The next morning, Shen Moxi woke as soon as the alarm rang. She reached out to turn it off, then held Song Qi and dozed for a while before getting up.
Seeing her get up, Song Qi sat up too and began getting dressed.
"Sleep a little longer. I'll call you when breakfast is ready," Shen Moxi said, shaking her head when she saw him getting up with her.
"I'm done sleeping. Once you're up, I can't sleep anymore." Song Qi gently pinched her cheek. "I'll help you."
Shen Moxi got dressed and climbed out of bed. Song Qi straightened the bedding and picked up the washbasin and toiletries. "Let's wash up first."
Shen Moxi nodded, and they opened the door and headed to the washroom.
"Good thing they made this washroom a little bigger when they built it, or there really wouldn't be room for all of us." Shen Moxi poured some hot water, took out her toothbrush, and squeezed toothpaste onto it.
"Mm, it's just that there's no hot water on tap. It's fine this time of year, but it won't do in winter." Song Qi nodded.
Shen Moxi hadn't noticed that problem. Since the weather wasn't cold, she had completely forgotten that she hadn't installed a water heater.
"Don't worry about that. When the weather cools down, I'll buy a water heater and install it. Then the water coming out will be heated," Shen Moxi said indistinctly as she brushed her teeth.
"A heater? That sounds pretty good. Then we won't have to worry about cold water in winter." Song Qi tried to picture what a heater looked like, but no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't figure it out. Never mind, he would find out when the time came.
After they washed up, Song Qi took the basin and toiletries back to the bedroom. In the storeroom, Shen Moxi took out a bottle of three-in-one skincare product and patted some onto her face. She had been so busy lately that her skin had gotten a little worse. She would have to pay more attention to skincare from now on.
Once she finished, she checked the time. It was almost six, so she hurried to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
After some thought, she bought a few partially prepared large steamed buns from the system, all with meat filling, along with a packet of partially prepared fried dough sticks. Then she bought a bag of loose-packed soy milk powder so she could make each of them a big bowl in a little while.
She had just finished buying everything and taking it out when she heard Wang Xiaoxia talking to Song Qi.
Shen Moxi's heart skipped a beat. She hurriedly stripped the packaging off the buns and fried dough sticks and tossed it into the trash recycler, then put the buns into the steamer.
"Little sister, let me make breakfast. Go and rest for a bit," Wang Xiaoxia said as she entered the kitchen and saw Shen Moxi busy at work.
She had come to help her sister-in-law, yet before she had done anything, her sister-in-law was already busy making breakfast for her whole family. She really felt bad about it.
Shen Moxi patted her chest. Thank goodness, she didn't notice. That scared the life out of this baby ( :∇:). I've got it so hard.
Shen Moxi turned back with a smile. "Sister-in-law, I can handle this. It's your first day here, and you're not familiar with things yet. Once we get busy later, I'll have to trouble you for help. Go back and stay with Xiao Xuan. I've got this. It'll be ready soon."
Song Qi also knew his wife needed to take things out of that place, which was inconvenient with Wang Xiaoxia here, so he spoke up too. "That's right, sister-in-law. I can help here. If Xiao Xuan wakes up and can't find you, he'll cry. You can help another time."
Since the couple had both said so, Wang Xiaoxia couldn't very well insist on going in. She nodded. "All right, then. Call me if you need anything. I'll go back and watch Xiao Xuan."
"All right, sister-in-law." Shen Moxi smiled and nodded, then turned to get a deep pot and fill it with water to heat the buns.
After Wang Xiaoxia left, Shen Moxi let out a long breath. "That really scared me just now. I almost gave myself away."
Amused, Song Qi came over, took the pot from her, filled it with water, and set it on the stove. "What happened?"
"I'd just taken everything out when I heard her voice, so I quickly put away the packaging. She reached the door just as I threw it in. She almost caught me." Shen Moxi took out the oil jug and poured oil into another wok until it was a little less than half full, ready to fry the dough sticks.
"Good thing you were quick. She didn't come in just then, so she didn't notice." Song Qi nodded, then looked at the golden-yellow things in her hands. "What are those?"
"These are fried dough sticks. I couldn't bring them out to eat back at home, so I never took any out. Now that we're here, we have an excuse. We can say we bought them before and kept them in the refrigerator." Seeing that the oil was hot, Shen Moxi put the dough sticks in.
"They look appetizing." Song Qi swallowed as he watched the fried dough sticks she lifted out.
"Go get six big bowls. We'll make some soy milk to drink." Amused, Shen Moxi patted his hand.
She had figured it out: this man was a total foodie. Had he been like this when he cultivated immortality too? Weren't immortals supposed to practice grain avoidance and not eat? Weren't they supposed to place no importance on satisfying their appetites?
If Song Qi knew she thought that, he would have shaken his head vigorously. He hadn't been a foodie before. For one thing, the environment he had grown up in was different. He hadn't lived in the mortal world, and the world of cultivators had no particularly fine food. There was practically nothing good to eat.
Song Qi boiled a kettle of water. Once it boiled, he set out six large bowls, spooned several scoops of soy milk powder into each, then poured in hot water and stirred them one by one until evenly mixed.
Shen Moxi had finished on her end too. Partially prepared food really did fry faster. She took a basket, lined it with greaseproof paper, and used chopsticks to place the fried dough sticks inside one by one, arranging them neatly.
"Song Qi, check whether the buns are ready. Put them in that basket over there," Shen Moxi called.
"All right." Song Qi brought out the dining table, unfolded it, and set it in place.
The tables and stools here were all folding ones bought from the system. That saved space. The kitchen wasn't very big, and too many things would make it cramped.
He lifted the lid and pressed the buns with his chopsticks. They were cooked, so he turned off the heat, took the basket beside him, and picked the buns up into it.
Shen Moxi put the fried dough sticks on the table, then bought a jar of pickled baby cucumbers and radishes from the system and set it on the dish cupboard.
"I'll go call them to eat. Get a small plate and put some pickles on it." Shen Moxi washed her hands.
"Yes, wifey." Song Qi put down the buns, leaned close to her ear, and spoke.
Caught off guard, Shen Moxi flushed bright red. She shot him a sidelong look and went straight out.
"Come on, let's brush our teeth and eat." Just as Shen Moxi stepped out of the kitchen, Shen Tao and the others opened their door and came out, holding Xiao Xuan and playing with him.
"Aun... aun." When Xiao Zhixuan saw Shen Moxi, he reached toward her and called out.
As soon as Shen Tao saw Shen Moxi, he strode over. "Little sister, that bed you bought is so comfortable. This is the first time your big brother has slept so late."
"Haha, as long as you like it. Of course you should sleep comfortably, so you'll have energy the next day." Shen Moxi reached out to take Xiao Xuan. "Hurry and wash up. Breakfast is ready."
"Thanks for all your hard work, little sister. Your second brother feels bad." Shen Yuan rubbed his head sheepishly.
"What hard work? It only took a little while." Shen Moxi kissed Xiao Xuan's little cheek. "Come on, Auntie will wash your little hands and face, and then we'll go eat something yummy."
"Yum... yummy... Auntie." The moment Xiao Zhixuan heard there was something yummy, he clapped his hands and wanted to get down.
"Haha, you little foodie. We have to wash our hands before we can eat." Holding him, Shen Moxi took a small towel, dampened it with water, and wiped his face and hands.