Xu Shichu fed little Zhaozhao a strawberry. Little Zhaozhao nestled beside her, his warm and soft little body pressed against her like a puppy against its mother. His pair of wet eyes eagerly followed Xu Shichu's hand from the plate of strawberries to his head.
"Aunt?" Little Zhaozhao cried aggrievedly because Xu Shichu put the strawberry into her mouth.
"Auntie eats one, you eat one, we take turns." Xu Shichu didn't give in to him at all, "Otherwise you can take it with your hands."
The plate of strawberries was placed on the table one foot away from the soft chair where the two of them were lying. With Xiao Zhaozhao's short hands, it was impossible for him to reach it by himself. Xu Shichu was teasing him on purpose.
As expected, Xiao Zhaozhao tentatively stretched out his chubby little hand towards the strawberries on the plate. However, his hardware could not keep up with his great goal. It was too far away and he couldn't even touch the edge of the strawberries.
“Aunt… Zhaozhao can’t get it…” little Zhaozhao said pitifully in his little baby voice that seemed to be stained with milk.
Xu Shichu pinched his chubby little cheeks, raised his eyebrows and smiled: "Then what should we do?"
Little Zhaozhao's black eyes rolled around, revealing a lovely smile. She looked at Zhichun standing beside her and said, "Aunt, can you let Sister Zhichun help me get it?"
"Then ask Zhichun yourself." Xu Shichu said while winking at Zhichun. Zhichun was a smart man and immediately understood the lady's bad taste.
So when Xiao Zhaozhao asked her, she shook her head and refused cruelly: "No, young master, I have other work to do."
Little Zhaozhao was extremely disappointed and could only turn around and wait obediently for her aunt to feed her.
Xu Shichu teased the child and asked lazily, "Xiangfu Restaurant is closed today, so I can't eat their Furong Roast Chicken even though I want to. Zhichun, do you know the reason?"
Zhichun was worthy of being her eldest maid, she was well-informed and immediately replied: "I just happen to know that Xiangfu Restaurant is owned by the Qu family. Oh, the Qu family is the uncle of the second prince who was recently confiscated. Xiangfu Restaurant has been implicated, and I don't know if it can continue to operate in the future."
"That's such a pity! I really like their signature dishes. What will I do if I can't eat them in the future?" Xu Shichu said in surprise. She didn't expect that she would not be able to eat her favorite food just because she took revenge on the Qu family.
"Madam, if you still want to eat, why not invite the chef from the restaurant back? I heard that the chef was a royal chef in the palace and has excellent cooking skills. The reason why Xiangfu Restaurant is so prosperous is probably because of his cooking skills." Zhichun said.
"It's a pity that the chef is too popular. Other restaurants have always wanted to poach him. Now that the Qu family is in trouble and Xiangfu Restaurant can't continue to operate, I don't know how many people are vying for him. Madam, it's a bit too late for you to try to poach him now."
Zhichun felt quite sad and regretful when he said this.
"That's fine. Since he was born as an imperial chef, I think he would not be content to be in charge of a small kitchen in our courtyard." Xu Shichu felt regretful for a while and then let it go. "If he goes to other restaurants, we will have the opportunity to eat his specialty dishes. There is no need to be so persistent."
"I like to eat it too!" Little Zhaozhao beside him suddenly said something like this, which made no sense.
"What do you like to eat? No, I should ask you if there is anything you don't like to eat?" Xu Shichu asked him, "Look at your bloated belly. You're almost turning into a big-bellied frog!"
Xu Shichu poked his belly.
Little Zhaozhao twisted his body to avoid her fingers and laughed out loud when he was tickled: "Zhaozhao is not a frog! Auntie, you are so mean!"
"If your aunt was a bad person, she wouldn't have let you eat so much to become a fat boy. Look at all the fat on your body." Xu Shichu said while poking his little arms and chubby legs with agility.
Little Zhaozhao's chubby body twisted into a knot but still couldn't escape Xu Shichu's clutches, so she simply gave up hiding and threw her whole body onto Xu Shichu's hand, pressing down her entire arm. She also stretched out her limbs to hold her arm tightly, and then she retorted unconvincedly:
"Zhao Zhao is not fat! The fat... the fat is not mine!"
"How can it grow on your body if it's not yours?" Xu Shichu asked him with a smile.
"It's my aunt's! Zhaozhao helped my aunt grow fat!" the little fat boy answered righteously.
Several maids covered their mouths and laughed. Xu Shichu was dumbfounded: "Little guy, if you want to blame someone, don't blame me. When did I ask you to help me grow meat?"
"Last time, my aunt asked Sister Zhiqiu to eat mutton wontons, but Sister Zhiqiu refused to eat. Then my aunt said, 'Just think of it as helping me eat'... Well, then I also helped Aunt eat a lot of things, so the flesh also grew for Aunt..." The little fat boy said reasonably.
Good fellow! Xu Shichu looked at Xiao Zhaozhao in amazement, "You really have the logic of a bandit. I asked Sister Zhiqiu to eat mutton dumplings because I couldn't eat any more. And eating too much in the middle of the night would make me fat, and throwing it away would be a waste, so I asked her to help me eat it. But I didn't ask you to help me eat it. You ate what you wanted to eat, and now you are blaming me."
"I don't care, I'm just helping my aunt eat!" The naughty child was not justified but also confident, so he just played tricks.
Xu Shichu rolled his eyes and said, "Then you don't have to help me eat them in the future. Don't eat these strawberries either."
Then he ordered: "Zhichun, take the strawberries away, and don't give Zhaozhao any food in the future. Share the honey bean snacks and cheese cakes among you, don't leave any for him..."
"No, no! Auntie, I want to eat... I was wrong..." The little fat boy couldn't care about anything else after hearing these words. He was so anxious that he begged Xu Shichu eagerly:
"Aunt, Zhao Zhao is wrong. Zhao Zhao didn't help you eat, nor did he help you grow flesh. I grew flesh on my own, and I ate food on my own...Aunt, please don't let anyone take my little cake away..."
He begged and acted coquettishly, and tried his best to get the food, which made everyone around him laugh.
Xu Shichu had seen enough of this clever little boy's annoyance, so he picked him up, looked at his plump little body, shook his head, and said slowly:
"You're still eating? You've become overweight. No, I can't let you grow into a fat man. You won't even be able to find a wife. Let me find you a martial arts master and let you learn martial arts from him. Move more and at least make your body stronger."
"Okay, okay." The little guy agreed immediately and nodded hurriedly. At this moment, as long as Xu Shichu did not cut off his food, he would agree to anything. What a little foodie.
He is still too young and doesn't know that practicing martial arts is a hard job. He will suffer in the future.
Xu Shichu looked at his ignorant little smiling face and smiled meaningfully.