Two Hugs

Liu Yuewang and An Nuan walked on the asphalt road shaded by trees. The trees were extremely tall and thick, creating a contrasting beauty with the slender woman. There were no tall buildings on either side, but various small shops were located in two- or three-story buildings with finials or flat roofs. The prices were not high, and the environment was quiet and pleasant. The teahouses and cafes in the university area had a more scholarly atmosphere than similar shops in the commercial area, with fewer mundane topics and faces.

Liu Yuewang wore a black dress with a light gray belt around her waist. The gray trim around her chest flowed naturally, and the black lining made her mature bust appear less overly full. Her long, wavy hair had been styled for some time, undulating like smooth mountain slopes. Her waist and hips swayed gracefully. At thirty-six, she had accumulated enough inner beauty and knowledge to ensure that even when she occasionally adopted a sexy style, she didn't come across as shallow. Her intellectual and professional charm always managed to suppress the allure that men were most attracted to.

Liu Chang'an would also acknowledge Liu Yuewang's expertise... but only in her own field. Like most people, as Liu Chang'an said, Liu Yuewang was only outstanding in her own field, and so-so in other areas.

An Nuan wore a military training uniform with a distinct student mark. Her girlish delicacy was exactly the same as when she was in high school. Only when the two outfits were so different could Liu Yuewang's maturity and An Nuan's slight naivety form the biggest contrast, making people feel that there might be a generational gap. Unlike when the mother and daughter both wore cheongsams, which made people feel that they were more likely to be sisters.

An Nuan turned around and glanced at Liu Chang'an. She had asked Liu Chang'an what topics she and "An Nuan" had been discussing recently. Liu Chang'an told her that they mainly talked about the views of controversial figures in the field of modern and contemporary literature.

An Nuan sometimes felt a little jealous, but more often she understood. Her mother rarely had online friends who were simply chatting with her. Even if An Nuan tried to read more and keep up with Liu Chang'an's erudition when he South China Sea, she would still find it very difficult.

It's absurd to think that Liu Yuewang and Liu Chang'an would develop an online romance. Liu Chang'an has too many beautiful women around him. If he were to have an affair, An Nuan felt she couldn't do anything about it and wouldn't be able to control him.

Just like Liu Chang'an, despite his fierce expression of wanting her to tell the boys who pursued her that "they'll die," Liu Chang'an never actually interfered with An Nuan's social interactions. So, since An Nuan felt that the foundation of a relationship was mutual respect, she wouldn't actually ask Liu Chang'an to delete the phone numbers of the girls and women he knew... Many girls would actually do that, and many boys might actually compromise.

But it feels so stupid.

Even though it's stupid... An Nuan still had some ulterior motives. If Liu Chang'an took the initiative to delete Bai Hui, it would be an extremely happy thing, and she could even reward him.

After starting university life, An Nuan felt that there was no fundamental difference from high school. Studying was the most important thing. Many people's expectations or anticipated activities in university life were actually meaningless, but many people were more enthusiastic about showing themselves off... such as Bai Hui.

The video of Bai Hui dancing to otaku dance during military training today is circulating on many Weibo accounts and groups at the school. Some senior students and student council members have even contacted An Nuan to inquire about Bai Hui.

An Nuan dislikes casually revealing other people's information behind their backs. Of course, she wouldn't reveal Bai Hui's birthday, height, measurements, or place of origin. However, when others ask Bai Hui if she has a boyfriend, An Nuan will still honestly answer "yes." After all, it would be quite offensive to not say anything if someone specifically came to ask. Besides, compared to other things, whether or not someone has a boyfriend isn't really a private matter, right? You can just ask around and find out.

Back home, Professor Ling and his family across the street were still in Shanghai and hadn't returned yet. After all, opportunities for a family to travel together are not that many. As long as you bring enough money, there are plenty of fun places and top-notch restaurants in Shanghai.

Most top-tier restaurants don't just sell a sense of ritual. The idea that you have to go to a street food stall to truly experience the allure of good food is just talk, something to be taken seriously.

Of course, people from South Hunan are a bit different; wherever they go, they'll say the food isn't flavorful enough.

Liu Yuewang opened the door, bent down to take off her shoes. She was wearing black stockings today, and the heels and toes weren't exposed, still having a fine and smooth texture. After changing her shoes, she habitually reached for her belt, quickly letting it go, since she and An Nuan weren't the only ones at home today.

"You guys go take a shower, I'll take over the kitchen." Liu Chang'an took the initiative to take over, as Liu Yuewang's cooking skills were far less attractive than her face.

Needless to say, An Nuan cook, but she only needs sunlight, water, and soil to survive, like a stubborn little grass. Taste is not a factor.

"I want to learn to cook with you." An Nuan followed behind Liu Chang'an with a coquettish tone. Having a boyfriend who can cook naturally made her feel very happy.

Liu Yuewang pulled An Nuan back, "You stink! Go take a shower, stop being so sticky!"

"I don't smell bad!" An Nuan was indignant. Liu Chang'an was still at home, yet he dared to say she smelled bad. "Even a beautiful girl's sweat smells good."

Liu Chang'an turned to look at An Nuan, Liu Yuewang said to Liu Chang'an, "Don't cut the cucumbers in the refrigerator for me, I need them."

Ever since Liu Yuewang bought the cucumber slicer, she has become particularly enthusiastic about using cucumbers as face masks. The most important thing is that the process of slicing cucumbers into thin, transparent slices gives Liu Yuewang a great sense of accomplishment.

As for Liu Chang'an taking over the kitchen, Liu Yuewang had no objection. She had already tasted Liu Chang'an's cooking skills last time, and they were delicious enough to make people abandon their reserve and politeness.

"Understood." Liu Chang'an walked into the kitchen.

An Nuan hadn't showered yet, and she was a little unhappy. Usually, it didn't matter what the two of them said at home, but Liu Chang'an was here today.

"You should say you used cucumber slices as a face mask," An Nuan reminded her. She didn't really want to say it, but the more she thought about it, the more awkward she felt. At worst, she'd get a beating if she said it.

"What do you mean?" Liu Yuewang was taken aback.

After thinking about it carefully, Liu Yuewang realized that An Nuan actually meant that. Liu Yuewang was so angry that her face turned red. She picked up the desk that was lying on the coffee table and started hitting it with it.

An Nuan screamed and ran into the bathroom, but still got hit several times by Liu Yuewang. However, An Nuan felt that such a reminder was necessary. After all, the world is full of dirty jokes and raunchy jokes now. It was not appropriate for her to say that she wanted to use cucumbers!

Liu Yuewang stood outside the bathroom door, banging on it angrily. An Nuan, of course, wouldn't open it. Liu Yuewang threatened, "You wait, when you come out, I'll spank you until your butt is swollen... I'm going to go find a bamboo stick!"

Liu Chang'an ignored the mother and daughter's bickering outside. He looked into the refrigerator and saw that there were indeed many cucumbers. It would take several meals to eat so many cucumbers; it seemed she was using them to apply to her whole body.

Women are strange. A set of skincare products, from facial cleanser to various toners, sunscreens, face creams, and lotions, can cost anywhere from several thousand to tens of thousands of yuan. Yet, they believe in natural hydration and use cucumbers that cost only a few yuan per kilogram to pamper their faces.

There's a bucket of eels in the kitchen, so let's eat eels. Eating eels in summer and autumn is said to be more nourishing than ginseng. Liu Chang'an doesn't need to nourish his body, but An Nuan Liu Yuewang do. Besides, eels are quite delicious.

Eels are not pleasing to the eye, but Liu Chang'an greatly admires their evolutionary path. All eels are born female, but after they mature, they are taken by male eels, become pregnant, and give birth. Then, they become very angry and transform into male eels to seek revenge on other female eels.

A significant portion of the LGBT community would likely appreciate this ability to undergo gender reassignment surgery and be deeply moved by the eel's life. If the eel were to give a speech at an LGBT community rally, it would certainly be a compelling story.

Liu Chang'an realized he didn't possess the abilities of an eel, and felt that he wasn't so perfect after all... But it was just a thought; Liu Chang'an had absolutely no interest in actually experiencing the life of an eel.

Eel dumplings are also delicious. Few people have tried eel dumplings, but as early as the Song Dynasty version of Liu Chang'an, when he was still the Nine Provinces Wind and Thunder Swordsman, Liu Chang'an had already made eel dumplings, which were recorded in the "Eastern Capital Menghualu".

In the book "Seeking the Origins of Materia Medica", Zhao Qiguang said that there are yellow eels and green eels. The green ones are called vine eels or wind eels, which live in cold pools. The ones that Liu Yuewang bought are green eels.

Liu Chang'an put eels into the water to boil and saw that some eels bent out of the water. Liu Zongzhou of the Ming Dynasty wrote a story about a scholar named Zhou Yu who was boiling eels and found that some eels had their heads and tails in the hot water and were desperately bending their middle bodies out of the water. Later, he found out that the eels were pregnant and full of roe. From Later Zhou Yu stopped eating eels.

Liu Chang'an pushed the eel, which had been bending out of the water, back into place.

Many scholars and writers like to fabricate these kinds of tragic stories, but in reality, the fact that eels bend out of the water has absolutely nothing to do with whether they are pregnant or not. When cooking lobsters and prawns, they also bend.

When the eel was half-cooked, Liu Chang'an removed its head and bones, then cut it into shreds. He simmered it with soy sauce and wine, then added daylily, winter melon, and scallions to make a soup. This method is more nutritious. In South Hunan, the traditional way to cook eel is either stir-fried or braised with cucumber. Actually, stir-fried eel paste is also delicious. When it comes out of the pan, the garlic eel shreds sizzle in the oil. Some people make eel segments, which are turned over by the bubbles, and these segments are called "swimming dragons."

Liu Yuewang's family had fermented black beans. Smelling them, it seemed to have been aged for at least a year, and the flavor was just right. Liu Chang'an took some to make stir-fried pork with fermented black beans. Looking at the reddish-brown earthenware jar, it seemed to be homemade. He felt it was either a gift or made by Liu Yuewang's mother. Liu Chang'an had met An Nuan's grandmother, a woman with a gentle and traditional appearance. Local people from South Hunan at that age should know how to make it, and the method was very similar to Liu Chang'an's, both being the method of making fermented black beans from central Hunan, not Liuyang black beans.

Seeing that there were still a few blocks of Japan tofu in the refrigerator, Liu Chang'an decided to make another dish, "Hibiscus Tofu." This dish originally used tofu pudding, but Japan tofu is also soft and tender, resulting in a slightly different flavor.

Some say that tofu pudding is like a young girl, while tofu is like a woman who is half-ripe. Liu Chang'an glanced outside the kitchen and thought that this bowl of hibiscus tofu was very appropriate for the occasion. However, he guessed that the two of them had never read "One Hundred Poems on Foods of the Old Capital": "The skin is cloud-like and the appearance is flower-like, but it is not the time to put down the book and get up from sleep. It is indeed like a woman who is half-ripe, still able to scratch her head and flaunt her charm..." The poem was not very good, just appropriate for the occasion.

When only this one dish was left, An Nuan finished her shower and ran into the kitchen.

"I want to learn to cook from you!"

An Nuan stood with her hands behind her back, swaying her upper body as she watched Liu Chang'an busily and methodically preparing the rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. The focused look on a man's face when cooking easily gave a girl a special feeling of warmth, and she couldn't help but imagine seeing countless such scenes in the future.

"As long as you can eat, that's enough. Just prepare a cookbook and order whatever you want," Liu Chang'an reminded him. "Except for dishes that require special kitchen equipment or are creative, I can cook so many dishes that I can make you a different meal every day. What else do you need to learn? There's no need to master repetitive skills."

"You mean that if you know it, it's the same as me?"

"You don't want to?"

"Think!"

An Nuan ran up behind Liu Chang'an and hugged his waist. As soon as Liu Chang'an said, "Let's go out and play," An Nuan let go of him on her own and ran out of the kitchen with a blush on her face.

An Nuan went to Liu Yuewang's bedroom. Liu Yuewang usually takes a shower as soon as she gets home from work, but Liu Yuewang doesn't do that when there are other men in the house. She is still wearing her work clothes, takes a few books from the study, and looks up information on her desk.

"Mom, can I try on the new bra you bought last week?" An Nuan asked, rummaging through Liu Yuewang's wardrobe.

"Overestimating yourself." Liu Yuewang sneered without even turning her head.

"Don't look down on people like that. River West every thirty years River East. Don't underestimate a young girl..." An Nuan responded with a hum.

"Thirty years from now, you'll be sagging, much uglier than flat." Liu Yuewang closed the book, looking expressionlessly at An Nuan as she took out the bra Liu Yuewang had just bought last week. This little girl, really, when her grandmother took care of her when she was little, she would wear her grandmother's bra over her clothes. When she first started living with Liu Yuewang, Douding didn't even have one, but she still wanted to try on her mother's bra.

"No way! Big ones sag." An Nuan glanced at Liu Yuewang.

"Why are you looking at me like that!" Mother and daughter are very close. As soon as An Nuan looked over, Liu Yuewang knew what she was thinking. She picked up the book in her hand and pretended to hit her.

"Right now, the average number of girls here is only A, but I already have B. Every girl with a B has the potential to become a D... because a B can be broken down into two Ds," An Nuan said proudly.

"Do you talk to Liu Chang'an like that too?" Liu Yuewang was still amused by An Nuan, and couldn't help but stand up and playfully hit her.

"How could that be? In front of him, I'm always like a lady. No, I are a lady." An Nuan suppressed her playful demeanor. She couldn't let Liu Chang'an see her slightly lewd side. In front of him, she had to be cute; cuteness was the most important thing.

"What a pretentious act." Liu Yuewang shook her head. When An Nuan and Han Zhizhi were together, they would talk about all sorts of random things. Young girls have no experience, they are curious but have no chance to experience it, so they talk about all sorts of wild things. Liu Yuewang had heard it several times, but she didn't care... What's the point of caring? It's just chatting in private. A good girl is still a good girl.

It's common for girls these days to be even more vulgar than boys.

An Nuan took off her clothes and tried on Liu Yuewang's bra. Hey, it seems like you could even fit a grapefruit in it. It turns out that the feeling of growing up after taking a shower is just an illusion.

An Nuan went back to her bedroom to put on her underwear.

When she came out after changing her underwear, Liu Chang'an had already prepared the meal. Liu Yuewang was a particular person; since Liu Chang'an had cooked, she didn't need him to do things like serving the food. It was nice for the guest to show off his cooking skills, but there was no reason to keep her and her daughter busy waiting to eat; that would be treating them like servants.

After An Nuan came out, she hugged Liu Chang'an from behind as he sat down to praise his hard work. After letting go, An Nuan stole another glance at Liu Chang'an. Would this hug highlight the difference between the two hugs? She didn't want him to notice, but she wondered what he would think if he did. What would he think?

"Thank you for your hard work, Liu Chang'an, so that we can reap the benefits." An Nuan clasped her hands together politely, then looked at the composed Liu Chang'an.

She felt like he hadn't even noticed, what an idiot! An Nuan pouted, picked up her rice bowl to cover her face, and took a bite of rice first.

He should have noticed, right? She used to hug him from behind, trying to knock him to the ground, and although she always failed, he should have gotten used to the feeling of her chest against his. But that time in the kitchen was completely different!

Is it because things are peaceful that there's no difference? Thinking this, An Nuan gritted her teeth.

"You're still biting your chopsticks!" Liu Yuewang slapped An Nuan again.

"You hit me again!" An Nuan said with a wronged tone, "Liu Chang'an, did you see that? This is my daily routine at home, I get hit every day."

"Getting beaten up every day is Zhou Dongdong's daily routine," Liu Chang'an laughed.

"Zhou Dongdong is a very smart child, how could she be like you?" Liu Yuewang didn't believe it. She remembered that after the college entrance examination results came out, she invited a few children to dinner, and An Nuan invited Zhou Dongdong over. That little girl kept calling her "sister," which made Liu Yuewang feel overjoyed. How could such a smart child be beaten every day?

An Nuan laughed too, because only Liu Chang'an would call Zhou Dongdong a stupid child.

"Zhou Dongdong is starting elementary school now. She'll be a first-grader," An Nuan said.

"Which school? It's so hard to get into good schools these days." Liu Yuewang asked casually, and remarked that she hadn't worried about An Nuan's enrollment, but she had seen many articles about degree programs on her social media.

"At Nurturing Heroes Primary School."

"Oh, it's the old military region cadre children's school. It's a good school... By the way, I know the principal of Nurturing Heroes Primary School. I'm on good terms with his wife. Should I give her a call and ask her to put in a good word with Zhou Dongdong's homeroom teacher so they can take care of him?" Liu Yuewang greatly admired the bright child.

"No need, I got in through connections anyway." This is just a favor. If Liu Yuewang were a leader at Nurturing Heroes Primary School herself, it wouldn't matter, but there would be no need to find someone else. Besides, Qin Yanan's words were very effective.

Liu Yuewang didn't say anything more, and turned to praise Liu Chang'an's cooking skills. The eel soup was sweet and delicious without being greasy, which made Liu Yuewang, who had eaten very little that evening, want to have a second bowl.

Now, Liu Yuewang no longer tells An Nuan about any major flaws in Liu Chang'an that would warrant a breakup. Everyone has flaws, but more importantly, they have strengths. Many people can't even find a decent strength... Liu Chang'an knows how to please girls, he's attentive, and he's multi-talented. His cooking skills... tsk tsk, he's not worried about not having a skill in the future. As long as he's good to An Nuan, Liu Yuewang can't find any reason to object.

Such a boy naturally attracts attention, and many girls must like him. But should we give up on him because we're afraid he won't resist temptation? That's not reasonable. Many men don't cheat; they just haven't had the opportunity.

After dinner, it was An Nuan's turn to shine. An Nuan cleared the table, went to the kitchen to wash the dishes, Liu Yuewang boiled tea and water, and sat down with Liu Chang'an at the coffee table, taking out some pine nuts and cherries.

Liu Yuewang's lesson plan was still on the coffee table. She opened the lesson plan and found a paper neatly organized in a stainless steel clip. This was the reason why An Nuan always paid attention to her lesson plan and why hitting people was so painful.

Liu Yuewang wanted to test Liu Chang'an. "I heard from An Nuan that you've studied poetry and prose extensively. How about modern poetry? When it comes to modern poets, you can't avoid mentioning Guo Moruo. There's been a lot of controversy about Guo Moruo online lately, which is a phenomenon. Next year is the 40th anniversary of Guo Moruo's death, so the college did this research. You can take a look at my paper, and we can exchange ideas."

Liu Chang'an took it, but didn't rummage through it. He just opened it and looked at it. "I told An Nuan before that reading comprehension is like slaying dragons. Actually, there's another very important point in our basic education, which is to repeatedly emphasize looking at problems and people dialectically. But now the prevailing trend is to see things in black and white. When talking about a person, digging out their flaws makes it seem like they deserve to be thrown into the deepest hell. They don't care at all that no one is perfect, and there's no such thing as someone without any flaws."

"That makes sense. Tell me your thoughts." Liu Yuewang nodded. The most important thing for students of this age is to avoid being impetuous.

"The most superficial thing is that these people not only fail to look at issues dialectically themselves, but they also don't allow others to do so. If you mention someone whose flaws have been exposed as having achievements in other areas, you'll be accused of whitewashing them, and a whole host of labels will be slapped on you." Liu Chang'an smiled. "Regardless, Guo Moruo's ability to join the Party, the army, and participate in the revolutionary struggle in 1927, even facing perilous situations, is quite remarkable. Think about what most intellectuals were doing back then? Especially those who later enjoyed the reputation and treatment of masters."

"So what do you think is the root cause of this current trend?" Liu Yuewang felt that Liu Chang'an's words sounded familiar, and she had a vague impression of them, but she couldn't quite remember them for the moment, so she thought of coaxing him to talk about it in more detail.

"The root cause... the root cause is too complex; exploring it would be an administrative matter." Liu Chang'an shook his head, avoiding the topic. "The main issue is that many people's knowledge and experience come from places like Weibo, WeChat Moments, and Baidu Tieba. Where do they get their life experiences? Zhihu. They read an article about what it's like to experience xxxx, and then they have the confidence that they've experienced xxxx themselves."

Liu Yuewang's expression changed slightly; these words sounded all too familiar. Liu Yuewang stood up calmly. "Please have your tea. I suddenly remembered I have a research topic I need to review."

Liu Chang'an nodded, though Liu Yuewang's eyes trembled beneath her outward composure.

Liu Yuewang went into the bedroom, took out her phone, and recalled what Liu Chang'an had said. The older man had said similar things when discussing these issues with her! In particular, the part about experiencing life through Zhihu left a deep impression on Liu Yuewang.

Liu Yuewang logged into her alternate account and then realized... that the uncle had commented on her selfie that day, saying, "Your name sounds like a middle-aged postmenopausal woman," which made Liu Yuewang so angry that she deleted him from both of her accounts.

Deleting people was really just a momentary impulse, Liu Yuewang stomped her foot. Now the most important thing is, how could it be such a coincidence?

Wow, this chapter has another 6500 words! I've managed to update this much every day for a while now. I think I still have untapped potential! Please give me some monthly votes!