Chapter 50 Niu Niu’s Grievance

Chapter 50: Niu Niu’s Whim

As soon as the two kids left, Su He immediately took out the sweet potatoes, washed them, and sliced them.

Then she brought out the flour and mixed it into a thick batter. Once it was ready, she started the fire.

After all the preparatory work was done, she heated the oil in the pan.

She poured a generous amount of oil into the pan without a second thought.

When the oil was boiling, Su He began frying the fried cakes.

She fried one and immediately tucked it into her space to keep it crispy and warm.

Thankfully, after crossing over, she had this Golden Finger ability, which had truly helped her a lot.

She kept the fire going, and the oil in the pan continued to bubble as time passed minute by minute.

Soon, noisy chatter erupted outside, and Su He guessed the two kids had returned.

Not only had the two kids come back, but they had also brought along their older cousins.

"Niu Niu, why does your house smell so good? What delicious food is Aunt Su making?" Ya Ya asked curiously.

Niu Niu took a deep sniff and said, "My mom must be frying cakes. Is tomorrow market day?"

"Yes! I wonder if Mom will go to the market tomorrow. She’s been swamped lately," Zhuang Zhuang said before eagerly running into the kitchen, adding, "Let’s see what Aunt Su cooked!"

Su He had already heard them talking from inside, so she called out from the kitchen, "Come in, I made something tasty."

Hearing this, the kids all excitedly rushed toward the kitchen.

When they saw the fried cakes Su He had set aside to cool, Zhuang Zhuang exclaimed dramatically, "Wow! Aunt Su! It smells amazing!"

Su He couldn’t help but laugh at his exaggerated expression and tone. Smiling, she said, "One per person—no more! This is fried food, and eating too much can make you get heaty."

The fried cakes Su He was making now were quite large and filling—one would definitely be enough to satisfy a child.

Following her words, each of the kids took one fried cake to eat.

"Aunt Su, this is so delicious!" Zhuang Zhuang said, munching happily.

"Who’s home at your place?" Su He asked while continuing her work.

"Granny and Mom are home," Shitou replied.

Su He glanced at the time—it was almost eleven. She guessed the Fus would be back soon for lunch, so she packed about ten fried cakes into a bag and handed it to Shitou. "Run these over to Granny. Tell her Aunt Su sent them."

Shitou took the bag, eyes shining as he looked at Su He. After saying, "'Kay!" he ran back home.

Seeing this, the others scampered after Shitou.

Zai Zai and Niu Niu were about to run after their older siblings when Su He stopped them.

"Lunch is coming up! Be back by noon!" Su He reminded them.

"'K, Mom!"

The two kids didn’t even turn their heads—clearly, they were having too much fun. She chuckled, shaking her head, and continued frying the cakes.

After frying up the last of the sweet potatoes in the pan, Su He began preparing lunch.

She quickly whipped up a meat dish and a vegetable dish. By the time the food was ready, the kids came running home.

"Mom, mom, look! We made it back right at noon!" Zai Zai pointed at the clock in the living room and said.

Su He had to laugh at this and replied, "Good job being on time!"

During the meal, Niu Niu suddenly asked, "Mom, are we hitting the market tomorrow?"

"Yes! So think about what you want or what you’d like to eat, and Mom will buy it for you."

"Wow~ That’s great! Then I can see that boy from last time and read books with him," Niu Niu said excitedly.

Su He just stared...

How could she still remember this? Was this really the story's influence, she thought—forcing her daughter to like the male lead?

Su He brushed it off and didn’t dwell on the topic.

But Zai Zai picked up on his mom's mood. After finishing his meal, he pulled Niu Niu aside and said to his sister, "Mom doesn’t like you playing with that boy from last time. Stay away from him."

Niu Niu's feelings were hurt. She had liked that nice boy the moment she first saw him—why couldn’t she play with him?

"Why doesn’t Mom like that boy?" Niu Niu asked, both hurt and confused.

"Don’t worry about it. Mom just doesn’t like him," Zai Zai said sternly.

That shut Niu Niu up.

When Su He called the kids for their nap, she was shocked to see them giving each other the cold shoulder.

It seemed that since she'd come to this world, Su He had never seen the siblings quarrel before—Zai Zai had always taken good care of Niu Niu.

After the siblings obediently climbed into bed, they were still giving each other the silent treatment. Niu Niu wasn't her usual chatty self at bedtime.

Su He sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the two kids. "What’s wrong? Did you two have a fight?"

"No," Zai Zai answered quickly, but would Su He believe him?

So she turned to Niu Niu and asked, "Niu Niu, why aren’t you talking to your brother?"

Niu Niu pouted, hurt, and suddenly started bawling.

"Waaah~"

Her crying was so loud that it startled Su He.

"What’s wrong, sweetheart?" Su He quickly scooped Niu Niu up, patting her back to comfort her.

"Mom, I'll stay away from that boy. I’m sorry."

Niu Niu clung tightly to Su He, scared her mom would be mad.

Truthfully, she didn’t know what she had done wrong—she just liked playing with that boy. But it was making Mom and her brother upset.

The poor girl felt so hurt that she didn’t want to speak.

Hearing her explanation, Su He's heart broke for her.

She blamed herself for losing her cool at the sight of the male lead from the novel's plot. What was she thinking, acting like that in front of her little kids?

"It's Mommy's fault, Niu Niu. Mommy's sorry," Su He said, then turned to Zai Zai and added, "And you too, Zai Zai. Mommy's sorry, for making you worry."

"Mommy, if you don’t like that brother, I won’t let Niu Niu play with him," Zai Zai said seriously.

"Mommy doesn’t dislike him, it’s just..." Su He didn’t know how to explain her concerns to the two kids.

"Ah, why don't you take some of Mommy's fried pastries tomorrow and share one with that brother, okay?" Su He coaxed her daughter.

"I won’t play with him anymore," Niu Niu, who'd just stopped crying, sniffled.

"It’s okay. Is that brother nice?" Su He asked again.

Niu Niu hesitated but finally answered, "He’s very nice."

Zai Zai could only shake his head helplessly beside them. Just how much was his sister crushing on Ji Liangchuan?

They'd barely known each other an hour, yet she already said he was nice.

"If he’s nice, then of course you can play with him. It’s fine," Su He reassured her.

"Really? Mommy won’t be unhappy?"

Looking at her innocent daughter, Su He thought to herself: *Fine, the kids are still so young. Since avoiding contact with the male lead is impossible, then just go with the flow. With me watching over them, I'll never let what happened in the book happen to them.*