Chapter 30: Instant Noodles

Chen Xiao Mi smiled at his two brothers retiring figures and said, "Lu Lin, you have asked them to run errands for you again."

Lu Lin said innocently, "Running errands is not the point, what I'm trying to achieve here is to help the kids to make new friends. They are getting big now, they need to be independent one day, making friends is good for them."

Chen Xiao Mi laughed, "You are so good at sugar-coating."

"What I said is true though, kids need friends as much as adults do, interpersonal skill is important for everyone. Have you noticed Xiao Cai has been smiling more now?"

Chen Xiao Mi squinted his eyes and thought for a while, "Yeah, he seems happier."

Lu Lin bantered, "Maybe he is longing for love."

Chen Xiao Mi didn't agree, "But he is just a kid now."

Chen Xiao Mi cast a glimpse at Lu Lin and doubted whether Lu Lin was really educated, because no educated person would spout on things like love.

"I'm just kidding, don't be so serious. Xiao Cai is just nine years old, but it's going to be nice if he has a childhood sweetheart."

Chen Xiao Mi was lost in thought, he had never thought about that before.

"All right, let's change the subject. Can I have some instant noodles please?" Chen Xiao Mi suggested.

Lu Lin once cooked some instant noodles from his shop and Chen Xiao Mi fell in love with it completely and he blamed Lu Lin for not sharing with him earlier.

Lu Lin told Chen Xiao Mi instant noodles was junk food in his hometown, people tended to avoid it. Chen Xiao Mi found that hard to believe, he was convinced that Lu Lin was just looking for excuses to not share with him.

With that being said, Chen Xiao Mi decided to not let Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai know about instant noodles because kids needed to have nutritious food.

Lu Lin added two poached eggs, some ham and some vegetables into the instant noodles to make it less bad. Lu Lin had burned all the packages in case the kids asked them what they had been eating without them.

It didn't take long to cook the instant noodles. Chen Xiao Mi's eyes sparkled when Lu Lin served him a bowl, he ate the whole thing with relish.

"Is this really junk food? Only poor people eat this? But it's so yummy! I can eat a whole pot by myself!" Chen Xiao Mi kept asking Lu Lin the same questions.

"I know you find this hard to believe, but what you are eating is really junk food, sir."

Chen Xiao Mi started to believe it when he saw how sincere Lu Lin was.

Lu Lin cleaned the pot and the bowls quickly in case the kids came back earlier than he thought. He cast a glimpse at Chen Xiao Mi who was lying in bed with a food coma, he couldn't understand why the villagers were scared of such a ball of sunshine.

Soon Chen Xiao Cai and Chen Xiao Mai were back with a new batch of pickled vegetables.

Chen Xiao Mai jumped on the kang in the new room and started to roll about.

"Gege, come join me, it's so much fun!" Chen Xiao Mai invited Chen Xiao Cai. (T/N:Gege or Ge is a way to address older man than you to show respect.)

Chen Xiao Cai looked at Chen Xiao Mai dotingly, "It's all right, I'm having fun just watching you."

Chen Xiao Mai produced a pancake from his pocket, "Here, it's for you!"

Chen Xiao Cai's heart softened, "Aww, it's all right, you don't need to save food for me, just have it yourself."

Chen Xiao Cai didn't know why his little brother tended to have this habit of hiding food, it made some sense in the old days when they would starve from time to time, but they had been so well-off recently, there was no need to hide food any more.

Lu Lin had been doting on Chen Xiao Mai as well. Lu Lin would always feed him some snacks, sometimes it was chocolate milk from the shop, sometimes it was steamed egg custard or pancake.

Chen Xiao Cai stroked Chen Xiao Mai's cheek and said, "We are going to sleep in this new room."

Chen Xiao Mai tilted his head, he had no idea what was going on.

Chen Xiao Cai had a rough idea what marriage meant, he knew maybe one day his Big Brother would be pregnant with Lu Lin's baby, and he needed to take care of Xiao Mai more.

Chen Xiao Mai didn't pester Chen Xiao Cai with any questions, he was distracted by the new quilt in bed. He started to play with it with great interest, but he had stained the quilt with his dirty hands in no time.

Chen Xiao Mi didn't know his brothers were already in the new room, he asked Lu Lin whether he had seen them.

"They are in the new room, they can't wait to sleep on the new kang." Lu Lin blinked.

Chen Xiao Mi nodded and blushed again.

There was not much entertainment at night in the villages, they tended to go to bed as soon as the night fell. The young couple used to share a bed with two kids, Lu Lin didn't have the chance to make a move, but that was about to change.

Lu Lin cuddled Chen Xiao Mi tightly and soon the two were entangled together.

Chen Xiao Mi didn't show any sign of resistance, that had boost Lu Lin's confidence greatly.

Lu Lin was well aware that Chen Xiao Mi would kick him out of bed if he didn't feel comfortable doing it.

The young couple both had zero experience, so they had finished the first round very soon. The two hadn't fully enjoyed themselves from that brief round, so the cuddling had naturally led them to the second round.

Chen Xiao Mi was very innocent, he had zero experience and zero knowledge about this. But Lu Lin was different, he had been watching videos since a young age even though he didn't actually have any experience. So he considered himself quite knowledgeable in theory.

The two tried their best to keep it down in case they woke up the kids next door. Chen Xiao Mai slept like a baby that night, he wasn't bothered by the new environment at all. But Chen Xiao Cai wasn't so lucky, he kept hearing some noises like rats were having a fight. He didn't sleep well that night.