Chapter 19: Communal Dining

  Two people saw that Mu Ao Yun was back. At this time, when they saw Mu Ao Yun return, Tian Nuan Yu and Mu Yu Xin were both slightly surprised.

  But Mu Yu Xin was extremely delighted, she put down her chopsticks and rushed to Mu Ao Yun's face, hugging him and excitedly asked a string of questions: "Dad, why did you come back so early today? Have you eaten dinner? We just started eating, want to eat together?"

  Mu Ao Yun reached out and gently stroked Mu Yu Xing's hair, a doting smile appearing in his eyes.

  Tian Nuoyu also stood up and stood beside the dinner table, looking at the father-daughter pair in front of her. It was still the first time she saw Mu Ao Yun smile. Although the smile only lightly appeared in his eyes, this smile made Tian Nuoyu feel that Mu Ao Yun was extremely doting on Mu Yu Xing.

  Mu Ao Yun raised his head and glanced at the dining hall. Tian Nuan Yu called out respectfully: "Mr. Mu!"

  Mo Ao Yun nodded slightly and patted Mo Yu Xin's head, saying in a gentle tone: "Alright, let's eat together!"

  "Really! Then I'll help you put the bag in the study," Mu Yuexin said excitedly, her eyes shining with light as she reached out to take the briefcase from Mu Aoyun's hand.

  "Xin'er, put the package on the sofa," Mu Ao Yun took off his suit jacket and walked to the front of the sofa, casually throwing the jacket over the back of the sofa.

  Mu Yu Xin followed Mu Ao Yun's side and put the briefcase on the sofa, then hooked his arm and walked into the dining hall together.

  "Dad, today's dish is made by Qingtian, you must try it," Mu Yuxin said with a meaningful glance at Tian Nuanyu.

  Tian Nuanyu saw Mu Ao Yun standing in front of the dinner table staring at the dishes on it, her heart suddenly rose, and her complexion also became unnatural.

  She hadn't expected Mu Ao Yun to come back, and these dishes were originally just meant to coax Mu Yu Xin into a good mood. Such a colorful arrangement might make Mu Ao Yun think she was showing off or trying to curry favor, and the portions of the small dishes she made today were all very small. She and Mu Yu Xin could have eaten them just right, but now with Mu Ao Yun added, they would definitely not be enough.

  "Mr. Mu, Gui's grandson is ill, Zhong Shu and Gui have gone to the hospital together, I didn't know you were coming back for dinner today, I'll go cook two more dishes, why don't you sit down and rest for a while, it will be ready soon," Tian Nuanyu said, already thinking about what two dishes she would cook.

  "No need, it's fine like this. Miss Tian, you've worked hard today, let's sit and eat together," Mu Yu Xing called Tian Nuan Yu by the nickname she had always used, while Mu Ao Yun had grown accustomed to hearing Mu Yu Xing use it after a few times, but he still politely addressed Tian Nuan Yu as Miss Tian.

  This title may be polite, but it is unusually formal, and the distance between the two people seems to be thousands of miles apart.

  Just like now, Mu Ao Yun went to the kitchen to wash his hands and sat beside Mu Yu Xing. Tian Nuan Yu served a bowl of rice for Mu Ao Yun and sat opposite them, father and daughter, across the dinner table, yet it felt as if they were worlds apart.

  As soon as Mu Ao Yun appeared, the pleasant atmosphere at the dinner table was gone, and Tian Nuan Yu became much more restrained.

  However, the atmosphere wasn't too depressing. The one who spoke the most was naturally Mu Yu Xin. She repeated to Mu Ao Yun what she and Tian Nuan Yu had just discussed, without leaving out a single word.

  Tian Nuanyu's eyes showed a hint of surprise, she didn't expect Mu Yuxin's memory to be so good.

  Mu Ao Yun listened quietly, and after Mu Yu Xing finished speaking, he raised his head to glance at Tian Nuan Yu. A faint smile flashed in his eyes, but it disappeared in an instant.

  Tian Nuoyu suddenly felt uncomfortable all over, what she said just now was just a sudden thought when cooking, she knew that Mu Yuexin would definitely think it was novel and interesting, she just wanted to liven up the atmosphere of eating with this, every time she saw Mu Yuexin sitting at this dining table eating silently, Tian Nuoyu's heart would always feel a twinge of sympathy.

  Those words can coax a little girl into happiness, but it's unknown whether Mu Ao Yun heard them and thought she was intentionally trying to curry favor and show off.

  When she saw Mu Ao Yun, Tian Nuan Yu always felt tense and now she was even more nervous, as if she had done something wrong. Suddenly, Mu Yu Xing asked her: "By the way, Qing Tian, you said so much earlier, but didn't say what these dishes were made of?"

  Tian Nuoyu raised her head and nervously listed out the ingredients used in each dish.

  After hearing Tian Nuanyu finish speaking, Mu Yuxin burst out laughing: "So it was all these ordinary things!"

  "Yes, these were all picked by Gui Shu in the backyard vegetable garden, they are very fresh and clean," Tian Nuanyu said with a light smile.

  Mu Ao Yun looked at Tian Nuan Yu, and a hint of unusualness flashed in his eyes that was hard to detect.

  "Did you go look up the poem first before going to cook?" Mu Yu Xun suddenly tilted her head and looked at Tian Nuan Yu with a smile.

  "No," Tian Nuan Yu said, "I used to recite poems when I was a kid. Just now, while cooking, those few lines suddenly came to mind." As soon as she finished speaking, her face suddenly darkened and she abruptly lowered her head.

  When I was a kid, Tian Nuoyu really recited a lot of poems. That's because my mother especially liked ancient poetry, and one-third of the books in our bookcase were all ancient poems.

  According to her mother's own words, during the ten months of pregnancy, her mother would recite poetry to her every day in the womb, and she was born amidst the classical verses recited by her mother.

  From the time she could speak, her mother began teaching her to read poetry and later had her recite it. Under her mother's influence, her mind was indeed filled with many ancient poems and phrases. However, since her mother left after the incident, she never touched those classical poems again.

  Just now when cooking, it was just a casual thought, but now Mu Yu Xing asked like this, and some past events were brought up, Tian Nuan Yu's heart began to ache vaguely.

  Seeing Tian Nuanyu's face was somewhat abnormal, Mu Yuxin was about to ask when she saw Mu Ao Yun put down his chopsticks and stood up.

  Mu Yu Xin and Tian Nuan Yu simultaneously lifted their heads to look at him.