Chapter 355: A Bursting Sense of Participation
The four of them had originally thought they would see Shen Nian as soon as they came downstairs. But when they got down, they discovered the living room was completely empty.
Lu Cheng’s first reaction was a pang of worry for Shen Nian. But on second thought, they were in the Chu Family’s home. ’Nothing could have happened to her here, right?’
Sure enough, as Lu Cheng came down the rest of the way, he heard sounds coming from the kitchen, and he could faintly make out Gao Ruolan’s laughter among them.
Lu Cheng smiled. ’That’s my Shen Nian, always so endearing. It’s their first time meeting, yet Shen Nian has already made Gao Ruolan this happy.’
*
「Meanwhile, in the kitchen.」
"Xiao Nian, you’re just incredible! Everything you make looks as good as it tastes!"
Shen Nian chuckled. "Aunt Lan, we can’t eat them just yet!"
"Oh, I’m sure they’ll be delicious! I have a daughter too, you know, about your age. But when it comes to things like this, she can’t hold a candle to you!"
Of course, it wasn’t that Gao Ruolan thought her own daughter was bad. It was just that her daughter was accustomed to the life of a pampered young lady; how could she possibly be interested in these things?
As it happened, Gao Ruolan adored these kinds of activities, but her own daughter was never willing to humor her. Now that she had Shen Nian, Gao Ruolan was naturally overjoyed.
"A daughter?"
Shen Nian had never heard from Lu Cheng that the Chu Family had a daughter. Plus, she’d been here for quite a while today and hadn’t seen anyone.
"Oh, silly me, I completely forgot to tell you about her. I have a younger daughter, around your age, named Chu Lingxiu. She was studying abroad and only came back recently. I was planning to introduce the two of you, but she suddenly had to go out for something today. She should be back in a little while, though. When she gets here, I’ll introduce you. Since you’re close in age, I’m sure you’ll have plenty to talk about."
"That sounds wonderful!"
Shen Nian smiled and nodded, not giving it much thought. ’Everyone in the Chu Family is so nice,’ she reasoned. ’Their daughter must be a good person, too!’
However, what Shen Nian didn’t expect was that while the members of the Chu Family were indeed wonderful, there was one definite exception among them.
Gao Ruolan watched and chatted idly with Shen Nian until the batch of rose pastries she was making came out of the oven. At that point, Gao Ruolan’s attention instantly shifted to the fragrant, freshly-baked pastries.
Shen Nian had only discovered they had a small oven after she’d stepped into the Chu Family’s kitchen. ’I was just craving the chance to bake something,’ she thought. ’This is perfect, now I can finally scratch that itch.’
And just as Gao Ruolan was crying out, "Success! It’s a success!" several people walked up to the kitchen doorway.
Now, the men of the Chu Family normally never set foot in the kitchen. The only person who did was Gao Ruolan, and only on the rare occasion she had a sudden whim to make something.
Today, however, they had suddenly broken their habit of not entering the kitchen. What else could they do? After coming downstairs and seeing neither Gao Ruolan nor Shen Nian, they had suddenly heard a cry of surprise from Gao Ruolan coming from the kitchen!
"Mom, what are you two doing in here?"
Lu Cheng and Chu Yunze were at the front of the group. Seeing Gao Ruolan’s look of delight, Chu Yunze was the one who spoke up.
"Oh, you’re done with your chat and came downstairs! Perfect timing. Xiao Nian made me some rose pastries. Can you smell that? Isn’t it fragrant?"
"Yeah, it smells amazing!"
"Come, come, Yunze, you’re just in time. Take these outside! I can’t wait to taste Xiao Nian’s handiwork!"
Even though Gao Ruolan had already eaten the desserts Shen Nian brought over earlier, these were different. She might not have made them herself, but she had watched the entire process as these rose pastries were made!
The feeling of being involved was simply off the charts!