Shangguan Dandan leisurely ladled the meat broth into a thermos with a small spoon, while Zhong Qing helped pack the fruit beside her—pitting what needed pitting, peeling what needed peeling, slicing what needed slicing—arranging it into a mixed fruit platter and placing it in a square compartmented food box.
"Could you remind her that she can just pick up the bowl and pour it straight into the thermos?" Su Mei lowered her voice. She was rather eager to verify Liu Chang'an's analysis.
"It wouldn't help." Liu Chang'an said. Su Mei was still young and impatient by nature; it was hard for her to accept the old lady's unhurried way of doing everything, as though she lived her days watching time flow like sand through her fingers.
More importantly, the bowl was thick and heavy, and it was full of soup. If Shangguan Dandan simply picked it up and poured it in, wouldn't that make the Empress Dowager seem far too strong?
Only by using a little spoon to fill it bit by bit could she appear frail yet diligent. And with all the repeated motions, she could feel as though she had done an especially large amount of housework, giving her an exceptional sense of accomplishment.
If Qin Yanan were here, she would surely understand Shangguan Dandan's painstaking intentions. Su Mei still fell a little short... after all, for most of her life, Su Mei had never been interested in reading anyone else's mood. She only knew how to find people displeasing to the eye.
"I've done some research into childhood personality disorders. Don't you think Shangguan Dandan fits some of the signs of autism?" Su Mei asked, looking at Shangguan Dandan. Although she knew Liu Chang'an and Su Mei had arrived, Shangguan Dandan remained utterly absorbed in ladling the