The shrimp scrambled eggs on the table gave off an enticing aroma. The golden-yellow eggs were mixed with tender shrimp, steaming with heat. Chang Xuyu sat at the dining table, staring blankly at the dish. The furnishings at home had hardly changed over the years—the old wooden coffee table had lost its paint at the edges, and the originally mahogany, glossy wooden chairs had become mottled, their cracks bearing witness to the years she had been away from home, those bygone days.
When she was little, she really did love this dish. Back then, fresh shrimp were expensive; only when she scored high marks at school, won an award, or on her birthday, would there be such a dish at home. Ni Haiyan never ate shrimp. At the table, she would put on a stern face, watch her, and lecture her with her bowl in hand, saying if she studied hard, she could eat shrimp every day. Feeling it was unfair to eat alone, Chang Xuyu would pick up a piece of shrimp for Ni Haiyan, only to have it pushed back, with her saying she couldn't bear to eat it herself.
Chang Yanyan was eating happily. Seeing that his sister wasn't touching her chopsticks, he picked up a shrimp and put it in her bowl. His chubby little face showed two dimples when he smiled. "Sis, hurry and eat. It won't taste good when it's cold."
"Okay." Chang Xuyu smiled, looking at the pile of dishes on her white rice that Ni Haiyan and Chang Yanyan had added for her. The bitterness in her heart overflowed from an unknown corner. It hurt a little, and she felt at a loss.
Outside the window, it was quiet. The moon rose into the night sky from behind a tall building or a mountain peak, lighting up the stars that were embedded alone in the curtain of the sky, far from the noise and neon lights.
Ni Haiyan secretly glanced at Chang Xuyu. She must have been tired these past few days, her complexion sallow. She propped up her rice without eating, just staring blankly at the steaming dish.
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