Chapter 50: Eating for Free

Three steaming bowls of brown sugar poached eggs sat on the stool, with several snow-white little tangyuan floating in the syrupy soup.

Fang Mingxi and Tang Yao lifted their heads and jolted in shock when they saw the bowls before them.

W-w-wait, did they really walk into a child kidnapper’s house by mistake?

“Don’t just sit there stunned. Hurry and eat. Xixi, this bowl is yours. Yaoyao, this one’s yours. Xiao Yu, this one’s yours. You three sisters eat together.”

Zhao Hongying urged the two startled girls to dig in.

Tang Yao frantically waved her hands. “No, no, it’s fine. Grandmother Zhao, we really shouldn’t eat this.” There was so much brown sugar and so many eggs, far too precious. She didn’t dare touch it.

Fang Mingxi echoed, “Thank you, Grandmother Zhao, but I’m not hungry yet. We just ate strawberries on the mountain.”

Heavens above, what kind of hospitality was this? Weren’t they just supposed to boil some water? How did it turn into three bowls of poached eggs?

The Brigade Leader’s family really was suspicious, overly enthusiastic from top to bottom. From the Brigade Leader himself, to He Yu, and now even the elders of the family.

Sure, the Brigade Leader’s household lived comfortably, but eggs were still precious back in these days, not something you casually served to guests.

And that bowl was huge. One glance told her there was definitely more than one egg in there.

This family’s warmth was too much. Fang Mingxi truly felt overwhelmed.

Zhang Guihua let out a soft snort at the side. “What are you being shy for? Hurry and eat. Once you’re at Grandmother’s house, treat it like your own home. Go on, eat. We’ll shut the door, no one will know.”

Receiving the command, He Yu immediately got up and ran to close the door. Then she grabbed a bowl of brown sugar eggs, dug out a spoonful, and held it up to Fang Mingxi’s mouth.

“Little sister, eat.”

Everyone stared at Fang Mingxi. She let out an awkward laugh. It felt like if she didn’t eat this egg today, she’d never be allowed out that door.

She opened her mouth and bit into the poached egg.

They had used a lot of brown sugar, and the egg was soft-boiled. The moment she bit into it, the half-set yolk slid right into the bottom of the bowl.

The sweet syrup paired with the thumb-sized tangyuan and soft-boiled egg made Fang Mingxi’s eyes light up instantly.

She knew about brown sugar eggs, but in her previous life, she had rarely eaten this combination. Eating it now felt unexpectedly novel, and at least the flavor wasn’t disappointing.

Before she realized it, she had already eaten half the egg.

He Yu handed her the bowl to continue eating on her own, then turned toward Tang Yao, who was still holding her bowl but too hesitant to take a bite.

“Yaoyao, hurry and eat. You two brought me to pick so many mushrooms today, I haven’t even properly thanked you yet. Go on, eat. Otherwise, I’ll feel too embarrassed to ask you to take me mushroom picking again.”

Tang Yao swallowed hard. Under Fang Mingxi’s encouraging gaze, she finally lifted her spoon toward her mouth.

She didn’t know the complicated situation between Fang Mingxi’s family and the Brigade Leader’s family. She only felt this was the first time someone from Maple Leaf Brigade had shown her genuine kindness.

Not only did they not look down on her, they even made her brown sugar eggs.

Since arriving here, it was the first time Tang Yao had eaten something so good, not to mention brown sugar, such a rare luxury.

Her eyes reddened as she finally took a bite under the group’s expectant gazes.

Seeing her two friends eating, He Yu happily grabbed her own bowl. Before eating, she first asked her grandmother and the others if they wanted any, and only after they declined did she return to her seat to enjoy it with ease.

With the three sisters eating peacefully, Zhang Guihua and Zhao Hongying returned to the kitchen, feeling satisfied.

Inside the kitchen, the two rummaged through everything they had brought back for the New Year and laid out all the best ingredients.

Stir-fried cured meat, sun-dried mushrooms, and even the pork ribs bought from the supply and marketing cooperative two days ago, they pulled everything out to stew together.

When He Daixing returned from the commune, he saw unfamiliar guests in the house. Xiao Yu was grinning so wide her eyes had disappeared, while the other two girls sat stiff and nervous.

He paused, wondering if he had walked into the wrong home. Otherwise, why on earth was Xixi sitting in his house?

He Yu, however, was even more enthusiastic than before. Once she saw he had returned, she ran over and threw her arms around him. “Grandfather, you’re back. Did you bring the big meat bun I wanted?”

He Daixing withdrew his gaze from Fang Mingxi and Tang Yao, nodded, and pulled a bag of buns from his basket.

“Of course. I bought the last few buns from the state-owned restaurant. But we’re about to eat dinner now. Xiao Yu, eat after the meal, then you and your little sisters can have them together.”

He Yu understood. She hadn’t planned to eat the bun right away anyway. Holding the still-warm bun, she sat at the table, waiting eagerly for dinner to begin.

Zhang Guihua came out of the kitchen carrying a plate of meat. Seeing He Daixing blocking the doorway, she shoved him inward.

“Go, go. Don’t stand there in the way. Put your things down and come eat.”

Suppressing his curiosity, He Daixing washed his hands in the kitchen, then carried out a plate of erkuai.

“Xixi, Yaoyao, did you two go up the mountain together today? Xiao Yu said earlier she wanted you to take her mushroom picking. Did you find any?”

Fang Mingxi glanced to the side, and Tang Yao gathered her courage and answered, “Brigade Leader Grandfather, Xiao Yu came to find us this morning to look for rare mushrooms, but we didn’t find any. We only picked wood ear mushrooms, small garlic shoots, and a big pile of wild strawberries.”

“On the way back down, Xiao Yu asked us to come look at her picture books, and then Grandmother and Great-Grandmother asked us to stay for dinner.”

She had tried to refuse, not like they purposely wanted to impose. They simply couldn’t withstand such overwhelming hospitality.

He Daixing nodded, fully understanding, then looked at Fang Mingxi with a gentle smile. “Xixi, since you came to grandfather’s house for dinner, did you let your grandparents know?”

“I told them, I told them. I ran over earlier to tell Xixi and Yaoyao’s grandmother. They know they’re eating with us.” He Yu chimed in proudly.

Fang Mingxi gave an awkward smile. She had planned to slip away with Tang Yao after finishing the bowl of brown sugar eggs, but He Yu had stared at them like a hawk to prevent any escape.

The moment they showed any sign of leaving, He Yu rushed to open the door, then sprinted to Tang Yao and Fang Mingxi’s house to announce they weren’t returning for lunch today.

Such a bold, act-first, report-later behavior made Fang Mingxi unsure if she would get scolded by her grandparents when she got back.

Back in these days, every child knew basic tact. Staying at someone else’s home at noon and refusing to leave, only thick-skinned kids like them would end up in such a situation.

Hearing that Fang Mingxi’s grandparents already knew her whereabouts, He Daixing finally relaxed.

He had been worried that Xiao Yu, careless as always, had taken them out early in the morning and forgotten to send them back. If their families didn’t know, they would panic and search the entire mountain.

And if they couldn’t find them, they might even rush deep into the mountains out of desperation. That would be dangerous.

Now that the adults on the other side were informed, they could finally eat with peace of mind.

Not long after He Daixing sat down, Zhang Guihua walked in carrying a large basin of meat soup.

She set it down in front of her and called out, “The dishes are ready. Let’s eat.”