Chapter 53: Cheng Qiuluo: Finally Found One of My Kind!

"Ugh!"

The moment the door opened, a thick stench came crashing down on her. Cheng Qiuluo couldn't hold it in and started dry-heaving.

Pinching her nose, she forced herself through the stench and walked up to Yu'an.

"Little Aunt?"

The sudden bang of the door had startled Yu'an, and the small piece of durian he hadn't finished eating dropped to the floor with a splat.

From Cheng Qiuluo's perspective...

Hmm, it looked even more like something.

"Little Aunt, what's wrong?"

The little fellow blinked up at her in confusion, even subconsciously licking the durian flesh stuck to the corner of his mouth.

Cheng Qiuluo instantly put on her mask of agony, her face turning green.

"Ugh!"

"How could you eat something like this?!"

Speaking of which, Yu'an's big eyes lit up with a sparkle, and he turned around to pick up a piece of durian from the table.

"Little Aunt, eat this—it's really good!"

Fairy Sister was right after all—this fruit called durian smells awful, but it tastes especially soft, sticky, and sweet.

Looking at the yellowish thing cradled in his hands, Cheng Qiuluo backed away step after step, her words coming out in a stammer.

"N-no, no, Little Aunt won't eat it. You, you should eat less too."

She glanced at the spiky hard shell behind Yu'an and realized—this thing was not what she had thought it was.

But she absolutely would not eat it!

"What happened? All that shouting—I could hear you from outside the courtyard."

Wang Shi came in first, and soon frowned and raised a hand to cover her nose.

"What smell? How strange."

Cheng Qiuruo, who followed her in, also covered her nose with one hand and fanned the air in front of her with the other.

The smell really was a bit sharp.

"Great-Grand-Aunt, come eat niunian together!"

After saying that, the little fellow felt something was off, furrowed his little brows, and in all seriousness repeated it softly once more, one word at a time.

"Liu—lian."

Then he nodded his little head.

This time he got it right!

"That's right, come eat niunian!"

After saying that, the little fellow's face fell again, secretly troubled.

How did he get it wrong again?

Seeing his little doubting-himself expression, An Luo couldn't hold back and let out a soft laugh.

Hahaha, Zaituan is just too cute.

Ahhh, I really want to take a little nibble!

"This is..."

Wang Shi slowed her breathing, and by now had adjusted.

She walked closer and pointed at the thing in Yu'an's hand to ask.

Seeing everyone's doubtful expressions, Yu'an, to make his case more convincing, lowered his head and took a bite, squinting his big eyes in enjoyment, eating with great relish. With fruit flesh stuffed in his mouth, his words came out a bit muffled.

"This is—liu—lian."

"It's really good, I super love it!"

Seeing him eat so happily, Cheng Qiuruo was also a little tempted, but that smell really killed her appetite.

Noticing her gaze, Yu'an set down the one in his hand, wiped his hands clean with a handkerchief, broke off a piece and handed it over.

"Aunt, eat."

"Uh..."

Cheng Qiuruo reached out, pinched off a tiny bit, held her breath and put it in her mouth. The moment she tasted it, her eyes went wide.

The next second, she took everything Yu'an had handed her, biting into it in big mouthfuls, nodding nonstop as she ate.

"It's really delicious!"

"Mother, Luoluo, you should eat too."

Cheng Qiuluo's face was full of doubt. To be honest, she didn't believe it.

Elder Sister had been tricking her since they were little.

Sometimes a fruit was clearly sour enough to make her teeth ache, yet Elder Sister would look delighted and tell her it was very sweet. After tricking her into taking a big bite, she'd end up spitting it out herself.

Watching her hop around from the sourness, pounding the table, Elder Sister would just stand beside her laughing out loud.

This time, she absolutely wouldn't fall for it.

Cheng Qiuruo broke off a piece and held it up to her own mother's mouth.

"Try it, it's really delicious."

Wang Shi took a doubtful bite, and after savoring it carefully, nodded repeatedly.

"This taste really isn't bad."

Watching her mother and elder sister eat heartily, Qiuluo hesitantly picked up a small piece.

"Really, or is it fake?"

She scrunched up her face and stuffed it into her mouth, and the next moment…

"Ugh!"

Cheng Qiuluo rushed to the door, and this time, she threw up even worse.

How should she describe that taste?

It was like swallowing a few raw rotten eggs whole, stuck in the back of her throat — she couldn't get a single bit down!

She felt like even last night's dinner was about to come back up.

She stood with one hand on her hip, gasping for breath, the other wiping her mouth, looking at her mother and elder sister in disbelief.

"You two really think it tastes good?"

Wang Shi and Cheng Qiuruo, mother and daughter, exchanged a glance, then turned their heads together to look at her, speaking in unison.

"Yes, it's really delicious."

"Indeed very delicious."

Cheng Qiuluo's expression was beyond words.

Just then, Cheng Feng and the others came back carrying two wild sheep.

She hurried to run outside.

"Forget it, I'll go spin some sheep's wool into yarn instead."

The three people in the room looked at each other, then looked at him together.

"What's wrong with Little Aunt? It's clearly very tasty."

Yu'an finished speaking in confusion, then lowered his head and took a big bite, "Ow-woof!"

Cheng Qiuruo shrugged.

"Don't know."

An Luo, on the other hand, wasn't surprised at all.

That's just how durian is — to those who like it, it smells foul but tastes fragrant.

To those who don't like it, it smells foul and tastes even fouler.

An Luo saw Zaituan taking one bite after another, eating with increasing gusto, and after finishing the one in his hand, reaching for more, so she quickly spoke up to stop him.

"Yu'an's portion for today is already finished, you know. Little children can't eat too much durian."

The little fellow had indeed eaten quite a lot — all together, it added up to about a whole section of fruit flesh.

Hearing this, Yu'an pulled back his little chubby paw, looked at the durian on the table, and smacked his lips reluctantly.

【Alright then.】

The little fellow obediently washed his hands clean by himself, then rubbed his little belly.

"Belly, be good, we'll eat again tomorrow."

Meanwhile, Cheng Qiuluo sat in the courtyard, twirling a small wooden stick to spin yarn, watching the people in the main room eating durian, and once again scrunched up her nose and silently moved to sit farther away.

It clearly tastes terrible — why is everyone eating it so happily?

Setting aside her mother, even Grandmother actually likes eating it too…

Could it be that there's something wrong with her sense of taste?

Or was it that the particular piece she ate just happened to be spoiled?

The more Cheng Qiuluo thought about it, the more she suspected it was her own problem.

Holding onto this thought, she set down the spun yarn, and while going to fetch water to wash her hands, slipped into Chu Fang.

She found the portions of durian left for her eldest uncle's wife and sister-in-law in the cupboard.

She took out a small piece, held her breath, and stuffed it into her mouth — the next second…

"Ugh!"

That's right, she threw up again. Again. And again.

This time, she felt like even her bile was coming up.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?"

Meng Shi and her daughter-in-law had just come in. Ruoruo said she'd left food for them in Chu Fang, but the moment they reached the door, they saw Qiuluo throwing up all over the place.

A strange smell still lingered in Chu Fang — a bit foul.

"Luoluo, why are you throwing up so badly? Are you alright? Let me see."

Saying this, Meng Shi took her wrist and was about to take her pulse.

Cheng Qiuluo shook her head weakly.

"I'm fine, I'm fine."

"It's this."

Meng Shi leaned in for a look and immediately covered her nose.

"Could this food have gone bad?"

Tian Qin picked up a piece, took a bite, and nodded repeatedly in praise.

"Delicious!"

"Pomo, would you like to try some too?"

Meng Shi took a doubtful bite, and ended up throwing up even worse than Cheng Qiuluo.

Tian Qin looked completely puzzled — this was clearly very tasty.

Qiuluo, however, was unusually excited.

She knew it!

She knew it wasn't her sense of taste that was the problem.

Finally found one of my kind!

Suddenly, a startled cry came from outside.

"Wow! Watermelon, the watermelons are ripe!"