Lin Momo took Lin Cheng out of the shanty town where they were temporarily living and led him to the Chaoyang Community next door.

Because it was an old-fashioned housing community, a lot of the areas on the first floor have been converted by the residents into their own courtyards, using solid cement or stone tables.

“Dad, look at this,” Lin Momo said to Lin Cheng, pointing at something on one of the stone tables.

At this time, there were several wickerwork pans placed on the stone table, and on the pans were some grain dough pieces that were drying out in the sun.

“I asked, this is made from coarse grains¹,” Lin Momo said. She then explained to Lin Cheng with a serious face, “They prepared ground coarse grains first, and then pressed it into such thin dough. When it hardens a little, you cut it into small diamond-shaped pieces like this. After it is completely dried, you can already put it away and just fry them when you want to eat it. Well, you can also soak it when you eat noodle soup. It’s super delicious.”

Listening to Lin Momo’s serious introduction, Lin Cheng raised his eyebrows, looked down at her, and asked with a chuckle, “How do you know how delicious it is?”

Lin Momo’s face heated up, and she smiled with a guilty conscience. “I just know it,” she said firmly.

… …

After listening to the conversation between the father and daughter, the audience in the livestream channel who knew the truth were all laughing:

[Hahaha, Momo’s Dad still doesn’t know that she snuck out after he went out. ]

[I don’t know if Momo can get away with it.]

… …

The truth was that earlier that day after Lin Cheng went out, Yang Fang—their neighbor next door—went to an auntie’s house in the community to get some tap water. Lin Momo said she wanted to help, so Yang Fang came over with Lin Momo and the two children.

At that time, an elder from the family on the first floor was drying these coarse grain flatcakes while frying some more on the earthen stove in the yard.

The aroma of fried coarse grains can be smelled from a distance of several meters.

The old man saw three children not far away looking at him with a look of ‘eagerness’, so he smiled, took a few pieces of the crispy, golden coarse grains from the large colander next to him, and handed them to the three children.

After eating the treat given given to them, Lin Momo and the others felt really grateful, so they helped the old man spread out all the remaining coarse grain flatcakes to dry and also asked for advice on how to make these things.

… …

[Momo: It smelled so good, I couldn’t help it. ]

[Stop talking, do we want Momo to lose face? Hahaha. ]

… …

Here, Lin Momo paused a moment, then finally remembered that she wanted to say.

“This is not what I wanted to talk about,” Lin Momo said with a serious face.

“What is it then?” Lin Chen asked patiently, holding back his laughter.

“Our soya dregs can also be made into this,” Lin Momo said. She paused, and seeming to be talking to herself, said,”The soya dregs cakes are so delicious, and they will definitely be eaten when they are made into thin crisps, and in this case, even if you can’t sell it all on the day, you don’t have to worry about it being spoiled.”

After listening to Lin Momo’s words, Lin Cheng thought about it and finally gave an affirmative answer, “Sounds good.”

The viscosity of soybean dregs was not as high as that of carbohydrate-based ingredients. If one wanted to make it into thin chips and ensure that it could maintain its shape after frying yet still have a certain fluffy and crispy texture, the ratio of soya dregs, flour, and starch needed to be tested many times over to be sure of the result.

“Then, shall we give it a try tomorrow?” urged Lin Momo.

“Okay.”

Hearing Lin Cheng say ‘okay’, the expression on Lin Momo’s face suddenly became excited.

… …

At this moment, two old ladies returning from a walk passed by.

Looking at Lin Momo, the two old ladies stopped.

“Isn’t this Little Momo?” one of the old ladies said with a smile on her face.

Lin Momo turned around, looked at the two grannies, and greeted them politely, “Grandma Wei and Grandma Wang, have you already had dinner tonight?”²

“Yes, has Little Momo eaten?”

“Yes, eaten. We had soya dregs-themed dinner today.”

“Oh, is that so?”

… …

Lin Cheng looked on as his daughter chatted familiarly with the two old ladies, a bit of surprise on his face. 

He had only been out for a short while. How come it felt like this girl has become so familiar with this area in such a short time?

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

The two old ladies warmly invited Lin Cheng and Lin Momo to go to their yard to enjoy the cool breeze.

Lin Cheng did not refuse, but Lin Momo first went back to their temporary home and called the two little daughters of their neighbors—Hu Mao and Yang Fang’s children—to join them.

Eventually several people came together into this small courtyard in the middle of the community.

The yard was surrounded by several old-fashioned residential buildings nearby. There was a trellis in the middle with a few plants around it. There was a large tree and around it were some benches made of cement and stone slabs; there were also some old sofas and old chairs.

At this time, many elderly residents and children from upstairs and downstairs came to enjoy the shade in the yard. While the children played, the old men, old ladies, aunts, and uncles sat together in twos and threes, chatting away.

The content of these people’s chats were nothing more than some interesting things that happened recently; some old stories from more than ten years ago; which actress appeared in a certain TV series as a villainess; and some gossip from the left and those from the right. 

Lin Cheng was not very interested in these topics, but Lin Momo beside him was swinging her legs as they dangled from her chair, listening to the gossip with relish.

Hu Mao’s two daughters were sitting on the side, looking a little awkward and nervous amidst the crowd.

In the past, except for following their parents to the auntie’s house to fetch some tap water, they rarely came to the community, and there were usually no children here who played with them.

But they were children after all—the two little girls quickly adapted to such an environment, and they soon followed Lin Momo in listening to the old people’s gossip with great interest.

Serve as Contrast Team in a ‘Dad with Baby’ Show translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

---

So! It’s been a while, yeah? I really had no intention of taking such a long break (this story was supposed to be finished by December last year by my count) but somehow the days kept passing by. I had originally resolved to resume posting on January to start the year right but suffered a major illness—I was felled by a mosquito. They are evil, and their size is inversely proportional to my hospital bill.

If all goes well, I’ll be resuming regular posts for this story moving forward. I hope you’re all still into reading this.

If you’re enjoying my translations, do consider buying me ko-fi and get access to advance chapters as reward. Thank you for your support! ☺️
Chapter 87.2 — Wallpaper
Chapter 87.3 — Wallpaper
Chapter 88.1 — New Product
Chapter 88.2 — New Product
Chapter 88.3 — New Product
Chapter 89.1 — No Money
Chapter 89.2 — No Money
Chapter 89.3 — No Money
Chapter 90.1 — Bargaining
Chapter 90.2 — Bargaining
Chapter 90.3 — Bargaining

1. Coarse grains here refer to grains and beans that are not part of the 5 major crops (rice, wheat, corn, soybeans, and potatoes). These would include sorghum, millet, barley etc. ↩︎