Chương 12: Chapter 12 A Poor Couple Has a Hundred Sorrows

Dịch giả: 549690339

It was obvious that Mom had only fried up two eggs, and she gave half of them to her. She was certain that Mom wouldn't touch the leftovers later.

Her space was filled with too many items, and it seemed a waste to keep them all. It would be better to find a way to take them out, but doing so would inevitably alert Dad and Mom. They would definitely want to find out where these things came from.

Lu Yun pondered while eating.

If possible, she truly didn't want to reveal the secret of the space.

The very nature of a secret is that it's unknown to everyone but oneself. And even if she shared this major secret with Dad and Mom, wouldn't such an incredible circumstance inspire fear in them, making them think she was a monster?

It seemed better not to speak of the secret of the space.

Yet, she couldn't bear to watch her parents struggle while she herself possessed an abundance of materials, nor was she willing to do so.

Lu Yun furrowed her brows, sinking into extreme distress.

If nothing else worked, she would just secretly take out the items and then act as if she knew nothing at all.

After thinking things through without success, Lu Yun finally steeled her heart. Since her parents would be suspicious regardless of whether she took the items out or not, she might as well let them suspect. She decided to play a bigger game: to take out ready-to-eat food first. Ready-to-eat food wouldn't last long before spoiling, and her parents surely wouldn't stand by and watch it go bad and moldy, would they?

Once she decided to do it, Lu Yun didn't hesitate for too long. She quickly finished her half-bowl of dilute rice porridge. Then, she took seven or eight steaming hot, big meat buns with thin skins and generous fillings from her space and put them in a thick porcelain soup bowl. She sneakily avoided her mother's gaze and placed it on the dining table in the main room.

When Lu Aiguo arrived home, the meal was already set in the main room. He put down his hoe, washed his hands, and entered the house. Immediately, he noticed that on the table, besides a plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes, a plate of pickled radish, and a bowl of thin porridge in front of each person, there was also a small half-bucket of leftover porridge and a basket containing grapes, as well as an attention-catching large bowl filled with pale, tender big meat buns.

A smile crept into Lu Aiguo's eyes.

Having a family felt different from being alone. But soon, he became puzzled, "Where did these buns come from? Who got the white flour?"

"I don't know either?" Xia Yuan was truly worried about these suddenly appearing buns.

"You don't know?" Lu Aiguo was surprised and joked, "Could they have grown legs and walked onto our dining table?"

"I've been at home all morning and didn't see anyone come to visit. It was only when I set the table for the meal that I noticed the buns—eight whole ones, still piping hot. When you pick them up, you can even see the oil sifting through from the bottom. These days, let alone white flour, which family can afford to use so much meat to make buns? And to silently bring so many to our house?"

Xia Yuan was genuinely frightened.

Could it really be that the meat buns had grown legs and ran over here?

Lu Aiguo was also baffled and asked again to confirm, "Are you sure you didn't see anyone come in this morning?"

"Not at all. When I got up and went into the main room, I didn't see this bowl of buns. Later, after cooking and picking grapes, when I entered the main room again, that's when I discovered it was placed on the table—in our own bowl, too. But from start to finish, I didn't see anyone enter the door!"

Who could it be?

Lu Aiguo fell into deep thought, going over all the people close to him one by one, but still, he didn't find anyone whose family could just whip out a large meat bun worth eight units of money and send it over.

"Daddy, you're back." Lu Yun ran in, unsurprised to see both her father and mother with worried looks on their faces, and she couldn't help but snigger to herself, "It's a big steamed bun, it smells so good, Daddy, Mommy, I want to eat."

Xia Yun and Lu Aiguo looked at Lu Yun, who was practically drooling at the sight, and exchanged a glance. Lu Aiguo gritted his teeth, reached out for a meat bun, and handed it to Lu Yun, as if talking to himself but also as if addressing Xia Yuan and Lu Yun.

"Eat it, this isn't called a steamed bun, this is called a meat bun. No matter who brought it, we've got to accept this kindness, so let the child eat."

Lu Yun took a big bite from it, hitting the meat filling right away, mmm, delicious.

"Daddy, Mommy, there's meat in this big meat bun, it's so tasty, you should eat too." Lu Yun chewed on the bun in her mouth while extending her hand to bring the meat bun to Lu Aiguo's lips.

Lu Aiguo squatted down, looking at the meat bun glistening with grease, the aroma of the filling making his mouth water, and he felt a warmth in his heart as he began to smile openly.

"Daddy, quick, take a bite." Under Lu Yun's urging, Lu Aiguo finally took a small bite and chewed, the flavors bursting in his mouth almost made him want to swallow his tongue along with it.

Lu Yun glanced proudly at Lu Aiguo's blissful expression. The bun was specially made by an heir of a century-old brand, brought in with an assistant to the venue she provided. It was made with freerange pork, delicious and absolutely hygienic. Of course, in addition to pork-filled buns, she also had beef and lamb-filled ones in her space...

She smugly turned and offered the bun to her mother, insisting that she also take a bite, and then she cradled the bun, eating it bite by bite, while still calling them to help themselves.

Perhaps the meat bun was just too delicious, or perhaps it was the attitude that they had already eaten it anyway, but Lu Aiguo picked up another piece of the bun and gave it to Xia Yuan, "Eat."

"How about I just eat half? Such a big bun, half will be enough." Xia Yuan swallowed, the bite of the meat bun she had just taken was so tasty. For many years, she had been living on a diet where meat was a rarity, available to her maybe once a year, and none of that meat ever left her longing as that single bite had.

"No way, I can eat two pieces myself, so Mommy must eat at least two as well." Lu Yun protested from the side, deciding that if her mother wouldn't eat a little more, she'd bring out even more meat buns at lunch.

"Let's do as Xiaoyun says, we each eat two while they're hot. I'll take the remaining two to Second Uncle," Lu Aiguo made the final decision.

"Then let's all sit down quickly and eat."

Xia Yuan looked at Lu Aiguo and then at her daughter, nodding her head helplessly, but in her heart, she decided to only eat one piece and save the other for Lu Aiguo. As the main laborer of the family, how could two pieces be enough for him?

She didn't know that Lu Aiguo, too, planned to eat just one piece and save the rest for her next meal. In his eyes, Xia Yuan was too skinny and needed to be fed well; he was a man and could withstand eating less.

Both harboring their own thoughts, they ate their porridge quickly but ate their meat buns slowly, savoring the taste. Once they had each managed to eat one big meat bun, neither reached for more.

It was the same with the plate of stir-fried tomatoes and eggs. After a long time of passing the dish back and forth, most of it ended up with Lu Yun, with neither of the parents having more than a couple of bites. In the end, more than half the dish remained on the table, whereas the pickled radish had vanished without a trace.

Lu Yun watched and leaned on the table, sighing.

This was all due to poverty.

No wonder it's said that among the poor, the troubles of the married are many. In this world, how many couples living in poverty can still think so considerately of each other?

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