Chapter 317

Social death is social death, but one still has to eat.

Although Tang Xiuxia's cooking wasn't exactly top-tier, the table of home-cooked dishes she had carefully prepared according to the two children's tastes was still enough to whet their appetites.

Plus, they were genuinely hungry, so Qin Tian and Xia Nuannuan were both eating heartily.

"Nuannuan, eat slowly, eat slowly, don't rush."

Tang Xiuxia placed food into Xia Nuannuan's bowl, her face blooming like a flower.

She felt a great sense of accomplishment being able to make the two children eat so happily.

It made the effort of going out to buy groceries early in the morning and preparing for half the day worth it; she had even taken the opportunity to learn some tips from her future in-law regarding cooking.

For instance, what dishes Xia Nuannuan liked and what her tastes were—she had learned all of that from Su Xia.

Having relied on her son for survival all these years, she now had such a beautiful and well-behaved future daughter-in-law, and she loved her from the bottom of her heart, treating her as her own daughter to spoil.

"Mm-hmm..."

Xia Nuannuan nodded her little head, only then slowing down her eating speed with some embarrassment.

"Sister Xiu, just eat your own food and leave her be. She's so grown up now, why do you still need to help her pick up food?"

Su Xia said with a beaming smile.

"Why wouldn't I? Can't you let me experience the feeling of raising a daughter? I've always envied that."

Tang Xiuxia retorted.

Xia Nuannuan had originally been prepared to agree with her mother, but upon hearing this, she turned her head and winked at Qin Tian.

Qin Tian rolled his eyes, reached over with his chopsticks, snatched a piece of beef his mother had put in her bowl, and quickly shoved it into his own mouth.

"Hey!"

Xia Nuannuan was stunned, then glared at him, feigning anger.

Qin Tian raised his eyebrows with a mischievous grin.

"Auntie..."

Xia Nuannuan channeled her inner actress, putting on a weak, pitiful, and helpless expression as she looked at Tang Xiuxia.

"You brat, what are you doing? Who told you to bully Nuannuan?"

Tang Xiuxia immediately glared at him.

Qin Tian sighed with a sorrowful look and obediently picked up another piece of beef to return to her.

Xia Nuannuan, having successfully used her "borrowed power," smiled happily and blissfully savored his peace offering.

Su Xia couldn't help but laugh as she watched this scene, feeling like they were truly one big family.

After eating their fill and cleaning up the tableware together, they went to his mother's room to watch TV and chat.

Tang Xiuxia pulled Xia Nuannuan to sit beside her and began chatting about her life at university.

Xia Nuannuan shared some of the happy things from campus life in great detail, keeping a constant smile on Tang Xiuxia's face.

After chatting for a while, Xia Nuannuan received a signal from Qin Tian and immediately changed the subject with a tacit understanding.

"Auntie, I heard from my mom that you've been very busy at the shop lately?"

"The shop? Oh, it's alright. Look at today—didn't I give myself a day off?"

Tang Xiuxia replied with a bright smile.

"Mom, the original intention of suggesting you open this clothing shop was so that your work and life would be more relaxed. If you keep busy like this every day, I'm really going to regret it."

Qin Tian took over the conversation, speaking with a serious expression.

Tang Xiuxia paused, her gaze sweeping across the faces of the two children. She immediately understood what was going on; while she felt torn between laughter and tears, she was also very touched.

"It's only like this because it's the peak season. In a while, when the weather gets cold, the mall will be quiet."

"Mom!"

Qin Tian frowned slightly. Without wasting words, he took his phone out of his pocket, opened the stock investment software account page, and handed it to her.

"What are you doing?"

"Take a look at this."

"What is it!"

Tang Xiuxia reached out to take the phone. After seeing the string of numbers on the screen, she was instantly dumbfounded and looked up at her son in astonishment.

"Understand now? Your son can make money. You don't need to worry about the future; our family's life will only get better and better."

Qin Tian said with a straight face.

Not knowing exactly how much capital he would need to prepare for buying a house, he had simply liquidated the stocks he held for the time being.

The amount was more than he had imagined, reaching over seven million.

Excluding the 1.2 million transferred out for the house purchase, there was still over five million left in the account untouched.

"You just made a little money, what are you showing off for? Oh, so because you can make money, I should stop doing anything? Just lie at home and get moldy?"

Tang Xiuxia threw the phone back to him and asked back, annoyed.

That string of numbers did indeed startle her, but she had experienced similar situations many times over the past half year.

"Mom, you know that's not what I meant. If I had that kind of thinking, why would I have suggested you open a clothing shop in the first place?"

Qin Tian said with a look of grievance.

"Auntie, Brother is just afraid you'll tire yourself out; he cares about you!"

Xia Nuannuan chimed in.

How could Tang Xiuxia not understand that her son was worried about her? It was just that she had been used to working hard for so many years that she would really find it hard to get used to suddenly being idle.

"Auntie, I also think you should let yourself be a bit more relaxed, otherwise we'll be worried at school."

Xia Nuannuan added with a sincere tone.

Tang Xiuxia looked at her thoughtfully. After a moment, she sighed, looked at her son with a straight face, and agreed: "I know. In a few days, I'll hire a shop manager to help look after the shop, and I'll just go check on it when I have time. Is that okay?"

"That's fine, that's fine! That was our original intention!"

Qin Tian nodded happily.

"You brat, your wings are getting stiff now, and you're even managing your mother? What am I supposed to do every day if I'm idle?"

Tang Xiuxia glared at her son, annoyed.

"Auntie, Auntie, my mom is just missing a companion!"

Xia Nuannuan looked at her mother with a sweet smile.

"That's right, Sister Xiu, from now on, let's team up. We can find people to play cards with every day, and if there's no one, we can go shopping or get beauty treatments. It'll be easy to pass the time."

Su Xia nodded in agreement with a smile.

Tang Xiuxia looked at her face, which seemed to have frozen in time, and then thought about how she was clearly only two years older but looked much more aged. Envy and longing appeared in her eyes.

"Alright, I'll listen to you all. I won't worry about anything anymore; from now on, I'll just follow you and enjoy life."

"That's exactly how it should be!"

Su Xia smiled gently.

"Satisfied?"

Tang Xiuxia looked at her son with amusement and pouted, saying, "No wonder when you called, you proactively said you were bringing Nuannuan home for dinner today. So this is what you were waiting for?"

Qin Tian didn't deny it and shrugged helplessly: "There's no other way. Who told me that I'm just a poor child with no one to love me, and my words don't carry any weight? I had no choice but to bring out Nuannuan as my trump card."

As soon as these words were spoken, happy laughter immediately filled the room.

"Who said that? Xiao Tian, don't I love you?"

Su Xia asked seriously.

"Mom!!"

Qin Tian suddenly said something shocking.

The room suddenly went quiet. Xia Nuannuan and the two mothers were all staring at him, dumbfounded.

"Sorry, sorry, I was just expressing my feelings. Anyway, I'd have to call you that sooner or later, so I thought I'd try it out today. I didn't expect it to be unexpectedly natural."

Qin Tian said with a happy laugh.

Tang Xiuxia covered her face with her hands, feeling she had no face left to show anyone.

This silly son of hers really had such thick skin; how had she never noticed it before!

Xia Nuannuan's big eyes were wide open, her little head still in a state of system crash.

Su Xia burst out laughing, nodding repeatedly with a beaming face: "It's fine, it's fine, you're right. It had to be called sooner or later, it's all the same."