Chapter 23

If one had to say which feature made Song Anan and her nephew Song Linchuan look the most alike, it would have to be their eyes.

Song Anan had big, round, bright eyes that gave her an innocent and cute look. Song Linchuan's eyes were somewhere between almond and round shaped eyes, possessing both their characteristics.

Due to their differing personalities, their similarity was not very noticeable on a regular basis. But at this moment, as they both revealed the same innocent, expectant gaze, the resemblance was striking.

Looking at the reactions of aunt and nephew, Pei Kuang couldn't help but chuckle. Song Anan in particular unconsciously swallowed, clearly eager to eat.

It was obvious she really loved eating.

He laughed softly. "Alright, let's make dumplings then."

[Hahaha, this aunt and nephew pair are so funny, you can really see how much they love eating dumplings!]

[Sorry for the laughter, my brother did say before that he really loves eating dumplings, all kinds of fillings.]

[Wah, I didn't expect my auntie to love eating dumplings too! As expected, like auntie, like nephew!]

[Hehe, I've also been loving eating dumplings recently, doesn't this mean my brother is going to come marry me?]

[Girl upstairs, how much have you had to drink, talking like this?]

[Dying of laughter, I can see Pei Kuang's helplessness and amusement, but why does that "let's make dumplings" feel a bit indulgent?]

[I was so distracted earlier I forgot to ask, why did Pei Kuang suddenly show up with luggage, is he going to stay over?]

[Pei Kuang said "guests should not overstay", so he's probably a flying guest for the show, came to visit.]

[Huh? If he's a flying guest, shouldn't every group have one? I just took a look in other livestream rooms, how come none of the other groups have a guest?]

[That's normal, this is an old tradition of the show, previous seasons also had "relative and friend teams" come help out, but separately. The other groups will definitely have some later.]

[Ahhhhh, earlier I was still guessing who Song Anan and Song Linchuan might have invited as friends, many people guessed Pei Kuang, didn't expect it to really be him!]

...

After agreeing to cook, Pei Kuang didn't even put down his luggage before heading straight for the kitchen.

Song Anan and Song Linchuan also readily offered to help with preparations.

Song Linchuan hesitated for a moment. "Then, I'll knead the dough."

Just add some flour and water, if it doesn't work, add more flour.

After trying a few times, it should come together.

Without thinking too much, Pei Kuang handed the flour to Song Linchuan to work on.

"My knife skills should be decent, I can cut up ingredients," Song Anan also volunteered.

To increase credibility, she thought for a moment and earnestly added, "I've practiced before."

Before Pei Kuang could say anything, Song Linchuan beside her reacted with surprise. "Auntie, since when have you practiced knife skills?"

As far as he knew, after his aunt had admitted she truly lacked talent for cooking, she had completely given up struggling.

How could she have gone to practice knife skills?

Song Anan pursed her lips, seeming a little hesitant. "...During lab class."

What she actually wanted to say was during dissection.

That should count as knife skills too.

At least when handling that piece of beef, Song Anan was confident she could cut it well. "In your medical school lab classes, you still have to practice..."

Song Linchuan stopped mid-sentence, as if suddenly realizing something, and shut his mouth awkwardly.

[Holy crap! It's what I'm thinking right, shocked.jpg]

[Damn, don't tell me auntie means during dissection class, this is...]

[I have heard clinical medicine students practice on some small experimental animals during dissection class.]

[Uh...purely curious, it's really only small animals?]

[Should just be small animals, after all auntie only just finished sophomore year.]

[Humbly asking, how does Song Anan manage to make such shocking statements with a straight face every time?]

Pei Kuang lightly coughed. "No rush, let me see if there's a meat grinder, then we won't need to cut."

Song Anan responded with an "Oh", and didn't insist further.

Pei Kuang searched the kitchen and indeed did not find a meat grinder. He went to ask the director's team, but they didn't have one either. Only then did he give up.

However, in the end Song Anan did not get a chance to showcase her "knife skills".

Because the dumpling filling had to be minced. Pei Kuang held a cleaver and manually minced the filling on a cutting board.

Song Linchuan on the other hand had no idea how to start with the dough.

Should he add water first, or flour first?

Finally, he glanced in the direction of the cameraman, then decisively grabbed the flour, took the mixing bowl, and headed out.

[Huh? There's space in the kitchen, why did Song Linchuan go out?]

[Probably because the mincing noise was too loud.]

Shortly after, Song Linchuan walked back looking rather awkward.

"I kneaded the dough, take a look if it's ok."

Pei Kuang stopped what he was doing. Together with Song Anan they looked over.

The cameraman following them finally turned the camera to the bowl in Song Linchuan's hands.

Pei Kuang: "..."

Song Anan: "..."

So much!

[Hahahahaha, what is Song Linchuan doing, why did he knead so much dough, did he just dump the whole bag of flour in?]

[Damn, a whole bowlful of dough! How much flour and water did he add!]

[Hahahaha, I can roughly imagine Song Linchuan's kneading process, added too much flour, ok add some water, seems like too much water, no problem, add more flour again, and repeat...]

[I'm dead, the description upstairs is so vivid, I can totally picture it happening.]

[Uh...finally understand why Song Linchuan went outside earlier.]

Song Linchuan was also very embarrassed.

He didn't know why either, the dough just kept getting bigger.

After witnessing the aunt and nephew's unreliability in cooking, Pei Kuang personally took care of every subsequent step, finally avoiding any further mishaps.

After toiling for half a day, the three finally sat down to a meal of steaming hot dumplings.

One had to say, the beef and onion filling made by Pei Kuang was quite skillfully done.

Song Anan took a bite, and her eyes lit up.

The dumplings were truly delicious, smooth, chewy, and bursting with juice.

After all that effort, the three of them were quite hungry.

For a time, no one at the table spoke, all busily wolfing down food.

After eating their fill, Song Linchuan couldn't help sighing. "Delicious for sure, but a real hassle to make."

Song Anan nodded emphatically in agreement.

It really was quite troublesome.

[Hahaha, Pei Kuang did basically everything right, yet they still find it troublesome?]

[Laughing so hard, the issue is they were getting in the way the whole time!]

[Pei Kuang: Without you two, I would've finished long ago.]

After dinner, there was still daylight left, so the three chatted idly in the living room.

Of course, it was mainly Song Linchuan and Pei Kuang talking.

Song Anan nestled on the nearby sofa listening to their conversation.

It was through their chat that she learned why Pei Kuang had suddenly shown up here.

He was a flying guest for the show, and the "relative and friend team" for her and Song Linchuan's group.

There were three rooms in this yard. Song Anan and Song Linchuan each stayed in one room, leaving one room next to Song Anan's.

Perfect for Pei Kuang to stay in.

Before bed, Pei Kuang opened his luggage to unpack.

After simply tidying up, he took a change of clothes and went to shower.

The best thing about the yard Song Anan had chosen was that each room had its own bathroom.

After washing up and blow drying his hair, Pei Kuang came out of the bathroom and was surprised to see the bag of snacks on the bed.

Earlier before showering, he had unpacked it from his luggage.

While packing yesterday, on a spur of the moment whim, he had gone late at night to the 24h convenience store outside their complex, and bought this bag of snacks purely from memory.

They were all things he had seen Song Anan eat that day.

Pei Kuang laughed softly to himself. It was probably a guilty conscience.

After all, that day he had "snatched" away the potato chips the little auntie loved most. But now that he had brought them, there was no reason not to give them.

Carrying the bag of snacks, Pei Kuang walked out of the room.

Once outside, he realized it was late and not suitable to knock on the little auntie's door.

So he planned to first leave the snacks in the living room, and bring it up again tomorrow.

Coincidentally, just as he entered the living room, Song Anan happened to walk over from the water dispenser carrying a cup of water.

The two ran right into each other.

"Getting water?" Pei Kuang said.

"Heated up some milk," Song Anan held up the cup in her hand. "Want some?"

Pei Kuang shook his head with a smile. "Thank you, I'm good."

Then he held out the snack bag to her. "I came in such a rush, didn't bring anything for you guys. This is for you."

Only then did Song Anan notice he was holding something.

When she saw the contents of the bag, her eyes lit up instantly.

"I saw you really liked eating these last time, so I bought some." Pei Kuang smiled.

Song Anan immediately recalled the sneaky eating incident from that day, and was utterly embarrassed.

She accepted the snacks, unsure of how to respond, and could only mutter a thanks before hurriedly retreating back to her room.

One really shouldn't do bad things after all.

This was Song Anan's strongest thought before falling asleep.

*

The next day, 7:30am.

Song Anan awoke to the sound of an urgent alarm clock ringtone.

Still groggy, she turned off her phone alarm and looked around the unfamiliar room, feeling a little disoriented.

She suddenly felt unsure of where she was.

Having done farm work all day yesterday, she was extremely tired. She didn't expect to sleep this long in one go.

Song Anan sat in bed for a good few minutes before slowly regaining some clarity.

She got out of bed, changed out of her pajamas first, then opened the curtains and made her bed before leaving the room.

Seeing that the door to Song Linchuan's room across from her was tightly shut, she guessed he probably wasn't awake yet.

Wanting to let him rest a while longer, she tiptoed quietly past his door.

Song Linchuan had truly been exhausted yesterday. He basically handled all the heavy labor.

In the afternoon he had even pushed the wooden cart, making countless trips between the fields and grandma's house.

The fresh, crisp morning air in the countryside still seemed to carry the scent of morning dew.

Song Anan stood under the eaves, took a deep breath, then did a big morning stretch.

Then she started her daily morning wakeup routine.

Do a radio calisthenics workout.

It could both invigorate her and get some exercise in, killing two birds with one stone.

"One two three four, two two three four..."

The cadence she chanted was soft and melodious, but her limb movements were standardized and even somewhat stiff.

Yet Song Anan herself didn't feel anything was off at all. She properly completed the entire radio calisthenics routine.

Phew~ finally feeling a bit more awake.

Just as she turned around however, seeing the person not far away, she froze in place.

The two made eye contact.

Song Anan's previously somewhat sluggish mind instantly regained clarity.

She suddenly remembered there was another person in the house besides her and Song Linchuan.

Barely holding back laughter, Pei Kuang greeted her. "Good morning."

Song Anan's face instantly turned red. She stiffly returned the greeting. "...Morning."

But what made her even more despairing was that she saw the cameraman behind Pei Kuang.

[Damn, my auntie is just too adorable!]

[Ahhhhhhhh, so early in the morning and I've already been killed with cuteness by auntie, isn't this exactly the goose girl in my dreams?]

[Hahahahaha, gotta say, auntie's limbs were really out of sync just now.]

[Wahhhhh, I've seen uncoordinated limbs before, but never uncoordinated limbs that were still so cute!]

...