Chapter 32

“So, Mom, here’s what I did…”

I listened intently to Ha-yeon’s kindergarten stories. Her vivid experiences made it feel like I was right there with her. Ha-yeon chattered away with her tiny mouth, her voice as pleasant as a nightingale’s, so I kept listening.

I even chimed in occasionally. They say kids start talking the moment they wake up, and that was spot on. Ha-yeon didn’t let her mouth rest for a second after waking up, always trying to keep the conversation going.

Of course, if I looked tired, Ha-yeon would notice and either read a book or play with her mobile phone. But I didn’t want her to feel bad, so I tried my best to listen.

From Ha-yeon’s perspective, she was enthusiastically sharing her kindergarten adventures, and if her mom looked like she was struggling to listen, it would hurt her feelings. So, while folding laundry, I kept listening.

“Hehe…!”

Ha-yeon was beaming, her smile alone healing my exhausted body from all the housework. And Ha-yeon always helped out when I was doing chores. Even if I told her she could sit on the couch and watch TV, she rarely listened.

Right now, she was folding towels beside me. Every towel passed through her hands. Since it was just the two of us living together, there wasn’t much laundry. Compared to a family of four, being a duo meant fewer chores.

“Done!”

Ha-yeon neatly stacked the folded towels into a tower. I carried the tower to the restroom, placing half on the shelf and the other half within Ha-yeon’s reach. If I put all the towels on the top shelf, Ha-yeon, being short, wouldn’t be able to reach them, so it was necessary to keep some lower.

“You’re really good at folding towels, Ha-yeon!”

“I learned perfectly from you!”

It was true I showed her how to fold towels, but she was way better at it than me. In fact, she might be better than I was.

After finishing the rest of the chores, I flopped onto the couch. Housework wasn’t that hard, but it always made me want to lie down. Ha-yeon saw me lying there and dove into my arms. I carefully caught her so she wouldn’t get hurt.

If she rolled off the couch, it’d be a disaster. Though Ha-yeon’s athletic skills were impressive, so she probably wouldn’t get seriously hurt. She hadn’t awakened as a Hunter yet, but her physical abilities were already beyond most kids her age.

Honestly, she could’ve been an Olympic athlete with her skills. Of course, that was all pointless now. Once she awakened as a Hunter, she wouldn’t be able to participate in regular sports.

“Mom, I’m hungryyyyy.”

Come to think of it, I hadn’t eaten lunch yet because of the housework. I looked at Ha-yeon and said, “Should I make some delicious fried rice?”

“Hmm… I want something else!”

“Oh? What do you feel like eating?”

Ha-yeon pondered deeply. At her age, there were so many things she wanted to eat. I remember when I was in kindergarten or elementary school, I craved so many foods but couldn’t afford them.

But now was different. I had some savings, and our financial situation was stable enough to splurge on food occasionally. Of course, we still had to be frugal, but I didn’t want Ha-yeon to go without what she wanted.

At the very least, I wanted to be ready to give Ha-yeon whatever she desired. That’s what being a good parent was about, right? Ha-yeon looked at me and said, “I want black bean noodles!”

“Black bean noodles?”

“Yeah!”

Ha-yeon nodded, looking at me. I immediately grabbed my phone, ready to order through a delivery app. There were plenty of Chinese restaurants listed.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen a proper Chinese restaurant lately. Back in the day, they used to pack their dishes with all sorts of ingredients, making them really tasty. But nowadays, with ingredient prices soaring, it seemed like they only used black bean paste.

Back then, there were beans and plenty of vegetables, but now? I heard running a Chinese restaurant was incredibly tough. The low pay and grueling work meant few young people were willing to take over, leaving mostly older folks running them.

Anyway, I stopped overthinking and asked Ha-yeon, “Which restaurant should we order from?”

I showed her the phone screen. When it came to choosing food, Ha-yeon’s taste was absolute. Plus, she was way better at finding good places than I was. I had no idea how she did it.

Ha-yeon took my phone and said, “Wait a sec!”

She tapped away, checking reviews and ratings. Avoiding trap restaurants required thorough research. Places with no reviews or low ratings usually served terrible food.

Even highly-rated places with lots of reviews could disappoint, but low-rated ones were almost guaranteed to be bad. Filtering out those was crucial.

“This one looks good, Mom!”

“Really?”

The place Ha-yeon picked had tons of reviews and high ratings. The description was straightforward, no lengthy self-introductions like some other places.

“Mom, you’re getting black bean noodles, right?”

“Yep. Are you getting them too?”

*Nods.*

Ha-yeon and I had the same taste. That’s why we never had menu conflicts. Usually, some people preferred black bean noodles while others wanted spicy seafood noodles, leading to arguments. But with just the two of us, the majority decided.

“Get me a double portion, Ha-yeon!”

Lately, the portions for black bean noodles had been shrinking. I remember back in the day, a regular order was plenty, but now it barely filled half my stomach. Watching the portions shrink reminded me of ice cream.

Nowadays, since they can’t raise prices, they just make the servings smaller. Some ice cream bars are almost half the size they used to be.

“Double portion? Got it!”

Ha-yeon completed the order smoothly. I could’ve done it myself, but I let her handle it for educational purposes! That’s what I told myself, anyway.

*Ding-dong.*

Before I knew it, the black bean noodles had arrived. While other places like chicken joints were slow, Chinese restaurants were lightning-fast with deliveries.

I got up to get the food, but Ha-yeon stopped me.

“Mom! You can’t go out like that!”

“Huh?”

Even though I was in pajamas, it was fine for receiving deliveries. Though, without a bra, my chest was pretty noticeable. It couldn’t be helped. Having a larger chest meant it was hard to hide, even in loose clothes.

If I had a smaller chest, this wouldn’t be an issue.

“I’ll get it!”

So Ha-yeon went to get the food instead. I just peeked out to make sure she was handling it okay. It wasn’t hard, and even as a kindergartener, Ha-yeon managed to get the noodles by herself. The payment was already done through the app, so all she had to do was open the door and let the delivery person place the food inside.

Once the delivery person left, Ha-yeon called me over.

“Mom, come here!”

“Okay…”

It felt like our roles had reversed, but I didn’t mind. Ha-yeon was smart, after all. Call it protagonist buff if you will.