After saying goodbye to Principal Yang, Li Long went to the Fourth Team first.
This time, he brought Mom some soft bread Gu Xiaoxia had baked.
"I still like something a bit hard. This soft stuff just doesn't have any chew to it," Du Chunfang muttered as she took the bread.
"Just eat this kind." Sitting beside the stove, Li Long spotted a small handful of glass noodles nearby. He picked up a strand and held it near the red-hot, white-ashed coals by the stove door as he said, "Your teeth aren't good now, unlike Dad's. What if you eat too much hard stuff and chip a tooth?"
"Well... I can eat it slowly." Watching what Li Long was doing, Du Chunfang squeezed the rather soft bread. Although she was still a little unconvinced, she knew her youngest son was concerned about her, and her voice grew much quieter.
Li Long watched the end of the noodle nearest the fire begin to puff up. Soon it was thick at one end and thin at the other, rather like the sparklers sold in later years. He pulled it back, broke off the puffed section, and popped it into his mouth. Mm, quite tasty.
Li Long held the remaining half near the stove in the same way, letting it continue to puff up. As he toasted it, he asked, "Mom, you like eating these too?"
"They're a snack. I make them for the little one when Xiaojuan comes over." Du Chunfang refused to admit it, lying without a change in expression. "The little one likes them browned."
"Oh? There's chili powder too?" Li Long noticed a little dish of chili powder on the low stool beside the stove.
It was on the inner side of the stove, so he hadn't seen it