Chapter 140 - The Gulf Between Father and Daughter (1/2)

Mo Huawen was about to say that he did not want to eat, but he swallowed his words and removed his hand from his desk. He smiled at her lightly and nodded, gesturing for her to enter.

A flash of joy appeared in Mo Xuetong’s eyes and she heaved the box onto the table with some effort. She reached out to pick up the books scattered on Mo Huawen’s desk and then placed some scrolls onto the shelves by the desk. That was where Mo Huawen’s doc.u.ments which he handled daily were placed.

“Father, Grandmother sent these boxes of snacks last night. You were asleep, so I did not come to bother you. I only heated them just now and they are best with porridge. Father, try the porridge I made. You must not let the effort I put in go in vain.” Mo Xuetong heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that Mo Huawen did not mind her being close to him despite his distant expression. She opened the box and set out the little dishes of snacks.

There was Mo Huawen’s favorite crispy duck, sweet lotus pastry, drunken fish, cuc.u.mbers in sauce, cold tofu…and a large pot of porridge that looked delicious. Mo Xuetong scooped a bowl of porridge for Mo Huawen and put it in front of him. Mo Xuetong only regained her calmness after that and looked up with a smile. “Father, try this. I made this porridge. Is it good?”

Mo Huawen took a sip of the porridge as Mo Xuetong looked on expectantly. It was not too thin or too thick, and was not too hot or cold. It was very good. Mo Huawen could not help but take a second measured look at Mo Xuetong. He saw her taking two sips of her own porridge, smiling happily, and for some reason, he felt remorseful.

“Tong’er…”Mo Huawen put his bowl down with a grave expression. One could not tell if it was guilt or love in his eyes.

“Father, is the porridge I made good? If not, I can make improvements next time. Anyway, I want to eat it myself too and I like eating with Father best.” Mo Xuetong winked at Mo Huawen playfully, as if she could not sense the tense atmosphere in the room and spoke about something else instead.

Mo Xuetong had not learned how to cook in Cloud City. While Mdm Qin might not have liked her, she still had to put up a facade and would not allow her to cook. Furthermore, Mother Xu had always been with her and she only had to ask if she wanted to eat anything. She did not have to do anything herself.

After marrying Sima Lingyun in her past life, his mean mother had asked Mo Xuetong to wait on her personally and had bullied her. In order to make delicious food that the d.u.c.h.ess would eat, Mo Xuetong had spent much effort and burnt her hands many times. However, Sima Lingyun would only tell her to be more careful indifferently and not say anything else.

She thought that he was being considerate towards his mother and could not say anything else. She only understood now that he did not care about her. So why would he care whether she was injured or not?

When she thought of that, coldness seeped into her eyes. She had been reborn to seek revenge. She would not spare a single person who had hurt her and caused her to be engulfed in flames.

“Tong’er, this is really good. But don’t cook in the future. There are so many servants, if you cook, then what do we have them for? You’ve only just come to the capital and are not familiar with the n.o.ble ladies here. You should meet them more often and don’t stay in the kitchen.” Mo Huawen could not help but reach out to pat her head. His anger dissipated when he saw the brilliant smile on his daughter’s face. He picked up his chopsticks and started eating with gusto.

Mo Xuetong relaxed and smiled when she saw Mo Huawen’s kind and concerned expression.

She scooped herself a small bowl of porridge and sat with Mo Huawen, accompanying him as he ate. The two did not speak while eating and ate slowly. Only the sounds of them eating could be heard in the room. It was calm and peaceful and made one feel relaxed. Mo Huawen’s gloomy feeling abated in the peaceful atmosphere.

Mo Huawen finished eating moments later. Mo Xuetong put her bowl down and went to the door to get Mo Yu to clean up. Mo Huawen’s servant went to make two cups of Longjing tea and helped Mo Yu to clean up the bowls and chopsticks before the two left silently.

Mo Huawen took a sip of his tea and asked with a grave expression, “Tong’er, do you still remember the maids called Chun, Xia, Qiu, and Dong, your mother had?”

Mo Xuetong naturally remembered that her mother had four personal maids, but she did not know why Mo Huawen was asking her this right now. She nodded in confusion and said, “Of course I remember Yinchun and the others. They did their best in serving Mother. I even asked Nanny Ming to find out about them some time ago and heard that they were not doing well.”

Yinchun had smashed herself against Mo Xuetong’s mother’s coffin and died. Xiang Qiu had fallen ill and died shortly after. Hexia had gone missing, and while Xuedong was still around, she had gone mad. She could not even recognize her family.

“Were they all present when your mother pa.s.sed away?” Mo Huawen’s expression was very grave and he lowered his voice subconsciously. Despite so, Mo Xuetong could still sense the slight waver in his voice. Mo Xuetong had always wanted to find out what happened then. And now that Mo Huawen brought it up, she felt a little emotional and nibbled on her lips.

“Father, why didn’t you send Mother off then?” She had always wanted to ask this question, but from her past life until now, she had never found the right time to do so. Now that she was affected by Mo Huawen’s emotions, she felt that it would stay and stifle her if she never said it. It was bitterly painful. This was the reason for their estrangement. She used to think that Mo Huawen was the most unfit husband and father. But after what happened all this while, Mo Xuetong saw her father with different eyes.