Growing Fond of You, Mr Nian

Mo Liuxi suddenly had an idea. He fished out the gift that he had brought. “Baby, Daddy bought a Transformers toy for you. It can even dance!”

Yan Yan looked at the figurine and yawned, showing no interest whatsoever.

Yan Su took out the pink doll that she had bought—Yan Yan’s eyes immediately lit up as she grabbed onto the doll’s hand and swung it around. She was laughing happily.

Mo Liuxi was frustrated. Yan Jin walked over to him and stared at the Transformers toy in his hands and said, “Yan Yan is a baby girl, she doesn’t like these things. She likes pink and soft toys. Her hands are small too, she won’t be able to carry that. You can leave all your toys with me—I’ll teach her how to play with these when she grows a little older.”

Mo Liuxi was speechless. The kid was a little imp.

Jiang Peiying pinched his eyes, “Do you have your eyes on other people’s toys now? Didn’t I already buy you lots of toys?”

“Mama, yours aren’t as cool as these…” Yan Jin said pitifully.

Jiang Peiying said nothing.

Mo Liuxi laughed and said, “It’s alright, Aunty. I must have bought the wrong toys. It’s my first time being a father after all. I’m inexperienced. I didn’t know that girls only liked pink and soft toys. Yan Jin can have all of these instead. Oh right, I bought toys for Yan Jin too.”

He took the toys out—there was a remote-controlled airplane, robots, and all sorts of cool things. Jiang Peiying and Yan Lv felt bad as they were a bit too harsh to him earlier on.

“Why did you buy so many things? What a waste of money,” Yan Lu said with mixed feelings.

“It’s ok, I like buying toys for children. I never had these things when I was younger. Even though I have the money now, it doesn’t make sense for me to buy these toys for myself. I’m happy to buy these toys for Yan Su’s little brother—it’s almost like fulfilling a childhood dream.” Mo Liuxi looked at Yan Jin fondly, “Jin is cute, smart, and intelligent. I quite like him.”

Yan Jin shuddered.

The guy was so mushy—he wasn’t anything like that when they last met in Beijing.

For the sake of his Transformers figurines, he leaped forward and kissed Mo Liuxi on his cheek. “Thank you, big brother…”

Mo Liuxi was made uncomfortable by his gesture; he only wanted to get closer to his own daughter.

Jiang Peiying looked at Mo Liuxi sympathetically. She was a mother, and she had a soft spot for kids with a tough childhood—those without a father’s love.

“It’s getting late, you can stay over tonight. We can talk about things tomorrow,” she said after a while. “Is it alright if you don’t go home for the Lunar New Year?”

“I told my parents that I’m spending this Lunar New Year at my girlfriend’s place. They are going to Europe to travel,” Mo Liuxi said. “If you and Uncle insist on me going home, I would probably have to spend the holidays by myself. Aunty, would you please let me stay for New Year’s? I can help out around the house. I can do many things—I can even cook. I’m good at cleaning the house too.”

Jiang Peiying was shocked. “You can cook?”

“Yeah, you can ask Susu,” Mo Liuxi laughed. “When we neighbors, I would make lobster, steamed crabs, and other dishes for her all the time. Dessert too. I can bake cakes and all. It’s my first time in Jiangxi, but I heard that the local cuisine here pays more attention to the natural taste of the ingredients and that the dishes are fragrant and flavourful. I’ve been wanting to try it for a long time now.”

Yan Lv nodded his head. “Our local cuisine is tasty. People usually only enjoy Sichuan food but Jiangxi dishes are just as delicious.”