Fat girl's worries

  "Brocade embroidery, I'm really sorry for you. Don't worry, no matter how bitter or tired you are, Aunt will not let you eat bamboo shoots."

  An Yan just felt a little cry and laugh, eating bamboo shoots in the eyes of these ancient people, how is it like eating arsenic?

  An softly comforted Wang Shi on one side, while gently saying: "Auntie, you misunderstood me. I want to eat bamboo shoots not because there's nothing else to eat. It's just that... bamboo shoots are actually a delicious dish."

  Upon hearing this, Wang stopped wiping away her tears and looked at An Yan with a puzzled expression.

  An Yan turned around, picked up the whip scallions and smiled: "Aunt, this is purely natural green food, delicious and nutritious, a rare treasure. Now, it's useless to say more, I'll use facts to prove it to you. Later, don't bite your tongue in delight."

  Wang heard this and his originally sorrowful mood was actually amused by An Yan's playful words. Although the sadness in his eyes still lingered, the space between his eyebrows had relaxed a bit.

  An Yan looked at him and felt slightly comforted in her heart. The sorrow was inevitable, but life had to go on anyway.

  "Aunt and mother, take the dishes to the main room first, I'll go over after I've finished cooking the bamboo shoots."

  "Good."

  Wang originally wanted to see how An Yan made this dish, but looking at An Yan's somewhat mysterious appearance, the corners of his mouth curved slightly and he went out.

  After the kitchen was left with only An Yan, she began to think about the method of stir-frying bamboo shoots. After filtering all the methods she knew in her mind, she finally decided on scallion oil stir-fried bamboo shoots.

  First, cut the bamboo shoots into blocks, then put the cut bamboo shoots in boiling water, after three boils, remove the bamboo shoots. Next, soak the removed bamboo shoots in cold water to rinse, and after a while, remove them and drain.

  While washing the scallions, An Yan found a few green onions in the kitchen and chopped them into small pieces.

  After everything was ready, An Yan poured the oil into a large pot and heated it up. He then added scallions and coarse salt, stirring them evenly before adding the bamboo shoots to stir-fry for a few moments. In an instant, a refreshing aroma wafted through the air, making one's mouth water. Looking at the finished scallion oil bamboo shoots, An Yan's eyes curved slightly, like crescent moons.

  She carefully placed the scallion pancakes on a clean white plate, and the scallions on top were white, fresh, and fragrant, extremely appetizing. She smiled to herself, just about to carry out the scallion oil pancakes, when she caught a glimpse of a small head flashing by at the door.

  "Chubby?"

  An softly called out with a smile, her gentle gaze falling on the empty kitchen door. And as her voice fell, a small head slowly poked in from the kitchen door.

  Xiao Pang's big eyes sparkled, half of her body was exposed outside, and only her little head was squeezed in.

  "Table aunt..."

  Her voice was soft and timid, with a hint of tears in her big eyes. Her small face looked pitiful, immediately tugging at An Yan's heartstrings. She quickly put down the whip in her hand and walked swiftly to Xiao Pang's side, crouching down to her height, looking into Xiao Pang's fearful gaze, and asked gently: "What's wrong, what's wrong with our dear Xiao Pang?"

  Upon hearing such a gentle and soothing voice, Pang Ya immediately flung herself into An Yan's arms and burst into loud wailing.

  "Paternal aunt, it's really hard for Fatou."

  It's astonishing, such a small child, although she doesn't understand some things. But children's hearts are very sensitive, they can clearly feel the sorrow and joy of people around them, especially Chubby, due to her past experiences, is even more sensitive to these things.

  "Why is fatty unhappy? Can you tell auntie?"

  She held Pao's weak and frail body in her arms, gently patting his back.

  Chubby cried for a while and felt much better, then started to sob and said: "Grandpa has been lying down all the time and doesn't care about us. Then Dad and Mom are so sad and don't talk to Chubby. Everyone... everyone looks so sad, Chubby doesn't know what happened. Waaah... Auntie, is it because Chubby wasn't good enough, so everyone is so unhappy?"

  When she heard such a small child speaking so cleverly and sensibly, An Xuan felt as if her heart was being pinched at this moment. She was truly heartbroken. Her eyes were slightly moist, and her words carried a hint of moisture: "Everyone is unhappy because something bad happened in our family. Because of this bad thing, Fatong's grandfather had to leave us and went to a very far away place. So everyone is temporarily unhappy, it has nothing to do with Fatong."

  "Grandpa, why did you go to a place very, very far away? When will you come back?"

  Chubby Ya retreated from An Yan's embrace, a pair of wet and big eyes looked at An Yan seriously, asking in a soft and moist voice.

  Hearing the child's innocent and naive words, I feel a lump in my throat. Children cannot understand the meaning of death; their world is so simple that they cannot comprehend the despair and helplessness of someone dying and never coming back to life again.

  "Because Grandpa is sick, he has to go very far away for treatment. Because Grandpa's departure makes everyone sad, so Chubby is a good child and cannot ask Daddy and Mommy about Grandpa anymore."

  "Pangya didn't ask, Pangya has always been obedient. These days, Pangya eats by herself, dresses by herself, and stays quietly, not disturbing Father, Mother, or Grandma."

  "Okay, Pangya is a good kid. Cousin's wife has made some delicious food, now Pangya will go eat with cousin's wife."

  An's gentle words comforted her, and she rubbed the fluffy head of Chubby, looking at Chubby's hair being messed up a bit, her heart melted completely.

  She held a plate of bamboo shoots in one hand and led the chubby girl to the main room with the other. Seeing everyone sitting silently, not having touched their chopsticks, An spoke softly after glancing at the chubby girl: "Chubby, go sit by grandma."

  After finishing speaking, she winked at Xiaobao. Xiaobao immediately understood and sat down beside Wang's family, saying in a soft and cute tone: "Grandma, why aren't you eating yet? Aren't you hungry, Grandma? If Grandma is hungry, she should eat quickly, or else her stomach will hurt."

  The Wang family's wooden face relaxed a bit, she turned her head to look at the well-behaved little fatty, and her eyes immediately became moist, but she still smiled and said: "Yes, grandma is hungry, now let's have dinner together with Fatty, okay?"

  "Okay."

  Fat girl immediately responded loudly and physically gave Wang a dish of bamboo shoots. She looked at the dishes on the table, feeling that this dish was the most beautiful and fragrant, and Grandma would definitely be very happy to eat it.

  Wang looked at the bamboo shoots in the bowl, picked them up with chopsticks and put them in her mouth. She felt crisp and refreshing, and after finishing, her mouth was fragrant and the aftertaste was long-lasting. Immediately, she turned to look at An Yan, and a pair of dull eyes lit up.

  After everyone at the table had tasted it, they looked at An Yan in surprise. An Yan calmly accepted these gazes, and after eating most of the dishes, she said in a clear voice: "I have something I'd like to discuss with everyone."