Chapter 333 - Even Tong Jiaxin was quiet that night. (3)
The malatang started to cook shortly and Tong Xuelu had Meng Qingqing carried it inside.
When Old Mr. Wan saw that, he walked inside the restaurant longingly.
With more and more patrons showing up, Old Mr. Wan never had another opportunity to come over and chat.
Tong Xuelu had Guo Weiping tend to the malatang.
There was not much skills involved there. He just needed to get the timing down.
Guo Weiping had already been observing for days and had an idea how much time it took to cook each item. He had yet to try it on his own and was a little worried.
Tong Xuelu instructed him by his side. She would give him a reminder whenever it was almost time.
As expected, not very many people were willing to try the beef meatballs at the beginning, worried that they would be too gamey.
But, to a foodie, the only thing they needed to worry about was delicious food.
They would be the first to try anything new.
Once they had tried them, they were so tasty that they almost swallowed their tongues.
Spongy and lasting, their mouth filled with flavors.
They were too delicious!
The foodies placed another order and, when the others saw that, also placed an order.
Their allotment for the day sold out quickly and those who were there late could do nothing but to sigh.
***
Tong Xuelu took the afternoon off and had Guo Weiping took care of dinner.
She worried when there was a young one sick at home.
Sure enough, she could hear Mianmian crying as soon as she had arrived home.
“Wuwuwu…… Second Brother, Mianmian wants mommy.”
“Be a good girl, Mianmian. How about Second Brother give you some candies?”
“No, Mianmian wants Mommy and Daddy. Second Brother, Mianmian misses them. They haven’t been back to see Mianmian for a long time. Do they not want Mianmian anymore?”
Tong Jiaming did not answer her this time.
Standing by the door, Tong Xuelu felt her heart ached.
She walked through the curtain by the door and said, “Who’s there crying? Surely it couldn’t be our good girl Mianmian, could it?”
As soon as Tong Mianmian saw her sister, she pouted so much that her lips were a straight line. “Yes, Big Sister, it is Mianmian that’s crying. Mianmian misses mommy and daddy. Wuwuwu……”
Tong Xuelu walked over and picked Tong Mianmian up. She reached for her forehead and she was still running a fever.
“Daddy and Mommy went to a far away place for work. Everything that Mianmian eats and wears are bought with the money that Mommy and Daddy made.”
There were tears in Tong Mianmian’s big eyes. She blinked and tears rolled down her cheeks. “Can Daddy and Mommy not work?”
Tong Xuelu, “Of course not. We won’t be able to put food on table if they don’t work. Mianmian is a good girl. I am sure you won’t give them a hard time for that, right?”
The little bun blinked and sobbed softly.
The little bun had always been very docile and had been getting progressively more out-going since being very quiet the first time Tong Xuelu had seen her.
Who would have thought that she thought about her parents all the time.
If she didn’t even say it, then it would only be worse for Tong Jiaming and Tong Jiaxin. It was just that nobody talked about it.
They pretended to not be said and that everything was alright.
Thinking about that, Tong Xuelu could feel her own eyes started to well up.
Tong Mianmian cried for a little while and finally fallen asleep. She, however, did not sleep very well and would wake up crying from time to time.
Tong Xuelu worried that Tong Mianmian would have no appetite at night and made her some fish porridge.
The night, the atmosphere was heavy inside the Tong’s. Even Tong Jiaxin, who was the joker of the family usually had been very quiet.
***
The military compound.
Uncle Zong had been waiting at the door, stretching his neck as much as he could. He waited until his legs were numb when the commander had finally returned.