Su Jinning put away her phone and took both bags of dog food from her hands: "Yes, I bought some fruit for Auntie, you can take it back."
Shen Moyu paused for a moment, glanced at the grapes in the bag, and said with a hint of reproach, "You're always wasting money."
Su Jinning smiled and smoothed the messy hair on Shen Moyu's head: "It's nothing. I saw that Auntie really liked it, so I just remembered and bought some."
Shen Moyu reluctantly accepted it, tapping his forehead: "Remember to tell me what you're buying next time."
Su Jinning smiled and nodded.
"Why did you buy so many instant noodles?" Shen Moyu looked down and noticed several large boxes of instant noodles in his bag.
Su Jinning scratched her head and said nonchalantly, "Oh, my dad told me that Aunt Cui had some family matters to attend to and went back to her hometown. He told me to cook for myself for the next couple of days."
Shen Moyu pointed at the several instant noodles in his bowl with some disbelief: "Don't you know how to cook? Why did you buy so many instant noodles?"
Su Jinning chuckled: "I'm lazy."
Shen Moyu frowned, then angrily smacked him on the back of the neck: "You're so lazy, you might as well just stay lazy forever."
"Ouch! That hurts!" Su Jinning clutched the back of his neck, wincing in pain. He could only complain about the pain when his boyfriend was always so rough with him.
Shen Moyu looked at him with exasperation, then sighed after a moment: "Then you can come to my house for meals these next couple of days."
Su Jinning cautiously looked up, then raised an eyebrow with delight: "Really?"
"...You really don't follow the proper procedures." Shen Moyu pouted.
Su Jinning feigned ignorance: "What procedure?"
Shen Moyu tilted her chin up and mocked him, "Shouldn't you make a token excuse at this point?"
Su Jinning crossed her arms and retorted, "We're family, no need for formalities."
"Who's family with you?" Shen Moyu pushed away Su Jinning's face that was pressed against hers with disdain.
——
"Click."
The door opened, and Su Jinning greeted her with a smile, but the person in front of her forced him to swallow back the words "Hello, Auntie."
"Zhou Xingqi?" Shen Moyu's pupils dilated in shock.
The person inside seemed to be taken aback for a moment, looking at Su Jinning behind Shen Moyu, before finally managing a smile: "Brother Jinning is here too?"
--------------------
Author's Note:
Baby Qi has finally made her appearance.
Chapter 77 Outsiders
Su Jinning was completely stunned and stood there until Xia Wei came out of the house, at which point he came to his senses.
"Hey? Mo Yu's back?" Xia Wei turned her wheelchair around, saw Su Jinning beside her, and smiled even more happily: "Jinning's here too? Come on in, come on in."
"Ah..." Su Jinning's thoughts seemed to snap, and she said somewhat awkwardly, "Hello, Auntie."
"Don't mention it. Xiao Qi just made something delicious. Come in and eat with us." Xia Wei waved and turned to go back into the kitchen.
Shen Moyu looked embarrassed, but didn't want to show it: "Why are you here?"
Zhou Xingqi seemed surprised by his question. When he turned around, his face was cold and unpleasant: "Brother, why are you asking that? I came to see Auntie, is there a problem?"
He scratched his head, then put on a smile again in the blink of an eye.
Shen Moyu glanced quickly at Su Jinning, who was still standing in the entryway, and said calmly, "No, just asking."
The room was filled with the aroma of fish. Su Jinning turned her head and looked over. In the center of the dining table was a plate of freshly cooked scallion fish.
Zhou Xingqi, with his sharp eyes, noticed Su Jinning's gaze and immediately turned around to grab a chair: "Jinning-ge, please sit down. You must be exhausted after playing all day. Also, try my scallion fish and see how it tastes!"
Su Jinning looked up at him, a natural smile playing on her lips: "It smells quite nice."
"Right?" Zhou Xingqi sat down beside her, skillfully picked up the bowl and chopsticks and handed them to Su Jinning, resting his chin on his hand and smiling knowingly: "This is one of my specialties. My aunt and brother both love it. You should try it."
Su Jinning stared at the scallion-flavored fish, but his mind was filled with Zhou Xingqi's special way of addressing Shen Moyu and Aunt Xia. He narrowed his eyes: "Okay."
Zhou Xingqi reached out to serve rice, but his mouth didn't stop talking. "My aunt told me that your scallion fish is also very delicious and suits her taste perfectly. Do you have any secret recipe? Could you teach me?"
Su Jinning chuckled after hearing this, scooped up a piece of scallion fish and put it in her mouth: "There's no secret recipe or anything, it's just that everyone's version tastes different."
"Haha. But Auntie seems to like yours better." Zhou Xingqi turned around and sat down, blinking his starry eyes. "Brother Jinning, why don't you teach me? You're so busy with school, I'll probably make it for Auntie more often in the future."
"……"
Su Jinning chewed the piece of scallion fish in his mouth fiercely, wishing he could crush it to pieces. He put down his chopsticks, stood up, and patted Zhou Xingqi's head: "Too salty."
——
The four of them sat down, and Xia Wei was very happy. After all, this was the first time in many years that the house had been so lively. And they were all Shen Moyu's good friends; as his mother, she was overjoyed.
"Come on, Xiao Ning, eat more. There's also this scallion fish."
Su Jinning smiled politely and said, "Okay."
Zhou Xingqi picked up his chopsticks, placed a piece of fish in Shen Moyu's bowl, and smiled broadly as he said, "Brother, you haven't had my cooking in so long, you should try it."
Shen Moyu stared at the large piece of fish in the bowl, feeling as chaotic and uneasy as if he were looking at a crime scene.
He didn't dare to look up at Su Jinning's face, wanting to escape, yet unsure of where to go.
"Okay, you eat too, no need to put any on my plate." Shen Moyu protectively held the bowl in her hands, intentionally avoiding serving it.