Chapter 52: Companionship

In order to get a divorce as quickly as possible, Lu Xiaoning really arrived right at the time stipulated in the agreement.

Coincidentally, it was Sunday, so the children did not have to go to school, though they were still up bright and early.

At ten o'clock in the morning, as agreed, Lu Xiaoning walked into the old man's house. Little Dongdong was startled to see his mother back, but then ran joyfully toward her, calling out in his sweet, childish voice, "Mommy! Mommy!"

Being too young to understand anything, the little fellow had no idea that his mother no longer wanted him.

Lu Xiaoning felt her legs hugged by her youngest son. Looking at his joyful face and big, bright eyes, she felt an inexplicable wave of guilt.

Prompted by the child's expectant look, she slowly reached out and gave him a light embrace.

"Mommy, you haven't been back for a long time." Although the little boy did not understand why his mother didn't come home, he still remembered her and muttered his grievance with a pouting mouth.

"Mommy has been busy with work and often goes on business trips." Under the gaze of Lu Jiaojer and her eldest son, Lu Xiaoning did not dare not respond or ignore her youngest son, so she reluctantly offered him this explanation.

This explanation was one Lu Jiaojer had prepared for her, out of fear that she wouldn't know what to say or how to find an excuse to coax a child.

"Then Dongdong forgives Mommy." Little Dongdong certainly knew what busy with work and business trips meant, so the little guy nodded understandingly and let the matter go.

Ten-year-old Gu Zhongning looked at Lu Xiaoning from afar. Unlike his younger brother, who was too young to understand anything, he understood everything. From the time Lu Xiaoning frequently stayed away from home to when she eventually made a fuss about getting a divorce, he had figured it all out.

This mother did not genuinely love him and his brother, nor did she want to stay in this family; she wanted a divorce so she could go abroad with someone else.

Just now, when his little brother rushed out to find their mother, he had wanted to stop him, but their young aunt beside him had pulled him back and silently shook her head, which was why Gu Zhongning hadn't pulled his little brother back.

"Let's have a barbecue today. Auntie has prepared a lot of delicious food, and I guarantee you'll want more after the first bite!"

At this moment, Lu Jiaojer proposed the day's activity. To keep both Lu Xiaoning and the children occupied and prevent them from staring at each other in awkward silence, she had organized this barbecue event.

Beef, pork ribs, chicken, pork belly, large intestines, thin intestines, squid, chives, cucumbers, and long beans—she had already washed and chopped all these ingredients, leaving only the skewering to be done.

The barbecue was set up right in their own courtyard. The bamboo skewers and the grill had been custom-made by someone Lu Jiaojer found a few days prior, while the charcoal had been fetched by the guard.

Upon receiving Lu Jiaojer's instructions, the guard called out to Gu Zhongning and the other children to help carry the tables and chairs out into the courtyard, where they all sat together to string the meats and vegetables onto skewers.

The children had never even heard of a barbecue, let alone tasted one, so they were extremely curious and excited. Even Gu Zhongning temporarily forgot his displeasure.

Gu Fengrui also came out in his wheelchair, joining the children in skewering the items for the grill. Unwilling to move about, Lu Xiaoning, at a gesture from Lu Jiaojer, simply held little Dongdong and watched from the side.

Lu Jiaojer demonstrated to everyone how to thread the meat and vegetables onto the skewers. When everything was nearly ready, she placed the charcoal into the grill and ignited it using a little lighting oil.

The seasonings—ground cumin, chili powder, soy sauce, paste, monosodium glutamate, oil, and two kinds of edible herbal powders uniquely researched and formulated by Lu Jiaojer—were all mixed together in a large basin.

Such a novel way of eating was considered extraordinary not only by the children, but even by Lu Xiaoning, the logistics auntie, and the guard, none of whom had ever experienced anything like it.

Under Lu Jiaojer's guidance, the children—and even little Dongdong—couldn't help wanting to grill things by themselves.

The lively atmosphere in the Gu family's courtyard quickly attracted the attention of people in the residential compound, especially the neighborhood children who had already come over to peer in upon hearing the commotion during the preparation of the skewers.

Sure enough, once the mouth-watering aroma of grilled meat drifted out, quite a few people gathered in the yard.

Besides, lunchtime was fast approaching.