A little past one in the afternoon, when Chen Huihong brought Huihui and Qin Luo to Huang Ji to scrounge for a meal, Qin Luo already looked like she’d been drowned in a sea of math study.
Seeing Qin Luo’s expression, Qin Huai knew that this morning’s tutoring session had been a great success.
She had absorbed the knowledge.
"Luoluo, eat more meat." Qin Huai gave Qin Luo a piece of Dongpo Pork Knuckle, showing a brotherly smile, "Eating well will improve the tutoring effect this afternoon."
The touched expression on Qin Luo’s face immediately faded.
"There’s more this afternoon?!"
"Physics tutoring at 4, and chemistry at 7, both only for an hour, short time." Qin Huai assured he wasn’t a demon, that it was impossible to make his sister do tutoring for 6 hours a day.
There should always be time for homework and some lazy activities.
Qin Luo suddenly felt that the pork knuckle in her bowl wasn’t that tasty anymore.
Qin Luo lowered her head to look at the pork knuckle in her bowl. Qin Huai had given her a piece of the knuckle skin with a bit of meat. The knuckle skin was glazed in sauce, covered in rich broth; closer inspection showed a translucent layer, indicating it was sure to be tender, melting in the mouth, extraordinarily delicious.
This was the essence of the knuckle — the knuckle skin.
Eating it with rice, that flavor.
Qin Luo instantly took a mouthful with her rice, feeling her brother did love her after all.
Though her brother packed her schedule with tutoring, he also gave her the knuckle skin she loved most.
"Brother, this pork knuckle is so good, can we have it again tomorrow?" Qin Luo asked eagerly.
Qin Huai looked at Huang Jia, since the knuckle was made by Huang Jia.
Huang Jia was touched that Qin Luo chose his Dongpo Pork Knuckle over Huang Shengli’s boiled dried tofu and nodded immediately, stating that Qin Huai’s sister was like his own sister, and what’s the matter with family enjoying some knuckle? Eat it!
"Eat it." Qin Huai said.
Qin Luo felt her holiday life was beautiful again.
A little after eight in the evening, Qin Huai took back some packed food. Seeing Qin Huai return, Chen Huihong took Huihui, who had already finished her homework and started watching cartoons, back home. Before leaving, she didn’t forget to grab a couple of fruits and share some of the meal.
"Mom, will we come again tomorrow to accompany Sister Luoluo with her homework?" Huihui asked, munching on a cheese stick as they left.
"Yes, from now on, we’ll come every day. Does Huihui like accompanying Sister Luoluo with her homework?" Chen Huihong replied gently.
"I like it, but Sister Luoluo has so much homework, I’ve already finished mine yet she’s still doing hers."
Sitting at the dining table, Qin Luo appeared focused as she worked on the chemistry test left by her teacher. Her outward appearance didn’t change, but inwardly, her little self was crying while nodding vigorously.
Brother, look, even Huihui noticed I have a lot of homework, can’t we cut down on a couple of subjects?
Qin Huai acknowledged that reducing wasn’t possible. When he was in high school, he had even more tutoring during holidays, with tutoring sessions as soon as he woke up every day.
In some sense, Qin Huai’s holiday in high school was when he loved studying recipes the most. He didn’t need Qin Luo to say what she wanted to eat, Qin Huai would ask her after returning home from tutoring if there was anything on TV she wanted to try.
Once someone starts working or studying, anything else seems interesting as long as it’s not work or study.
"Did the teacher assign homework?" Qin Huai glanced at the test paper.
Fine, after so many years post-graduation, he couldn’t understand it at all.
"They assigned a lot, three teachers assigned. I only played on my phone for an hour this afternoon, and there’s hardly any time in the evening." Qin Luo was almost in tears.
"You can play tomorrow; there are only two teachers tomorrow, each for just an hour." Qin Huai reassured.
"Take your time writing, I’ll be in my room studying recipes; just message me if you need anything, don’t come in." Qin Huai said as he entered the room.
Qin Luo looked at the unfinished test papers, thought about only having two subjects to tutor tomorrow, and figured it wasn’t a big deal, so she could play on her phone for a bit.
Qin Luo dug out the leftover snacks from the snack cabinet and activated happy mode.
Of course, Qin Huai wasn’t in the room to look at recipes.
He was going to consult the recipe.
Having resisted looking at Gong Liang’s memory all day, Qin Huai couldn’t hold it any longer. He had particularly taken a day off from the tasting group today, stating that he wouldn’t make any snacks tonight and would continue tomorrow night.
The older folks expressed understanding, acknowledging Master Qin working both day and night was tough, and they didn’t mind missing snacks for two days.
They all had good health and could queue up, and without personal treats, they could go line up with small stools in front of Huang Ji early in the morning.
Qin Huai had a general idea about the content of Gong Liang’s memory this time; it was likely a birthday banquet.
Qin Huai posted in the [We Are Family] group saying he was going to look into Gong Liang’s memory and would update them in a few minutes about what he saw.
Chen Huihong instantly replied: 1, front row waiting.
It was clear Chen Huihong has been surfing online a lot lately.
Qin Huai didn’t hesitate, clicked [Gong Liang’s Memory], and chose yes.
The first thing he saw was Gong Liang’s house.
Just like the last time he saw it in memory, the living room was small and simple, with a coal stove in the corner. Mrs. Gong was squatting on the floor cooking porridge on the stove, and on the small wooden table was a plate of not very appetizing pickled cucumbers.
Gong Liang was in his parents’ room, carrying Mr. Gong on his back, and moved him from the room to sit on the rocking chair outside.
The rocking chair looked newly made, the latest piece of furniture in the Gong family.
Mr. Gong tried hard to hook his arm around Gong Liang’s arm to make his son use less strength, but to no avail, he could only sigh deeply.
"Dad, you sighed again." Gong Liang said.