Shocking! A three-year-old brings his aloof mother to their door.

When Tongtong heard He Wanqing praise her for her delicious chicken wings, her little tail practically wagged in the air.

She ran back to the barbecue grill, like a diligent little bee, meticulously turning over the chicken wings on the grill, turning each one three times before she was satisfied.

When the new batch turned golden and crispy, she tiptoed and held it up to Mo Ye: "Daddy, have some! Mommy just tried it, it's not poisonous, it's delicious!"

Before she could finish speaking, He Wanqing put down the chicken wing in her hand and stood up from the stool: "He Huantong, are you asking for trouble?"

Tongtong's face froze instantly. She realized she had let something slip, quickly covered her mouth, her big eyes darted around, and her voice instantly changed to a sweet and ingratiating tone: "Oh dear~ Tongtong was just joking!"

He Wanqing said, "Come here, I promise I won't kill you."

Tongtong darted into Mo Ye's arms, her chubby little hands clinging to his coat, only half her face and two bright, sparkling eyes peeking out: "Daddy! Mommy's gone mad!"

Mo Ye looked down at the little bundle of joy curled up in his arms, reached out and poked her forehead, his voice carrying a gentle correction: "You can't talk about Mommy like that."

He looked up at He Wanqing, a slight smile playing on his lips, and thought to himself, "She's clearly just a little kitten."

Tongtong snuggled closer to him and mumbled softly, "Mommy wants to dig a nest again..."

Her eyes darted furtively toward He Wanqing, like a guilty thief.

Mo Ye handed the freshly grilled chicken wings to He Wanqing. He Wanqing took one and took a bite, her gaze fixed on Mo Ye, and Mo Ye's gaze also fixed on He Wanqing.

The invisible thread between the two people shimmered in the glow of the embers.

Tongtong nestled in Moye's arms, tilting her little head back to look at her father and then at her mother. Suddenly, she scratched her head, feeling as if she had grown another brain.

Why do Mom and Dad always look at things with that "Is something delicious?" expression?

They were eating each other's food?

She shook her little head, deciding not to think about it anymore. While her parents were still gazing at each other, she quietly stretched out her chubby little hand.

Picking up a freshly grilled chicken wing from the grill, she shrank behind Mo Ye and, like a little mouse that had stolen some oil, began to nibble at it.

Dad's chicken wings are still the best. The skin is crispy, the meat is tender and juicy, and even the bones are filled with aroma.

She ate with her mouth glistening with oil, her cheeks bulging, thinking happily to herself: Dad's cooking is still the best, hehehe.

Mo Ye dusted off his hands: "The sweet potatoes and taro should be cooked by now. Let's go dig them up."

Tongtong's eyes lit up: "Tongtong wants to go see!"

Mo Ye bent down and pinched her little face: "The kiln has Tongtong's help, so Tongtong definitely needs to be there."

Tongtong immediately puffed out her little chest.

Mo Ye carried a shovel and fire tongs, and led Tong Tong and Mo Yunqi to the edge of the earthen kiln.

The winter night wind blows by, carrying the smell of embers from a charcoal fire and the fresh scent of earth.

Mo Ye gently turned over the red-hot clods of earth with a shovel. Tongtong tiptoed to peek inside and pointed to a small bundle of white tin foil: "That! It's a sweet potato!"

Mo Ye nodded, picked out the sweet potatoes and taro one by one, and then filled the soil back up.

Tongtong tilted her little head and asked, "Don't the chicks dig?"

Mo Ye: "The chicks aren't cooked yet; they need to simmer for a while longer."

Tongtong said "Oh," and reluctantly followed, turning back every few steps to look at the small, still steaming mound. She was still thinking about the chicken leg...

Back in the courtyard, Mo Ye cut open the tin foil with scissors, and syrup seeped out from the cracks in the sweet potato, gleaming amber under the light.

Tongtong stared wide-eyed, her chubby little hands gesturing in the air.

Mo Ye wrapped one in a tissue and handed it to Tong Tong, then handed the other to Mo Yunqi.

He Wanning picked the biggest one herself, peeled it open, and the sweet fragrance wafted into her nose.

Mo Ye picked out a medium-sized one and handed it to He Wanqing: "This one should be the sweetest."

He Wanning looked down at the larger one in her hand, then at He Wanqing's, which was clearly a darker color. Her eyes darted around, and then she looked at Tongtong with a smile:

"Hakitong, do you want some of Auntie's sweet potato sticks?"

When Mo Ye heard the words "sweet potato strips", he almost choked on his own.

When Mo Chashan used to scold him, he liked to say things like, "How come your sweet potato is so big..."

He silently looked away, pretending he hadn't heard anything.

Tongtong gave her a wary look: "It's not that it's not ripe, is it, Auntie?"

He Wanning broke off half and handed it to her: "How could this be? Look."

Tongtong took it, looked at it from left to right, and only after confirming that it was cooked did she take a bite with suspicion.

It's sweet, but not like the sweet one Dad gave me just now.

After finishing her half, He Wanning went to get a smaller one.

Tongtong watched He Wanning go to get the smaller one, then looked down at the large, unsweetened sweet potato in her hand and instantly realized that she had been tricked by her bastard aunt again!

She angrily took a big bite of sweet potato, her cheeks puffed out like a little squirrel chewing nuts, as if the sweet potato in her mouth was He Wanning herself.

Looking at her puffed-up little face, He Wanning asked knowingly, "Tongtong, is the big sweet potato delicious?"

Tongtong swallowed the sweet potato in her mouth, her voice muffled: "The big sweet potato doesn't have any oozing sugar, so it won't make my hands dirty."

He Wanning nodded and said seriously, "That's right, Tongtong should eat more."

Tongtong finally couldn't hold back any longer: "Bad!"

He Wanning looked at her little face, which was flushed with anger, and laughed so hard she almost fell over.

Tongtong got even angrier and cried out in her childish voice, "Aaaaah, you bad guy!"

She rushed over with her short legs, and He Wanning gently touched her forehead.

Tongtong's short legs twitched a couple of times, but she still couldn't reach it.

Jiang Shuya walked over at some point, pulled a thin bamboo stick out of somewhere, and without saying a word, smacked He Wanning on the buttocks.

He Wanning let out a scream, jumped up, and turned her head to look: "How dare they! Who is it?!"

Then she saw Jiang Shuya's expressionless face, and her voice softened instantly. She lowered her head and bowed respectfully, saying, "So it's Your Majesty the Empress Dowager. May you be blessed."

Jiang Shuya raised the stick: "I'll beat you to death! You're bullying Tongtong again!"

He Wanning was startled and took off running. The two of them ran around the yard several times.

Jiang Shuya, bent over and supporting herself on her knees, said angrily, "He Wanning, don't run away!"

As He Wanning ran, she turned back and called out, "Mom, are you tired? If you're tired, don't chase after me, okay?"