The next morning at dawn, Jiang's Mother woke up early and prepared millet porridge, boiled eggs, and milk for her daughter.
"This girl, living alone but with quite a lot of staple food in stock."
Shang Wenli smiled slightly and diligently tidied up the kitchen for her daughter. After opening the cupboard, she suddenly noticed a very strange pair of bowls inside.
They had the same color scheme and style, only differing in the cartoon patterns on the bowl faces.
It was a pair of couple bowls.
"These bowls, why do they look so familiar..."
Jiang's Mother frowned slightly, picking up one of them and examining it.
Her daughter loved Doraemon a lot, even insisting that her mother buy Doraemon-themed bedsheets and quilt covers when she was little. Shang Wenli remembered that on Jiang Wei's sixth birthday, she had also gifted her daughter a pair of bowls like these.
"Mom, can I give one of these bowls to someone else?"
After receiving the bowls, her daughter had loved them dearly, but a few minutes later, the girl had made this strange request.
"What's wrong, little Wei? Don't you like them?"
Shang Wenli squatted down, looking at her daughter's eyes with some concern.
"No, I love them."
Little Jiang Wei's eyes gleamed gently as she sweetly arched the corners of her eyes. "Mom, I want to give one of the bowls to Yi Ming."
"Oh, of course you can," Jiang's Mother smiled and said softly, "What Mom gives you belongs to you. You can decide to keep it or give it away as you wish."
Later, when the neighbor's son Yi Ming came over to "mooch food", Jiang's Mother noticed that the bowl he was using was indeed one of the pair she had gifted her daughter. According to Yi Ming's father, the little boy loved that bowl dearly and even took it with him when visiting his grandmother's house.
In the blink of an eye, more than a decade had passed.
Jiang's Mother was surprised to find that the two bowls in front of her were almost identical to the ones she had given her daughter years ago. If not for the patterns being so crisp and clear, she would have thought these were the exact same bowls.
As Jiang's Mother was lost in thought, Jiang Wei woke up, shuffled over in her slippers while rubbing her eyes, and asked, "Mom, what are you doing?"
"Come here, daughter."
Shang Wenli excitedly waved her over.
"Look at this pair of bowls. Aren't they just like the ones I gave you back then?"
Shang Wenli pointed them out to Jiang Wei.
Jiang Wei glanced into the cupboard, then smiled wryly. "Mom, the ones you gave me broke ages ago. These are new ones that Yi Ming bought recently..."
Jiang Wei blurted it out without thinking, but as soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted it.
Jiang's Mother was perceptive and immediately caught the implication behind her words. She raised an eyebrow and asked, "Wait, Yi Ming?"
"Ah..."
Jiang Wei frowned with vexation and quickly laughed it off. "Yeah, he came to visit me recently and brought me some gifts, including this pair of bowls. He said he specifically found them online because they remind him of childhood memories..."
"Oh my, this boy is really something."
Jiang's Mother smiled with delight, beaming as she talked about Yi Ming. "He's a bit silly, this one..."
"Huh?"
Jiang Wei was taken aback and looked up. "Yi Ming is silly? I didn't know that."
Jiang's Mother chuckled as she picked up her chopsticks and headed towards the dining table. "Of course he's silly, way too silly... This boy should have just gifted himself back then. That way, would I still need to worry about your marriage? Wouldn't I be able to travel the world with your father in peace..."
Jiang Wei: "..."
Jiang Wei felt both amused and exasperated.
It seemed like her own mother didn't really love her anymore.
Why was she always so eager to marry her off?