Li Tong stuck out his fork, skewered a dumpling from the pile of oddly - shaped dough, and held it up. "Isn't this made by Auntie?"
Song Jiaye laughed. "How could it be?" If Li Xiyu cooked such a grotesque dish, then the tuition fees for the five - star chef's training would have been wasted.
Unexpectedly, Sister Liu soon slapped him in the face.
"Yes, Mr. Song. This is indeed made by Madam," Sister Liu said.
Li Tong continued to talk.
"This one is Pleasant Goat, and this one must be Lazy Goat." As Li Tong picked the dumplings into his own bowl, he recognized the shapes.
Song Jiaye was quite impressed. He could even recognize such strange things.
Of course, Li Tong also had his difficulties. He held up a plump dough ball and stared at it for a long time. Finally, he slapped his forehead and suddenly realized, "This one is Ultraman!"
Looking at the "overweight" Ultraman that was no longer in a proper dumpling shape, Song Jiaye was speechless.
Li Xiyu must have done it on purpose!
On purpose to make him lose his appetite!
However, as he watched Li Tong pick one dumpling after another into his bowl, his eyes gradually turned dangerous.
When Li Tong was about to skewer the fifth dumpling, Song Jiaye stopped him.
"Stop eating."
Li Tong pouted discontentedly. "There are still so many in the bowl."
"Eat this." Song Jiaye handed the bowl of normally - shaped dumplings made by Sister Liu to Li Tong, while he took possession of the bowl of oddly - shaped ones.
Li Tong was very unhappy and pouted. "Uncle is being selfish."
"I'm doing this for your own good. These dumplings are so oddly shaped. They don't look good to eat at all."
Li Tong was about to say something, but Song Jiaye cut him off.
"Don't talk when eating, and don't talk when sleeping."
Li Tong could only angrily skewer the dumplings.
Uncle was just bullying a child because he was an adult.
Actually, the dumplings made by Li Qiyu could hardly be considered delicious. The dumpling filling was mixed by Mother Liu, so there was nothing wrong with the filling. It was just the wrappers. Because of their different shapes, some parts were thick and some were thin. When you took a bite, you might even eat some raw dough.
Song Jiaye lifted the dumpling wrapper, ate all the cooked parts, and left the raw dough and filling.
For some reason, even though this bowl of dumplings could be said to be a failure, he thought it smelled a bit more fragrant than the ones Li Xiyu made before.
It seemed to have a bit more of the flavor of daily life.
After Song Jiaye finished eating, he picked up the napkin and wiped the oil off the corner of his mouth. "Where's Madam?"
"She seems to be in the garden," Mother Liu replied. "She looks like she's in a bad mood."
Song Jiaye understood what Mother Liu meant. He picked up the milk tea that Li Tong had left on the table and walked out, which made Li Tong shout from behind, "That's for Auntie. How could you do this, Uncle!"
Ignoring Li Tong's shouts, Song Jiaye carried the milk tea out of the house. Sure enough, he found Li Qiyu on the swing in the back garden. She was sitting on the swing with her knees hugged, and her hand was gesturing something on the railing.
Song Jiaye walked closer and only then could he hear her mumbling.
"This is the front gate. It takes twenty steps to get there. This is the back gate. It takes fifty steps. Calculating this way, the palace is quite small."
Li Qiyu couldn't figure out why, although this world seemed much more advanced, the palace had shrunk like this.
"Um - hum." Song Jiaye didn't understand her mumbling, so he coughed lightly to attract her attention.
He reached out and handed the milk tea in his hand to her.
Li Qiyu subconsciously asked, "What's this? Poison?"
Song Jiaye: "… Milk tea!"
"Don't lie to me. Tea is brewed. It's never served like this." If it was tea, there was no hot water and no teacup. Did he think she was a three - year - old kid?
Song Jiaye said helplessly, "Li Tong asked me to bring it to you."
Hearing that it was from Li Tong, Li Qiyu felt relieved. She took the milk tea from Song Jiaye, lifted the lid, and took a sip directly. Song Jiaye didn't even have time to remind her that there was a straw.
Just one sip, and Li Qiyu's lips were covered with milk foam.
Li Qiyu frowned.
"It's too sweet." The amount of sugar was like it was free. It was very cloying with just one bite.
She returned the milk tea to Song Jiaye.
He said it wasn't poison. He just wanted to choke her to death. And he said it was from Li Tong. Who would believe that?
"Aren't you fond of sweet food?" Li Xiyu used to never be away from sweet food. She often complained of toothache and had to go to the dentist every now and then.
But Li Qiyu's thoughts were completely different from Song Jiaye's.
Li Qiyu didn't like sweet food at all. She hated this kind of overly sweet and cloying stuff the most.
She always thought that pastries and such things were useless except for looking good.
Li Qiyu had been stationed in Sichuan and Hubei with her father for many years. Her taste had long been influenced by the local food in Sichuan. She liked dried and fried food that was chewy and could be torn into strands with one bite.
So, Li Qiyu loathed this kind of soft, sticky, and overly sweet stuff from the bottom of her heart.
Song Jiaye knew Li Qiyu's temper, but he liked sweet food. So every time the imperial kitchen prepared meals, they had to make two sets. One set was sweeter for the emperor, and the other was saltier for the queen.
Every time they seemed to be eating at the same table, they were actually having different meals.
"When did I ever like sweet food? I don't like it at all. You're not..." Before the last three words came out, Li Qiyu stared at Song Jiaye, as if suddenly enlightened.
She understood.
The times were different, and Song Jiaye was different too.
The man in front of her, although still named Song Jiaye and looking exactly the same as her husband, was no longer him.
Just like her father, her elder brother, and Li Tong.
Although they were still her relatives, they had completely different memories from hers.
And Song Jiaye was the same.
Although he was still her husband, the memories he had were with Li Xiyu, not with her, Li Qiyu.
So, he would call her Li Xiyu.
He didn't know that she hated sweet food.
He often looked at her as if she were a fool.
Song Jiaye was no longer Song Jiaye.
She came to this world with hatred for Song Jiaye. So when she saw a man who looked exactly like the emperor, she subconsciously transferred this hatred. Now that she thought about it, she had wronged him a bit.
This realization made Li Qiyu's heart churn, and her words, "I don't like sweet food," also made Song Jiaye feel extremely guilty.
Yes, he had cared too little about his wife.
So little that he didn't know she no longer liked sweet food.
So little that he didn't even know she had been pregnant and then had an abortion.
Song Jiaye and Li Qiyu took a deep breath at the same time and made a major decision.
"Song Jiaye, I'm sorry."
"Li Xiyu, let's get a divorce."
When they heard each other's words, they both stared at each other in disbelief. It was as if the person in front of them had become a stranger, and they didn't recognize each other anymore.
"What did you say?"
"What are you talking about?"