The episode at the seafood market didn't dampen the mood of Xu Zixi and her two kids. As she taught the two little ones to recognize the seafood and basked in their adoring looks, Miss Xu gradually got used to the environment of the seafood market. In the end, she even learned how to bargain from other customers.
The three of them strolled around the seafood market and returned with a full load. They then hopped into a taxi heading home.
A black business car trailed the taxi from afar.
In the backseat of the car, Yan Yincheng's expression grew icier as he smelled the fishy odor on his body. Wei Shu answered a phone call and then turned around to say, "Lord, A Qiang has taken care of the house. However, the furnishings left by the previous owner haven't been replaced yet. Should we wait until everything is properly arranged before you move in?"
This was some good news. Yan Yincheng's mood finally improved a bit.
"Replace the bed in the master bedroom. I won't be staying there for long anyway."
Wei Shu replied, "Yes! I'll tell A Qiang to do it right away!"
After a 40 - minute drive, they arrived at the apartment complex. Xu Zixi saw some porters struggling to carry a two - meter - wide bed into the elevator. Worried that they might bump into her kids, she led them to a safe spot.
A while later, when they reached their floor and stepped out of the elevator, they saw the door of the opposite apartment wide open, and the porters they had seen earlier walking out.
Xu Zixi remained expressionless. She averted her gaze and led her kids straight into their home.
After a long day, she and the kids were starving. She had no interest in what was going on next door.
She started a fire and began cooking. Today, she had to treat herself and her two kids.
Half an hour after they got home, Yan Yincheng and Wei Shu stood outside their door. Yan Yincheng leaned on his blind cane and quietly listened for a while. The laughter of the two kids playing inside reached his ears from time to time.
Even the faint sounds softened Yan Yincheng's heart.
It wasn't until a cold gust of wind blew by, making him shiver, that he reluctantly asked Wei Shu to take out the key and open the door to the next - door apartment before walking in.
Xu Zixi had bought several kinds of seafood today. There were geoducks that the kids were curious about, clams with beautiful shell patterns, squids with numerous tentacles, and spiny flower crabs.
Considering that the kids shouldn't eat raw and cold food, she simply steamed the geoducks and topped them with a sauce she had developed in her previous life. Just by looking at them, one could tell they were mouth - watering.
She steamed the clams first. After all the shells opened, she picked out the clam meat one by one and stir - fried them with chopped parsley for the kids to enjoy.
The squids were cut into small pieces, coated with egg and starch, and then fried into golden - brown squid rolls.
Finally, she cooked the flower crabs with curry to make curry crab. She personally disassembled the crabs and fed the meat to the kids.
The seafood was incredibly delicious. The kids ate until their mouths were dripping, and their bellies were round. Yuan Xiaoxu still stared eagerly and reached out his hand for more.
It was only when Xu Zixi firmly held Yuan Xiaoxu's hand and dumped the remaining food into the trash can that he finally calmed down.
Xu Zixi was quite confident in her cooking skills. The nutritious meals she used to cook for her grandfather were highly praised by the food connoisseurs in Beijing. Some even offered a courtyard house in exchange for a meal from her, but she wasn't tempted.
Miss Xu always did things according to her own preferences. She learned to cook just to take care of her grandfather, who was injured in the war. What did it matter to her whether others liked her cooking or not?
However, in the middle of the night, Yuan Xiaoxuan curled up in pain, sweating profusely, and Yuan Xiaoxu vomited all over the place. Xu Zixi was completely stunned.
How could this happen?
She was sure all the food was cooked thoroughly!
She had eaten the same food and was fine. Why were the two kids suddenly ill?
Miss Xu, who was taking care of the kids for the first time, paced around anxiously, her mind a blank. But soon she realized that the kids might be suffering from acute gastroenteritis. Xu Zixi had studied biomedicine, so she knew a bit about medical knowledge. She quickly prepared some warm salt water and tried to feed it to the kids, but her hands were shaking badly.
After that, she rummaged through the house but couldn't find any medicine for acute gastroenteritis. She immediately decided to take the kids to the hospital.
However, the original owner's phone was broken, so she couldn't call an ambulance. She wrapped the kids in their coats and tried to take them to the hospital by herself, but soon realized it was impossible to take care of two sick kids alone.
Suddenly, she remembered that the neighbors next door had changed their bed in the afternoon. She came up with an idea. She put the kids down and rushed to the opposite door to knock.
The sudden and urgent knocking sound gave Yan Yincheng a bad feeling. He called out for Wei Shu, but Wei Shu was taking a shower and couldn't hear him. So he grabbed his blind cane and groped his way to the door.
The door finally opened. Xu Zixi let out a sigh of relief. Looking up, she was surprised to see the man she had met at the seafood market in the afternoon. But her anxiety quickly overshadowed the surprise of running into Yan Yincheng twice in a short time.
"Sorry to bother you. My two kids are suddenly seriously ill and need to be taken to the hospital immediately. But I can't take both of them alone. Do you have any women of the right age in your house who can help me take the kids to the hospital?"
"What?! The kids are sick?!" Yan Yincheng was shocked and angry. He unconsciously waved his hand forward. "How could they suddenly get sick? Did you do something to them again?"
This man was so strange. What could she possibly do to the kids?
Xu Zixi frowned at him and patiently said,
"The most important thing now is to take the kids to the hospital. Sir, could you please help?"
Right, she was right. They had to take the kids to the hospital quickly.
Yan Yincheng roared, "Wei Shu! Wei Shu! I'll count to three. Get out here immediately! One! Two!..."
Then, they heard another male voice from inside the house, "Coming! Coming! Lord, I'm coming!"
A naked man then dashed out of the house. Xu Zixi let out a scream and turned around, covering her eyes.
Wei Shu was shocked. He exclaimed, "Oh my god!" and quickly covered his private parts before retreating back inside.
Yan Yincheng was extremely anxious. Since he couldn't see, he had no idea what was going on. Why were these two acting so strangely?
"Wei Shu, the kids are sick. They need to go to the hospital right away. Go and carry the kids out!"
Wei Shu answered twice and quickly got dressed. He then rushed to the opposite apartment, carried Yuan Xiaoxu on his back, and dashed out. From start to finish, he didn't dare to look at Xu Zixi. Only his extremely red ears proved that what had just happened wasn't a hallucination.
Xu Zixi, with a blushing face, carried Yuan Xiaoxuan on her back and followed Wei Shu.
While waiting for the elevator, they heard the blind cane tapping irregularly behind them. Yan Yincheng said, "Wait for me... I can't be absent at a time like this..."
Xu Zixi turned around and was shocked to find that her neighbor was blind.
For some reason, a pang of pity welled up in her heart. When the elevator arrived, she kindly reminded him, "Sir, the elevator is here. Watch your step."
But Yan Yincheng suddenly tightened his grip on his blind cane, and his face turned extremely cold. The coldness was so palpable that Xu Zixi felt a twinge of guilt:
Did she say something wrong?