"Zhou Yang, this is school! I'm your mother!" Zhou Qin said loudly, unable to hold back as she looked at the strange glances from other parents.
Marrying an old man with a son was already embarrassing enough, and now this child was speaking to her like this in public, which made her lose so much face.
Zhou Yang was unfazed, "You can't say it? You're just a woman who takes care of me and my dad, do you think you're really my mother just because you married my dad? Dream on!"
With his grandmother doting on him at home, Zhou Yang feared nothing. Like a little tyrant, he walked to the restroom, pushed aside the students waiting ahead, and went in.
No one dared to offend him.
Zhou Qin watched from behind, feeling that if Zhou Yang wasn't disciplined properly, he would never know the immensity of heaven and earth in the future. She looked in the direction Huo Rou and the others had left, a scheme forming in her mind.
Meanwhile, Huo Rou and Qin Ningyi brought An An and Ruan Ruan to the huge playground of the First Municipal Primary School.
The exchange event had many entertainment activities, with parents participating alongside their children.
This not only helped parents and children bond but also promoted emotional exchange between students from the two schools, allowing parents to interact and learn from each other in the process.
As soon as Ruan Ruan reached the area, she was attracted by the smell from a nearby pushcart.
"An An big brother, there's food here too!" Ruan Ruan tugged at An An's sleeve and swayed.
An An looked at Ruan Ruan's bright, shining eyes looking towards the pushcart and had to walk that way.
Qin Ningyi looked at his son's older brotherly demeanor with some comfort and followed Huo Rou.
"You're from Ren De School, aren't you?" The person in charge of the pushcart was a teacher from the First Municipal Primary School. He had never seen such delicate and charming children at school before.
Children who looked like they were four or five years old attending a primary school exchange event should be those talented children from Ren De School.
He just didn't expect the parents to be so good-looking too!
"Teacher, how much are these dumplings?" An An asked first.
The teacher looked at An An's unafraid demeanor and admired him greatly. "Little classmate, you can get a bowl of dumplings by completing the game and winning. Would you like to participate?"
An An looked at Ruan Ruan, who was looking at him eagerly, and then at Huo Rou. "Mom, let's play."
Huo Rou petted his head. "Okay."
The game rule was that one adult and one child formed a team, and they competed with several teams in a dumpling-wrapping speed contest. The team that wrapped the most dumplings in one minute won and received a bowl of dumplings.
Ruan Ruan enthusiastically wanted to participate. Qin Ningyi and Huo Rou exchanged glances, and Huo Rou had to accompany Ruan Ruan in the competition.
Their opponent was a second-grader from the First Municipal Primary School, Ling Ling.
Ling Ling's mother wore simple clothes, but her dumpling-wrapping movements were very skilled, indicating she often cooked at home. Not only were her dumplings wrapped quickly, but they were also very shapely.
Ling Ling's speed was also not to be underestimated.
On Huo Rou's side, Ruan Ruan was young, and her hands were not strong, so she was naturally slower. Furthermore, Huo Rou herself didn't know how to cook.
She relied on the dumpling-wrapping method demonstrated by the teacher earlier and worked hard to speed up. Her memory allowed her to replicate every movement exactly like the teacher's, but the dumplings she made were vastly different. They were either not sealed tightly, or she applied too much force and made them too thin, resembling wontons.
In a short minute, both of them worked with a flurry of movements, but in the end, they still couldn't beat Ling Ling and her mother.
"Ling Ling wins this round!" The teacher had already cooked the dumplings and was waiting for the result. After announcing it, the dumplings were handed to Ling Ling.
Ling Ling's mother smiled at Huo Rou and the others. "Why don't we eat together? We had dinner at home before coming anyway."
Ruan Ruan lost the competition and was a little dejected. "Ruan Ruan can't wrap fast, so she can't eat the victory dumplings."
Huo Rou thanked Ling Ling's family and said goodbye.
Qin Ningyi patted Huo Rou's shoulder. "Don't be sad. Their family clearly wraps dumplings often, so they're very fast. You did very well learning it for the first time."
Huo Rou gave him a wry smile. "Stop comforting me. I can copy the movements, but controlling the force is really difficult. I admit I don't have the talent for it."
An An looked at Ruan Ruan's dejected expression and patted her little head to comfort her. "Ruan Ruan, if you want to eat, I'll win a bowl for you, okay?"
Ruan Ruan's spirits instantly lifted upon hearing that An An would win a bowl of dumplings for her. "Really? Can An An big brother win?"
An An nodded. "I can win."
He turned to Qin Ningyi and said, "Dad, let's compete too and win a portion of dumplings for Mom and Ruan Ruan!"
The older brothers and sisters from the First Municipal Primary School were too formidable. To eat dumplings, he and his dad had to be the ones to play to have a chance.
Qin Ningyi didn't care about his status and was happy to accompany his son to win a trophy for Huo Rou.
He took An An's hand and sat down at the table. "Teacher, we want to participate in the competition too!"
The teacher smilingly set up the equipment, and the competition began.
An An had learned to wrap dumplings from a neighbor in the village. The villagers prioritized taste in their food and never cared about appearance.
However, the dumplings An An was wrapping now looked as good as those wrapped by Ling Ling's mother, clearly indicating he had learned by observation. He wrapped several, quickly becoming proficient, and his dumplings became more and more beautiful.
Huo Rou didn't know what to say about her son. He truly had talent in culinary arts! In such a tense competition, he could still use newly learned techniques.
Qin Ningyi next to him was even more amazing. His large hands seemed to possess magic. As soon as the dumpling wrappers reached his hands, he would wrap a plump and beautiful dumpling in a few moves.
Their opponents were actually quite strong. It was said that the other child's father owned a breakfast shop and was extremely skilled at this work, like a robot.
The minute passed quickly. The teacher came forward to count the dumplings. An An and Qin Ningyi won the competition by a significant margin and received a bowl of dumplings.
These dumplings looked slightly less appealing, but An An and Qin Ningyi were very happy. The dumplings that Huo Rou and Ruan Ruan had wrapped earlier were in this bowl. The ones with broken skins were theirs.
An An carefully carried the bowl to Ruan Ruan, while Qin Ningyi distributed small spoons to Huo Rou and Ruan Ruan.
"Eat, we won."
An An said this with great pride. He rarely participated in such games and seemed a little childish, but today, by winning a portion of dumplings for the two women, one big and one small, through this childish competition, he felt very satisfied.
Ruan Ruan poked the slightly exposed dumpling in the bowl with her spoon and laughed heartily. "An An big brother, this one looks like one Ruan Ruan wrapped. Try it, is it tasty?"