Mr. Bo, Madam Is Pregnant!
Chapter 287 Partial Overlap

Chapter 287: Chapter 287 Partial Overlap

After hanging up the phone, Su Lu also fell asleep, thankfully not returning to that frantic nightmare.

She slept comfortably until ten in the morning when she was startled awake by a noise from outside.

"Clang!" A sound.

Su Lu’s eyes snapped open in alarm, "What’s going on?"

She quickly got out of bed and went to see what was happening.

There she saw Zhao Xiaole, looking guilty as he stood in the dining room, staring blankly at the stainless steel bowl on the floor.

Most of the contents from the stainless steel bowl had spilled out—it looked like minced meat...

"I’m sorry..." Zhao Xiaole said softly, "I spilled the minced meat, it wasn’t intentional."

Behind him came Uncle Qiao’s gentle, urgent voice from the kitchen; he quickly came out, "It’s okay, it’s okay! Are you hurt anywhere? The bowl is heavy, Uncle could have taken it."

"I just wanted to help out." Zhao Xiaole said quietly.

"It’s no problem, there’s still more than half left, that’s enough. I had prepared extra minced meat anyway, planning to make a meat pie with the leftovers for you to eat after we finished making the dumplings. Now you won’t be able to eat the meat pie," Uncle Qiao said, smiling as he tousled Zhao Xiaole’s hair.

"It’s okay, I don’t really like meat pies!" Zhao Xiaole said, smiling, then remembered, "Ah! Mom is sleeping."

As he looked up, he saw Su Lu standing at the bedroom door, his eyes lighting up, "Su Xiaolu, you’re awake!"

"Yeah, with all this commotion, how could I not be," said Su Lu, with not a hint of blame in her voice, smiling, "Be more careful in the future, eh? Such a heavy bowl—if it spilled, not only is it a waste, but what if it falls on your foot?"

"I know my mistake, I’ll be careful next time," Zhao Xiaole obediently responded.

Su Lu patted his head and looked towards Uncle Qiao, "Why are you here? You should rest more."

"Xiao Le said he wanted to eat the dumplings his grandma makes. When I used to visit you in Beijing, I was lucky enough to have Aunt Zhao’s dumplings a few times and also helped her out, so I thought I’d give it a try," Uncle Qiao explained.

He was wearing a thin deep blue cardigan and a grey apron, the cardigan loose and soft, the neckline slightly open, conveying a sense of casual comfort.

Su Lu intended to thank him, to say her son’s whims had troubled him.

But thinking back to the conversation with her mother, she bit her lip and held back what she was about to say. For the first time, she decided... to not be so formal with Uncle Qiao.

She walked over, bent down to look at the spilled mound of minced meat, "Onion beef filling? Indeed, it’s a flavor Zhao Xiaole would like."

Uncle Qiao nodded with a smile. As he saw Su Lu ready to pick up the spilled minced meat to throw it in the trash, he quickly grabbed her hand, "Don’t dirty your hands, I’ll take care of it."

Su Lu’s fingers curled, instinctively wanting to pull away, but she resisted, offering a smile, "Is there anything I can help with?"

Uncle Qiao’s gaze was tender, calmly watching her, silent for a moment.

Then he nodded towards the bedroom and said, "Go wash up first."

"And then just wait to eat?" Su Lu asked with a smile.

Uncle Qiao squinted at her with a smile, "Wishful thinking. Then come out and help make dumplings. With such a big bowl of filling, it would take forever if only Zhao Xiaole and I were to wrap them. Later we also need to send some dumplings to Su Zhe."

"Alrighty," responded Su Lu.

She walked into the bathroom of the bedroom and, looking at herself in the mirror, her smile slowly faded. She took a deep breath in and then let it out slowly.

Still feeling uneasy.

But... maybe one day, she would feel comfortable, right?

From outside came the voice of Zhao Xiaole, "Mom! Hurry up! Let’s see who can wrap them quick and nice!"

"Alright, coming!" Su Lu replied to the outside voice, bent down, and splashed water on her face.

Then, it was a very peaceful and leisurely day.

Qiao Li rolled out the dumpling wrappers very fast. After making a pile, he’d sit down to wrap some with her and Zhao Xiaole, then he’d get up again to roll out more wrappers.

The three of them wrapped a tableful of dumplings. When they cooked and ate them, it was easy to tell them apart.

Zhao Xiaole’s dumplings all fell apart, turning into something like noodle soup,

while Su Lu’s were either overstuffed or underfilled. On the other hand, Qiao Li’s were all perfectly made with a lot of filling and thin wrappers, easy to recognize at a glance.

Su Lu and Zhao Xiaole were not polite at all. After cooking them, they didn’t bother to show any support for their own dumplings, their chopsticks and spoons were only pointed at the large dumplings Qiao Li had wrapped.

After Zhao Xiaole was full, he blinked his eyes and quietly suggested, "Mom, why don’t we... send ours to Uncle?"

Su Lu laughed uncontrollably, "You really are your uncle’s good nephew."

After they finished eating, Qiao Li went to wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen, and Su Lu delivered dumplings to Su Zhe. Su Zhe hadn’t slept well, so he was making up for it. He came out lazily upon seeing the dumplings and even grumbled, "Why aren’t they cooked..."

Su Lu said that the cooked ones wouldn’t keep well, and that it was better to cook them fresh when he wanted to eat.

Su Zhe nodded and didn’t say much, continuing his nap.

By the time Su Lu returned from delivering the dumplings, Qiao Li had already finished cleaning up and was sitting on the couch playing video games with Zhao Xiaole.

As soon as Su Lu walked in, the two, one big and one small, turned their heads in unison to look at her.

Zhao Xiaole, nervously, explained, "Mom, I haven’t played any games today, nor have I used the phone."

So, he was allowed half an hour of play.

Qiao Li, sitting beside Zhao Xiaole, vouched for him, nodding repeatedly, "I can testify, Xiao Le didn’t play on the phone; he only listened to some English children’s songs in the morning."

Su Lu looked at them both, without saying a word.

That scene, that picture on the couch of them playing games, and both of them looking at her when she returned,

partially overlapped with a scene she had once naively dreamt about when she was young.

Thinking she was angry, Qiao Li, as well as Zhao Xiaole who also thought she was upset, looked somewhat helpless and glanced at Qiao Li.

After a moment of thought, Qiao Li tentatively said, "Lulu, we’ll stop playing. Don’t be mad. If you’re really upset, just scold me. Please don’t stay silent."

Su Lu pursed her lips and slowly formed a smile, "I’m not mad. It’s not that easy to upset me."

"Phew, that’s a relief." Qiao Li let out a sigh of relief and turned to Zhao Xiaole, "Hurry, hurry, thirty minutes, no more."

"Okay!" Zhao Xiaole hastily agreed, then turned to Su Lu and said, "Thank you, Mom. Heehee..."

"Thank Uncle Qiao," Su Lu waved her hand.

Zhao Xiaole smiled so that his eyes squinted, "Uncle Qiao is so nice!"

After playing video games with Zhao Xiaole for half an hour, Qiao Li read him a children’s storybook, and in the afternoon, he coaxed Zhao Xiaole to take a nap. Only then did he heave a sigh of relief, standing up and stretching his back.

Su Lu watched him quietly.

Caught by Su Lu’s gaze, Qiao Li’s previously relaxed stretching froze, and for a moment, he felt unexpectedly nervous and at a loss.