Chapter 100.2 — New Year Eve’s Dinner

Edited by: Larkspur

The lid of Su Yanyi’s eyes twitched. Qin Jiran patted little Su Nuo’s head before going into the kitchen and making breakfast for Yanyi. Of course, this included little Su Nuo’s too. Ever since Qin Jiran and Su Yanyi were on break at home, little Su Nuo came over every day for food. Who let Uncle’s cooking skills be so great? There were all sorts of pastries and snacks too. Just the thought of them made him drool.

After breakfast, many people came to the Su Family for New Year’s. Being the third generation, Su Yanyi and Qin Jiran naturally needed to show up. The two held little Su Nuo’s hands, like a family of three, and walked into the main residence. Su Yanmo who had been greeting the guests found them to be familiar. He was clearly his son but why did he feel like his son was from another family?

He’d not argue had his son liked Yanyi, his Aunty. But why did he like Qin Jiran, this Uncle, more? When he realized that Yanyi cared more about Qin Jiran than him, her Elder Brother, he had endured this and told himself not to be envious. But now that his son felt the same towards Qin Jiran, he was in a dilemma!

“Nuo Nuo, come here.” Su Yanmo gestured for him to come over. Little Su Nuo was well-behaved and he immediately ran over with his short legs. He threw himself into Su Yanmo’s arms.

“Daddy, Nuo Nuo ate a lot of delicious food at Uncle’s place. He’s amazing and can cook so many tasty dishes.” Clearly, little Su Nuo didn’t understand his father’s jealousy and happily described how his breakfast went to him. Little Su Nuo’s biggest wish was to be able to eat food cooked by his Uncle.

Su Yanyi and Qin Jiran, along with Su Yanmo, welcomed the guests. They sat down but didn’t say anything. Old Man Su, Mother Su, and Father Su would randomly call someone among the three over. Some had long introductions while the others had shorter ones. Some were more affectionate while others were more indifferent. From their different tones, one could tell how intimate they were with each other. Although this was a short greeting, this represented the connections Su Family had in A City and in the country.

Regarding their connections abroad, foreigners don’t celebrate Chinese New Year. Of course, some foreign friends would call and greet them, especially Su Yanmo who was in charge of numerous businesses abroad in recent years. He received calls from many countries. Qin Jiran and Su Yanyi listened to it and at the same time thought it was interesting. They greatly admired Su Yanmo, especially Qin Jiran. This was the first time he found out that Elder Brother spoke several languages!

“Daddy, how do you know so many languages? Nuo Nuo doesn’t even understand.” After listening to his father attend the phone calls, he asked him in confusion.

“Once you learn the languages, you will understand.” Su Yanmo patted little Su Nuo’s head. Since he is his son, he needed to take on the Su Family’s responsibilities. He would have to learn numerous extra things that normal children wouldn’t have to, just like him and Yanyi. Although it would be quite tiring, it would fill his life with color and excitement.

“Will daddy teach Nuo Nuo?” Little Su Nuo asked, still uncertain.

“Yes, daddy and the teacher will both teach you. Does Nuo Nuo want to learn?” Little Su Nuo was five years old now. It was clearly suitable for him to learn languages now. The younger a child starts to learn a language, the easier it is to understand and embrace the language.

“I want to. When Nuo Nuo learns the languages, I will be able to understand what daddy is saying.” Little Su Nuo nodded happily, clearly very willing.

“Ok, then be good and learn.” At little Su Nuo’s words, Su Yanmo was happy with the result. It seems like his son regarded him highly.

In the afternoon, they prepared dinner. Everyone was going to eat together. There was a lot to prepare but Mother Su personally cooked this time. Without a doubt, Qin Jiran became the main chef. He and Mother Su made dinner together.

The four generations of the Su Family lived under the same roof, but there were only seven of them in reality. Although there were some relatives who came to visit them, they wouldn’t stay here to celebrate the New Year. Therefore, they just needed to prepare dinner for seven. However, Qin Jiran and Mother Su still planned on cooking twelve warm dishes, four cold dishes, two bowls of soup and a certain amount of desserts. Plus, they would make the food according to the Su Family’s taste. No matter whether it was Qin Jiran or Mother Su, they were really considerate.

Su Yanyi, being the relaxed and carefree person, was called into the kitchen by Mother Su to help out. Although Su Yanyi had a cold face, she didn’t reject her either. A cold face didn’t mean she was unhappy. One could only say that she was normally expressionless.

“Yanyi, you should learn how to cook. Mother has never tried out your cooking skills.” Mother Su said as she chatted with Su Yanyi. Actually, she was a bit embarrassed. Her daughter didn’t know how to do anything but her Son-in-Law did. Although she was really happy that her daughter had found a man who could do everything, she was embarrassed of her daughter!

But the two had strange expressions on after they heard Mother Su say this.

“I will.” Su Yanyi said seriously. It was only two words but Mother Su felt as if she had heard wrong.

“You said you would? What do you know? Can you cook? Have you cooked before?” Mother Su couldn’t be any more surprised than now. Was Yanyi saying she knew how to cook? How was this possible!? It wasn’t that she looked down on her daughter but that Yanyi never went near the kitchen since she was a child. Don’t mention cooking, servants would even serve her a warm cup of water!

“Mhm.” Su Yanyi calmly nodded. It was just cooking. Did her mother need to act so surprised? Mother wasn’t calm enough but she wasn’t like her Elder Brother either. She didn’t know who she resembled though. Oh, perhaps her grandfather?!

“You believe this?” Mother Su thought that she had heard wrong, so she decided to tell someone else about this. But when she saw Qin Jiran’s calm expression, she knew that she wasn’t hallucinating or anything. Without waiting for Qin Jiran to respond, she exclaimed in an incredulous tone. “You knew that she could cook? Did she cook for you?”

Oh, this wasn’t acceptable. How could she have never eaten food cooked by her daughter? She was so jealous and envious of him!

Mother Su glared at her Son-in-Law. What should she do? She was envious of her Son-in-Law!

“Yes!” Qin Jiran mimicked Su Yanyi’s actions and nodded his head calmly but his eyes were smiling. His Mother-in-Law’s lively personality was quite different from Yanyi’s. If he wasn’t mistaken, his Mother-in-Law was looking at him with jealousy.

Heh. It seems like only he had eaten food cooked by Yanyi. He felt incredibly blessed!

“Unacceptable! Yanyi, we’re celebrating the New Year today. Since you can cook for your husband, you should cook for your mother too, right?” When Mother Su shifted her gaze to Su Yanyi, she looked miserable. Su Yanyi felt her scalp going numb at this sight!

Mother, your gazes only work on father. She could only give her a discount here.

“Then I will be in charge of cooking the rice.” Su Yanyi calmly explained. This was the price after the discount!

Qin Jiran held in his laughter by the side and Mother Su immediately looked upset. She negotiated and said, “No. You need to cook at least four dishes. Cook two non-vegetarian dishes and two vegetarian ones!”

“I’m only cooking two dishes!” Su Yanyi looked at her mother and negotiated as well.

“Three!” Even an extra one would be great!

“Only two, otherwise, nothing!” Su Yanyi didn’t budge this time. She only cooked two dishes because of the family’s face!

“Fine, two it is! But you need to cook two main course dishes. You can’t just cook stir-fried julienned potato or cucumber salad or something like that to fool us.” Mother Su, in reality, was worried about Su Yanyi’s cooking skills. She knew her own daughter. Was it really possible for someone who had never entered the kitchen to become a super chef? Of course not!

Su Yanyi didn’t answer Mother Su this time. She started to ponder over what she was going to cook. She didn’t plan on fooling them anyway. She was a prideful person and since she’d decided to cook something, it must be the best!

Seeing that her daughter wasn’t talking to her, Mother Su went to her Son-in-Law to quell her curiosity. “Jiran, how is Yanyi’s cooking? Is it edible? Do I need to prepare medicine ahead of time?”

It felt like Mother Su’s voice was low and only for Qin Jiran to hear, but Su Yanyi clearly head it. The servants helping them couldn’t help but giggle too.

“Mother, since you don’t trust me, why are you asking me to cook?” Su Yanyi was in a dilemma. She didn’t really want to cook either, ok! She was only in charge of eating the food every New Year!

“Cough. Despite how unpalatable the food might be, mother will have to taste it. Otherwise, it would be a shame.” Mother Su had already set her mind, thinking that Su Yanyi’s cooking wouldn’t be that great. She kept on saying it would be “unpalatable”. Qin Jiran and Su Yanyi were speechless at this.

“Mother, Yanyi is great at cooking, better than me.” Qin Jiran felt the need to explain this. Didn’t she see how unhappy Yanyi was?!