The day in the middle of summer was stuffy and hot. At the end of the road, you could see the air distorted by the heat.
Pedestrians on the street collectively turned into roasted ducks hanging on the stove, sweating profusely, their slightly tanned skin glistening.
The patrolling traffic policeman, Xiao Wang, turned on the warning siren from his motorcycle, blaring repeatedly like a buzzing wing of a cicada, while his high-pitched voice boomed from the speaker.
"The white Buick in the front pulls over!"
The white Buick stopped obediently at the command.
Xiao Wang turned off the motorcycle and tapped the driver's window with his fingers.
An otherworldly beauty with an enticing phoenix eye appeared behind the lowered car window. Her expression was as cold as the cool air gushing out of the car.
Xiao Wang was stunned for a moment. But as a dedicated professional policeman, he was able to quickly pull himself together, then stretched his hand out with his palm open and sternly said, "Driving license, driving license!"
The driver was very cooperative. Without many words, she opened her wallet, took out the driving license card, and handed it over to the policeman.
Sitting in the co-pilot's seat was a little girl, around three or four years old, with a pair of pigtails hung on both sides of her head and a white and tender face, looking over curiously.
Xiao Wang grinned at her, "Who is this?"
The owner of the car, Liu Yan, was 25 years old. The portrait on the ID card was so exquisite that Police Wang nearly mistook it for a supermodel's resume.
The little girl's big and round eyes looked at the woman on the driver's seat and answered in a shaky, milky voice, "Auntie."
When the little bun spoke, her twin-tail swayed back and forth nervously.
Xiao Wang's heart also swayed, "Auntie...?"
The little girl was so cute that she couldn't help but take a closer look, um, the niece looked like the aunt, so it must be true.
Their faces were so similar that they were eligible as a mother and daughter.
After verifying the documents, Police Wang asked the car owner, "Children should be equipped with safety seats on the road. Where are you taking the child?"
The little girl shivered and said timidly, "Auntie..."
Liu Yan caught a faint bitter taste in the air around her.
Her world had always been different from ordinary people's. Emotions were something tangible to her. She could touch and taste it like a physical object.
Joy was sweet, anger was spicy, fear was bitter, and so on.
She gently touched the little girl's smooth hair and comforted her, "Baobao is good. It's alright."
The moment the palm passed through the air, the faint bitterness was swept away.
After soothing the child, Liu Yan tapped the still lit navigation interface with her right hand and showed it to the policeman, "We're going to the mall…"
"Going to the mall..." policeman Wang repeated.
Liu Yan continued in a flat tone, "to buy a child seat."
Policeman Wang: "..."
His cheek felt painful all of a sudden.
This was obviously a paradox.
You couldn't go on the road without a child seat, but you couldn't buy a child seat without hitting the road.
The little girl holding the old plush bear doll clucked over and looked at the car window like a poor child who avenged her grievance, "It's true."
Police Wang: "..."
He actually wanted to argue that it wasn't necessary to bring the little girl to the mall, but quickly swallowed his words as they met with the girl's misty eyes.
Who could stand this?!
Obviously, Police Wang wasn't one of those people.
In the end, Xiao Wang escorted this pair of aunt and niece all the way to the shopping mall, and she left with confidence after seeing Liu Yan begin the consultation.
After walking a few steps, she looked back for the last time. The little girl seemed elated. She hugged Liu Yan's thigh and smiled sweetly at her, waving her little hand and waving her little pigtail.
Ouch, Baobao's adorableness shot directly into Police Wang's heart.
I want to have a lovely daughter like her too!
Um… wait I'm just a single dog…
Police Wang left bitterly.
Oblivious to the damage caused by little Baobao to the poor policeman, Liu Yan had a huge headache.
She had no experience of buying child seats and was dazzled by the variety of products at a glance.
This was just like having dinner in a restaurant with a ten-page menu.
Baobao hugged the bear with one hand and tugged at the corner of her clothes with the other. There was a bounce in her small steps, hopping like a small bunny.
"A lot of chairs!"
The little girl's eyes sparkled, looking up at the world of the safety seat in front of her.
"Well." Liu Yan nodded, "Which one do you like?"
Since it was a child seat, it was better to seek the opinion of the child.
"Hello miss," a shopping guide greeted her with a smile, looked at her and then at Liu Bao, "Are you going to buy a safety seat for this girl?"
Liu Yan hummed as she nodded.
The little girl's eyes lit up, "For Baobao?"
Is it a gift?
Liu Yan lightly rubbed the little girl's head, "For Baobao."
It's a gift!
The little girl instantly changed from a little bitter gourd to a sweet and sour candy, with waves of strong sweetness.
Liu Yan was a little surprised.
Children's emotions changed really fast.
It was just a chair.
Though Liu Yan felt that the child was easy to coax, Baobao was truly happy.
She doesn't have a father. Ever since she could remember, her mother had worked hard regardless of her weak body. It wasn't unusual for her mother to only eat once a day so that Baobao could have meals three times a day, even though it was just rice and pickle. How dare she think about gifts?
Even the little bear doll in her hug was given by the lady opposite her when she accompanied her mother to the hospital...
Baobao took a quick peek at Liu Yan.
Although this little aunt was also a woman, like her mother, she looked cooler and more handsome, just like a man.
Is this how it feels to have a father?
But she was quite satisfied.
As long as Auntie was there...
The big bad wolf won't come back to eat her in her dreams, will he?
Liu Yan stretched out her hand and quickly made a grabbing motion about twenty centimeters away from her.
An orange-red fruit that ordinary people could not see with the naked eye quickly condensed in her palm. Its two ends were slightly pointed, resembling a lemon.
Even the taste was a bit like lemon. A lemon dipped in honey, sweet and sour.
It should be a good choice to make dessert or infused water, Liu Yan thought silently.
There was something more to her ability other than to taste and see emotion. When she swept over the layer of flavour in the air, if the emotions were particularly strong, she could manifest the flavour into a form of fruit. Real, physical fruit.
The shopping guide smiled and said, "I would take the liberty to ask, what does your occupation miss? And what are your usual car habits? It is better to get a safety seat with these considerations in mind."
"Chef."
'To be exact, a restaurant owner.' In her mind, Liu Yan added.
Today should've been the first day of opening, but a phone call the night before disrupted her plans and also threw her into a life full of ups and downs.
The sister, whom she hadn't seen for many years, passed away, leaving behind a niece who was less than four years old.
The siblings were abandoned by their parents because of their genetic defects.
This was a very serious and rare disease, which manifested itself as acute organ failure after a certain stage. There were only a few thousand cases recorded all over the world. No pharmaceutical company was willing to develop specific drugs for such a small number of patients.
So, once diagnosed with this disease, it was like a death sentence.
At the beginning of this year, Liu Yan suddenly heard a voice saying that it could help her prolong her life.
Originally, Liu Yan thought it was an auditory hallucination caused by burnout from overwork and a subconscious desire to survive, but when the voice accurately reported that she had only 2 years, 1 day, 3 hours, and 25 minutes left, she was shaken.
But after pondering the matter again, it was already so bizarre that she could taste and manifest emotion as a physical object. So, what if she came across something that was just slightly more mysterious than that?
The voice told her that every time a guest ate her dish, a certain satisfaction value would be generated, ranging between 1 and 10. Each satisfaction value could be exchanged for one hour of life, capped at 100 years.
"I've cooked countless dishes before, so why has nothing happened?" Liu Yan asked the voice at that time.
"Only the restaurant and the owner could be the object of the customer's satisfaction value. After all, when the food is delicious, only the restaurant or the owner will be praised or given a good rating. Who cares about the chef?" The voice said in a flat tone.
Although Liu Yan really wanted to smack whoever the owner of this voice was, she couldn't refute the truth in its words.
In conclusion, she could only reap the benefit by opening her own restaurant. Coincidentally, there was a change of power in the restaurant's upper management, so she didn't hesitate to resign and decided to give it a shot.
It would be good if it could come true. But, if not… It was not bad to just die silently. Or so she thought at the time.
Liu Yan squeezed her eyebrows and looked down at Baobao's chubby cheek.
But now it was different. She was no longer alone.
Now she was a brand-new aunt with a little bun.
The arrival of Baobao in her life suddenly changed everything.
As if a green bud had emerged from the cold and hard black soil, bringing hope for a better future.
"So, which one suits your preference, miss?"
The shopping guide's voice brought her back to her senses.
She looked at the several chairs recommended by the shopping guide and fell into contemplation after seeing the price tag.
She suddenly understood why a lot of people worked from the morning to the morning the next day every day just to feed their families.
Baobao followed the count and then carefully tugged at the corner of Liu Yan's clothes, "Auntie, isn't it too expensive?"
Of course, a little girl like Baobao didn't really know whether the price was really expensive or not. But, in her mind, the longer the number, the more expensive it was.
Liu Yan looked at the anxious Baobao, feeling a bit distressed.
A child at her age wasn't supposed to worry about something like this. They should act spoiled and wilful, just being happy, happy, and happy.
She really wanted to make up for it.
"It's okay," Liu Yan squatted down and looked her in the eyes, "Auntie can afford it."
The little girl was still worried. She fidgeted and said, "Baobao can exchange for other gifts..."
The shopping guide looked at Baobao and couldn't help but feel a little bit sentimental, "I've never seen such a sensible child."
If it was the other children, they would choose the most beautiful one without hesitation and then cry and roll around on the ground if their parents didn't buy it!
Seeing that Liu Yan didn't seem to lie, Baobao's conviction started to waver. She really wanted the beautiful chair but still felt worried. A cute frown appeared on her forehead as she asked, "If we buy this, will we starve in the future?"
Liu Yan: "..."
Liu Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry at Baobao's conflicted expression. This little baby was really adorable.
Liu Yan directly bought the one that Baobao had subconsciously glanced at several times as soon as they arrived at the store. Although the price was slightly high, the quality was impeccable. She didn't mind spending more money if it could guarantee Baobao's safety. After all, she had nothing but money.
Liu Yan graduated from culinary school very early and then joined a cooking competition where she met with her previous employer. After only two years working at the restaurant, she was successfully promoted to head chef at the age of 22 years old, practically making her the youngest head chef ever appointed at that famous restaurant. Of course, the salary for the head chef was quite lucrative.
On the way to the parking lot, her excitement turned Baobao into a moving mass of honey. The sweetness in the air was overwhelming.
Liu Yan reached out and grabbed the mass of air lingering around Baobao, as though scooping away excess foam from a soup pot.
It actually produced three bright red fruits!
Were children so emotional?
Baobao only felt her aunt's hand gently brush over her head and looked up suspiciously, "Auntie?"
"It's okay," Liu Yan said as she stuffed the extra sweetness into her pocket as if nothing had happened.
"Oh," The little girl didn't suspect her and continued to stride forward with a bounce in her step, as if the summer's heat didn't bother her at all.
Hello, grass!
Hello, little flower!
Auntie bought Baobao a present!
She was as happy as a bird.
But soon, the little bun's happiness was forced to stop.
When her body was tied to the safety seat that was installed on the passenger's seat, she suddenly wanted to come over to her auntie. She had tried her best but failed miserably. Her chubby body twisted and squirmed like a funny cabbage worm.
"Wuwuwu… I can't move… I want to sit with Auntie!"
"Pfft!" Liu Yan couldn't hold her laughter anymore. The sadness of her sister's death was finally washed away a little when she watched her adorable niece.
The little girl was stunned and looked at Liu Yan with shock in her eyes, as if accusing, "You actually laughed at me!"
The sweet scent burst like soap bubbles. The tears in her eyes flowed down like a waterfall.
The young girl's self-esteem was deeply hurt by the ridicule from the auntie.
She pursed her lips and choked, "I… I don't want to talk to you!"
Alas… this poor self-esteem immediately collapsed in the face of the surging drowsiness.
Before Liu Yan entered the highway, the little girl fell asleep on her back like a pig.
Liu Yan glanced in the rear-view mirror and a strange taste spread quickly on the tip of her tongue.
Sourness was wrapped in a trace of undetectable sweetness, like a little green in the cold winter.
It was faint, but it was there.
Bob Marley's song played on the radio in the background.
'Everything's gonna be alright.'