Meimei gasped loudly as she entered the kitchen.


    “What happened?” An Qinyan asked when she heard Meimei’s loud gasp. As she entered the kitchen, she gasped even louder than Meimei.


    “Hi,mom and Meimei, ” An Xin waved at both of them. She was covered with flour from head to toe.


    “An Xin! What are you doing in the kitchen?!” An Qinyan said in a stern voice, “Don’t you remember you are not allowed to touch any appliance in the kitchen. Thest time you touched a toaster it didn’t work again.”


    “Mom, I swear I didn’t ruin the new toaster. I only pressed a button. It didn’t work again, “An Xin said, pointing to her neck.


    “Before that, Her Higher ruined the rice cooker, ” Meimei put oil in the me.


    An Xin had an urge to re at this traitor.


    “I didn’t do anything, ” An Xin swore again. “I only wanted to cook rice for myself and no one was home. It didn’t work, mom. It’s not my fault.”_-.


    Both An Qinyan and Meimei were immune to her cuteness. She was a disaster in the kitchen. Everyone in the house knew it and it was the reason why she was not allowed in the kitchen.


    “What are you doing in the kitchen?” An Qinyan asked her hands on her waist.


    “I wanted to bake some cookies for Zixin, ” An Xin pouted.


    “What did you do?” An Qinyan asked her daughter.


    “I did not do anything, ” An Xin quickly said.


    “Try again, youngdy, ” An Qinyan scoffed. She would be a fool to think that her daughter didn’t get Han Zixin in trouble again.


    “Mom, don’t you trust your innocent and cute daughter?” An Xin tried to charm her mom by blinking her eyes.


    “No, ” An Qinyan looked unfazed. If it was a year ago, she would have for sure fallen into the cuteness trap but she knew that her child was evil. Pure evil.


    “I am really not lying, ” An Xin pouted.


    An Qinyan snorted. “Youngdy, sincest year, you have only entered the kitchen thrice. All the time, you had fought with Zixin or gotten him into trouble. You only try to execute your non-existent master chef’s talent to cook for him.”


    Did An Qinyan not know the dynamics of the rtionship between Han Zixin and An Qinyan? She was sure that her daughter had annoyed the boy. Han Zixin had a high level of patience when it came to his best friend and he only got super angry when An Xin had done something extremely wrong.


    “Fine, “An Xin grumbled. “I got Zixin into trouble. He was scolded by Mr principal. But mom I was not at fault alone. After that, he ignored me all day.”


    “Why are you baking this time and not making his favourite noodles likest time?” An Qinyan asked.


    An Qinyan was about to reply that Ji Mao’er baked special cookies for Han Zixin that he ate without sharing with her. Not that she wanted her cookies but she didn’t like Ji Mao’er baking something for him. Call her childish but she didn’t like Ji Mao’er closeness to her best friend because she was a schemer. She had not forgotten anything that had happened to her. Months might have passed but her memory was still the same.


    Someone tell her what was the need to make Ji Mao’er their friend?


    She groaned. Her thoughts were going awry. She shouldn’t be so possessive of her friends. She just hoped that Han Zixin would be her friend and he wouldn’t leave her for someone. If she had to do extra work to continue being his friend, she would.


    “Mom, I just want to make cookies, ” An Xin said in a soft voice. “Will you instruct me how to?”


    An Qinyan sighed. “Sure. Just do what I instruct you.”


    An Qinyan instructed her daughter about the recipe for chocte chip cookies. “Let me melt the butter. Stay away from heat.”


    “I can do it, ” An Xin said.


    “Don’t argue with mom, ” An Qinyan shut her up with the ultimate mom move. “Now gently fold the flour. Do not over mix or the dough will harden. Your cookies will not be soft and crunchy.”


    “Like this?” An Xin said as she gently mixed the flour with other ingredients.


    “Yes, just like this, ” An Qinyan nodded her head. “Now fold the choco chips in the flour.” When the dough was done, she said, “Chill it in the freezer for twenty minutes. After that, we will continue our baking process.”


    “Oh, ” An Xin responded. As she was about to put the dough in the freezer, Meimei took the bowl from her hand.


    “Missy, let me put it in please, ” Meimei said in fear that if An Xin’s hands touched the refrigerator, it wouldn’t work again.


    “Okay, ” An Xin let her put the dough in the freezer.


    “Mom, what are you doing?” An Xin as she saw her mom pulling out some rice papers.


    “Making some spring rolls, ” Her mom responded.


    “For me?” An Xin’s eyes sparkled.


    “Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I make spring rolls for you when you don’t even like vegetables?” Qinyan reacted. “Last time, I shared my sd with you. What did you say?”


    “Mom, cows eat vegetables, ” An Xin pouted. “I’m a meat eater human being.”


    “Yes, that’s why you won’t get my special spring rolls, ” An Qinyan smiled.


    “Mom, you no longer love me, ” An Xin muttered as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Hah! Your priorities have changed.”


    An Qinyan who was chopping the vegetables looked at her and smiled brightly. “You are right, kiddo.”


    An Xin gaped at her mother’s reaction. Her mother was no longer cute. If she had Doremon’s time machine, she would rewind time to be at the period where her mother used to love her the most.


    _____


    A/N: You will see a lot of changes and character development in the following chapters. After all, we took a time skip.