Chapter 182: Bit Into a Peppercorn and Started Tearing Up
While the siblings whispered to each other, the dinner table was already full. Lin Muqing and Mother Ye took off their aprons and sat down.
During the meal, Ye Mengze occasionally glanced at Lin Muqing, then at Mother Ye sitting beside her, silently counting down in her heart.
Even if she was about to lose her spot as the most favored in the family, she wasn’t worried. After all, she was already grown up and had graduated college. There was no way she’d fight Lin Muqing for their parents’ affection.
But her big brother, Ye Zizhuo, wasn’t so lucky. He was the one about to face their parents’ matchmaking pressure.
Halfway through dinner, Mother Ye suddenly spoke up while eating.
“Mmm, Lin Muqing’s cooking is really good.”
As soon as she said that, everyone quickly nodded in agreement, it really was delicious. But before Ye Zizhuo could respond, Mother Ye sighed and continued,
“What a shame Lin Muqing still has to go to school. After high school, she’ll go to university too. If only we had a daughter-in-law who could stay at home and keep me company…”
She let out a long sigh, full of regret, but her eyes sparkled as she stared directly at Ye Zizhuo.
“Cough, cough—!” Ye Zizhuo almost choked on a grain of rice, coughing hard right away.
Father Ye joined in without missing a beat, “That’s right, Zizhuo’s not young anymore…”
Hearing his wife’s complaint, he backed her up immediately. He was usually busy with work and didn’t have time to keep her company. If they had a daughter-in-law, especially one like Lin Muqing, that would really help.
“Wait, I…”
Ye Zizhuo wanted to explain, but Mother Ye cut him off.
“Ah yes, just a few days ago when I was out playing mahjong, I heard there are still a few nice girls looking for someone to marry…”
She didn’t give him a chance to speak and went on talking. It was obvious that she was trying to set him up for blind dates.
This wasn’t the first time they’d tried matchmaking, but this time was especially aggressive. The whole family had teamed up against him!
“Hey, what are you guys doing?” Lin Muqing suddenly frowned and protested.
She’d been enjoying the show, but now she was annoyed, because someone had just reached over and placed a hand on her thigh.
“Don’t laugh so obviously,” Ye Ziming said calmly, his expression unchanged.
Watching was fine. Laughing was fine too. But Lin Muqing’s grin was way too obvious. Ye Ziming was just giving her a friendly reminder.
“Oh, right.” Lin Muqing nodded in realization. When she looked back at Ye Zizhuo, her smile was a little more restrained.
But only a little, anyone with eyes could tell she was still loving this.
What made her so happy wasn’t just that Ye Zizhuo was being roasted at the dinner table. It wasn’t that Mother Ye kept praising her or told Ye Mengze to learn from her.
What truly made her happy… was this feeling of everyone eating together as a family.
She didn’t have to think about anything. She didn’t have to worry about anything. She could just smile.
“Mmmph—!”
Just when everyone was busy teasing Ye Zizhuo, Lin Muqing suddenly scrunched up her face and made a painful sound.
Turns out, while she was laughing too hard, she accidentally bit into a hidden peppercorn in the pickled fish dish. She hadn’t even noticed it.
“What’s wrong?” Ye Ziming noticed it first. He was sitting closest to her and was quick to pick up on it.
Mother Ye and Father Ye looked over too. Soon everyone’s eyes were on her.
Lin Muqing had her eyes shut tight, her mouth wide open, her face all scrunched up. She looked extremely uncomfortable.
“Did you bite into a peppercorn?” Mother Ye asked.
“Mm-hmm!” Lin Muqing nodded hard.
She had already spat it out, but her tongue still felt all tingly. Half of it had gone numb.
Father Ye said calmly, “It’s okay, Ziming, go get some juice from the fridge. Let her drink some, it’ll help with the numbness.”
Mother Ye burst out laughing, then she gave an order to Ye Ziming.
“It hurts, doesn’t it? I also bit into one last month. I almost cried at that time. Mm, you have to be more careful.”
Ye Mengze and Ye Zizhuo quickly took this chance to change the topic at the dinner table and started talking about Sichuan peppercorns. Seeing how these two siblings acted, Mother Ye rolled her eyes at them while pouring juice for little Muqing.
Of course she could tell, they were clearly working together, not wanting the earlier topic to continue.
“Be careful next time.”
Ye Ziming, sitting next to Muqing, softly said to her.
He knew that Muqing couldn’t eat spicy or numbing food, so biting into a peppercorn must’ve made her very uncomfortable. She even teared up a little.
“Mm-hmm.”
After drinking a glass of cold juice, Muqing felt a bit better. Then she turned her head and gave her good buddy a small nod. That little incident quickly passed, and dinner continued.
But to Muqing, what just happened wasn’t such a small thing. For a brief moment, she could feel how much everyone cared about her, family-level care. It moved her so much that she couldn't hold it in and quietly sniffled, tears gathering in her eyes.
Thinking back to the past year when she had to live alone, there had never been a day like today, so many people treating her like family and caring about her. Thinking about this, she suddenly felt that accidentally biting into a peppercorn wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
Because of that, even if others saw her crying, they’d think it was because of the peppercorn, not because something was wrong with her.
“Big Bro, how about we go for a walk?”
After dinner and cleaning up the table, Lin Muqing walked to the couch and gently poked her good buddy’s arm.
It was already the second day since she came to this villa area, but she hadn’t gone out to explore yet. So she tried to persuade her friend to take her out for a stroll.
“Sure.”
When he turned his head and saw Lin Muqing’s cute smile, Ye Ziming didn’t hesitate and agreed right away.
By then, the siblings had gone back to their rooms, and Father and Mother Ye had already gone out for a walk too. That left just Ye Ziming and Lin Muqing. After they both quickly changed clothes, they also headed outside.
At this time, many people could be seen walking on the street. Some walking their dogs, others walking their cats.
It even looked like someone was walking a hedgehog. From a distance, Lin Muqing couldn’t see clearly and thought it looked like a rat.
“Big Bro, can I ask a bold question?”
While walking next to him, as they passed a villa with no lights on, Lin Muqing suddenly turned her head to look at him.
“Go ahead.”
Raising an eyebrow slightly, Ye Ziming looked curious.
“How much do houses here cost?”
Muqing hesitated a bit but still asked the question.
That dinner just now had sparked a little thought in her heart—
If she lived here, she could see Mother Ye and Aunt Lin often. That kind of life sounded really nice. Just thinking about it made her happy, and soon she found herself imagining what life would be like living here, being happy every day.
“You really want to know?”
The moment he heard the question, Ye Ziming was a little surprised. Then he frowned slightly, looking a bit troubled.
This place might not be the most luxurious area in the city, but it was definitely the safest. No doubt about it.