Meng Yao devised a simple diet plan for Zhao Xiaohua.
Simply put, carbs for breakfast, meat for lunch, and more vitamins at night.
Additionally, Meng Yao watched over Zhao Xiaohua to ensure she chewed slowly and didn’t overeat.
Then, after each of the three daily meals, Zhao Xiaohua would stand against a wall and take brisk walks in the backyard every morning to boost her cardiovascular ability.
It’s unclear what Zhao Xiaohua said to Zhao Xiaoshu, but every morning, Zhao Xiaoshu would accompany her on these brisk walks, walking until they were both drenched in sweat.
Accompanied by the military boxing taught by Meng Yao, the effects were visibly noticeable.
Zhao Xiaohua visibly slimmed down and even appeared taller. She was no longer the adorable little girl but now had the semblance of a young lady.
As for Zhao Xiaoshu, he didn’t look so frail anymore either.
The results were remarkable.
Additionally, Meng Yao discovered that Zhao Xiaoshu was a good candidate for martial arts practice. Of course, she didn’t know any advanced martial skills. However, Zhao Xiaoshu practiced the close-combat military boxing competently, and he could even spar a few moves with her.
He mastered carpentry work in just over a year, and his studies didn’t lag behind either; he could recite the book "Three Hundred Thousand" in less than a month. Though he wasn’t as good as Zhao Xiaohua with acupoints and joints, he was still exceptional.
In conclusion, he’s a hidden talent.
Currently, it seems that Zhao Ting has excellent genes; otherwise, how could the children be so outstanding?
Of course, not everyone is exceptional, like Dajiang, for example.
Meng Yao has given up on changing him. Anyway, he’s like a perfect robot; as long as her instructions are correct, he won’t make mistakes.
After all, for the past month, Dajiang has taken good care of Song Xiu’er.
Meng Yao first arrived to find Song Xiu’er thin and frail, but now her face had some flesh, and she looked slightly rosier. The only thing that made Meng Yao feel like a failure was that now Song Xiu’er was just like Dajiang; they did whatever she said.
"Not a family, not entering a house together," truly a couple.
Additionally, over the past month, Meng Yao figured out her own special storage space, which, to put it simply, is an upgradable warehouse.
It can store items, and time inside is frozen, meaning whatever goes in comes out the same. Not to mention its remarkable preservation function.
However, it can only store inanimate objects, not living ones.
Initially, Meng Yao didn’t know and tried putting a chicken inside, but it fainted immediately, almost scaring the kids to death.
The upgrade feature refers to expanding storage capacity.
Initially, it was only one cubic decimeter in size.
After Meng Yao thought ’It’s too small, a bit bigger would be better,’ the three hundred fifty taels she kept in the space decreased to fifty taels, but the space expanded to one cubic meter.
Aside from being somewhat costly, there were no issues.
Though she doesn’t know how much silver will be needed to expand to two cubic meters, it certainly wouldn’t be just three hundred taels.
Soon it was Zhao Dahe’s day off, and Meng Yao prepared plenty of ingredients.
Over the past two days, the village chief’s cow gave birth to a calf, and there’s been milk available. Meng Yao sent Zhao Xiaohua and Zhao Xiaoshu to buy milk every day for two coins, which would get them a big jug. Aside from everyone having a bowl, the rest was used for making delicious foods.
Even though many ingredients were unavailable, she still managed to make a lot of good stuff.
For example, steamed cake.
Although beating the egg whites was a bit laborious, with Dajiang, who never seemed to tire, it was no problem.
For instance, milk tea.
Meng Yao bought the tea leaves with a heavy heart, a handful of adult-sized tea leaves costing three taels of silver.
And for instance, double-layered milk custard.
Silky smooth and sweet, the double-layered milk custard was the twins’ favorite.
Today, Meng Yao planned to make all three to entertain Zhao Dahe’s chubby friend.
Meng Yao woke up early and busied herself steaming a large pot of cake.
Then she started making the double-layered milk custard, with Zhao Xiaohua helping her.
After finishing the double-layered milk custard, she started brewing milk tea, and just as she finished, Zhao Dahe and Qin Zheng arrived.
The chubby boy carried large and small packages and yelled for Meng Yao before even stepping inside.
"Why bring so much when you come here? Dahe, didn’t you stop him?" Meng Yao said angrily.
Zhao Dahe felt a little guilty. He indeed told Qin Zheng not to come empty-handed, but he didn’t expect his family to prepare so much.
Yes, Qin Zheng sent a message home with his Attendant Student, and on the day off, the Qin Family’s carriage parked outside the tutor’s house, with all the items packed inside it long before.
"Auntie, it’s my first time visiting a classmate’s home, and my parents said I shouldn’t lose etiquette. Also, my parents heard that Dahe came first in the monthly exam and praised me for making friends. They felt that even this wasn’t enough." Qin Zheng said cheerfully.
Meng Yao quickly accepted the chubby boy’s items and welcomed them inside.
"Xiao... Xiaohua?" Zhao Dahe tentatively called out to Zhao Xiaohua, who was helping Meng Yao carry things.
"Hmm?" Zhao Xiaohua responded.
"Zhao Dahe, how can you fool people? Didn’t you always say your sister was as chubby as I am? I could split your sister in two; is this called chubby? Do you have a misunderstanding about what fat is?" Qin Zheng said excitedly.
Zhao Dahe was equally confused, having only been away for a month. Who would tell him what had happened?
Zhao Xiaohua gave Zhao Dahe a hard look. This annoying brother couldn’t help but slander her even when he was outside.
"Girls start growing, naturally getting thinner," Meng Yao interjected.
Qin Zheng had a face full of grief, "No way, I’ve grown too, but I’m still this fat!"
"You’re not a girl," Zhao Xiaohua responded swiftly.
So, do only girls grow thinner when they grow taller?
Why wasn’t he a girl?
When Meng Yao served the steamed cake, double-layered milk custard, and milk tea to Qin Zheng, he had only one thought left in his mind: What is this, why does it smell so good?
Zhao Xiaohua proudly introduced each item to Zhao Dahe and Qin Zheng.
Steamed cake was fragrant, sweet, soft, and melted in the mouth.
Double-layered milk custard slid down the throat once eaten, being smooth and tender.
With one sip of milk tea, you crave a second.
A plate of steamed cake was soon gone, everyone’s bowl of double-layered milk custard was empty, and they both wanted more even after a large bowl of milk tea.
"Mom, is there any more?" Zhao Dahe asked.
"There is, but you guys shouldn’t eat more; otherwise, how will you have room for lunch?" Meng Yao didn’t want them eating with abandon.
"Auntie, we can just eat this; no need to fuss about cooking," Qin Zheng said longingly.
He had never had such delicious pastries, and the large bowl of milk tea was so good he felt he could drink it every day without getting tired.
"You’re not eating chicken bits in spicy sauce? Meat buns? Bone soup?" Meng Yao asked.
Zhao Dahe and Qin Zheng exchanged a glance and replied in unison, "Eat."
It seemed that compared to meat, tea snacks were just so-so.