Cheng Qingchong’s hand trembled greatly, and the bowl slipped from her hand like she was shocked. Thankfully, Qin Yinan reacted faster than her and managed to save the bowl from crashing to the ground.

  Mrs. Cheng saw this and couldn’t help herself from nagging Cheng Qingchong. "Qingchong, what’s wrong with you? You can’t even hold a bowl properly."

  Cheng Qingchong suppressed the roiling tides in her heart and turned to pout at her mother.

  Qin Yinan ladled a bowl of soup and served Mrs. Cheng with both hands.

  Mrs. Cheng moved her gaze away from Cheng Qingchong onto Qin Yinan. She commented with a smile, "Qingchong has always been clumsy since she was a child. Hopefully, she didn’t give you too much trouble."

  Qin Yinan shook his head with a smile. He ladled another bowl of soup and placed it before Cheng Qingchong. Then, he added, "I find this clumsy of hers rather cute."

  Mrs. Cheng instantly broke into a wide smile. "Yinan, you’ll end up pampering her too much."

  Qin Yinan ladled another bowl of soup for himself and didn’t respond to Mrs. Cheng’s comment. After he took a sip of it, he saw Cheng Qingchong still maintaining the half-standing posture she assumed when her mother asked her to serve the soup. He frowned slightly and reminded her gently, "Qingchong, what are you doing standing there? Sit down and eat."

  Qingchong…… He just called me Qingchong…… Cheng Qingchong turned to look at Qin Yinan unconsciously. The man’s face was filled with a gentle glow, but he didn’t acknowledge her gaze.

  I sure am dumb. I knew he would act this way when mother is around, but I still can’t help my heart from skipping a beat when he calls my name. Cheng Qingchong tried her best to ignore the rising disappointment in her heart. She sat down, lowered her head quickly to mask her anxiety, and took a sip of the soup.

  The taste is so familiar…… When she was ’pregnant’ and was recovering from the ’miscarriage’, he would stew many different types of soup for her to aid her recovery.

  When she married him, he was already a good cook, but he didn’t know much about soup. Probably afraid that she might get bored drinking the same soup every day, he bought a bunch of cooking books and would spend every hour of his day learning new recipes.

  She enjoyed the soup that he made, and her favorite was the chicken soup that he had incidentally cooked that day.

  He also knew that was her favorite, so there was one period where he would cook it for her daily. She was so in tuned with the taste that, even though she hadn’t had it for months already, with just one sip, she could recognize it as his handiwork.

  Something seemed to lodge itself in Cheng Qingchong’s throat, and she found herself unable to swallow the soup in her mouth. Her eyes were prickling with tears, and her fingers that held the bowl were quivering.

  No wonder he would hate me so completely. He treated me so nicely and so sincerely once. It was me who trampled on his sincerity and kindness.

  Just like the dinner yesterday at Golden Corner, Mrs. Cheng kept chatting with Qin Yinan while Cheng Qingchong would only chime in when spoken to directly.

  The television in the living room was still on. When the dinner was almost finished, there was a baby diaper commercial on television. The conversation at the table had reached a lull, so the sound of the baby’s gurgling laugh was exceptionally loud.

  Mrs. Cheng turned around to look at the television. As the fair and cuddly baby crawled all over the screen, she sighed deeply before turning to face Qin Yinan and spoke with some traces of regret and apology.