Chapter 1135 - 362: Memories, Simple Happiness_3
Mo Yan shook Xiao Ruiyuan’s hand and whispered, "This place is so remote, how did you find it?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Ruiyuan’s face showed a look of reminiscence, "The year I was five, I was angry with my grandfather and ran away from the Hou Mansion without even eating dinner. It was just like today, cold and snowing. I was both cold and hungry, not carrying even One Wen money with me, and without knowing how, I ended up at the alley, lured in by the smell of noodles."
As he spoke, Xiao Ruiyuan looked towards the busy elderly couple outside with an increasingly tender expression, "Back then, the old man and woman were quite young, and this place was bustling with good business. Despite being busy, they noticed me staring at the noodles in the pot, and they pulled me inside and cooked me a bowl of chicken noodles."
He was very cold and extremely hungry, he warmed his hands over the steaming bowl of noodles but did not start eating with chopsticks, because he saw that patrons would leave copper coins on the table after they finished their meal, and without any copper coins, he didn’t eat.
"Then what happened?" Seeing Xiao Ruiyuan pause, Mo Yan couldn’t wait to continue asking, her heart filled with gratitude for the kind-hearted elderly couple outside, and she suddenly understood why he had brought her here.
"Later on... The old lady thought I couldn’t use chopsticks, and maybe she was also afraid I might scald myself, so she came over to feed me. Back then, apart from my grandfather, I wasn’t close to anyone and was wary of the old lady, unwilling to eat the noodles she was feeding me." Xiao Ruiyuan’s smile became more evident as he talked, seemingly amused by his childhood behavior, "The old lady coaxed me for a long time, and eventually I couldn’t resist the hunger and ate the noodles she fed me. Later, thinking she was feeding me too slowly, I took the chopsticks myself and finished the whole bowl of noodles."
Mo Yan had thought this nostalgic and warm memory would continue but didn’t expect such a sudden twist. She pictured in her mind as though she could really turn back time, a scene appeared before her eyes: A tiny tot, no taller than the table, sitting on a high chair, swinging his little short legs, burying his face in a noodle bowl larger than his head, and eating noodles with an aloof expression.
"Pfft!" Unable to hold it in, Mo Yan burst out laughing, daringly reaching out to pinch Xiao Ruiyuan’s cheek, laughing so hard she could hardly catch her breath, "I never expected, never thought that you were so contrary as a child. But, really, you were too cute, how I wish I could have seen it with my own eyes. It’s such a pity."