"...You have to get every last bit of it into your belly."
Five dishes and a soup were laid out on the table.
"Lin Chuan."
Bibi Dong tilted her head, her eyes darting away as she avoided looking at him.
"I'm Xue'er's mother. Even if you aren't willing to call me your mother-in-law, you should at least call me Auntie."
"Besides, Xue'er is in secluded cultivation. You shouldn't be getting all handsy with me."
Zhao Linchuan's eyes shifted, and a gentle smile curved his lips. "Yes, yes, yes. Dong'er is right."
"The food's ready. Go ahead and eat."
Hearing Zhao Linchuan call her "Dong'er" without the slightest intention of changing how he addressed her, Bibi Dong furrowed her brows, but ultimately held back from pursuing the matter.
Zhao Linchuan sat down beside her, picked up his chopsticks, and placed a piece of sea bass on her plate.
Bibi Dong froze for a moment. She looked down at the piece of sea bass on her plate, then sideways at Zhao Linchuan's calm face. Her lips moved, but in the end, she did not refuse his kindness and lifted the fish to her mouth.
About half an hour later.
Having eaten and drunk her fill, Bibi Dong reclined on the living room sofa, holding a cup of hawthorn and dried tangerine peel tea Zhao Linchuan had brewed. Her eyes were slightly narrowed, and she was far more relaxed than when she had first returned.
She took a sip. The tea was warm, its sweet tartness carrying a faint, clean bitterness from the tangerine peel, just enough to cut through the richness of the meal.
"Hehe." Bibi Dong chuckled. "Xue'er has a pretty good eye."
"This Zhao Linchuan isn't just powerful. He's quite a good cook, too."
"Was that a compliment?" Zhao