Chapter 25 Xia Yan's Speculation

Liu Juxiang was momentarily taken aback; this way of interacting was certainly unusual.

"Da Wa, go ask Grandma to clear the table, we're getting ready to eat."

The little one dashed off without stopping, shouting as he ran, "Grandpa, Grandma, it's time to eat!"

Hearing this, Lin Adi tidied up the square table. There were more people today, and the house felt a bit cramped, so they simply moved everything to the courtyard. This wasn't the northwest, after all; with the midday sun shining, it was warm, not cold.

Xia Yan instructed the children to bring out bowls and chopsticks, and carried the freshly cooked dishes to the table.

By now, there were hardly any onlookers left outside the gate.

Xia Guoliang called out, "Uncle, Aunt, stay and have lunch with us!"

"No, no, we'll just eat at home."

"Ah, why bother going back? It's just two more pairs of chopsticks. Besides, it's already noon—why go home and cook? It's a hassle."

As he spoke, Xia Guoliang opened the courtyard gate and pulled the two of them inside.

Seeing Xia Yan carrying out the dishes, the couple looked a little uneasy.

"Yanyan, this is your Uncle Xia," he introduced.

Xia Yan smiled sweetly and called out, "Uncle, Aunt."

After they sat down, Uncle Xia looked at the table full of exquisite dishes and could not help but praise, "Auntie, these dishes look even better than the ones I’ve had at the state-run restaurant."

Later, Xia Yan learned that Uncle Xia boasted about eating at the state restaurant every time he had a meal.

"Uncle, no wonder you never let me come over to your place for a meal. Turns out you’ve been secretly enjoying good food at home, and even tricked us into thinking Auntie's cooking wasn’t up to par."

Hearing this, Xia Guoliang nearly stuffed something into Uncle Xia’s mouth to shut him up. Eat if you’re going to eat—why all this talk?

Sure enough, he felt a chill at his back. That was the death stare from his wife...

"Uncle, when did I ever say that? Don’t wrong me," he protested.

Lin Adi reached behind Xia Guoliang with one hand and gave him a gentle twist, making him grimace in pain.

"Uncle, I didn’t cook today. It was my daughter," Lin Adi explained. "Guoliang was right. My cooking is bad enough as it is, let alone being fit for the table."

Uncle Xia picked up on the odd tone of her words and was momentarily at a loss for how to respond.

Aunt Xia, however, looked surprised. "Auntie, you mean it was the girl in the house, the one who looks like a little fairy, who cooked?"

"Of course