Chapter 208

Seeing this, Lianxing and Pili spoke up from the side: "It's okay, Auntie, we aren't really that hungry right now."

"That's right, it's fine to take your time. Auntie, let me help you."

As Pili said this, she had already rolled up her sleeves. Shen Jingjing took the opportunity to say: "Oh, no need, Auntie can do it very quickly alone. You've been tired from exams all day, go to the sofa and rest for a while, eat some fruit first."

Saying this, she rushed to the kitchen.

Pili did not actually go to idle, but followed her: "Auntie, I'll help you, I know how to cook."

Shen Ci saw that her mother was acting a bit strange, but she didn't rush to question her. She first looked at Lianxing and said: "You are the only real princess here, go sit and rest. I'll go help too."

"Ah?" Gu Lianxing had a bitter expression: "That wouldn't be appropriate..."

Shen Ci chuckled: "Don't be fake and polite in my house."

After saying this, she left Lianxing behind, turned around, and went to the kitchen as well.

Shen Ci and Pili were responsible for washing and preparing the vegetables, while Shen Jingjing was responsible for the cooking. The kitchen was very large, and the three of them did not look crowded at all.

Pili was clearly someone who cooked often; her technique for handling ingredients was neat and crisp, and her knife skills were also very impressive.

Shen Jingjing saw this and couldn't help but praise: "Pili must often cook for your parents at home, right?"

This one sentence made the other two in the kitchen stop their movements. Shen Ci pursed her lips in embarrassment and was about to speak, but Pili beat her to it. She smiled candidly and said: "Auntie, my parents passed away a long time ago. I was raised by my Master and his wife at their martial arts school."

Shen Jingjing: "..."

Her expression was slightly startled, as if she hadn't reacted for a moment.

Shen Ci said softly: "Mom, Pili's background is a bit complicated. You can slowly get to know it when there's a chance."

Shen Jingjing came back to her senses, her gaze turning away in a fluster: "I'm sorry, Auntie didn't mean to."

"It's okay, Auntie, it's been many years, I stopped minding this a long time ago." Pili had no intention of blaming her at all, which made Shen Jingjing feel even worse.

The atmosphere in the kitchen cooled down for a moment, until after a while, Shen Ci and Pili noticed that Shen Jingjing was secretly wiping away tears, and they both looked at each other in shock.

"Oh my, Mom, what are you doing!"

Shen Ci hurriedly put down the kidney beans in her hand and stepped forward to comfort her: "Why are you crying for no reason?"

Shen Jingjing waved her hand with wet eyes, also feeling embarrassed: "I'm getting old, my tear ducts are shallow, I can't bear to hear these things."

"Auntie, please don't cry. You're making me feel quite uncomfortable too." Pili was also a bit flustered. She had mentioned this to quite a few people, and indeed most people would express sympathy for her, but Auntie Shen was the second person to shed tears for her. The first was Lianxing, who had cried terribly at the time.

Perhaps because she herself was a mother of three children, she was more sensitive to such things and found it easier to empathize.

"Okay, I won't cry, I'll stir-fry the dishes." Shen Jingjing pushed the two girls: "I told you not to help, you should go out quickly..."

Seeing that the ingredients were all prepared and the rest just needed her mother to stir-fry them, Shen Ci pulled Pili out.

Pili rarely saw elders shed tears in front of her, and even more so because of her. She was a bit at a loss at the moment: "Aci, is your mother usually this sentimental?"

Shen Ci thought for a moment and shook her head.

In fact, her mother was a very strong and resilient woman. Just raising the three of them alone and cultivating them into talented individuals was definitely not something an ordinary woman could do.

In her memories, her mother rarely shed tears either.

Perhaps it was really as her mother said, she was getting older and more easily moved.

"Anyway, if she asks about your affairs later, let's be careful with what we say." Shen Ci decided to be safe.

Just hearing that Pili's parents died early had already made her cry with heartache. If she knew that her Master's wife was currently seriously ill and lying in the ICU, and that Pili was fighting in underground boxing matches against a group of rough, professional male boxers to earn money, leaving herself covered in bruises, that would be terrible!

Her heart would be broken!

Dinner was soon on the table. Although Shen Jingjing was preoccupied and not in a good state, fortunately, her cooking skills did not falter.

"It smells so good, Auntie, I'm drooling!"

"It looks delicious, thank you for your hard work, Auntie."

Lianxing and Pili both praised her enthusiastically. A smile returned to Shen Jingjing's face, and she urged them to wash their hands first.

After Pili and Lianxing went to the washroom, Shen Ci finally had the opportunity to hold her mother and ask her: "Mom, I see you are restless, is there something you are hiding from me?"

Things had to be made clear eventually, otherwise, neither her mother nor she herself would be able to eat this meal with peace of mind.

Shen Jingjing did not expect her daughter to have seen through everything. For a moment, she was hesitant and didn't know how to say it.

Seeing this, Shen Ci knew there must be something, but she wasn't angry. She just said to her mother calmly: "Can't you tell me? Think about it, this is Longcheng. How long can you hide things here from me? Or is it something about Shengang? Is something wrong at Auntie's house? It can't be something on Grandma's side, right?"

"No, no." Shen Jingjing hurriedly denied it, then confessed that she had taken it upon herself to go to the Jiang Corporation today.

Her tone when explaining was full of regret and self-blame, but Shen Ci only felt heartache when she heard it.

Before her mother could finish, Shen Ci hurriedly interrupted her: "Mom, stop. I thought it was something big. It's okay, Uncle Jiang won't get angry at you over this kind of thing. He isn't that kind of person. Since you had good intentions, how could Uncle Jiang not see it?"

"But, but I sent him a text message and he hasn't replied." Shen Jingjing said with a worried expression.

Shen Ci smiled slightly, raised her hand, and gently hugged her mother's shoulder: "You are overthinking it. Uncle Jiang is so busy, it's possible he just didn't see it."

"Is it really okay?" Shen Jingjing looked at her daughter worriedly: "Mom is afraid of doing more harm than good and causing you trouble."

Shen Ci immediately chuckled: "How could this possibly turn into trouble? If Uncle Jiang were the type of person who would easily find this troublesome, I wouldn't have sought him out. Don't worry, it really is okay."

Hearing her daughter say this, and with such a calm attitude, Shen Jingjing finally felt a little more at ease.

Only then did Shen Ci gently pat her mother's shoulder and say earnestly: "Mom, you don't have to be so cautious in the future. Even if you really caused trouble, I wouldn't blame you. You are my mom, the most important person in this world to me, more important than all things and troubles."

"Your daughter isn't afraid of trouble; what I'm afraid of is you being unhappy."

This sudden declaration of love touched the softness in Shen Jingjing's heart once again. She looked at her daughter with teary eyes and nodded: "Mom knows, Mom knows..."

(End of chapter)