The unattainable beauty was driven to depravity and madness by a wicked seed.

Shen Qinghuai bent down and looked at Lu Sui, meeting his gaze. "Mom is close to Aunt Xu and the others, and I'm close to you. There's no need to be too polite between close people."

"I'm not close to them." He didn't know Xu Suya, and since he ate her food, he had to pay for it.

Shen Qinghuai said, "You are a member of our family."

Lu Sui remained silent, but Shen Qinghuai took his hand and said, "How about we both give the chili peppers to Aunt Xu together?"

Lu Sui didn't want to agree. He hated Wen Chengyu, and by extension, he hated Wen Chengyu's family. Or maybe it wasn't hatred, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He just felt that since he had eaten food from strangers, he had to pay them off, and he didn't want to have anything to do with them.

If the food we were eating today wasn't from Xu Suya's house but from another neighbor's, Lu Sui would have gone with Shen Qinghuai to deliver the chili peppers, just as Shen Qinghuai had said. But it just so happens to be Xu Suya, Wen Chengyu's mother. Wen Chengyu grew up with Shen Qinghuai and even likes him, so he doesn't want to go.

"No."

Lu Sui didn't want to look at Shen Qinghuai anymore. "I'm not good, and I don't know any better."

Shen Qinghuai squeezed Lu Sui's fingers, getting very close to him, "You weren't naughty, and you weren't immature, so you shouldn't blame yourself."

He thought for a moment and said, "We picked the chilies together. It's raining outside, very cold, the garden is slippery, and there's a lot of mud. I'll wash them clean and then deliver them to her. All of this together will make up for the vegetables we're eating tonight."

"...Mmm." Lu Sui nodded, grabbing a towel to wipe Shen Qinghuai's sleeves. He wiped them carefully, and Shen Qinghuai couldn't help but smile. He whispered to Lu Sui, "Do you think we look like a married couple?"

"I'm a man, and I'm still a man even with long hair."

Shen Qinghuai wiped the rain off Lu Sui's shoulder with a tissue. "Of course I know, last night we—humph."

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Sui punched him in the chest, and the rest of his words turned into muffled groans and snickers.

"Stop fooling around." Shen Qinghuai shook the rain off his clothes with a towel, picked up the groceries and went to the kitchen to wash them. Lu Sui stood by and watched. Shen Qinghuai said, "Go back to your room when we're cooking, otherwise it'll be very humid."

Lu Sui didn't know if he had listened or not. After Shen Qinghuai finished washing the vegetables, he put them in a small iron basin. After pouring out the dirty water, Lu Sui pushed the small iron basin over. He felt a great sense of accomplishment for helping out. Shen Qinghuai turned his head and looked at him with confusion.

"That's amazing."

"..." and then coaxing the child.

After washing and setting out the vegetables, Shen Qinghuai picked out some chili peppers and water spinach, left a message saying "I'll be back soon," and went next door with an umbrella. He said he would be back soon, and he was right. After delivering the vegetables, he walked back while talking.

When he returned and saw Lu Sui handling chili peppers, he stopped him, saying, "Don't touch them. I just broke off the stems, and I don't know if the spicy juice leaked out. You'll get spicy hands on them."

"Ruthless."

"Yes, if you rub your eyes, they'll sting and feel awful. Come on, wash them yourself."

Lu Sui didn't want his eyes to sting, so he rubbed his hands under the warm water and stood to the side waiting for Shen Qinghuai to wipe them for him. Shen Qinghuai said, "I touched chili peppers too, Sui Sui, wipe them yourself."

Lu Sui wiped his hands and watched Shen Qinghuai chop chili peppers. After Shen Qinghuai had chopped half of them, Lu Sui tugged at his sleeve to stop him from continuing and asked, "Is everything spicy?"

After a couple of seconds, Shen Qinghuai understood, "Yes."

"No, you're not allowed to cook."

"?" Shen Qinghuai was confused. Seeing Lu Sui's reddened earlobes and recalling his stuttering voice just now, he laughed so hard his shoulders trembled. "It can be washed clean. I'll rub it with alcohol or cooking oil later. It won't hurt you."

Besides, who knows what might happen tonight? I didn't take it.

Lu Sui's ears turned red. "Don't laugh."

"Okay, I'll try my best."

Lu Sui stood to the side, angry. When Shen Qinghuai looked over, he glared at him. Seeing that he was still smiling, he said, "You're not allowed to go back to your room tonight."

"Why are you being so domineering? Has Sui Sui forgotten that's my room?"

Lu Sui, who had failed to turn the tide, got angry again, especially when Shen Qinghuai started cutting onions, making it impossible for Lu Sui to open his eyes. Through his misty tears, he said that Shen Qinghuai had poisoned him.

Shen Qinghuai was innocent. He had reminded Lu Sui when he was peeling the onion, and only started cutting it after seeing that Lu Sui had stood a little further away. Who knew that Lu Sui would come up behind him again.

Shen Qinghuai pointed to the stool, "Sit there and cry for a while, just shed a few tears, then go back to your room and play with the puzzle. Didn't we bring it? It's in that bag. You can use your phone if you want, or draw if you want. I brought your sketchbook and pens."

Lu Sui wiped away her tears as she left the kitchen and returned to Shen Qinghuai's room. Liu Qiushui was sweeping the bed and dusting the blankets when she saw Lu Sui come in crying. She was startled and asked, "Did Qinghuai bully you?"

Lu Sui wanted to blow his nose before speaking, but Liu Qiushui had already left. After blowing his nose, he heard Liu Qiushui scolding Shen Qinghuai, "How could you bully Xiao Lu!"

Shen Qinghuai stopped slicing and explained, "Mom, I didn't bully Suisui. The onions made his eyes water. Don't come in either, or the chili peppers will be too pungent when you stir-fry them. Tell Suisui to close the door and windows."

Liu Qiushui smiled sheepishly and asked if there was anything she could help with. Shen Qinghuai said no. Liu Qiushui went to Shen Qinghuai's room, and Lu Sui said, "Onions sting my eyes."

Liu Qiushui closed the window. "I thought Qinghuai had bullied you."

Lu complained, "He sometimes bullies me."

Liu Qiushui knew she had made the right decision when she stormed into the kitchen to confront Shen Qinghuai. "If he bullies you again, call Auntie and she'll scold him!"

"There is no telephone."

"How about we add each other on WeChat?" Liu Qiushui asked.

……

Lu Sui's health isn't very good, but he's considered a normal healthy person and doesn't need to eat bland food every meal.

Shen Qinghuai cooked sweet potato, wheat and yam porridge, two plates of stir-fried eggs with chili peppers, one with more chili peppers and the other with more eggs. The plate with more eggs was for Lu Sui, as he couldn't eat too much spicy food. He also stir-fried a plate of tofu and water spinach with some spinach, and a plate of stir-fried lettuce with cured pork. The dried cured pork was very salty, so Shen Qinghuai added water to stew it after stir-frying without adding extra salt. The last dish was stir-fried radish with meat, and he also cooked winter dates in a separate small pot.

Lu Sui couldn't stay in the room any longer, and he couldn't talk much with Liu Qiushui either. Liu Qiushui made awkward conversations with him, and he answered every question, but he also remembered what Shen Qinghuai had said. He didn't tell the truth about some of them, otherwise it would have caused trouble.

Finally, Shen Qinghuai called them to dinner, and they walked out one by one.

Seeing Shen Qinghuai take a bowl from the table, Liu Qiushui said, "I don't need this. My phone says that overglaze porcelain bowls are poisonous, so I bought a white porcelain bowl instead."

Shen Qinghuai said, "Overglaze tableware that meets national standards can be used."

"Let's use the new one; it's safer that way."

Shen Qinghuai hummed in agreement, washed the new bowl that Liu Qiushui had brought out, turned around and saw Liu Qiushui and Lu Sui standing in a row, and smiled as he served them porridge.

Liu Qiushui laughed too, "It feels like we're a family of three."

Lu repeated, "A family of three."

He is Shen Qinghuai, and Liu Qiushui.

Is it a family of three?