He Jinxuan felt a bit embarrassed and said, "I can only say that my cooking is edible, not nearly as good as yours, but I want to cook for you."
Xinyan, thinking he was sensible, joked with a smile, "Alright, then from now on I’ll just give orders, and you do the cooking."
After eating, He Jinxuan didn’t let Xinyan lift a finger, he cleaned up the stove himself and only then left with the food for the two children.
Poor Little Sili and Little Siyan waited nearly twenty minutes longer than usual to see their uncle.
When He Jinxuan came in, Little Sili and Little Siyan were peeking out from the door, and upon seeing their uncle enter the yard, Little Siyan jumped up, "Uncle, you’re back?"
He Jinxuan quickened his steps, "Hungry?"
Ye Silai, acting all grown-up, wanted to take the lunchbox from his uncle’s hand, when He Jinxuan said, "One of these boxes has porridge, let uncle carry it in."
Little Siyan, feeling a bit hungry, asked when he heard about the porridge, "Uncle, do we have to have porridge for lunch too?"
He Jinxuan, looking at this little foodie, felt like teasing him, "Yes, porridge for lunch too. Don’t you like it?"
The little guy blinked his big eyes, "Porridge makes you hungry faster."
He Jinxuan immediately understood why the little guy said that. Previously, when he was hospitalized, Bai Cuilin would sometimes only give them porridge or just corn mush, and the two brothers would get hungry shortly after. Little Siyan had remembered that.
He Jinxuan felt a pang of sympathy, "Uncle was just joking with you, brought you some stewed noodles, and also fried each of you an egg."
He turned to Sili, "Set up the kang table."
Little Sili, hearing his uncle, quickly climbed onto the kang and set up the table.
He Jinxuan placed the lunchboxes on the table, took off his raincoat and hung it up, then helped them open their lunchboxes.
Little Siyan, the foodie, immediately brightened up, "I can tell just by the smell, this is Sister’s cooking."
He Jinxuan laughed, "At least you have a conscience, kid."
Siyan looked at He Jinxuan, "Uncle, did you go to Sister’s place?"
He Jinxuan nodded, "Yes, how else was I supposed to bring you food?"
Little Siyan quickly reacted, "Then why did you go alone, why didn’t you take us?"
He Jinxuan raised his hand and lightly knocked on his little head, "With this heavy rain, how could I take you along?"
The little guy, realizing he didn’t have a point, drooped his little head like a defeated rooster, "Oh, I get it."
With some worry, he looked outside and mumbled softly, "Who knows when this rain will stop?"
He Jinxuan found it amusing, "Alright, don’t worry about half a day or so, let’s eat quickly. Didn’t you say you were hungry?"
Sili also chimed in, "This is Sister Xinyan’s cooking, it smells delicious."
Unexpectedly, Little Siyan blurted out, "It’s indeed much better than Uncle’s cooking. Uncle, you should quickly learn from Sister, or Aunt might dislike you."
He Jinxuan gave Ye Siyan a flick on the head, "Hey, you little rascal, you’re criticizing your uncle now."
The laughter of the three echoed through the room.
*
On the train, Su Jingsong came in with the meal he just bought at the dining car, "Mr. Han, it’s time to eat."
Han Jingchen motioned for him to place it on the small table, "What time will we arrive?"
Su Jingsong, opening the meal box, replied, "If there’s no delay, we should arrive at the station around five in the afternoon, everything is already arranged there, someone will pick us up."
Han Jingchen, for some reason, felt more nervous the closer he got to the East Province. He wanted to find his daughter quickly, but feared he might not find her, and was even more afraid that if he found her, she wouldn’t want to forgive or acknowledge him.
Su Jingsong also noticed the old officer’s unease and tentatively asked, "Sir, what’s wrong, are you feeling unwell?"
Han Jingchen shook his head, "It’s fine, let’s eat first."
Watching the scenery recede outside, he felt truly emotional. If only he had set off a few days earlier back then, it wouldn’t have ended this way. If only he had contacted home before getting on the train instead of thinking about giving her some damn surprise, they wouldn’t have missed each other entirely. It was all his fault.