Chapter 72: The Greatest Love and “The Greatest Love”

Chapter 72: The Greatest Love and "The Greatest Love"

The younger sister, Manman, was more active than her brother Yuanyuan. She looked around at the adults and, seeing Ming Hua nod in encouragement, slowly shuffled her little bottom closer to Fu Yining.

"Auntie?"

Fu Yining was silently berating herself for still acting like her former self when she heard a voice nearby. She instinctively looked down.

"Manman, what is it?"

The little girl looked up with innocent eyes and asked naively, "Auntie, why are you different from before?"

"Different? How so?"

Fu Yining thought to herself, was her acting really that obvious, even to a child?

No one else in the family seemed to notice, though.

As Manman got closer, she could sense something different about Fu Yining.

Curious, she sniffed again and leaned closer, following the scent.

"Manman, what are you doing?"

Ming Hua chuckled, watching her daughter sniff at Fu Yining like a curious puppy, while Fu Yining, feeling a bit awkward, stayed frozen in place.

She remained completely still.

After a while, Manman looked up and said seriously, "Auntie, you smell really good, and it's different from before."

"Haha, really?" Fu Yining said awkwardly, explaining, "Maybe it's because I've changed my shower gel."

Upon hearing this, Manman sniffed again, "This scent is really nice!"

Noticing Fu Yining's embarrassed expression, Ming Hua laughed and gently guided her daughter away.

"Alright, Manman, don't tease your auntie."

Manman said earnestly, "Mom, I'm not teasing Auntie. I'm telling the truth!"

"Okay, okay, Mom understands. Come and sit with Mom."

Seeing Ming Hua's perfunctory response, Manman pouted dissatisfiedly.

She was telling the truth, why didn't Mom believe her?

"Sister, here."

"Okay, Brother."

Yuanyuan reached out his hand, and the two siblings walked hand in hand to Ming Hua. Ming Hua watched the two of them chat animatedly beside her and shook her head with a smile.

Even though the siblings had moved away, they were still suspicious of Fu Yining.

"Brother, I smelled Auntie, and she's different from before!" Manman said confidently.

She felt the scent wasn't just from shower gel, but wondered why Auntie hadn't explained it to her.

"Brother, why?"

Yuanyuan rubbed his little chin and guessed, "Could it be that there are too many people here, and Auntie Qiu is feeling embarrassed?"

"Then what should we do?"

Ningning was really curious and wanted to know why her aunt had changed.

Yuanyuan thought for a moment and came up with a plan for the two of them.

But before they could act, dinner was ready.

Fu Yuan Sheng nodded. "Let’s go, it’s time to eat!"

"Ningning, Zhi Li, come, let’s eat first, we’ll chat later!" Zhou Helian led her daughter and son-in-law towards the dining room.

Ming Hua followed her husband, bringing their two rambunctious kids along, reminding them not to talk nonsense or make strange noises at the dinner table.

The kids nodded in agreement.

At the dinner table, Fu Yuan Sheng sat in the main seat, with his wife and children on either side of him.

Fu Yining sat right next to Zhou Helian, with Yu Zhi Li's seat on her other side, while their brother, sister-in-law, and the two children sat opposite them.

"Auntie Qiu!"

"Yes, Miss!"

Fu Yining was finally able to see the housekeeper who had accompanied her throughout her teenage years, and she felt quite emotional.

She wasn’t sure if these feelings came from her past self or something else.

Auntie Qiu placed a large plate of golden-brown, fragrant scallion oil chicken near Fu Yining and wiped her hands on her patterned apron.

"This is your favorite scallion oil chicken, Miss. I haven’t made it in many years; I wonder if it still suits your taste."

"It does, it does!"

Even though Fu Yining hadn’t tasted it yet, the smell alone promised it would be delicious.

Hearing her words, Auntie Qiu was delighted and stepped aside to rest.

Everyone at the dining table began to eat.

"Here, Ningning, here’s your favorite, give it a try!" Zhou Helian carefully placed a piece of scallion-free chicken on her plate.

"Thank you, Mom!"

Fu Yining picked up her chopsticks, put the chicken in her mouth, and was so amazed by the freshness that she almost bit her own tongue off.

"Is it delicious?"

"Yes! Just as delicious as when Auntie Qiu used to make it!"

"I’m glad you like it."

Zhou Helian exchanged a glance with Fu Yuan Sheng in the main seat, and both smiled with relief.

Thank goodness, their daughter had truly returned, and her tastes hadn’t changed at all.

Sitting on their special seats, Yuanyuan and Manman saw that Grandma was only focused on serving their aunt and turned to Minghua, saying, "Mom, we want to eat too!"

"What's scallion oil chicken? Does it taste good? We've never had it at home before!"

Minghua knew the dish was specially made for her sister-in-law and could only persuade the two kids, "Wait a little longer, okay? Mom will serve you both in a bit, alright?"

"Okay."

The more they weren't given any, the more tempting it became.

Feeling the eager gazes from across the table, Fu Yining said to Minghua, "Auntie, go ahead and serve them. There's plenty! I can't finish it all by myself!"

"Then I won't hesitate!"

Finally getting to eat the scallion oil chicken they had been longing for, Yuanyuan and Manman had identical expressions of satisfaction.

Mmm, this scallion oil chicken is delicious!

No wonder Auntie was eating it so happily. No wonder we never made it at home before.

Zhou Helian made sure to remove the scallions from every piece she served her daughter. The others didn’t receive the same treatment.

But they weren’t as picky as Ningning; a little scallion didn’t bother them.

Seeing that Zhou Helian was only serving her and hadn’t eaten much herself, Fu Yining quickly served her some food too, saying, "Mom, you eat too!"

"Alright! I'm eating."

Zhou Helian felt she had never been this happy before.

"Ningning, try this too."

A pancake emitting a strange smell was placed in her bowl, causing Fu Yining's movements to freeze.

She thought she had successfully distracted her mom, but no such luck.

"Ningning, what's wrong?" Zhou Helian immediately offered concern when she noticed her daughter's discomfort.

"N-nothing."

Ningning was on the verge of tears but didn’t dare refuse the 'beloved' cilantro pancake in front of her family.

Just as she hesitantly picked up her chopsticks to face her doom, a bowl was handed over from the side.

Yu Zhili’s voice came from beside her.

"Sure, sure, if you like it, take it!"

Fu Yining hurriedly passed her "poison" to Yu Zhili, feeling immensely grateful to him in her heart.

She’d never forget his kindness!