The air inside the house was filled with the delicious aroma of garlic sauce being stir-fried. Ning Chu sat on the couch in the living room, but her eyes kept drifting toward the kitchen. Through the transparent sliding door, she could clearly see the older man inside cooking seafood and pan-searing steak.
As for what happened to the original “Ning Chu”…?
Maybe she’d crossed over to her original world. Maybe their souls had fused. Maybe she was just dead, buried long ago under a gravestone covered in weeds. Who knew?
Ning Chu didn’t feel like digging into it.
She wasn’t some kind of main character with a grand destiny. She had no ambitions. She was just an ordinary girl who wanted a peaceful life for herself and her family.
Why she’d transmigrated, the nature of parallel worlds, how she fit into the plot of some hentai novel—none of that mattered to her.
Thinking about it wouldn’t turn her back into a man, and it wouldn’t send her back to her old world. So, she simply didn’t care.
Even if going back were possible, she wouldn’t want to.
What she feared more was that all of this—this warm home, her loved ones, the smell of food—was just a dream. That she’d wake up one day and everything would be gone.
“Time to eat!” her mother called out. “Ning Chu! Ning Yuan! Come to the table!”
“Coming!”
All those scattered thoughts vanished. Ning Chu jumped up and ran to the dining table with excitement, greeted by her mother’s warm smile.
Looking at the feast laid out on the table, she exclaimed, “Wow! It wasn’t this fancy when I came back yesterday!”
Her mother rolled her eyes at her. “That’s because your brother and the uncle are here today. More mouths to feed means more dishes to make.”
“Black Bean! The steak is one per person. Stop staring at your sister’s like you're about to drool.”
“Okaaay~”
Ning Chu sat down and cut her steak in half, using a fork to transfer part of it to Black Bean’s plate.
“You’re the best, sis~”
“So greedy.” Their mother affectionately ruffled Black Bean’s head.
“Kids are always like this when they’re growing. It’s normal,” Ning Chu said with a laugh, then looked into the kitchen. “Uncle, is the seafood done yet?”
“In a sec, I just need to plate it and steam,” he replied.
Unlike the serious and intimidating impression he gave at first, the uncle now looked much more approachable, busy cooking with a gentle smile at the corner of his eyes—like a man who belonged in the heart of a home.
It made Ning Chu feel more at ease.
He definitely seemed more pleasant now.
She glanced over at her brother. Ning Yuan was quietly eating, occasionally watching the uncle, but he didn’t show any sign of disapproval or acceptance.
“The seafood still needs time to steam. Start eating first,” the uncle said as he walked out of the kitchen, carrying a bowl of poached shrimp. He took a seat next to their mother at the table.
The man looked up and gave the siblings a gentle nod and a smile before turning to chat with their mother.
“I got this steak from Sam’s Club through a friend,” he said. “I heard it’s pretty good, so I brought some over for you all to try. If you like it, I can ask them to get more. Good for the kids to have as breakfast.”
Black Bean’s ears perked up, and she immediately chimed in, “Yes! Steak for breakfast!”
“That’s way too expensive for breakfast,” their mother said with a disapproving glance at him. She grumbled, “You have money to burn or something?”
The man chuckled awkwardly. After eating a few bites, he habitually reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette.
“Go smoke in the hallway. Don’t fill the place with that smell,” she scolded.
He obediently got up and stepped out to the hallway to smoke.
Seemed a bit henpecked? At least he wasn’t the overbearing macho type.
Ning Chu watched his back as he walked away and thought her impression of him was still pretty good so far. He clearly doted on her mother and wasn’t the kind to get upset over a little scolding. He looked serious and imposing when not smiling, but when he did smile, he seemed warm and approachable.
And more importantly—that body! No way he’d be an easy target for gold-digging or drained dry and abandoned!
Thank goodness he wasn’t one of those greasy, creepy ugly bastards. Even if he was good to her mom, if he looked like that, her first impression would’ve been terrible.
“Mom, you used to scold my brother all the time for smoking,” Ning Chu teased, resting her cheek on one hand. “But when the uncle lights one up, all you do is tell him to go outside?”
“Your brother’s still young—what’s he doing smoking?” she huffed.
“I’m in my twenties already,” Ning Yuan muttered. “Why are you still treating me like a kid?”
“Mom’s playing favorites~” Ning Chu said with a sly grin.
Their mom gave her an annoyed look and tapped her on the head with her chopsticks. “Even a steak can’t shut you up, huh? Can’t you be more like Ning Xin? Just eat and stop talking!”
Black Bean, meanwhile, was laser-focused on eating, cheeks stuffed full, completely unable to say a word.
Ning Chu stayed quiet for about thirty seconds before she couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“Mom~ the uncle really does seem to treat you well.”
“What does he do for a living?” Ning Yuan asked, picking up on the topic.
“He’s a small-time contractor.”
Ning Chu didn’t have much of a concept of what that job entailed—she’d never been exposed to it. All she knew was that contractors often made the news for wage disputes.
She muttered under her breath, “Sounds kinda average.”
“Still better than your boyfriend,” their mother replied, casting a side-eye at her daughter.
That ticked Ning Chu off. “Wen Yang’s only a freshman, okay?! How is that a fair comparison? Give him a couple decades—he might be a big boss by then!”
“Sure, sure, a big boss,” her mom replied sarcastically.
Ning Chu pouted and glared at her mother, who chuckled and placed a rib into her bowl.
“Eat. Adults are talking. Stay out of it.”
“Hmph~”
Ning Yuan let out a quiet sigh. Seeing his little sister jumping to defend Wen Yang gave him an inexplicable feeling of melancholy—like a father watching his precious daughter being stolen away by some outsider.
As for their mother and the uncle, he actually felt okay about it. Like Ning Chu, he wanted to see their mom find someone compatible and live happily.
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