Xu Moyan knew that he was worried about her, but when she saw how the drizzle was slowly wetting his shirt, she could not help but reach over and touch it. “Aren’t you cold?”

“No,” Wei Zilin said. In the light drizzle, his clear and warm voice was like plumes of Jiangnan smoke, a little misty, a little moist from the wet air. It was just like the time when Qi Shaofeng first arrived in Jiangnan.

The two of them stopped in front of the Tianjin pancake stall and ordered two pancakes.

Wei Zilin initially wanted to buy four, but Xu Moyan stopped him. “Don’t you want to eat anything else?”

Wei Zilin looked around him. The aroma of deep-frying oil permeated the air, and there was the fragrance of wonton soup too. “True, I do want to try as many things as possible.”

“Then we’ll just have two,” Xu Moyan told the stall owner. “When we get home, we can cut them up and share them. That way, we can have some other things too, just to get a taste. Tomorrow morning, we can come down for breakfast again and buy the things we didn’t get to try.”

Wei Zilin agreed with a smile and a nod.

Hence, the two of them bought another four pan-fried soup buns, four soup dumplings, and four stuffed cakes. They even bought two bowls of mini wontons and two bowls of chaogan (TN: lit. stir-fried liver, a dish of boiled pork liver, intestine, and starch. Popular in Beijing). Since they already had the appetizers at home, they did not get those.

Li Lanying was shocked to see what the two of them had brought home. “Did you buy one of everything out there?”

“We have a few more types than usual, that’s all. Zilin wanted to try everything, but there are some things we didn’t get for now. We thought we’d buy some more tomorrow,” Xu Moyan explained.

Li Lanying accepted the food helplessly. She noticed that Wei Zilin’s shoulders were wet from the drizzle outside, while his coat was currently over Xu Moyan’s shoulders instead.

Secretly, she grew even more satisfied with Wei Zilin. She was already looking at him like he was her son-in-law, completely disregarding the “future” part.

Li Lanying and Xu Moyan brought their breakfast to the kitchen, preparing to put them into bowls.

Once Li Lanying saw that Wei Zilin was out of earshot, she whispered, “I can relax now that you have Zilin to watch over you. Come to think of it, all of the people I introduced to you probably wouldn’t care for you as well as Zilin does.”

“Mom, you’re looking at him like a mother-in-law looking at a son-in-law– the more you see, the more you like (TN: this is a Chinese proverb),” Xu Moyan said. “Wasn’t a certain someone really worried yesterday? It’s been how long since then, and you’ve already changed the way you call him.”

“You cheeky kid.” Li Lanying poked her head. “It’s because I noticed how nicely Zilin treats you, isn’t it? The proverb says a mother-in-law likes her son-in-law because she thinks the better she treats her son-in-law, the more her son-in-law will appreciate it, and then the better her son-in-law will treat her daughter. Get it? Still, Zilin is really a good kid. It’s rare for someone with his family background and assets to treat you so considerately. He doesn’t act arrogant around us, either, giving us all the proper respect. Most importantly, he is so considerate and attentive to your needs, and that’s something very few men can accomplish. I’m your mom, and even I don’t think I care for you as attentively as he does.”

Her mother’s profuse praise of Wei Zilin left Xu Moyan on cloud nine too, and her pride showed on her face. It left Li Lanying utterly exasperated.

“Just look at you!” Li Lanying said.

“But he is a great guy, isn’t he?” Xu Moyan said without a hint of humility.

“Yes, yes. In any case, I’m perfectly at ease now that I’ve actually met him. I’m glad that you have him to take care of you in B City too.” Li Lanying poured the wontons and chaogan into two large soup bowls, taking out another four small bowls so that everyone could eat whatever they wanted. All they had to do was just take the food from the large bowls and put them into the small ones.

Outside food was always sold in the extremely large bowls, so even though it was just one bowl, it was actually enough to feed two.

“But still, Zilin is such a great kid that you gotta make sure you have a firm grip on him. I don’t need him to be super successful, but I’m absolutely happy with the way he treats you. When you have such a good man with you, you shouldn’t take advantage of his love and keep throwing tantrums at him, you got it?” Li Lanying warned her.

Xu Moyan stacked up the empty bowls and said, “When have I ever thrown a tantrum at him? I never even have a temper around him.”

She was just like a little lamb whenever she was with him, such that even she was disgusted with herself.

“As if. You were wearing his coat when you came in just now, right? Yes, it’s spring now, but it’s still cold outside, and it’s drizzling too. How could you let him wear such a thin shirt? What if he catches a cold?” Li Lanying said, cutting the Tianjin pancakes into four pieces and putting them on a plate.

“C’mon, Mom.” Xu Moyan hugged Li Lanying’s arm playfully. “That’s because he loves me and can’t bear to see me cold, so I’m just being considerate of his feelings. If I reject him, wouldn’t he think I’m being cold?”

“All you’re food at is making these twisted excuses!” Li Lanying poked Xu Moyan’s head again, shaking her head. She did not say anything else, however, because she was secretly glad for her daughter anyway.

She said she felt bad for Wei Zilin, but at the end of the day, her own daughter still took precedence.

No matter what, everything Wei Zilin did just showed how much he loved Xu Moyan, so of course Li Lanying would not be unhappy with that.

She was just worried that Wei Zilin’s love would get to Xu Moyan’s head. If Xu Moyan lost all sense of her boundaries, she would only end up hurting Wei heart instead.

“Aunty, it’s only natural that I treat Moyan well,” Wei Zilin said as he suddenly appeared at the door.

They did not know when he had come over here, nor how much of their conversation he had heard.

Xu Moyan turned around and saw him approaching them with a warm smile on his face. He said to Li Lanying, “Don’t worry. When it comes to her, I have a lifetime’s worth of patience. It doesn’t matter how much I spoil her, I’ll never think it’s too much.”

Wei Zilin lowered his head and looked at Xu Moyan, the smile on the corners of his lips so gentle it looked like it could melt away the light rain outside. “Because, who should I spoil if not her? Am I supposed to go spoil another unrelated woman instead?”

Li Lanying shook her head helplessly. She had been trying to defend Wei Zilin, but it turned out that the man himself enjoyed things exactly the way they were.

If one of them wanted to be pampered and the other wanted to do the pampering, what else could she say?

“Fine. I won’t interfere in your relationship anymore. But I’m telling you in advance, don’t come running to me if your pampering her makes Moyan even more unreasonable,” said Li Lanying as she picked up the two bowls.

Wei Zilin rubbed Xu Moyan’s head as though he was patting a small animal, messing up her hair. He used just the right amount of force, such that Xu Moyan even butted his palm and narrowed her eyes, enjoying it tremendously.

Their reactions left Li Lanying exasperated. She could only imagine that the two of them acted even more shamelessly in B City.

These two days, they were still aware of Li Lanying and Xu Qingrui in the house, at the very least. That was why they did not dare to let go of themselves completely.

With that thought in mind, Li Lanying brought the bowls out of the kitchen.

Wei Zilin helped to bring out their breakfast too.

First, Wei Zilin asked Xu Moyan what she wanted to drink. Xu Moyan thought it over and said, “I’ll have the chaogan then, but just half a bowl. Can I have two wontons from you later? I can’t eat too much, but I want to see how it tastes.”

Wei Zilin agreed with a laugh and a nod, scooping her half a bowl of chaogan. “Just give me anything you can’t finish.”

Wei Zilin picked up a pan-fried soup bun with his chopsticks and put it in her bowl. “If you just want to try it, or if it doesn’t taste good, you can just take a bite and then give the rest to me.”

Xu Moyan nodded, beaming. Li Lanying watched them from the side, feeling indescribably glad.

It was obvious that Wei Zilin was spoiling Xu Moyan rotten, but that just meant he was good to her daughter, right?

Wei Zilin picked up half a piece of Tianjin pancake. It emanated the fresh fragrance of eggs. He did not know what sauce they used, but it was slightly sweet, slightly spicy, and yet it did not taste like purely garlic chilli. It was very appetizing, but not overly salty.

He took a bite of the spring onion and crunchy mung beans inside. The crispy beans carried with them a faint aroma of spring onions, and on top of that, there was also the silky smooth softness of the egg batter outside. After he chewed it a few times, the thick fragrance of the black sesame also began to spread across his mouth.

Wei Zilin scooped a few mini wontons into his bowl as well. The wontons were slightly larger than his thumb, and the filling was only as large as his thumb. He ate one wonton in one bite, its meat filling smooth and sweet. The wonton skin was slightly transparent after cooking, and a few chunks of pickled vegetables floated in the soup above the wontons. They taste salty, fragrant, and slightly spicy, forming layers of flavor and texture when eaten with the strips of golden egg.

Xu Moyan took a wonton from Wei Zilin’s bowl too, so she could try it out. She rather liked it, so she scooped another four wontons for herself as well. As a result, she could not quite finish the half a bowl of chaogan from earlier. Since there was half of it left, Wei Zilin took it from her and began to eat it himself.

Li Lanying watched all of that from the side, thinking to herself that he really was spoiling her daughter. She had never seen anyone’s son-in-law treat his wife this sweetly.

Thankfully they were at home now, so it was fine. If they were at a restaurant outside, this would be less than presentable.

However, she felt that Wei Zilin would probably act exactly the same outside as well.

Xu Moyan picked up a pan-fried soup bun. The skin of the bun had risen perfectly so it was white, plump, and soft, and there were black sesame seeds scattered over the top. The black and white made a beautiful contrast, while the bottom of the bun was slightly thick, golden brown, and crispy. She could even hear the crackle of the crispy bottom splitting.

The hot soup inside was made of melted pork skin broth, and it flowed into her mouth together with the meat filling. It burned her tongue slightly, but it tasted so good she was reluctant to let it go. The tip of her tongue pulled all of the broth into her mouth, bringing with it the soft meat. Amidst the thick fragrance of meat, there was also a hint of Shaoxing wine. The spring onion and minced ginger had removed all of the meat’s inherent odor, highlighting the aroma of the wine instead.

The meat broth soaked into the soft white bun, until even the skin of the bun was soft and flavorful. When she bit into the black sesame on the top of the bun, she could feel the individual grains in her mouth as well.

Xu Moyan had only eaten half of her bun, but by then, Wei Zilin had already finished eating an entire one.

He ate quickly but gracefully at the same time.

Before they knew it, they ate so much breakfast that they felt a little stuffed and more than a little satisfied.

They could not buy snacks like these around Wei Yang Garden. Aunty Liu’s homemade food was decent, but when it came to snacks like these, her cooking could not fully capture the authenticity of these flavors.

Besides, Xu Moyan and Zheng Yuntong were always in a rush to leave for work in the morning, so it was hard enough for them to keep breakfast healthy. They had no time for these details.

That was also why Xu Moyan had not had such a satisfying breakfast in a while.

Xu Moyan’s mouth was oily and shiny from all the food, as though she had applied a thick layer of lip gloss. Rubbing her slightly swollen stomach, she slumped into her chair, looking especially unsightly.

Li Lanying and Xi Qingrui brought the bowls back to the kitchen. On the way, Li Lanying could not help but pat Xu Moyan. “Watch how you’re sitting. You look terrible like this.”

Xu Moyan did not even try to sit up straight, though. Once Li Lanying and Xu Qingrui went into the kitchen, Wei Zilin stretched his neck for a peek. Satisfied, he put his hands on the back of Xu Moyan’s chair and kissed her on the lips quickly, licking away the oil on her lips.

Her lips still tasted like the soup buns she had eaten earlier. It was really aromatic, so Wei Zilin could not help but lick it all clean.

Xu Moyan was so shocked that she could barely speak. How could he be so bold? Her parents were still in the kitchen, and they could come out at any time!

This man really had a talent for sexual harassment!

Wei Zilin knew when to stop, though, since he was also aware that Xu Qingrui and Li Lanying could come back at any time.

He let go of Xu Moyan and saw her slump into the chair, her eyes bleary as though hidden by a thin veil of water beyond the stars she was seeing. It made him want to reach in and pull aside the veil.

Her face was deep red. Although her lips were not glossy from the oil anymore, he had kissed them until they were moist and bright, even redder and fuller than before.

Wei Zilin gulped, pressing his forehead against hers as he cupped her face with one hand, his fingers instinctively rubbing the back of her neck and her ear lobe. “I’m starting to regret it, shall we go home tonight?”

Here, there were restrictions on everything he did.

Besides, Wei Zilin had already secretly decided to make Xu Moyan his for real once they got back. He wanted her body as well as her heart, and he would not miss even an inch of her.

With that in mind, he grew ever more impatient. While he was here, his heart was restless and roaring to return to B City.

Xu Moyan gave him a shove, blushing. “Careful, my mom might scold us.”

Either she meant that they would be scolded for what they were doing now, or that they would be berated for leaving early.

Wei Zilin scratched the tip of her nose and straightened up helplessly.

In that case… he could wait for one more day.

Hence, he turned around and went into the kitchen. He wanted to wash the bowls, but Li Lanying stopped him.

“Don’t get your hands dirty.” Li Lanying assumed that Wei Zilin did not do anything at home, so there was no way she could let him do this. “If you’re free, you can go out on a walk with Moyan. I don’t even ask Moyan to help out with the chores, so how could I ask you?”