"Alright, alright, Dad won't say anymore."
Seeing his daughter wasn't in a good mood, the old father quickly stopped talking and said with a kindly expression,
"The dormitory building is just ahead. We'll put the luggage in the dorm first, then we can come down for lunch. It's almost noon, and you only had a little to eat in the morning. You must be very hungry."
Liu Sili didn't say anything, her little face stern, and she lifted her foot to walk forward.
She knew in her heart that no matter what, none of this was her dad's fault. She shouldn't take her anger out on him, but she couldn't bring herself to say "sorry" to him.
The two went upstairs to the dormitory and found that their roommates hadn't arrived yet. Liu Sili chose a bed by the window, and placed the mattress and bedding she brought on it, then the father and daughter closed the door and went downstairs.
"There doesn't seem to be any large restaurants near the school. How about I take you into town to find a place to eat?"
This was Jiangzhou University's new campus, only relocated for a few years. The surrounding commercial atmosphere wasn't strong, with only a few scattered small vendors selling various fruits and snacks.
The old father naturally didn't want to treat his precious daughter badly. He hoped to take her to eat something nice to make her happy,
"Jiangzhou has a lot of local specialties like stir-fried bracken with smoked pork, steamed pork with rice flour, and crockpot soup. Those are all well-known. I'll take you to try them, you should like it."
"It's so hot, it's better not to go so far, and besides, I don't have much appetite. Let's just eat casually in the school cafeteria."
At this point, Liu Sili paused, bit her lip, and said quietly,
"Dad, don't worry. Since I've already enrolled, I'm definitely going to focus on my studies. I was wrong before and shouldn't have gotten so angry with you."
"Silly child, what are you talking about? Dad doesn't care about anything, as long as you're doing well."
Hearing his daughter's words, the old father suddenly felt his nose tinge a bit sour. His daughter really had grown up and learned to care about her father's feelings.
He sniffed hard and said with a smile,
"Since you don't want to go out, we'll go to the cafeteria. It's a good chance to check out the cafeteria's environment and see if the food suits your taste..."
The father and daughter walked to the cafeteria, one after the other.
It was already mealtime, and the cafeteria was bustling with people, filled with laughter and conversation, and the aroma of food permeated the air.
"This is the second canteen. I heard from a sophomore that there are six canteens of various sizes in the school."
The old father looked at the large characters on the cafeteria's outer wall, turned, and said to his daughter,
"The second canteen is close to the dormitory. If you don't want to walk far, just eat here. After you're tired of it, try out the other canteens. It's okay if it's more expensive—just tell Dad if you need more money.
Studying away from home, you must eat well and stay warm so your parents don't worry."
"Got it."
"Okay, let's go in and see what you feel like eating. Get whatever you want."
The old father smiled and walked into the cafeteria first. As soon as he entered, he was taken aback by the scene before him:
What on earth, you have to line up this long to buy food in a university cafeteria?!
"Dad, why are there so many people?"
Liu Sili, who was following behind, was also dumbfounded.
Isn't this school supposed to have six canteens?
How come we still have to queue up just to eat?
Could it be that all the students are crammed into this one canteen?
"I don't know either..."
The old father had just spoken when he realized something was wrong.
The canteen was big, with over twenty different food windows just on the first floor, each selling its unique food. However, other windows had no lines, with only a few people scattered around buying food.
But in front of the window labeled "Jiang Family Soup Dumplings," there were at least dozens of people in line!
It was like a light bulb went off in his head, and he turned excitedly to his daughter:
"Dad knows why!
Look, there are no lines in front of other windows, but there's such a long line here. What does that tell us?
It means the food they sell here must be delicious!
You find a place to sit first. If you're thirsty, go buy something to drink. I'll queue up now to get some for you to try!"
Without waiting for his daughter's response, he quickly turned and ran to the end of the line.
The slightly chubby silhouette quickly disappearing resembled the scene Liu Sili had once studied from Zhu Ziqing's essay "The Back View."
Liu Sili stood there watching for a while, then slowly turned and found an empty table to sit at, quietly waiting for her father to return.
More than half an hour later, the old father returned, carrying a large tray with two stacked small steamers and two bowls of soup on it.
They must have been freshly made; both the steamers and the soup were steaming slightly, making them look very appetizing.
"While I was in line, I heard those students saying the soup dumplings here are delicious, and they're even better with hot and sour soup. I don't know if it's true, but with so many people lining up to buy them, they can't be bad."
The old father placed the steamers on the table and handed a bowl of hot and sour soup to his daughter, advising,
"You must be very hungry, eat while it's hot. But be careful with the soup dumplings; they're filled with hot soup, so don't burn your mouth."
Liu Sili nodded and said, "Mm, you eat too, Dad."
"Dad's not hungry. You eat first."
"Mm."
Knowing that her dad wanted to see her eat, Liu Sili didn't say much more and picked up a soup dumpling with her chopsticks, placing it in her spoon.
Though she had never tasted soup dumplings before, she had seen plenty online, so she knew how to eat them.
She brought the dumpling to her mouth, bit a small hole, and gently sipped. She was instantly stunned.
The first sensation was the umami. This umami was unlike the singular taste that comes from food additives; it was innate, generated by a magical interaction among various ingredients, rich and mellow.
This umami seemed to make every cell in her body tremble and every nerve want to shout in joy.
The ensuing sensation was the aroma, which, like the umami, came from the ingredients themselves. The rich chicken broth intermingled with the fragrance of pork, soft and delicate.
The aroma of the green onions was far more domineering, bursting through with a fresh and lively scent, invigorating the spirit.
Liu Sili was not a gourmet. She couldn't pick out so many flavors—her mind was left with only two words:
Delicious!
What divine kind of soup dumplings are these?!
She had never tasted anything so delicious in her life!
She didn't even want to lift her head, raising her spoon to her mouth to devour the dumpling, chewing enthusiastically.
One after another, she devoured the entire steamer of soup dumplings in no time.
Yet, it still wasn't enough!
She looked up at her father, who hadn't had a chance to eat his dumplings yet, her eyes filled with longing but hesitant to speak.
Seeing this, her father naturally didn't hesitate, pushing the steamer forward with a smile:
"Do you like this? Then eat; Dad's not hungry yet."
"Mm, thank you, Dad!"
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Liu Sili gave a soft thank you before using her chopsticks to pick another one up and put it in her mouth.
As she ate, she suddenly remembered the hot and sour soup beside her, took a sip, and her eyes widened in surprise:
"Wow! It's so sour! So spicy! But it's really good!"
Before her father could respond, she began to alternate between bites of soup dumpling and sips of soup, eating eagerly.
By now, Liu Sili's bad mood had long disappeared; she even felt a little grateful:
Thank goodness the selection brought her to Jiangzhou University; otherwise, where would she find such delicious soup dumplings and hot and sour soup?
No matter if Cheng Jiayi went to Modu University, she would never taste something this good in her life!
The old father sat silently on the opposite side, watching his daughter eating and drinking in large bites, with a string of inexplicable worry in his heart:
His daughter's appetite was small before; could it be that she's still not feeling well?
If she keeps eating like this, won't she soon turn herself into a chubby kid?