Chapter 304 - Chapter 304: Chapter 304 Cute and Sweet (1/2)

Chapter 304: Chapter 304 “Cute and Sweet

Translator: 549690339

Xiang Kun was busy with the ingredients in the kitchen, but his attention was naturally focused on Xia Libing and his parents. He was quite curious about how Old Xia would probe for information from his parents.

At first, Xia Libing didn’t take the initiative to say much because Mrs. Xiang talked a lot. Sometimes she would offer her tea, sometimes fruit, sometimes asking about her work and life, and sometimes asking about her impression of Citong.

Xia Libing answered every question sincerely and in great detail, clearly introducing her educational background, work status, and family situation in no time.

Upon hearing that she has two master’s degrees, both Mr. and Mrs. Xiang instinctively sat up a little straighter with a feeling of respect.

Honestly speaking, just judging by her looks, they all thought Xia Libing had just graduated from college. After all, Xiang Kun had said that his “friend’s younger sister” was several years younger than him and she indeed seemed very youthful.

Xiang Kun, cooking in the kitchen, quickly guessed Old Xia’s strategy, which was “To take something, one must first give something.” Old Xia didn’t ask any questions at the beginning but simply answered and introduced herself. The purpose was to let his parents understand her and establish a sense of trust before proceeding with the information gathering.

Anyway, judging from Old Xia’s resume, she seemed to be a well-behaved girl and a top student, whose resume was even more impressive and perfect than Xiang Kun’s, with no apparent flaws.

Of course, in this process, it also helped her understand part of Mr. and Mrs. Xiang’s individual characters and habits to find the best way to probe with words.

These were all judgments made by Xiang Kun based on Old Xia’s knowledge background, her usual actions, and the established cognitive model.

As expected, as Mrs. Xiang asked how Old Xia and Xiang Kun met, Old Xia began to control the pace of the conversation and the direction of information.

“My cousins often invite Xiang Kun for playing cards and I join them, that’s how I got to know him. We don’t play for money, just for pure fun. Xiang Kun is really smart, he’s great at poker. Basically, we can’t win against him. Auntie, was Kun always this smart when he was little? Were his grades also very good in school?”

Mrs. Xiang chuckled, “Well, I wouldn’t exactly call him smart. Our Kun has always been curious since he was little. He can spend half a day ‘studying’ whatever he gets his hands on. He is more patient than most children and can sit still. When he was in kindergarten, he was so interested in large jigsaw puzzles. Other children would lose interest after a while of no progress, but he could sit there for several hours a day for several days in a row until the puzzle was complete. I originally thought he liked puzzles and bought him one for his birthday, but he didn’t touch it as he didn’t enjoy it. Studying was the same. Even if he has no interest in the textbook, as long as he knows it will be on the test, he could spend time understanding it patiently.”

Xia Libing said, “It’s rare to have patience. No wonder Kun can code, carve wood, and write calligraphy. All of these require a lot of thought and ability to sit still.”

“Indeed, his calligraphy is pretty good. When we first moved to Tongshi Town following Xiang Kun’s dad, Kun didn’t have many playmates during the summer vacation, so he learned calligraphy from the old man next door, who often praised him for his focus. As for coding, it started in middle school. Was it in the second year or the first year? He pestered his dad to buy him a computer. He promised not to install games and wanted to learn programming and software development. He said Bill Gates became the world’s richest man by coding. He really tricked us into buying him the computer. Although he indeed learned coding and won an amateur competition, which got him a bunch of CD-ROMs as prizes, he mostly used it to play games. What’s the name of that game… something ‘Alert’? As for wood carving, I’ve never seen him do that! Every time we talk on the phone, he says he is working overtime, super busy. When does he have time to carve wood?” Mrs. Xiang rambled on revealing Xiang Kun’s secrets, “In all this, the wood carvings? I’ve never seen him do that before! Every time I call him, he tells me that he’s working overtime and is too busy… How does he find time for wood carving?”

“Kun’s wood carvings are amazing, Auntie, look at this, it’s a gift he gave to a friend. And this one too.”

Judging from the sound, Xia Libing must have been showing the wood carvings that Xiang Kun sent as gifts to Tang Baona and Yang Zhen’er on her phone.

After chatting about the wood carvings for some time, Xia Libing said, “Kun is fantastic at cooking, particularly good at cooking rabbit meat. His cooking is delicious. He must have inherited your cooking skills, n’est-ce pas?”

“Rabbit meat? I don’t know how to cook it…His style of cooking is different from mine. He finds recipes online and makes something fancy out of them. But, got to admit, they taste quite good.”

Xia Libing said: “Kun said he only started wanting to learn cooking a few months ago, it looks like he really has a talent for cooking. He must have inherited it from you, Auntie.”

Mrs. Xiang also sighed, saying, “Ah, this kid. I don’t know if it’s because he shaved his head, but he suddenly wised up. He never used to cook. If I didn’t make food, he’d just have instant noodles or bread. But if given a choice, I’d prefer him to keep his hair…”

“Xiang Kun’s hair can still grow back, right?”

“Who knows? I ‘ordered’ him to keep it, but it’s been almost three months since he last came back, and there hasn’t been a hint of hair growth. I’m really worried that his head has gotten used to being bald and forgotten how to grow hair…” Mrs. Xiang’s tone was filled with concern, sorrow, and self-deprecating humor.

Xiang Kun in the kitchen heard this and subconsciously raised his hand to feel his bald head but promptly realized his hands were covered in water and minced meat and forcefully repressed the movement.

From Old Xia’s way of leading the conversation, Xiang Kun figured out her strategy.

She was praising Xiang Kun as a way to induce Mrs. Xiang to openly talk about her past impressions of Xiang Kun. Even if they humbly critique or poke fun at their own child when others praise them, parents are always pleased. Whether they continue to “praise themselves” or be modest, it will further open up the conversation and enhance the talkativeness, bringing up related topics.

In the living room, Mrs. Xiang, discussing Xiang Kun’s appearance, shifted the topic, went into the room, and fetched the family photo album. She showed Xia Libing and lamented over how cute and handsome Xiang Kun was as a child.

Xia Libing listened attentively to Mrs. Xiang’s “introduction,” occasionally agreeing, and with permission, she even snapped some photos of Xiang Kun’s childhood, primary, and secondary school years.

Then Xia Libing gracefully steered the conversation back to calligraphy, and Mrs. Xiang led her to Xiang Kun’s room.

According to Mrs. Xiang, the room hadn’t changed much since they moved into the house after the renovation. The bed, desk, and cabinets were all original, so they were a bit old now. A couple of the cabinets and drawers weren’t working well. Several posters on the wall had creasing lines and magazine titles printed on them, all computer-related hardware or software, evidently inserts provided with the magazines.

Xia Libing saw the calligraphy exercises Xiang Kun had done in the past, including a piece featuring Jia Dao’s poem ‘Swordsman’ that Xiang Kun uploaded online during junior high and many other works from various periods that she had not seen before.

Xia Libing didn’t actively touch things in Xiang Kun’s room. She seemed to be just “passively” following Mrs. Xiang, listening to her explanations.

However, she silently observed and recorded the books on Xiang Kun’s shelves, the items on his desk, and the scenes revealed when Mrs. Xiang opened the drawers or cabinets.

It was lunchtime, and they were running out of time, so Xiang Kun didn’t make the meal too elaborate. There weren’t many dishes, and the focus was on speed.

Under the guidance of Mrs. Xiang, the “guide”, Xia Libing only spent less than ten minutes in Xiang Kun’s room before Xiang Kun called them for dinner.

Six dishes and one soup were on the table. Two dishes were adjusted to Old Xia’s taste, and four dishes and one soup were to his parents’ taste.

Of course, the three’s tastes were not mutually exclusive. In general, they were quite similar. Parents trying the two dishes made for Old Xia, or Old Xia tasting the dishes made for the parents, would find them equally delicious and refreshing.

However, the harmonious atmosphere at the table and the courtesy shown by the parents and Old Xia made Xiang Kun want to laugh.