40. Forever Impossible Parent-Child Activities (4k words)
After a brief interlude.
Even though Jiang Ruyan was unwilling despite a hundred objections, under Jiang Zhi’s persuasion, she could only suppress the thought of driving Gu Zhi Nian away.
The hot pot restaurant used a scanning app for ordering, and Jiang Ruyan chose a yin-yang pot, selecting a few dishes she liked before turning to Jiang Zhi with a questioning look.
“Xiao Zhi, is there anything you want to eat?”
“I’m not picky,” Jiang Zhi said, “just add a portion of instant noodles; Qian Qian loves this.”
This was not just politeness, but the truth.
When she was in the orphanage as a child, there were no preferences for hot pot; whatever the chef prepared was what you ate. If you liked it or not, it was your own fault if you were hungry.
It was also because the vegetables served in the canteen were leftover from other restaurants, resulting in very bitter dishes that caused her to dislike green vegetables to this day.
Gu Zhi Nian glanced at Jiang Ruyan.
“Aren’t you going to ask me?”
Jiang Ruyan widened her beautiful eyes and pretended to be innocent as she said, “Do you want dog food?”
Here they go again.
These two were at it again.
Jiang Zhi watched the two bicker on the side and was already somewhat accustomed to it.
She didn’t know what the two had experienced in their childhood to develop their current relationship, but this story of a girl stirring up trouble and a boy retorting, eventually leading to marriage, seemed familiar…
Damn!
Wasn’t this exactly her and Su Yan?!
Jiang Zhi felt a chill run down her spine, making her shudder. She rubbed her arms and suddenly realized something.
It’s so cold…
This chill was not figurative but meant in a literal sense.
Especially her bare thighs, feeling painfully cold.
Looks like next time she will really have to bring an extra piece of clothing when wearing a skirt, not just to prevent any mishaps but also to keep warm…
Wait a minute!
Who said there would be a next time!
Jiang Zhi pouted, feeling like she must be getting a little silly. The air conditioning in this private room was indeed set a bit too low. She seemed to remember something, turning her head and frowning as she looked at Qian Qian.
The little girl was drenched in sweat—this was the result of her playing wildly at the amusement park earlier.
Sweating so much and then suddenly being exposed to such low temperatures.
Jiang Zhi was worried Qian Qian would catch a chill, and even more frightened that she might have a fever, which would be problematic.
She pursed her lips and took out a tissue to wipe Qian Qian’s sweat. Then she shifted her gaze to the noisy childhood friends: “Jiang…”
“…”
Forget it.
It shouldn’t be a problem just this once, right?
It wasn’t like she was the only one in this room, and Sister Jiang was sweating quite a bit too; perhaps it was better not to mention the air conditioning temperature.
Soon, the dishes arrived.
Jiang Ruyan seemed to have a good appetite, adding several portions of lamb to the spicy pot and recommending, “Xiao Zhi, the signature dish here is the hand-cut lamb, you should try it later.”
“…Okay.” Jiang Zhi licked the sesame sauce on her chopsticks; in truth, she wasn’t too keen on spicy food.
Her mouth ulcers had just flared up again, and if she stuffed a piece of lamb dripping with spicy soup into her mouth, the taste would be unbearably sour.
Just then, Jiang Zhi suddenly felt someone tugging at the sleeve of her shirt.
Su Ziqian pulled Jiang Zhi’s head down and whispered in her ear, “Mom, Qian Qian wants to go to the bathroom, will you accompany me?”
“Ah…”
Jiang Zhi was somewhat unwilling.
Mainly because with Sister Jiang’s current attitude, she was afraid that if she left for a while, when she returned, all the dishes would be tossed into the spicy pot, making it difficult for her not to aggravate her ulcers.
So she said, “You can go by yourself.”
“Come back right away, okay?”
Before entering, she had already observed that the restroom was just beside their private room, only taking about ten seconds back and forth, and the store was filled with cameras, so she wasn’t worried about Qian Qian going alone.
If it were any further away, without a doubt, she would accompany her daughter.
“Fine then…”
Qian Qian pouted a bit, looking like an angry little hamster. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and walked out of the private room by herself.
It was only after she watched her daughter enter the restroom through the half-closed door that Jiang Zhi withdrew her gaze.
She added some vegetables to the clear soup pot and chatted casually with Sister Jiang. Noticing that Brother Gu had remained silent, she pondered for a moment and took the initiative to speak, “Brother Gu, you’re also here shopping at the mall?”
“Sort of.”
Gu Zhi Nian replied, “I came to inspect this place since it’s a property of my company.”
“Clang…”
Just as Jiang Zhi picked up a piece of lamb to stuff into her mouth, she heard this, and not paying attention, she had a little tremor in her hand, causing the lamb to drop back into the bowl.
“Oh, is that so? That’s impressive. 👍”
Jiang Zhi laughed awkwardly twice, retrieved the lamb again, and changed the subject: “This hot pot restaurant is pretty good, right? Brother Gu, have you been here before?”
“I came once as a shareholder when it opened.”
Gu Zhi Nian said seriously, “But I haven’t been back since; I’ve been too busy with work to eat.”
“…Crunch crunch crunch.”
Jiang Zhi thought the lamb was getting stuck in her teeth.
Rich guy, go die, rich guy, go die, rich guy, go die, rich guy, go die, rich guy, go die, rich guy, go die.
“Do you have a problem?” Below the table, Jiang Ruyan stepped on Gu Zhi Nian hard: “Can’t you speak properly? If you can’t, just leave.”
With Qian Qian gone, Jiang Ruyan’s nature was fully revealed, swearing profusely.
Gu Zhi Nian was annoyed: “What did I say?”
“Hmm?”
Jiang Ruyan shot him a glare, and Gu Zhi Nian’s momentum faltered for a moment, feeling inexplicably dry in his throat.
He coughed a few times, wiped his mouth with a tissue, and looked at Jiang Zhi:
“On Saturday, you’re meeting Principal Wang, right?”
“Ah?”
Not having chewed the piece of lamb yet, Jiang Zhi decided to swallow it directly. She was a bit caught off guard by Gu Zhi Nian’s question: “Yes, yes.”
Wait, how did Gu Zhi Nian know this?
It seemed he noticed the confusion in Jiang Zhi’s heart, as Gu Zhi Nian appeared a bit surprised as well. He hummed at Jiang Ruyan: “You didn’t tell her.”
“Eh?”
Jiang Zhi was even more confused.
“Cough, cough, I forgot… maybe?” Jiang Ruyan showed an unusual look of guilt, avoiding Gu Zhi Nian’s gaze, and explained to Jiang Zhi: “It’s just that…”
“The friend I mentioned is Gu Zhi Nian.”
Jiang Zhi could not help but recall her earlier conversation with Sister Jiang: I have a friend who knows a principal… so actually, it was Brother Gu who helped her out?
OMG! (amtls)
The rich guy was right!
Gu Zhi Nian continued: “I got to know Principal Wang through a friend; I’m not very familiar with him, but I’ve heard he is a heavy drinker…”
After that, in the private room, besides Jiang Ruyan diligently eating with a face full of gloom, Gu Zhi Nian was imparting his experience to Jiang Zhi.
“Click.”
Looking at the full notes on her phone, Jiang Zhi closed it with satisfaction, once again thanking Gu Zhi Nian.
However, before she could be happy for long, she suddenly froze, looking around.
“Qian, Qian Qian?!”
Had it been more than ten minutes already? How come Qian Qian hadn’t returned from the bathroom yet?
Could something have happened?
Thinking of any possible accidents that might have befallen her daughter, Jiang Zhi felt as if she had fallen into an icy cave, her face went pale, and her heart raced violently.
If something happened to Qian Qian due to her negligence, she would never be able to forgive herself.
Jiang Zhi could no longer sit still; she anxiously stood up and quickly walked towards the door of the private room while calling out loudly, “Qian Qian? Qian Qian!”
Inside the private room, Jiang Ruyan and Gu Zhi Nian exchanged glances and hurriedly followed suit.
“Don’t worry, you know how good Qian Qian is; she won’t run off.”
Jiang Ruyan patted Jiang Zhi’s shoulder, searching around while softly comforting her.
Jiang Zhi had no mood to respond; she walked around the hot pot restaurant without finding Qian Qian’s figure, and various assumptions uncontrollably flooded her mind.
She was completely anxious.
Just when Jiang Zhi was ready to call the police, they finally spotted Qian Qian at the entrance of the hot pot restaurant.
“Eh? Mommy!”
Seeing her mother walking towards her, Qian Qian lit up with a smile, still dripping with sweat. The little girl waved her hand in the crowd: “Over here, over here, come on, Mommy, look at this…”
“Su Ziqian! Where have you been?!”
Jiang Zhi rushed in front of Qian Qian, panting heavily, her eyes flashing with anger: “Didn’t I tell you to come back right after you finish using the bathroom? Did you treat Mommy’s words as air? Do you know how worried I was?!”
I’m such a fool!
While teaching Qian Qian a lesson, Jiang Zhi scolded herself internally.
She had assumed too much; if she had accompanied Qian Qian to the bathroom at that moment, there wouldn’t have been any misunderstanding.
This time it was good luck that Qian Qian hadn’t gone missing. But what if luck wasn’t on her side?
Jiang Zhi didn’t dare to think further.
“I… I’m sorry, Mommy.”
Knowing she had done something wrong, Qian Qian lowered her head, fiddling with her fingers.
“Alright, Xiao Zhi, Qian Qian is fine; don’t scold her anymore.” Jiang Ruyan played the peacemaker from the side.
“…Let’s go back.”
Jiang Zhi remained silent for a moment, and after that burst of anger subsided, she sighed, crouching down to look directly at Qian Qian: “Next time, don’t do things that worry Mommy, okay?”
“Mm.”
“Then let’s go back.” Jiang Zhi thought that since Qian Qian hadn’t eaten much, and that packet of instant noodles hadn’t even been boiled yet, she must be very hungry.
However, Qian Qian suddenly grabbed Jiang Zhi’s hand and pulled her into the crowd: “No, Mommy, look at this!”
Huh?
In front of the crowd, pairs of parents and children sat facing each other, with children holding paintbrushes painting their parents’ portraits, creating a lively atmosphere.
Only then did Jiang Zhi understand why so many people had gathered here.
It turned out a parent-child activity was being held at the entrance of the hot pot restaurant, and Qian Qian was attracted by this activity.
“Hello, miss, would you like to participate in our restaurant’s parent-child activity?”
The staff hosting the event noticed Jiang Zhi and approached the mother-daughter pair to explain, “As long as the children draw portraits of their parents, they can receive prizes.”
Jiang Zhi looked down and saw the eager spark in Qian Qian’s eyes: “You want to participate in this?”
“Mm-hmm!”
But the prizes didn’t seem very appealing; Jiang Zhi couldn’t quite understand Qian Qian’s thought process. She knew Qian Qian liked to draw, and they had bought many drawing supplies at home, but there was no need to draw here, right?
Jiang Zhi didn’t want Sister Jiang and the others to wait for her too long. Just as she was about to refuse, suddenly, Qian Qian pouted her lips, looking at her with tear-filled eyes.
“…Fine.”
No one could refuse such a cute plea, and having such a cute daughter was truly wonderful. Jiang Zhi said to the staff, “We’ll participate.”
“Great! Now…”
However, halfway through her sentence, the staff suddenly hesitated, looking at Jiang Zhi and then at Qian Qian, expressing doubt: “May I ask where is your husband?”
“What?”
“It’s like this,” the staff explained, “Our event requires a full family participation; the children need to draw a portrait for each parent.”
Ah.
Jiang Zhi revealed a troubled expression, shrugging her shoulders to Qian Qian: “Then we can’t do it.”
“Why can’t we?” Qian Qian placed her hands on her hips, full of confidence: “Just call Daddy over! Mommy, hurry and call Daddy!”
Jiang Zhi:…
Where would I get your dad’s number from?
“Alright, stop messing around. Let’s go; Sister Jiang and the others are still waiting for us.”
Since they couldn’t participate in the activity, staying there was only wasting time. Jiang Zhi said, “But if you really want the prize, I can ask Sister Jiang and Uncle Gu to help you out.”
This would be a good way to thank Brother Gu.
The staff member who had been awkwardly observing them: 😟.
Jiang Zhi felt that this plan was mutually beneficial, but Qian Qian standing by her leg froze for several seconds.
Her original smile gradually faded, and the little girl stopped talking, suddenly punching Jiang Zhi’s thigh hard and shouting, “Mommy is a fool! Qian Qian isn’t talking to Mommy anymore!”
After that, she made a face at Jiang Zhi: “Qian Qian is hungry! I want to eat instant noodles! Hmph!”
“Hey, you little brat…”
Jiang Zhi didn’t understand why Qian Qian hit her; the little one had quite a bit of strength. She rubbed her leg and offered a slight apologetic smile to the staff.
“Sorry, we won’t participate after all.”
Holding Qian Qian’s hand, Jiang Zhi could clearly feel that she was still sulking. Jiang Zhi didn’t understand and thought there was no need to understand; children inherently had short tempers, and it was impossible to guess what they really wanted.
As they re-entered the hot pot shop, she cast one last glance at the lively parent-child activity.
Whether in childhood or later in life…
Jiang Zhi thought with a complicated mood.
Such activities would probably never have anything to do with her in this lifetime, right? After all, she was an orphan.
