Chapter 10 Bringing Honor to the Daughter

The parents at Cooking Station No. 1 were part of the “whale” (high-spending) group.

Although it wasn’t clear why they chose seafood rice noodles, their ingredient packs were quite good.

Very fresh, indeed.

The only regret was that elementary school students didn’t particularly like rice noodles, so there weren’t many children supporting them. Their popularity wasn’t even as high as Wang Yihan’s parent, whose overly sweet milk tea had added too much sugar.

Qin Huai slurped down the last mouthful of rice noodles, silently lighting a candle for the unfortunate parents at Cooking Station No. 1, then decisively went for a second bowl.

Chen Huihui, who had also eaten seafood rice noodles at Cooking Station No. 1, walked over to Qin Huai with a bowl in hand and asked crisply, “Brother Qin Huai, does my mom really not need help?”

Although Qin Huai called Chen Huihong “Big Sister Chen,” and his current identity was Chen Huihui’s uncle by relation, Chen Huihui thoughtfully kept the terms separate.

“Not for now,” Qin Huai said, glancing at Chen Huihong, who was pressing molds at full speed. “Huihui, what’s our plan?”

“Let everyone eat first, then let everyone have fun!” Chen Huihui declared firmly.

“Exactly. The buns still need about 9 minutes to be ready. Let’s get everyone fed first.”

If the kids were allowed to play first, and without supervision they started grabbing dough randomly and stuffing fillings messily, Qin Huai couldn’t imagine what the molded buns would taste like.

Although using molds to press buns didn’t require much skill, it still shouldn’t be completely devoid of any technique.

Seven minutes later, Chen Huihui, now fully carrying out her promotional duties, moved around like a covert operative, quietly approaching her classmates and whispering:

“My mom’s buns are about to come out of the steamer—do you want to be in the first batch to eat?”

At the mention of “first batch” and “first to eat,” the competitive spirit in the students instantly ignited.

Eating what didn’t matter—being first did.

“I do!”

“I’ll go first! Huihui, you promised me first!”

“Me me me! Huihui, I ate your mom’s salad—I get first!”

“I want first too! I love buns!”

“I’ll eat too!”

“I also—”

The parents still working at their cooking stations: ?

When did my kid start loving buns? Weren’t they crying and refusing to eat breakfast every morning?

One minute later, Chen Huihong was surrounded by students waiting eagerly for the buns to come out, all hoping to get the first batch of freshly steamed buns.

There were even a few parents joining in the excitement.

After all, Chen Huihong had been busy kneading dough, filling, and using molds all at once. Although there wasn’t much technical skill involved, the process looked impressive. Plus, she was the only parent making Chinese pastries at the event—she appeared to be a strong contender worth investigating by the more elite parents.

“Huihui, help everyone distribute them.”

“Okay, Mom!” Chen Huihui began handing out buns one by one.

Little rabbits, mice, piglets, water buffalo, elephants—five kinds of animal-shaped buns. Each one was very cute. Although they weren’t colored and the finishing touches weren’t perfect, they were more than impressive enough in this setting.

“Wow!” No child could resist such colorful and fun-looking buns.

“Huh.” Some parents, surprised that molds could produce such nice buns, let out regretful sighs.

“This one has red bean filling, this one has mung bean filling—the red bean flavor—”

Before Chen Huihui could finish explaining, no one was really listening. The eager students and parents simply blew on the buns symbolically and took a bite immediately.

!

This soft dough… this rich, sweet flavor…

Hiss—

So terrifying, Chen Huihui’s mother!

Heavens—she’s actually a pastry master!

This… how are we supposed to compete?!

“Wow, Huihui, your mom is amazing!”

“Huihui, I want a rabbit—can you give me another rabbit?”

“Huihui, can we switch moms?”

“Huihui, I want mung bean filling—can I have another one?”

“Huihui, I want to play with the buns too—can I try one?”

Seeing Chen Huihui become the center of attention among the children, Chen Huihong beamed so widely her teeth nearly showed. Her mold-pressing movements became even more vigorous, as if she wanted to make ten sets right away.

Chen Huihui clearly handled things very diplomatically. She first politely rejected the “switch moms” request, then noted everyone’s preferences one by one, suggesting alternatives if needed. Once the initial excitement faded and everyone realized the next batch would take some time and they couldn’t play with the buns for now, the students dispersed and went back to bothering their own parents.

Chen Huihui then jogged over to Qin Huai.

“Brother Qin Huai, this is for you!” She held up a small bowl, inside which was a steaming green bean rabbit bun.

“I filled this one myself. I specially saved it for you.”

“Thank you, Brother Qin Huai. I haven’t seen my mom this happy in a long time!”

Qin Huai smiled as he accepted the bowl, finding this mother-daughter pair quite interesting.

The mother was determined to bring honor to her daughter, hoping she would win first place and make a name for herself. The daughter, on the other hand, was clever in her own way, only wanting to make her mother happy.

In a sense, it was mutual devotion.

“As long as Huihui is happy, your mom will be happy too,” Qin Huai said with a chuckle. “The person your mom loves the most is definitely you.”

“The person I love most is also Mom!” Chen Huihui said proudly. “Brother Qin Huai, let me tell you—I often dream at night of my mom holding me, and I call her ‘Mom.’”

“Last year during a spring outing, I paid 20 yuan to have someone interpret my dream. He said it means that in my previous life I was my mom’s daughter, in this life I am still her daughter, and in the next life I will still be her daughter. I am her destined daughter!”

Qin Huai couldn’t help but smile at that. The way she put it, being mother and daughter really sounded like destiny.

He shook his head and reached for the rabbit bun.

His fingertip made a light contact.

“Ding. Congratulations, you have obtained [a segment of Chen Huihong’s dream].”

Huh?

A segment of Chen Huihong’s dream?

Just after the daughter talked about her own dreams, he obtained the mother’s dream—one comes, one is gifted?

But… peeking into someone else’s dream… isn’t that a bit… perverted?