Liu Yifeng smiled, "That's better. Shall we take breakfast to the living room!"
"Mm, speaking of which, where's your dad? I haven't seen him." Xu Muqing suddenly remembered not seeing Liu Yifeng's father after he finished brushing his teeth.
"My dad went to deliver pomelos to my third uncle and the others. He should be back soon!"
Speaking of pomelos, Xu Muqing had something to say, "The pomelos you gave me yesterday, I gave two to my mom. We cut one open to eat last night. Your pomelo skin is the thinnest I've ever seen. Although you reminded me yesterday that the skin would be thin and to be careful when cutting, I really didn't expect it to be so thin. I could peel it with my hands without a knife. The taste was also very sweet, with no sourness or bitterness at all. My mom ate several segments in one go! So I was wondering if I could purchase about a hundred of your pomelos from you. I'd like to give them to the employees as a welfare during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday. How much do you sell them for?"
Liu Yifeng looked troubled upon hearing this, "I've already sold all these pomelos to Bai Guo Yuan. If you want to buy them, you'll have to find the person in charge of Bai Guo Yuan. However, if you really plan to buy them, I can call Ms. Su and ask her to give you a discount. That would be possible."
"As long as I can buy them, the price is not an issue!" Xu Muqing was very generous when it came to her employees.
Liu Yifeng nodded, "Alright, I'll call her later." Although the orchard was his, he had already signed a contract with Su Wanru, selling all the pomelos to her for her to sell in the market. If he were to sell them to someone else behind her back, even if it was a small quantity, it would be dishonest.
Just as they were bringing all the breakfast dishes to the table, Liu Chunsheng arrived.
"Uncle Liu, breakfast is ready. Come and eat!" Xu Muqing greeted him with a smile.
"Alright, you eat too!" Liu Chunsheng nodded, not daring to meet Xu Muqing's eyes directly.
At the dining table, Tong Tong and Yao Yao each held two large steamed buns and started eating. When they choked, they took a sip of soy milk, their mouths always bulging.
Xu Muqing watched her daughter's eating habits and immediately reminded her, "Yao Yao, didn't Mom teach you not to gobble your food when eating and to be more ladylike!"
"But Mom, these buns are so delicious!"
"Delicious or not, you can't eat so fast. There's plenty here, and no one is snatching it from you!" Xu Muqing said.
Liu Yifeng looked at the unhappy Yao Yao and smiled, "Ms. Xu, let the child eat however she wants. Otherwise, if she's restricted even while eating, even the most delicious food won't taste good."
"But girls should eat gracefully; otherwise, people will say they have no manners." Xu Muqing had always been very strict with her daughter in terms of etiquette.
Liu Chunsheng, sitting beside them, chimed in, "You can't be too strict with children, or they might develop personality flaws. Besides, what era is this? Eating can be elevated to having no manners. We have no outsiders here, shouldn't we just be comfortable?"
Xu Muqing was temporarily speechless, only able to think that everyone had different ideas. However, since both father and son had said this, if she continued to demand things from Yao Yao, it would create an awkward atmosphere. Since it was only for today, she decided to let it go. "Yao Yao, you can eat however you want, but one thing is, once you're full, you can't eat anymore, or you'll get indigestion."
Yao Yao nodded repeatedly, "I know!" With that, she started eating heartily again. It felt so much better to eat like this.
"Mr. Liu, I must say, your cooking is no less than a hotel chef's." Xu Muqing tasted the preserved egg and lean meat congee, finding its texture even better than what she had at restaurants.
Liu Yifeng felt a little embarrassed to be praised, "I'm just a layman, how can I compare to chefs? They are all professionals."
"Qualifications don't represent everything. Just like your son, his paintings are no worse than those of art school graduates. So, the most important thing is skill."
"Ms. Xu, what you said is not unreasonable. Since you find it delicious, then eat more!" Liu Yifeng said with a smile, rarely receiving such earnest praise for his cooking. Whether it was sincere or not, he felt good hearing it.
After breakfast, it was almost nine o'clock. Yao Yao was already eager to go to the ditch to catch fish.
"Uncle Liu, when are we going to catch fish?"
"Yao Yao wants to go catch fish? Uncle will tidy up and take you, okay?"
"Okay, Uncle Liu, hurry up!" Yao Yao's heart had already flown to the ditch.
Seeing this, Liu Chunsheng said, "I'll tidy up here. You hurry and take them to play. It will be very hot later."
Liu Yifeng looked at the time. It was indeed almost nine o'clock. By ten o'clock, the sun would be scorching, and the children could easily suffer from heatstroke.
"Then I'll trouble you, Dad. I'll go get the fishing tools and buckets, and take them there shortly!"
"We're family, there's no trouble. You hurry and take them, and come back soon!" Liu Chunsheng urged.
Just as Liu Yifeng had everything prepared, Xu Muqing received a call from her company. They said there were some issues at the garment factory that required her personal attention.
After hanging up the phone, Xu Muqing said apologetically, "Mr. Liu, I have an urgent matter to attend to. I'll leave Yao Yao with you. Please take care of her. I'll come to pick her up as soon as I'm done!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Yifeng immediately replied, "No problem, you go and handle your business quickly. You can rest assured leaving Yao Yao with me; nothing will go wrong."
"Thank you!" Xu Muqing nodded, then looked at her daughter, "Yao Yao, Mom has to go to the factory. You must listen to Uncle Liu here, no messing around, and definitely no causing trouble, understand?"
Yao Yao nodded obediently, "Mom, I understand. I won't cause trouble."
"Alright then, I'll be going now. Mr. Liu, I'm counting on you." After saying this, Xu Muqing drove away.
Liu Yifeng then took the two children to the small ditch where they could catch fish. This was the first place he had brought Tong Tong to. Due to the lack of rain and high temperatures recently, the water in the ditch had become very shallow.
"You two, take off your shoes and come with me. No laughing or roughhousing in the water. Listen to me, or I'll take you back." Although the water wasn't deep here, it was still in the water, so Liu Yifeng couldn't help but caution them.
The two of them said "okay" in unison, then cheerfully took off their shoes and entered the water barefoot. The water reached their calves; it wasn't deep.
Liu Yifeng held a net bag and motioned for the two children to follow behind him. He then observed the movement in the water, looking for where the fish might be.
At this moment, Yao Yao pointed to a spot several meters ahead and exclaimed excitedly, "Uncle Liu, there's a fish there, there's a fish!"
Liu Yifeng followed her pointing direction and indeed saw a small fish. "You two wait here. I'll catch the fish for you," he whispered, afraid of scaring the fish away.
The two of them obediently stayed put, not moving. Liu Yifeng walked over slowly. When he was about a meter away from the fish, it seemed to sense danger. It flicked its tail and swam rapidly forward.
"Dad, catch it quickly! The fish is getting away," Tong Tong shouted urgently upon seeing this.
Yao Yao was also anxious, afraid the fish would escape.
Liu Yifeng didn't speak. He chased after the fish, but the little fish was too agile. In the end, it managed to escape.
Seeing that they hadn't caught the fish, the two of them immediately wilted like frostbitten eggplants, their spirits dampened.
"Do you two little ones not believe I can catch a fish?"
"Dad, the little fish got away, how could you catch it?" Tong Tong asked.
Liu Yifeng didn't want to be looked down upon by two children. He continued to move forward slowly, re-searching for the whereabouts of the little fish. Soon, he saw the same little fish that had escaped, hiding in a crevice between rocks. He immediately went ashore, walked along the bank, then stretched out his net bag and scooped towards the little fish.
Startled, the little fish darted around like a headless fly. Unintentionally, it swam into Liu Yifeng's net bag. Liu Yifeng lifted the net bag, and the little fish was revealed.
Tong Tong and Yao Yao, who had been waiting in the same spot, saw Liu Yifeng walking towards them. They excitedly asked if he had caught a fish. Only when they saw the little fish struggling in Liu Yifeng's net bag did they immediately come ashore, wanting to get a closer look at the small fish.
Liu Yifeng placed the small fish into the bucket, and it began to swim happily. The crucian carp Liu Yifeng caught was only about one or two liang, too small to eat. It could only be kept. This was the first time Yao Yao had seen a small fish up close. She tilted her head and asked Liu Yifeng, "Uncle Liu, can this little fish be given to me? I want to take it home and raise it!" As she asked, she put on a pitiful expression.