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Chapter 298: Chapter 288: The War at the Dinner Table
Shen Yunfang lifted the curtain and entered the east room, pausing in surprise. She hadn’t expected that even though she, the hostess, hadn’t sat down at the table, the meal had already begun on this side.
It wasn’t really a meal yet, as the three adults at the table hadn’t moved their chopsticks, but two kids were eating with gusto—no need to look to know they were Qiu Fengmei’s Eldest and Second Nie.
"Yunfang, you’re finally here. We’ve been salivating, nearly drooling, waiting for you, and you didn’t come over. The kids couldn’t stand it and just started eating," Qiu Fengmei explained quickly as she saw Shen Yunfang come in, knowing that her children starting the meal early was a bit impolite.
Shen Yunfang forced a smile and politely said, "We’re all family here, there’s no need to be so formal. If you’re hungry, just eat. Why stand on ceremony?"
Qiu Fengmei slapped her thigh, adding, "Exactly, I dislike all that fuss. We’re not strangers here; why make a big deal out of it? If you’re hungry, why not eat?"
Liu Shuli shot her a glance from the corner of her eye, then looked away, deciding not to engage with someone this crude and unreasonable. But with her gaze, she signaled to her own daughter to definitely not follow their example.
Wu Sister curled her lips. Some people were really fools who couldn’t understand the simplest things. But for the sake of a peaceful meal, she decided not to lower herself to argue with such idiots.
"Yunfang, come on, we’ve been busy all morning. Hurry up and sit down, take a break. The kids have been fussing over the dishes you cooked; they’re waiting for you to start the feast."
"Really? As long as it’s aromatic, then eat a lot when it’s time." Shen Yunfang said with a smile as she sat down. She then picked up the warm pot and poured a drink into the cups in front of everyone.
"What is this?" Both the adults and children at the table were curious about the pale purple liquid in their cups.
"This is the grape juice I made myself from wild grapes I picked in the mountains last autumn. It’s quite tasty; you all should try it."
"Hmm, it does smell pretty good," Wu Sister said, sniffing at the rim of her cup.
The children, having no reservations, were already attracted to the sweet and sour scent from the cups, taking sip after sip along the rim.
Even Xiaoyu, the eldest child of Wu Sister’s family, began sipping from her cup.
"Don’t just drink the grape juice; let’s all pick up our chopsticks and eat," Shen Yunfang hastened to invite everyone to start the meal. However, the children’s resistance to beverages was always the lowest. Qiu Fengmei’s two rambunctious girls stopped eating their meal and just held on to their cups of juice. Shen Yunfang had no choice but to say, "There’s plenty of food, but we only have this much grape juice, roughly one cup per person. Once it’s gone, there won’t be any left," indicating with the warm pot that she had shaken a bit.
Indeed, the warm pot wasn’t very large, and with ten people at the table, counting both adults and children, the pot would be empty after one round of servings. (Pangpang, who was sleeping on the kang, was not included.)
"Ah, it’s free from the mountains, why didn’t you prepare more?" Qiu Fengmei, who had drank more than half of her cup in one gulp, reluctantly set down the little that was left after hearing Shen Yunfang’s words.
"What are you talking about? It’s not as easy as you make it seem. Why don’t you go pick them yourself in the mountains?" Wu Sister jabbed her. In these mountains, there were wild grapes too. But nobody liked them much—they were terribly sour, and only the kids would occasionally pick some to play with. Nobody thought to take them home for other uses.
Unperturbed, Shen Yunfang laughed and served Wu Sister and Qiu Fengmei some food with her chopsticks, "Let’s focus on eating today. Hurry up and have your dishes; look at the children. If you are slow, there might be nothing left for you."
The discord was quietly resolved like that, and everyone started to eat happily again.
Of course, it would have been even more harmonious if only Erni from Qiu Fengmei’s family hadn’t kept grabbing food with her hands.
Fortunately, after Erni tasted the flavor of fries dipped in ketchup, she barely touched other dishes and focused on eating fries instead.
The other kids were puzzled to see her enjoying the potatoes so much. With meat on the table, why would anyone choose potatoes? Even if these potato fries were deep-fried in oil, they couldn’t be tastier than meat.
Xiaoyu was the more perceptive one. Seeing how joyfully Erni was eating, she picked up a fry and attempted to dip it into the ketchup. However, Erni had already pulled the ketchup dish entirely in front of herself. When Xiaoyu tried to dip into the ketchup, Erni shifted her small body aside and shielded it protectively, clearly indicating that she would not share the ketchup with anyone else.
With the fry in hand, Xiaoyu froze, glanced up at the adults, pondered for a moment, and then, deciding not to dip, stuffed the fry directly into her mouth.
No one at the dining table noticed this little scene, but Tingting saw everything.
Tingting, the same age as Erni and also quite the little tyrant at home, wouldn’t stand for her older sister being bullied. She sprung into action, pulled Erni away, and passed the ketchup dish to her own big sister.
Initially, Erni hadn’t expected anyone to grab the dish from her, so she lost it to Tingting in a moment of inattention. When she realized what had happened, she pounced like a little tiger.
Tingting refused to back down either, planting her feet firm and blocking Erni with her body. It didn’t take long for the two little girls to start fighting.
By the time the adults noticed, it had escalated to a full-on battle between the children. Of course, to be more accurate, it was Tingting and Erni tugging at the ketchup dish, while the other children tried to calm them down.
"Hey, what’s going on, what’s all this? Oh, my, Tingting, why are you so aggressive? Erni is younger than you, why can’t you be a little kinder to her?" Qiu Fengmei, seeing her daughter unable to win the tussle, inwardly cursed her bad luck.
As the host, Shen Yunfang couldn’t really side with anyone. It was best to quickly stop the children’s quarrel.
"No one grab anymore, give the dish to Auntie." Shen Yunfang promptly took the source of the trouble away.
Watching the dish being taken away, both children glared at each other furiously and then burst into tears in their mothers’ arms.
"Don’t cry, nobody cry. Tell Auntie what exactly happened." Shen Yunfang was somewhat exasperated but still mustered up the utmost patience to pacify the children.
"Wah..."
Just as she was trying to soothe these two, Pangpang, who had been sleeping on the heated brick bed, was also startled into crying by their loud voices.
"Yunfang, what happened, why are the kids crying? I could hear Pangpang crying too."
The other room was only a few steps away, and Li Hongjun, thinking it was his son crying, rushed over with big strides.
"I don’t know. Tingting and Erni started fighting over something, and now they’re all crying. Our son joined in after hearing the others cry." In front of another mother, she didn’t want to admit that her child had been frightened.
Li Hongjun picked up his son from the brick bed, rocking and comforting him.
Pangpang was just upset about being woken up by the noise. Seeing his father come to soothe him, he calmed down after a while, yawning with a look of not having had enough sleep.
After Li Hongjun calmed his child, he then asked what had happened. Tingting and Erni, who were still crying, were intimidated by his stern face and dared not cry anymore. Then, bit by bit, Tingting relayed the gist of the story.
"Oh my, I thought it was something serious. It’s just over some food. It’s not even something precious. Can’t your aunt just make you another dish of it? Why cry, look at you, so spineless," Qiu Fengmei scolded her daughter in her arms without mincing words.
Shen Yunfang was so overwhelmed by the day’s events that she could practically ignore her words, remaining unmoved.
It was Li Hongjun, however, who frowned and instructed his wife, "Yunfang, since the children love it so much, why don’t you go and get a few small butterflies and give each of the kids their own little plate? That way, they’ll each have their own and won’t fight over it."
