“Huh, Uncle Ye, you haven’t left yet? What are you doing on your knees with my mom (⊙_⊙)?”

Xiao Qin, who came back from buying canned oranges, was eager to get credit from Auntie Ren and pushed the door open to Auntie Ren’s bedroom without warning, only to see my dad kneeling in front of Auntie Ren, holding a diamond ring in his hand.

My dad and Auntie Ren both had a guilty conscience, so when the embarrassing scene was seen by Xiao Qin, both panicked a little and Auntie Ren hurriedly said:

“No, we’re not do anything. We have to shoot a similar scene on set, so I was in a hurry to catch up with the shooting progress after being discharged from the hospital. I wanted Uncle Ye’s help to pose, so I could think about the movements in the scene.”

Xiao Qin blinked, “But mom, aren’t you a martial arts director? This scene looks a bit like… a proposal. Why do you need to design a proposal scene?”

Auntie Ren was pretty quick-witted, “Because after the proposal, the female character would immediately kick the male character away, so it falls under martial arts and I would be responsible for it.”

“Is that so.” Xiao Qin said half-heartedly, “Where did the diamond ring come from? Is it a prop, but according to the background setting of the “Legend of the Magic Cauldron”, I don’t think they had customs like giving a diamond ring when proposing.”

“That’s because…”

Dad saw Auntie Ren was at a loss for words and was afraid she couldn’t continue the lie, so he quickly took over: “Yes, we are acting, but we’re not acting for your mother’s drama. I’m the one who wants to propose to someone else, but I don’t have any confidence, so I’m rehearsing it with your mother…”

“Eh, don’t tell me that Auntie Xiao Juan still hasn’t agreed to your proposal?” Xiao Qin frowned suspiciously, “If I waited for 14 years, I would immediately pounce once the other party opens their mouth, why would I even need a diamond ring…”

Xiao Qin put the shopping bags on the table, then Auntie Ren pinched my dad’s ear, and asked in a low voice: “So you still want to marry someone else, right, so it’s just a rehearsal with me…”

My dad who had his ear pinched couldn’t scream out in pain, but could only reply in the same low voice: “It’s just a random excuse. If you agree to my proposal, I’ll explain everything to Xiao Qin right now, but if you don’t give me answer, how can I tell Xiao Qin about our relationship? Do you just say that we only have a relationship where we slept together… ah, stop pinching me.”

Because of Xiao Qin’s sudden intrusion, Auntie Ren felt that the atmosphere of the proposal was all ruined, so she didn’t intend to give my dad a reply.

“Uncle Ye.” Xiao Qin took two cans of drinks from the refrigerator for my dad and Auntie Ren to drink, and said to my dad a little worriedly, “If you propose to my mother, it would be bad if it’s misunderstood. What if Auntie Xiao Juan hears about it, then it will definitely make her sad.”

Xiao Qin was already deeply empathetic for the infatuated Xiao Juan and she already thought from the bottom of her heart that my dad and Auntie Xiao Juan were a couple, so she didn’t think too much of the very suspicious couple that was right in front of her.

“I know, I won’t do things that can easily be misunderstood in the future.” My dad promised Xiao Qin, then turned to Auntie Ren and asked, “If there’s nothing left, I’ll leave first.”

“Don’t go.” Auntie Ren suddenly said.

“Then… what do you need me to stay to do?” My dad, who had a guilty conscience, was still eager to retreat.

“You stay to cook.” Auntie Ren ordered in a non-negotiable tone, “I cooperated with you… with your rehearsal proposal, so didn’t you promise to cook for us in exchange.”

“Mom.” Xiao Qin advised from the side, “It’s better to let Uncle Ye go back first, it would be bad if we kept Auntie Xiao Juan or Ye Lin classmate waiting. I can make dinner, I’ve been practicing my cooking skills and I’ll make some delicious and nutritious dishes for you.”

“I only want to eat the dishes he made today.” Auntie Ren glared at my dad unreasonably, “Besides, it’s almost the day when you’re going to have a tummy ache, isn’t it? Don’t get your hands in cold water.”

Seeing that my mother insisted repeatedly and did not budge, Xiao Qin had to apologize to my dad for Auntie Ren:

“Uncle Ye, I’m sorry, my mom just got out of the hospital in a bad mood, so please don’t be angry with her…”

“No need to apologize to him.” Auntie Ren unhappily interrupted Xiao Qin, “No need to be especially polite with him in the future either, it’s not like he’s polite with me…”

She stopped speaking halfway, so only my dad and Auntie Ren knew exactly what she referred to, and Xiao Qin stood between the two in a daze.

“That’s true.” My dad pushed up the bridge of his glasses, “Your mother and I have been neighbors for many years, also you and Xiao Lin grew up together, so there’s no need for you to speak to me respectfully.”

“That’s not okay.” Xiao Qin was surprised, “Ye Lin classmate also speaks to my mother respectfully.”

“You don’t need to worry about it.” Auntie Ren said, “You can speak to Uncle Ye like how you usually talk to me. Ye Lin will do the same to me.”

My dad looked happy and felt that Auntie Ren had a special meaning in making this kind of decision, but Auntie Ren turned her face away and didn’t let my dad read her thoughts.

“That’s not good.” Xiao Qin felt like they were acting strange as if they were hiding something from her, “What if Ye Lin classmate thinks I have no manners when he sees me speak to his father without honorifics?”

“Xiao Lin would have no problem with it.” my dad insisted, “Try it, don’t use honorifics, say hello to me.”

Seeing that both my mom and Uncle Ye insisted, Xiao Qin had to speak up, “Uncle Ye, hell-… hi”.

She blinked with a face full of doubts as if something was lost from the sentence.

My dad felt the reason why Auntie Ren told Xiao Qin to not be polite with him was because she had a favorable response to his proposal. If they remarried, then making good relations with their stepchildren was a very important step.

Auntie Ren might not necessarily think the same way. Perhaps she simply felt that she already let him sleep with her, so it didn’t feel good to see her children speak to him respectfully.

Thus my dad stayed behind to cook.

My dad’s cooking skills was only a little better than 28 Middle’s school cafeteria. He could only ensure that the rice was free of stones, the beans were free of flies, and that there will be meat in the green pepper meat stir-fry.

That’s why my dad felt a lot of pressure because he was going to cook for Auntie Ren and her daughter. My dad had eaten the chicken with sea cucumber and bamboo shoots cooked by Xiao Qin, so he knew that Auntie Ren and Xiao Qin’s cooking skills were much better than his own.

My dad felt that at this moment, the enormity of the task was no less than going to war, so he called me and asked me to help save the day.

That’s why after eating lunch at the class leader’s house, I didn’t stay much longer. I took a taxi to Xiao Qin’s house and intended to prepare a dinner for Xiao Qin and her mother, with me and my father.

Chinese people really view food first. Today, I didn’t do anything else, but revolve around the food.

But there was a difference between eating at noon and cooking in the afternoon.

Knowing that I would be arriving soon, my dad came downstairs to pick me up and prepare to buy some food with me at the market downstairs.

Some of the residents here were relocated from the former compound, and my dad hadn’t changed much over the years and was recognized by an old lady.

“Oh, isn’t this teacher Ye.”

Because after my dad left the university, he also ran a cram class for a while, so quite a few of his old neighbors liked to refer to him as teacher.

“Hey, nice to meet you, it’s Mrs. Wang, right?” My dad actually remembered their last name.

The old lady smiled happily and was about to ask my dad how he was doing when she suddenly saw me getting out of the cab and walked up to my dad’s side.

I didn’t really remember Mrs. Wang, so I wanted my dad to speak, but saw Mrs. Wang’s face changed and said shocked: “This… is this your son? Did he ruin… get plastic surgery?”

Who got plastic surgery? Who would get plastic surgery to look like me? Just say you think I look disfigured.

My dad said some quick words with her and Mrs. Wang sighed. She waved goodbye with regret as the cute little shota in her memories had grown to look like a murderer. We then walked to the market to buy food.

When we arrived at the market, I carefully recalled the dishes cooked by the class leader today, thinking about if there was anything easy to do that I could copy.

After half a day of reminiscing, I thought that shrimp and bok choy and veggie stir-fry were easy to make. Because the shrimp and bok choy was mainly seasoned with the minced garlic and shrimp and stir-fried. The veggie stir-fry was even easier, all we needed to do was julienne fiddlehead, celery, and bamboo shoots, then boil them in water and stir-fry it together.

At my suggestion, my dad first bought the ingredients for these two dishes, but we ignored the basic rules of cooking. The simpler the ingredients and recipe, the more it tests your skills. My dad and I were only two guys who excelled at cooking noodles, so who knows how it will end up when we suddenly challenge unfamiliar dishes.

But anyway, Auntie Ren had just been discharged from the hospital, so although she can’t eat fish and meat, she still needs to eat something nutritious. It’s not like we can buy four servings of hand-made noodles, and then go back to cook noodles for Xiao Qin and Auntie Ren.

Since I had just tasted the class leader’s skills, I had blind confidence and did not consider the fact that my dad I were both awful at cooking. We optimistically bought some common ingredients and prepared to go back to show off our cooking skills.

Speaking of the marketplace below Xiao Qin’s home, we can’t forget about the shoe repair uncle.

The former National Defense Security Agency employee, who once sold a listening device to Xiao Qin, was especially good at putting all kinds of listening devices in his shoes, for some reason had a falling out with his boss and now lives in hiding and repairs shoes for a living. He gets off work every day at five o’clock sharp and every time you approach his shoe repair hut, you can hear him cursing the Chinese men’s soccer team on TV.

“Stupid, a bunch of idiots, black three minutes again. I think the idiocy of the Chinese men’s soccer team is hereditary.”

My dad and I were walking by just in time to hear the shoe repair uncle cursing furiously at his TV.

“Iraq is so chaotic that you need to bring a submachine gun to buy groceries, but even they can win the championship. Do you guys all eat ** or something?”

“And look at North Korea. Look at how enthusiastic the North Korea men’s soccer team are when they play the game. You guys should all be sent to North Korea’s Mount Kumgang to dig coal.”

“By the way, when you’re digging coal, make sure to bring my map to the North Korean leaders, so that they quickly destroy the U.S. nuclear facilities on the peninsula to avenge my comrades in the former Soviet Union.”

Wow, show repair Uncle, you’re way too loud. Fortunately, there aren’t any foreign spies here, there’s no one here who has contact with the United States or the Korean government, otherwise it would be very dangerous to say those things.