have a hotpot soon.”
Su Wenwu was stunned. “E-Egg yolk?”
He never knew one could use egg yolks to make mooncakes. Although he was puzzled, he had to admit that it was delicious. Su Wenwu almost cried as he ate the mooncake because he had never eaten something so delicious.
In the past, he could only eat mooncakes at home during the Mooncake Festival, but the mooncakes were hard. Even so, he thought they were delicious because he rarely ate sweets on weekdays and did not buy cakes or desserts.
Su Wenwu would only buy some during the Chinese New Year, but he would use them to entertain the guests who came to pay new year’s greetings. Of course, he would give his two nephews the leftover desserts if there were some.
Su Wenwu had only eaten sweets once or twice when he was a child, so it had been a long time since he had one. However, he knew he was an adult now that had to stand tall and provide delicious food for the children at home.
“Why are you crying, Third Brother?” Su Binglan asked.
Su Fengmao glared at Su Wenwu. “Everyone’s here, and you’re a man, so why are you crying?”
Su Wenwu wiped his tears and said embarrassedly, “I’m just shocked at how delicious this mooncake is. Father, Mother, where did you buy them? Aren’t these expensive?”
He knew he could not eat any more mooncakes, no matter how delicious they were. Since they tasted so good, they should be very expensive, so he thought of slowly savoring the mooncake. If he had known earlier, he would have only taken a small bite and given the rest to his family.
“Father, Mother, you should eat too. They’re delicious!”
Su Wenwu remembered his parents saving the tastier foods for him when he was a child because they did not want him to starve. Since he had grown up, Su Wenwu wanted to repay their kindness and give all the good food to his parents.
Shen Qiuhua looked at her youngest son and felt a trace of sadness in her heart. “There are more than enough mooncakes for everyone, silly boy. Your sister was the one who made them, after all.”
“Yeah, our family’s conditions have improved, Wenwu. You can eat as much as vou want.” Su Wenxiu also felt a trace of sadness for his younger brother as he recalled some memories.
The Su family lived in poor conditions when he was a child. They could barely even afford white flour buns, let alone mooncakes. He could understand how Su Wenwu felt.
Su Wenxiu also made a lot of jokes when he just returned home. He would be happy as long as he could live a good life.
Su Wenxiu had forgotten how he looked when he ate the mooncakes, as he looked precisely like Su Wenwu did now. Su Wenwu ate many mooncakes over the past few months and grew accustomed to them.
At that time, he knew his family’s conditions had improved and that Su Binglan had made as many mooncakes as he wanted, so he could not control himself.
However, Su Wenwu was different as he had just returned and thought his family had spent a lot of money buying those mooncakes. He thought he had misheard, so he asked, “L-Little Sister made these?”
He remembered that Su Binglan had never cooked, so he wondered when she learned how to make the mooncakes.
Shen Qiuhua said, “Yes, of course, your sister made the mooncakes. She also thought of preparing the hotpot we’re about to try. I can’t explain to you what the hotpot is right now, but you will know once we’ve tried it together. Also, we have many mooncakes, so you can have more for yourself.”
She felt touched because, even though Su Wenwu was hungry when he returned, he still thought about whether or not his parents had eaten. Shen Qiuhua was grateful that her youngest son was so filial.
Su Wenwu dared not believe it, but he continued eating his mooncake when he saw everyone nodding at him. He did not eat in big mouthfuls now. Instead, he took small bites, looking like he could not bear to eat such an expensive-looking thing.
Still, no one laughed at him since they had reacted the same way when they first tried Su Binglan’s cooking. The family felt a trace of sadness for Su Wenwu instead.
He ate in small bites, tasted it, and felt the joy of eating something delicious for the first time. His eyes even started shining.
After eating the mooncake, Su Wenwu noticed his father cooking something in the pot in the yard.
There was a brick formation at the bottom of the pot where one could place firewood. Su Wenwu saw red things piled in a square with a small pot on top of the square. His father had built a small stove in the yard.
“What’s this, Father?”
Su Wenwu had run home in a hurry, so he felt tired. However, he looked at his surroundings and noticed the new things around the house. He became interested and excited, so his tiredness disappeared.
Su Fengmao replied, “These are red bricks. Aren’t they nice?”
Su Wenwu nodded. “Yeah, they are. I never knew such things existed.”
He could not help but sigh when he looked at the red bricks. He was more accustomed to looking at green ones, so he wondered how the red ones would
fair.
‘Hmm, they don’t look painted.’
Su Fengmao was stunned when he looked at Su Wenwu. He suddenly felt like explaining the bricks to his son, saying, “Your sister came up with these red bricks. She taught your Uncle Zhengde how to make them.
“Did you notice the charcoal underneath? That’s also something your sister came up with and taught your Uncle Fengzhi. Since we have a hotpot tonight, we have to use these things..”
