Chapter 504: He’s Changing
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Gu Zi had noticed he was acting awkwardly, and now she understood why. She said, “Just eat it. Since when does eating have anything to do with gender? Are you suggesting that boys can’t consume health supplements? As long as it’s good for our health, anything goes.”
Su Bing nodded, continuing to eat the bird’s nest. Could this really nourish his body? He wasn’t sure, but if his mother said it was good, then it must be.
Out of the corner of his eye, Su Bing noticed Su Li, who was sitting nearby, delicately savoring his own bowl of bird’s nest. Surprisingly, he wasn’t wolfing it down. This rascal was putting on airs in front of their mother.
After Gu Zi finished speaking, she glanced at Su Jing sitting across from her. The girl’s eyes were shimmering, but Gu Zi didn’t ask any further questions. She continued to eat her bird’s nest, occasionally spooning some to Su Le.
Su Le was younger, and consuming too many health supplements wasn’t beneficial, so Gu Zi only gave her a little, just enough so the young girl didn’t feel left out.
Su Jing sipped her bird’s nest slowly, savoring its milky flavor. She had eaten this before, only buying it to keep up with the trend, and she hadn’t found it particularly tasty. However, she never thought of steaming it with milk. Prepared this way by Gu Zi, it was quite delicious.
The more she ate, the warmer she felt inside. This expensive delicacy had been prepared for her without a word.
After they finished eating, Su Jing and Su Li both vied to wash the dishes. Su Jing refused to let Su Li do it, and he finally voiced his frustration, “Why are you , taking my chores? Why don’t you take my brother’s chores?”
Su Jing was taken aback for a moment. When had this boy become so diligent?
Regardless, she was not willing to give up. She grabbed a stack of dishes and headed for the kitchen, leaving behind the words, “The bird’s nest was made by my sister-in-law, so it’s my job to wash the dishes!”
Su Li gritted his teeth in annoyance and chased after her, “That bird’s nest was made by my mother, so I should be the one to wash the dishes! How about we each wash half? Give me two dishes…”
Gu Zi watched them until they disappeared into the kitchen, then turned to Su Bing and shook her head, “Do their combined IQs even add up to that of a three-year-old?” It was truly absurd!
Su Bing shook his head decisively, calmly saying, “No. But Mom, you don’t need to worry about them. They won’t come to blows.” After saying this, Su Bing leisurely took a hair tie out of his bag and placed it in front of Gu Zi, his cheeks flushed red.
Gu Zi looked at him, knowing he had something to say. Her gaze fell upon the hair tie on the table. It was quite pretty, pink with a small strawberry adorning it. Then she heard him say, “This is for you. Our teacher gave it as a reward. I have no use for it.”
What he really wanted to say was that he, too, would strive to win prizes for his mother.
Originally, his end-of-term reward was a set of exquisite stationery, a prize given by the school.
But recalling how his younger brother had given their mother a White Rabbit candy as a token of gratitude, he wanted to express his feelings too. Since his mother was teaching him foreign languages, he promptly exchanged his stationery with the hair tie Jiang Nuan had won as a prize. He thought the hair tie would be more useful to his mother.
“Thank you! I’ll accept it then,” Gu Zi said, deeply moved. Not because the hair tie was a valuable item, but because she saw the changes in him. The efforts he was making quietly were bearing fruit, and there was feedback.
How could she not see that this must be a prize he had exchanged for his own? No teacher would be so confused as to give a boy a hair tie as a reward.
Su Bing took out a book. It was an extracurricular book he kept in his school bag. He responded to Gu Zi somewhat awkwardly, then lowered his head and began to flip through the book quickly.
Gu Zi watched him, not exposing the boy’s sense of shame. He was probably not yet accustomed to being such a child. He needed some time to calmly face his current self.
Su Jing came out of the kitchen and asked Gu Zi, “Sister-in-law, what are we having for dinner tonight? I need to start preparing.” Su Jing now called her sister-in-law at every opportunity, never missing a beat.
Gu Zi was preparing milk powder for Su Le and replied, “We still haven’t eaten most of the shrimp that Li Zhu sent over yesterday. Let’s have shrimp. You can cook it however you like. Just stir-fry a couple of side dishes, and cook enough rice for four people. Your brother won’t be home for dinner tonight.”
With Su Shen not around, and her own appetite for main dishes being small, she and Le Le could share a single serving.
Upon hearing that Su Shen wouldn’t be coming home, Su Jing knew it must be because of work. Her brother must be so tired every day. She had never understood this before, nor could she empathize. She had even used the money her brother had worked so hard to earn to support someone else’s family. She had been incredibly foolish!