evening.
A fragrant aroma wafted out of the kitchen, and Elton came out with a bowl of soup: “Three Fresh Soup, I just learned how to make it, how about trying it?”
Myrna looked at the table full of dishes, all of which were her favorites.
Clara picked out the tenderest piece of meat from the belly of the fish and put it in her bowl: “Your father is not good at cooking fish, but I just tried this fish and it tastes like you. Come on, eat more.”
Elton was unhappy: “What do you mean I can’t be a fish?”
“puff–”
“Yes, yes,” Clara nodded unhappily, “You’re an amazing cook, okay?”
“That’s more like it … I ran into Tom from next door a few days ago , and he was asking me for advice! You can just be happy that I’ll cook for you every day.”
“Okay, okay, I’m secretly happy. Hurry up and eat, even the food can’t stop you from eating!”
“Why do you sound so perfunctory? If you don’t believe me, ask my daughter if I’m a great cook.”
As he spoke, Elton gently plucked off a piece of fish and put it in her bowl: “Come on, Myrna , how about trying what daddy made?”
Myrna listened to her parents bickering and curled the corners of her mouth.
I lowered my head and took a bite of the fish. The fresh fish tasted sweet.
Elton knew that she didn’t like too many seasonings, so he simply added some ginger and shallots to remove the fishy smell. When it was out of the pot, he drizzled a little steamed fish soy sauce on it, so that it would not be tasteless and retain the freshness of the fish.
As far as I can remember, my mother rarely went into the kitchen, so Elton was the chef in the family.
Myrna would wait for him in the office until he got off work. When the time came, he would ride his bike to take her home.
On the way home, he would pass by the vegetable market, and the uncles and aunts selling vegetables there were all old acquaintances of Elton .
Clara , on the other hand , never buys vegetables because she doesn’t know how to choose and thinks the market is too noisy.
In addition to steamed sea bass, the specialty is scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
Or maybe Myrna learned it because she liked it when she was a child.
But the fact that he himself can’t cook doesn’t stop him from being picky about Elton ‘s cooking skills, so much so that the man became more and more interested in this area, and finally he really became a great chef.
After leaving home, Ansel was the only one left by Myrna ‘s side .
She cooked for him, prepared everything, and waited for him to come home from get off work every day to have a bite of food. Even though it was always his father who prepared the food and put the dishes and chopsticks next to her, she just ate and was picky.
Now, this kind of treatment has returned. It turns out that she is also a child who is pampered by her parents.
“I haven’t eaten it for a long time, but I still think the fish my father cooks is the best fish I’ve ever eaten. Even the five-star chefs out there can’t compare to it.”
Elton was both proud and emotional when he heard this: “Whenever you want to eat it, Dad will make it for you anytime.”
Myrna held back her tears and responded with a smile.
After dinner, Clara washed the fruits she bought in the afternoon and cut them into plates.
Seeing no one in the living room, she walked outside and saw the father and daughter sitting in the yard.
It gets dark early, and the lights in the yard appear dimmer. The charcoal fire in the stove makes crackling sounds from time to time, which is cozy and warm.
Myrna sat aside, her body warmed by the roasting.
Occasionally, flames would jump on her face and body. Clara got off the bed beside her and handed her the fruit plate.
“The strawberries at home are ripe, fragrant and sweet. They were your favorite when you were a child. Try some.”
There are still small water droplets on the washed strawberries, and they have a sweet smell just by smelling them.
She took a bite and said with a smile: “It’s delicious.”
Clara looked at the smile between her eyebrows and remembered how she looked when she came back today. She was moved and took her hand and placed it in her hot palm. She smoothed her hair and looked at her carefully: “You have lost weight.”
Myrna still had a strawberry in her mouth, her cheeks were puffy, and she stared and shook her head: “No way, I just weighed myself, and I’m two pounds heavier than I was last week.”
“I just look thin. If you pinch the flesh on my hand, you will see that there is a lot of flesh.”
She pretended to be distressed and said: “I’m still thinking about whether I should lose weight … ”
Before he finished speaking, Elton frowned and said, “You’re a girl, why do you want to lose weight? You’re already so thin, if you lose more weight, won’t you just become a bag of bones?”
Kids nowadays are always surfing the Internet. If they see any weight loss blogger, they will follow the trend to lose weight. Not only do they starve themselves on purpose, they also take diet pills. It gives them a headache just seeing this.
Myrna’s eyes sparkled, and she held Clara ‘s hand and leaned on her mother like a boneless person: “I’m just talking.”
Clara knocked her head: “It’s no use talking about it. Come back next time and let me know that you have lost weight. Be careful!”
Myrna smiled: “I know.”
Clara felt her daughter’s weight on her body, gently combed her long hair with her fingers, and finally asked the question she wanted to ask the most: “How have you been doing out there these past few years?”
Myrna’s eyes froze, and she brushed off the past events lightly: “It’s fine.”
“Where’s that guy? Didn’t he come back with you?”
This question finally came up.
Myrna lowered her eyes and said calmly: “We have broken up.”
At the beginning, after my father was discharged from the hospital, he came to H City with my mother , but was driven away by her stubbornness.
From that day on, her father was so angry that he broke off all ties with her, and for six years, they had no contact at all.
Bringing up the past incident again, Myrna thought her father would blame her. However, in the firelight, Elton ‘s old eyes were calm and tolerant.
He just sighed softly and said, “We are not on the same path to begin with, so it’s better for us to break up.”
Myrna choked up again.
…
Soon, it was New Year’s Eve and Christmas .
Early in the morning, Clara woke up the people who were still in bed. When Myrna opened the door, she was still in pajamas, drowsy, with eyes half-open and half-closed, and a little curl in her hair. It was obvious that she was not awake yet.
“Who said yesterday that he would accompany me to buy New Year’s goods today? What time is it? Go wash your face and change your clothes, and come down to have breakfast.”
Clara pushed the person back with some disgust.
“Isn’t it only half past seven … ” Her voice was muffled, and it felt like it was still dark outside.
Clara laughed angrily: “I still think 7:30 is too late, hurry up, or the soy milk will get cold.”
After this, Myrna ‘s sleepiness disappeared completely. She quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth, changed into clothes for going out, and went downstairs to have breakfast.
Elton bought breakfast at a nearby breakfast shop , and it smelled delicious.
Myrna sat down and took a bite of a sandwich . She didn’t see Elton in the yard or in the kitchen . She asked, “Where’s Dad?”
“The principal called him over early in the morning and said he had some school matters to attend to and would be back later.”
Clara was talking, the phone rang.
She went out into the yard to answer the phone.
However, the communication was not pleasant, because Myrna had never heard her mother sound so impatient and aggrieved …