Samuel Smithson lifted the aluminum lid of the big pot and brought the hot food inside to the table. He looked back and saw Lucy Sullivan still standing outside the door and said coldly, "Come in and eat."
"If you ask me to eat, I'll eat!" Lucy acted a little temperamental, but she couldn't help but have her stomach growl the next second.
A flash of embarrassment crossed Lucy's face, and she quickly tried to cover it up with two coughs.
"Humph, it's free, so I'll eat." Saying this, she crossed the threshold into the kitchen and sat down at the dining table.
Samuel's gaze never left Lucy, not missing any of the expressions on her face. His lips curled up slightly, but were quickly suppressed again.
Without uttering a word, he placed a white flour steamed bun in front of Lucy and pushed the only dish that could be considered a meat dish, scrambled eggs, to her. He then picked up a cornmeal steamed bun and enjoyed it with some radish strip pickles.
Lucy felt deeply touched.
She vaguely remembered that in the book, Samuel Smithson's family used to be one of the village's wealthiest, with much land and many industries. However, due to some reasons, they fell into decline, and all their fields were confiscated and became public property.
Furthermore, because of their parents' social standing, very few in the village interacted with their family.
Although Samuel was diligent and did all kinds of work, the food coupons he received were very few, and life was difficult. Most of the time, they could only eat chaff and inferior food, rarely eating eggs except during the New Year and other festive occasions. Yet, for her, he made a white flour steamed bun and scrambled eggs.
Such behavior made Lucy feel even more confident that Ms. Williams was right in telling her to cling onto Samuel Smithson's thigh, and her decision would definitely not make her regret in the end.
With that in mind, she used her chopsticks to pick up some scrambled eggs and put them in Samuel's bowl, then tore half of her steamed bun and handed it to him, "You work hard, eat more."
She then shyly lowered her head and bit into her steamed bun.
It took Lucy a while to realize that Samuel hadn't touched his chopsticks the whole time.
"The chopsticks I used just now were clean and I didn't bite the steamed bun." Lucy was afraid Samuel might look down on her, she hastily put down her bowl and chopsticks, and anxiously explained.
Samuel nodded, "Alright, let's eat."
Lucy nodded her head, but in her heart, she felt that she couldn't understand Samuel. He was obviously nice to her, but why was he so cold to her at the same time?
For a moment, the room was overly quiet, only the sound of chopsticks clashing against bowls.
"Brother Samuel, Brother Samuel!" A male voice suddenly broke the silence, and Lucy looked over to see a man in his twenties running in.
The man wore a blue and white striped sleeveless shirt and black pants, with tanned skin and messy hair that looked like a bird's nest.
The man stopped in his tracks when he saw Lucy for the first time and pointed at her incredulously, "Brother Samuel, why is she here at your house?"
Samuel glanced at Lucy and then at the man, Edward York, who had just entered. He frowned, as the nice atmosphere had been ruined by Edward.
Edward noticed Samuel's expression and promptly touched his nose guiltily and then grabbed Samuel's arm, dragging him out of the house.
"Bro, why is she at your place? You two didn't..."
Sensing what was about to be said, Samuel coughed once and didn't answer, "Why are you here?"
Edward York was a carefree, unconventional thinker, so when Samuel asked him this question, his attention was immediately diverted, "Oh, didn't we set traps in the mountains a few days ago? I came to get you to check them."
"Wait for me." Samuel stuffed the remaining small piece of steamed bun into his mouth, left Edward, and went back into the kitchen.
"I have something to do and will be out for a while. You can eat slowly."
After instructing Lucy, Samuel turned around and left, and after walking a few steps, he seemed to think of something and opened his mouth again, "Leave the bowls and chopsticks, I'll clean them up when I get back."
Lucy nodded at his retreating figure, remembering that he couldn't see her, so she said aloud, "I'll wait for you to come back."
Samuel's steps paused slightly but didn't respond. He left the house with Edward.
Edward scratched his head as he looked at Samuel's face, which sometimes bore a smile, sometimes full of worry, and sometimes cold as ice.