Back to my parents when I was seventeen

After completing the discharge procedures, the two walked to the hospital entrance.

Xu Chuning had to go to Shen Yubai's neighborhood to pick up her bicycle, which happened to be directly accessible by bus. After checking the route, she turned her head and looked at the silent boy next to her, "Classmate."

Shen Sinian looked down at her, "Where is your breakfast shop?"

Xu Chu Ning was slightly startled, "You want to go eat?"

Shen Sinian nodded.

He wanted to see his grandmother whom he had never met.

When Shen Sinian was born, his grandmother and great-grandmother had already passed away.

Sang Menglan secretly told him that the reason why his mother kept opening restaurants all over the world was because her grandmother's greatest wish was to open many restaurants in every city. She wanted more people to taste her cooking skills, and she also wanted her abducted daughter to find the way home after tasting the familiar flavors.

Xu Chuning has a younger sister who was abducted by human traffickers when she was three years old and has not been found yet.

Later, several years after Shen Sinian's grandmother passed away, Xu Chuning found the person based on the initial clues.

But by then, this incident had already become the biggest regret in Xu Chuning's heart, as well as in the hearts of his two deceased grandmothers.

Facing Shen Sinian's sincere gaze, Xu Chuning nodded hesitantly. Although she felt that the person next to her was a little strange, for some reason, she felt from the bottom of her heart that he was not a bad person.

The two took the bus to the vicinity of Shen Yubai's residential area to pick up the bicycles. The breakfast had already gone cold, but Xu Chuning had not lost it.

She pushed the cart and returned to the breakfast shop with Shen Sinian.

When they reached the store entrance, Shen Sinian asked Xu Chuning in disbelief, "...is this your breakfast shop?"

The small shop in front of me was simply decorated, and only two people could enter and exit the storefront. If there was one more person, it would be crowded. There were a few faded folding tables and a few plastic benches at the door of the store.

This is in stark contrast to the community they just visited.

Xu Chu Ning heard the surprise in his words and nodded, "Don't worry, our house is very clean and my mother is also a good cook."

At this point, she paused and looked at him with clear eyes, "Of course, it's okay if you don't want to eat it."

"I want to eat." Shen Sinian lowered his eyes, "I'm not worried about the problem of it being unclean."

He heard Sang Menglan say that his mother had a hard life in the past, but as someone who had been provided for with everything since childhood, he didn't quite understand how to write the word "hardship".

After the breakfast peak, there was only one table of customers in the store.

You Shuzhen, who was washing dishes, heard the noise and said, "Sit anywhere. The menu is on the wall."

"Mom," Xu Chu Ning called her.

You Shuzhen raised her head quickly, revealing a face with clear outlines and soft features. Her eyes were tired but still bright. "You're back? Is the person who fainted okay?"

After arriving at the hospital, Xu Chuning borrowed Shen Yubai's cell phone and called You Shuzhen to explain the situation.

Xu Chuning: "It's okay."

She quickly walked towards You Shuzhen and frowned disapprovingly, "Mom, I agreed to wash the dishes on the weekend, why are you washing them yourself again?"

"Not much," You Shuzhen smiled awkwardly when she was discovered, "It's just something that happened to mom."

Xu Chu Ning pursed her lips, knowing that no matter how he persuaded her, it was useless, and then said, "Then leave the rest to me, you go and have a rest."

"I—" You Shuzhen wanted to say something, but suddenly noticed Shen Sinian standing next to her, and was a little surprised, "Who is this?"

She looked at the young man in front of her and felt vaguely that he looked familiar.

Xu Chuning then remembered that she had forgotten Shen Sinian. She turned around and asked, "What do you want to eat?"

Shen Sinian looked at the two people in front of him, resisting the urge to call You Shuzhen grandma, and said in a muffled voice, "I'm fine with either, but I don't want green onions and cilantro."

Hearing this request, You Shuzhen smiled and said, "His taste is somewhat similar to Xiao Shen's."

Hearing this, Xu Chu Ning thought to himself, he calls Xiao Shen in your mouth "Dad", how could he be similar?

"Mom, go make him a bowl of noodles." Xu Chuning lowered his voice, "Fry two more eggs."

Shen Sinian just fainted, so he probably needs to replenish his body now.

You Shuzhen agreed.

The mother and daughter were busy with their own things. Shen Sinian found an old little table and sat down, looking around the shop.

The store is really small, even smaller than his shoe cabinet, but the things are neatly arranged and kept very clean. There is a handwritten menu on the yellowed wall, selling steamed buns, steamed bread, soy milk of different flavors, as well as noodles, rice noodles, etc.

Looking around, Shen Sinian set his sights on Xu Chuning. She was wearing a dark grey cardigan and a pair of washed-out jeans. She was very slim and looked weak.

She was very different from the mother he remembered.

In his memory, Xu Chu Ning was delicate and capable except when she was a little soft in front of Shen Yubai and him.

Sensing his burning gaze, Xu Chu Ning tilted his head and looked over, "Would you like some water?"

Shen Sinian: "Yes."

Xu Chuning bent down, took out a bottle of mineral water and handed it to him.

After a while, You Shuzhen cooked the noodles.

Xu Chuning brought it to Shen Sinian. Shen Sinian lowered his head and looked at the two poached eggs in front of him and the noodles decorated with vegetables on the side. His eyes were filled with tears. It had been a long time since his mother cooked for him.

"Why don't you eat?" Xu Chu Ning didn't notice his mood swings.

Shen Sinian lowered his eyelashes slightly, hiding his emotions, and said sullenly, "I'm eating now, you don't have to worry about me."

Xu Chuning: “…”

She didn't want to care about him either.

Without speaking to Shen Sinian again, Xu Chuning turned around and went to another empty table to clean up, going in and out, very busy.

When she was almost done, she realized that Shen Sinian had already finished his noodles and was sitting on a chair, looking at her with his chin in his hand.

"You..." Xu Chu Ning felt that the way he looked at her was not right, and hesitated, "You don't want to call me mom again?"

Shen Sinian: "You are my mother."

Xu Chuning: "If you continue like this, I will really call the mental hospital."

Shen Sinian felt a little helpless, "Why don't you believe me?"

Xu Chu Ning had a blank expression on his face. "Do you think I can trust you?"

"..."

The two of them were in a stalemate, and Shen Sinian said quietly, "I know a lot about you."

Xu Chu Ning: “For example.”

She asked as she wiped the table.

Shen Sinian: "You have a younger sister who was abducted by human traffickers. She is my aunt. You and your grandmother have been looking for her."

Xu Chuning: "Oh, you know this is not uncommon."

Because they knew her and You Shuzhen, everyone who came to the restaurant regularly knew about this. They even posted a missing person notice for their sister at the door of the restaurant.

Shen Sinian looked at her calm expression and mentioned a few things that could be found out if one investigated carefully.

In the end, Xu Chu Ning's attitude was not much different from the beginning.

Shen Sinian had no choice but to raise his hand and grab her sleeve when she was about to leave. He looked at her and said, "You are not grandma's...biological daughter."