ChunHua went down to prepare breakfast for her family. Since she had the time, she made an elaborate one. She was in the midst of it when the family's helper entered the kitchen.
"Little miss! What're you doing? Please, let me do it!"
ChunHua's grip on the pan tightened as she turned to show the helper the brightest and sweetest smile she could manage. "Ah Mei, I feel like handling our food from now on. Please go ahead with your other chores, okay?"
"You can't! You have no skill. Look? You want to feed your family burnt toast, eggs, ham, and sausages. What's not burned is undercooked. Let me do it, let me do it." She tried to take the pan from ChunHua.
ChunHua looked at Ah Mei's back with a frosty gaze. Ah Mei was a helper whose nutrition knowledge was recommended by BaiQiao. Now that she thought about it, she should have suspected something upon finding out about Ah Mei's age. How could a girl around the same age as her be as knowledgeable as BaiQiao made her out to be. She did her research earlier and it confirmed her suspicions. Nothing that Ah Mei claimed was good for them was really good. Her family was tolerant towards and indulgent towards ChunHua. They had advised against hiring Ah Mei but caved in when ChunHua got upset about it.
ChunHua quietly took a deep breath then said, "Hmm... You're right. I'll head out to buy something then."
"Aiiii, there's no need to do that!" WeiSheng's loud voice filled the kitchen and made the girls jump in fright and surprise.
"Big brother?"
WeiSheng took a bit of everything she cooked to taste it. "En! Tastes good!" He smiled goofily.
ChunHua could not hold back a bashful smile. "I know it tastes bad, you don't have to lie. I'm already grateful that you'd still eat it."
"Hey! I mean it! How can anything cooked with my little sister's love taste bad?" He exclaimed, looking like he was genuinely offended. "Mmm, but maybe we should cook the undercooked ones a little more?" WeiSheng admitted.
ChunHua giggled and firmly took the pan back from Ah Mei. Ah Mei looked like she was wronged and casted a worried glance at WeiSheng. WeiSheng raised an eyebrow. "Move along. Get on with your chores. I'm here to look after her."
Ah Mei nodded and obediently left. It made ChunHua's lips twitch. She could not believe how she missed this two-facedness of Ah Mei before she travelled back in time. It was so blatant. When it was only ChunHua, Ah Mei's tongue would be razor sharp. In front of her family members, she was nice, considerate, and meek. If her family ever found out about it, they would get rid of Ah Mei, no questions asked.
Not yet. ChunHua reminded herself. "Big brother, why're you awake so early?"
"Mm... Nothing much. I happened to wake early. Ah! It must be my sixth sense. I would feel oh so rueful if I missed my baby sister's first attempt at cooking!" ChunHua grinned at her brother's exaggeration.
"You can go get ready for work. I'm almost done."
"Let big brother help. So we can eat together later." He finally talked seriously.
ChunHua smiled brightly and nodded. Thanks to WeiSheng's assistance, the food turned out better and ChunHua finished setting the table ahead of time. They had time to return to their rooms to clean up before their parents would come down.
When ChunHua reached her room, she found her door left ajar. This had never happened before. She immediately peeked at what Ah Mei was doing then checked her room thoroughly. Nothing was unusual. She continued to wonder about it while she washed up and changed. Suddenly, the oddity of her brother waking up early hit her. /He came to check on me. He must have panicked when he didn't find me in my room./
Her heart overflowed with warmth, but also guilt.
/How in the world could my family be arrogant ignorant people? How in the world did I get so smitten and blinded by him? I'm the fool to have believed his sugar-coated insults./ She immersed herself in her self-loathing as she went down the stairs.
The moment ChunHua saw her brother sitting at the table alone in a daze, she cried out while she ran to him, "Big brother!"
His head snapped towards her. Seeing her running towards him, he hastily stood up. ChunHua jumped into his open arms like a puppy. Xiao Tang stood by their legs, wagging its tail, wanting to join in the fun.
WeiSheng chuckled jovially like it was the best day of his life. "What's wrong?"
"Sorry for worrying you." She mumbled against his chest.
There was a short pause before her brother spoke again. "Ah, it seems I've been exposed." He whispered before chuckling softly. "It's nothing. I'm just glad to see you're okay."
Just then, their parents came down the stairs. "Oh my." Both of them stood at the foot of the stairs, speechless to see a weird-looking spread on the table and their children all spruced up standing by it.
"Did we forget something?" Their mother asked.
"Did we miss something in yesterday's conversation?" Her father asked at the same time.
ChunHua giggled lightly then wished them, "Happy Valentine's Day to my dear family!"
This time, even WeiSheng was surprised. "You mean this was because- I thought it was just another one of your whims." He blurted out.
ChunHua rolled her eyes up and looked thoughtful. "Well... You're not entirely wrong..."
Again, the family members exchanged meaningful glances. Finally, their mother said, "As long as you're happy. As long as you're happy."
"Yes, this is good for everyone anyway!" Their father added.
The family settled down around their white circle marble table with a lazy Susanne on it, then dug in. Although it was one of their worst tasting meals ever, ChunHua could tell from their expressions that it was easily one of their happiest meals. Seeing them like this made her feel more driven and confident about changing herself to change their fates.