"Wow, so many delicious dishes!"
"I want to eat more!"
Looking at the exquisite dishes on the table, Xixi's eyes sparkled with anticipation. Likely having inherited her father's genes, the little girl was quite the foodie. Despite having already eaten dinner at the kindergarten, the sight of the food on the table still made her lick her lips eagerly.
"What a little glutton!"
Li Manni, smiling, lifted Xixi onto a chair and started serving rice for the three of them. She only took half a bowl for herself and gave Xixi a little less than half a bowl.
Then she reached for a larger bowl, intending to fill it up with rice.
"Manni, let me do it myself," Yang Hao said, quickly taking the bowl and serving himself only half a bowl of rice.
Even though he was skeptical about the system's task, Yang Hao decided to give it a try. After all, he needed to lose weight, system task or not.
In fact, Yang Hao wasn't overweight before his marriage; he was at a normal weight. However, in the first two years following his marriage, he experienced smooth sailing in his career and with Xixi's arrival, a little angel. At that time, Li Manshu was the epitome of "gentle and virtuous," and the contented Yang Hao put on over fifty pounds in two years, tipping the scales at over two hundred pounds.
He currently weighed 192 pounds, which was a dozen pounds less from his peak.
"Brother-in-law, don't you like these dishes?"
Seeing Yang Hao only take half a bowl of rice, Li Manni frowned slightly. She came from a poor family background in a small county town, and her family's financial situation had improved only after her sister married her brother-in-law.
If it hadn't been for her brother-in-law's financial support, she wouldn't have had the money to attend the expensive tutoring classes in high school and likely wouldn't have been able to enroll at a key national university like Jiangcheng University.
Moreover, her university tuition and living expenses were also paid by her brother-in-law.
Of course, that money was handed to her through her sister, Li Manshu, but Li Manni was no fool. Her sister didn't work, so where would the money come from? Ultimately, it all came from her brother-in-law.
Furthermore, this brother-in-law not only sponsored her education but also bought a big house for her parents in their hometown county.
It could be said that her entire family had benefitted from Yang Hao's generosity.
Therefore, Li Manni was filled with gratitude toward her brother-in-law and despised her sister's actions. They had a big argument over it and hadn't had any contact this month.
Now, seeing her brother-in-law seemingly uninterested in her cooking, Li Manni naturally felt a bit disappointed and silently made plans to improve her cooking skills when she had the chance.
"Manni, don't overthink it, I need to lose weight," Yang Hao explained with a smile.
"After all, I'm heading towards forty, and I can't keep being overweight."
Seeing through his former niece by marriage's concern, Yang Hao explained with a smile.
"Oh, that's why," Li Manni's frown relaxed and she said cheerfully, "Brother-in-law, you're tall, so you don't really look too fat, but rather sturdy."
"Alright, you sure know how to talk!"
"I'm at 192 pounds and not fat?"
Yang Hao shook his head, smiling, and began to chew on a slice of lotus root.
Next to him, Xixi was clamoring for meat, so Li Manni picked a big piece of thoroughly cooked pork hock and placed it in the little girl's bowl.
Xixi immediately started eating with relish, her lips greasy and adorable.
Pork hock is a term used in the South and Southwest, while in the North, it's called pork knuckle.
When craving meat, a big pork knuckle is the most satisfying.
"How's work been recently?" Yang Hao asked after taking a few bites.
"It's been okay, just running around for news every day, but those stories are quite boring..."
Li Manni pursed her lips lightly when bringing up her job, not exactly dissatisfied, but the gap between her reality as a journalist and her expectations was rather large.
She had imagined journalists would interview celebrities and political figures, frequenting high-end environments.
Yet, the stories she had been covering lately were about migrant workers chasing unpaid wages, disputes over installing elevators in old residential buildings, and issues like the installation of building-shaking devices.
She would either be surrounded by a group of migrant workers pouring out their grievances, or by a group of elders expecting her to act as a judge between them, their faces red and voices loud in argument, while she, caught in the middle, would sometimes get splashed with saliva...
Being a junior reporter was tough, with no chance to cover any significant, valuable news, she could only whittle away at her once-great dream of journalism with these trivial issues.
But Li Manni also understood that she was just an intern, and those big stories were simply out of reach for the time being.
"Without taking the first step, one cannot travel a thousand miles, without accumulating small streams, there can be no seas or rivers."
"Take it slow, I believe that one day you, this little girl, will transform into Reporter Li!" Yang Hao said with a comforting chuckle.
"Brother-in-law, I'm not a little girl anymore—I'll be 22 next month," Li Manni corrected, pursing her lips.
"Alright, a grown woman then!"
Yang Hao subconsciously looked at the young woman sitting opposite him, his former sister-in-law, and felt a sense of daze, since the sisters resembled each other closely. The current Li Manni had traces of her elder sister Manshu from back in the day.
The year he met Manshu, she was in her senior year of college, working part-time in his hot pot restaurant to support her studies.
Yang Hao had quickly made his decision about her because he saw Manshu as a sensible girl, aware of the need to help support her family.
But in the end, he had been wrong.
However, as things stood, Li Manni seemed different from her sister; at least she knew gratitude.
Of course, people always change, and perhaps after working for a few years, she too would be materialized by this money-centric society.
In truth, being money-oriented isn't wrong—everyone wishes for a better life.
But being money-oriented shouldn't compromise moral boundaries; one mustn't harm the innocent. Otherwise, it would be an injustice.
Yang Hao firmly believed that there is retribution in this world!
So, whether it was in business before or in interactions in daily life, he held fast to his own principles!
Besides, he had a daughter; if not for himself, he must accumulate virtue for Xixi.
To use a popular phrase from the internet: "Although the world is full of flaws, there are always those who strive to mend them."
Feeling Yang Hao's gaze lingering on her, Li Manni shyly lowered her head.
She had complex feelings towards her brother-in-law, initially believing it was solely gratitude.
But recently, she often found herself reminiscing about the year she turned sixteen when Yang Hao first visited their home.
That year, at the age of 29, Yang Hao was trim and his hot pot business was thriving, marking the height of his vibrant and successful phase.
Tall, handsome, and witty, he was brimming with the allure of a mature man.
For quite some time after that, her mother would hint subtly at her to find a boyfriend like her brother-in-law.
So much so that during university, despite having several suitors, Li Manni always used the Yang Hao of those years as a benchmark.
As a result, she never met a boy who made her heart race.
Therefore, for Li Manni, this brother-in-law, who had once supported their entire family financially, was not only a benefactor but also the white moonlight of her naive youth, her ideal image of a man.
Indeed, a true white moonlight, because he illuminated the impoverished Li household, drastically improving their living conditions.