Chapter Sixteen: Tea Egg, Steamed Buns, and Pumpkin Porridge

To save room for more of the meals prepared by Suisui Jiang, Yueyi Jiang and Xingran Jiang deliberately ate only half their portions at kindergarten dinner, leaving space in their stomachs.

As their homeroom teacher, Ms. Yu noticed this and spoke privately with Suisui Jiang, concerned that the two children might have poor appetites at night.

But Suisui knew the truth: they just wanted to eat the food she made herself, nothing was wrong.

She honestly explained this to Ms. Yu, who was very understanding.

Ms. Yu then coordinated with the nutritionist to reduce the dinner portions for Xingran and Yueyi by half, avoiding food waste.

Smiling to herself as she served the rice, Suisui heard Xingran blink his eyes. "Sister, what are you laughing at?"

"I'm laughing because you two are such little foodies," Suisui said, handing the bowls to Xingran and Yueyi.

Yueyi tilted her head, her amber eyes shining brightly. "Foodies? Cute! Sister is praising us~"

Suisui finished serving her own rice and sat down. "Yes, you two are the most adorable kids in the world. Now, eat up."

Yueyi shook her head. "Then sister is a foodie too! Sister’s cute as well! Hehe."

As the two little ones shared what they had learned at kindergarten, Suisui peeled warm tea eggs.

She easily cracked the shells to reveal the glossy light brown egg whites, covered with fine spider-web-like cracks.

After peeling two eggs, she offered them to Xingran and Yueyi.

Surprisingly, both refused to eat and insisted she try first.

"Alright, alright, I’ll go first," she said, slowly biting into a tea egg.

The egg white, soaked in the marinade, was richly savory and delicious. The yolk was equally flavorful, soft and creamy, infused with the marinade’s aroma and a subtle meaty fragrance that masked any underlying gaminess.

Tasting carefully, Suisui felt something was missing.

Hmm... the tea fragrance was too faint, completely overshadowed by the marinade’s aroma. The tea eggs tasted more like ordinary marinated eggs.

Though still tasty, it wasn’t quite what she wanted.

She made a mental note and peeled another tea egg. This time, Xingran and Yueyi eagerly accepted and began eating.

Both were satisfied, thinking these were far better than plain boiled eggs.

"Sister, can we eat only these pretty eggs from now on? Not the white ones?" Xingran asked cautiously.

Yueyi chewed thoughtfully, still wanting more. "Yueyue wants pretty eggs every day! White eggs aren’t tasty."

Suisi understood—children’s taste buds are more sensitive than adults’, so they detect eggs’ natural gaminess more easily. It was normal they disliked plain boiled eggs.

But understanding aside, she said, "You’re still little and can’t eat tea eggs every day. But sister can cook eggs in different ways, so you don’t have to eat plain boiled eggs all the time."

Besides plain boiled eggs, she could make minced meat steamed eggs, pan-fried eggs, tomato scrambled eggs, or brown sugar steamed eggs...

After dinner, Xingran and Yueyi eagerly took turns washing the dishes.

Suisui let them be, helping out now and then.

When they finished, she praised them one by one. "Xingxing, you’re wonderful! Yueyue, you’re amazing! You’re both my super helpers!"

While Xingran and Yueyi did their homework, Suisui went to shower.

The hot water washed away her fatigue, relaxing her completely.

"Whew," she murmured, drying her hair and opening the system’s online store.

Halfway through her shower, she remembered she could buy many things from the store, including tea leaves she wanted, all without spending real money.

Browsing the store, she found a highly cost-effective black tea—just ten points for a whole pound.

She purchased it, and the tea appeared in her system’s storage, just like the rewards she had earned.

It was late, so Suisui planned to get up early the next day to remake the marinade, but for now, she went back to her room to read stories with the little ones.

"Come, do you want to read ‘The Little Mermaid’ or ‘Snow White’?"

Xingran and Yueyi both chose “The Little Mermaid.”

Suisui enlarged the screen so they could slowly flip through the e-book.

When they couldn’t recognize the words, she softly read passages aloud.

“At the end, the Little Mermaid turned into foam and disappeared forever.”

Finishing the story, Suisui saw Yueyi’s face scrunch up, her lips pouting as if she could hold a teapot.

She reached out and squeezed her gently. "What’s wrong, Yueyue? Why are you suddenly sad?"

Yueyi cupped her cheeks. "Because the Little Mermaid disappeared. Why did she have to disappear? The prince loves someone else; she shouldn’t want him! If she disappears like that, Daddy, Mommy, Sister, and Brother will all be sad."

Hearing Yueyi speak so much was rare, and Suisui smiled warmly.

Her voice tender, she said, "Yes, Yueyue’s right. So remember, no matter what, Sister and Brother love you, and you must love yourself too—you are the most important."

Yueyi shook her head. "No, Sister and Brother are the most important! Yueyue will take care of herself and protect Sister and Brother in the future!"

Nearby, Xingran snorted, "No! No! I’ll protect you and Sister! I won’t let you turn into foam!"

Their conversation drifted away from the fairy tale as they argued over who would protect whom.

Suisui was helpless and picked up a classic novel to read to them instead.

After a short while, Xingran and Yueyi both closed their eyes.

They had brushed their teeth and changed into pajamas.

Since they rented a one-bedroom apartment, the bedroom had two beds: Suisui’s single bed and a bunk bed for Xingran and Yueyi.

Suisui carried the two little ones from her single bed to the bunk beds, tucked them in, and then returned to her own bed.

She thought back to the custom king-size beds she used to sleep on and now found herself cramped on a small single bed, having to turn carefully.

Sigh, she really must work harder to earn money.

The next morning, Suisui brewed another pot of tea eggs, setting the rice cooker to keep warm.

She heated oil in a pan and quickly stir-fried a large plate of sweet and sour cabbage.

Then she took steamed buns from the steamer and served three bowls of pumpkin millet porridge.

“Xingxing, Yueyue, time to eat. After you finish, we’ll go downstairs to the garage to set up the food truck.”

Since they were vending, of course they needed a food truck.

To save money, Suisui had scoured the secondhand car website for a long time before choosing a nearly new food truck.

It arrived last night and was parked right in the spot she rented through the property management.

Hearing about setting up the food truck, Xingran and Yueyi hurried their morning routines and sat quickly at the tea table.

Looking at the plump, steaming buns, they each took one.

Xingran bit into the soft, sweet bun skin, revealing a beautiful mix of golden yellow, verdant green, and pearly white inside.

He stared wide-eyed for a moment before remembering to chew.

Soon, he tasted tender, fluffy egg, fragrant and fresh chives, and the smooth, peculiar texture of vermicelli.

The more he ate, the more delicious it seemed—a new taste he had never tried before.

Though there was no meat, a savory flavor lingered, making him crave more.

Yueyi’s bun was filled with minced pork and carrot. One bite released a flood of juicy meat.

The diced carrots mixed with hand-ground pork added a crisp texture to the tender meat. The carrots’ faint sweetness balanced the richness and enhanced the pork’s aroma.

After finishing a bun, they each sipped the millet porridge.

Simmered long, the orange pumpkin had melted into the thick porridge, releasing sweet starch that made the porridge look rich and glossy.

It tasted sweet with a strong fragrance of rice.

Suisui drank half a bowl in one go, then picked up a piece of sweet and sour cabbage.

The stir-fried cabbage had a natural charred aroma, and the vinegar added a lingering sour fragrance.

Crunchy and tangy, it stimulated the appetite.

They finished all twelve fist-sized buns, along with the millet porridge and sweet and sour cabbage, leaving nothing behind.

After tidying up, Suisui slung on her compressed-space backpack.

“Let’s go, time to head out!”