Wen Ning worked quickly.
After removing the shrimp veins and putting the shrimp on to steam, she also found time to stir-fry a plate of tomatoes and eggs, garlic pork, and then whipped up a simple seaweed and dried shrimp soup.
Because of her upbringing, she was not a pampered little girl who knew nothing.
Doing chores like this came to her very naturally.
In other words... it felt just like being back in her own home.
"Tongtong, come eat."
"Mom!"
Xu Miaotong leaned over the edge of the table, poking her head out: "Wow!"
Seeing the sparkling look in her daughter's eyes, Wen Ning felt an inexplicable sense of accomplishment.
Xu Yan took a bite and gave a thoroughly insincere review: "Nothing special."
Tastes about the same as mine.
Wen Ning couldn't be bothered with him and lowered her head to put food in Tongtong's bowl.
"Mom, I want that!"
"Alright, Tongtong, eat slowly."
Perhaps even Wen Ning herself hadn't noticed that whenever she looked at Tongtong, a soft expression would unconsciously appear on her face.
The mother and daughter looked very much alike.
Two beauties, one large and one small—one cute and lively, the other quiet and gentle.
This reaction was well within Xu Yan's expectations.
With a daughter like Tongtong, no parent could possibly not love her.
Xu Yan had always eaten fast, and before long, he picked up his empty bowl and headed toward the kitchen.
Wen Ning raised her head, sensitive to the movement: "What are you doing?"
Xu Yan looked suspicious: "Going for seconds."
"If you can't finish, don't eat anymore."
Wen Ning lowered her eyes and wiped Tongtong's mouth: "If you overeat and feel bloated later, you'll just end up blaming me."
"......"
What is wrong with you...
"No,"
Xu Yan said. "I'm simply not full yet."
Wen Ning stopped talking and went back to eating.
She ate very quietly, making almost no sound, and never made overly large movements to reach for dishes that were too far away.
Basically, she just ate whatever was placed right in front of her.
This was a habit formed since childhood.
When eating at home, because of her stepmother and stepsister, she had always been like this.
Her efficiency and skill with housework also stemmed from this.
Back at home, Wen Ning would try her best to help her stepmother with things.
After her mother passed away, it wasn't as though she had never thought about getting along well with her stepmother.
She had tried using her grades, housework, and other things to win her affection.
What a pity...
After all these years, her stepmother and stepsister still didn't like her all that much.
"Why are you only eating the tomatoes and eggs? Do you have a grudge against them?"
Xu Yan directly moved the other plate of stir-fried pork in front of her: "Eat some of the other stuff too."
Wen Ning lowered her eyes: "Mm, thank you."
Half an hour later, the meal, eaten in a slightly awkward atmosphere, finally came to an end.
Wen Ning took the initiative to get up and wash the dishes.
Xu Yan felt that his status as head of the household was being challenged once again.
He turned on a cartoon for Tongtong and voluntarily went into the kitchen to help.
"Are you coming over tonight?"
Xu Yan asked as he wiped a plate.
Wen Ning shook her head: "I can't go home too late every day."
Otherwise, her father would make her stepmother and stepsister wait for her to eat.
They would be unhappy.
"Alright, then Tongtong and I will go out to eat."
Xu Yan didn't mind and maintained a sensible distance from her.
It was true that Wen Ning was very pretty, and it was also true that she was his future wife.
But right now, the two of them were essentially just strangers brought together solely because of Tongtong.
Even though Wen Ning wore an apron and washed dishes with clean, plain hands in a way that made it hard to look away, it was a pity that even Tongtong didn't know how her mom and dad had ended up together.
"Xu Yan, there's one more thing."
Wen Ning asked cautiously: "How are your... grades?"
She had a feeling her cautious tone might hurt Xu Yan's self-esteem.
Yet in reality, being this careful hurt his self-esteem even more.
"Just floating around an ordinary undergraduate level—it won't drop down, but it won't go up either,"
Xu Yan answered quite generously. "I can't compare to you."
Jiang Province was a major province for the college entrance examination, but it hadn't caught the wind of the exam reforms just yet.
Therefore, they still had the traditional split between arts and sciences.
Both Xu Yan and Wen Ning were science students.
Wen Ning's rank on the last monthly exam was sixth in the whole school—undisputedly the number one person beneath the top five legends.
Citywide, she was also among the top fifty elite students; if she performed even slightly better on the actual exam, she could go contend for martial arts supremacy at Mount Hua.
"...I see."
Wen Ning slowed down her dishwashing, as if pondering something.
Tongtong's appearance also brought about another problem.
Her mom and dad were currently at the most important milestone of their lives: the college entrance examination.
And for university, they might head toward completely different futures.
When that time came, what would happen to Tongtong?
"I'm fine. Anyway, it's just an ordinary undergraduate degree; it's the same wherever I study it,"
Xu Yan said very naturally. "My priority is Tongtong."
"What I mean is..."
Wen Ning lowered her eyes, though a visible flush spread across the roots of her ears: "It would be best if we're in the same city."
She turned her head to avoid Xu Yan's gaze, looking at Tongtong, who was lying on the sofa eating strawberries while watching cartoons.
Hope Xu Yan isn't going to misunderstand anything weird.
Actually, I didn't mean it like that at all.
I just wanted to say that a child cannot grow up without a father or a mother.
Though saying something like that out loud made it sound even weirder.
"Anyway, I'm just saying we need to consider Tongtong."
"I know."
Xu Yan was silent for a moment.
He sighed: "I originally planned to get along with you guys just posing as an ordinary person, but it looks like I have no choice but to test into the same city as you—preferably the same university."
Wen Ning: "......"
Xu Yan: "...Are you secretly looking down on me in your heart?"
"No."
She wasn't secretly looking down on him.
Wen Ning wore an awkward expression: "I'd better just study hard and get into the same city as you. I feel... that would be simpler."
Your aggressiveness is a bit high, School Belle Wen.
Are you treating me like a fool?!
She's merely rank six in the grade, a candidate for a key university at best.
"What was your score last time?"
"688."
"......How much?"
What a niche number.
Jiang Province hadn't reformed its college entrance exam yet; there was a 60-point optional module, making the total score 810 points.
688 was 40 points higher even than 648.
Was this a number that could actually appear on a report card?
She was prime material to study in Shanghai or the capital, one of those proud children of heaven who could stand out among the thousands competing across the single-plank bridge of the gaokao.
Yet hearing this made Xu Yan care about something else entirely.
If it weren't for Tongtong's appearance...
Unable to hold it back, Xu Yan blurted out: "With 688 points, why on earth would you marry someone like me who can't even break 600?"
How did a bronze player and a grandmaster ever end up in the same party chat?
"......"
He was so annoying!
Wen Ning grew angry again and couldn't help letting out a low hum.
How would I know!
How would I know how my future self got tricked into coming home with you!