"Come, this is your food, taste my cooking!" Mother Song looked at them expectantly.
Yun Duo'er picked up her chopsticks, awkwardly picked up a piece of vegetable, and put it in her mouth.
The director didn't rush to eat. He was observing Yun Duo'er's expression. If anything seemed off, he definitely wouldn't touch that dish.
The moment the food entered Yun Duo'er's mouth, her stomach churned.
Why did she taste fishiness in a vegetable dish, and it was also incredibly salty?
It was so overwhelming, it reached the top of her head, like one of the top ten tortures of the Qing Dynasty.
But showing her disgust on camera would affect her persona. So, she suppressed the nausea and forced a smile, "It's not bad, Mother Song, you're quite skilled at cooking."
Seeing this, Director Wang thought the dish was actually good, forgetting that Yun Duo'er was an actress. He immediately picked up a chopstickful and ate it.
Only then did he realize he had been tricked. This dish had nothing to do with being delicious; it almost made him throw up.
It was only his professional demeanor that prevented him from losing composure.
He, like Yun Duo'er, praised Mother Song with a clear conscience.
Mother Song beamed when she heard they both liked it, "Really? I knew my cooking wasn't bad. Your father-in-law said it was difficult to eat. I think he's just tired of it, which is why he never eats at home. Since you think it's delicious, eat more. This is plain boiled meat. Try dipping it in this sauce."
With that, she picked up clean chopsticks, served a few pieces of meat for each of them, lest they felt embarrassed to eat.
Under her watchful eye, they all took a bite of the meat with trepidation.
They had never eaten meat like this before. The taste was exactly as they had imagined; the meat had not been properly prepared and was extremely fishy.
Even though the sauce was good, it couldn't hide the fishiness of the meat.
"Help yourselves, I need to feed Yi Cheng." Mother Song, seeing them picking at their rice, picked up her son's bowl and scooped some crucian carp and tofu soup.
Then, she did something that stunned everyone. Before feeding him, she tied a bib around Song Yi Cheng's neck, treating him like a small child.
Seeing their stunned faces, she quickly explained, "My son eats very cleanly. I'm just afraid I'll mess up his clothes while feeding him. His clothes are expensive, and it would be a waste if they got stained and couldn't be washed clean."
With that, she turned to her son, picked up a spoonful of soup, blew on it.
Then, she tested the temperature on her own mouth, and once she confirmed it wasn't too hot, she brought it to Song Yi Cheng's lips, "Ah, open wide!"
Song Yi Cheng's hands were holding a foreign language book. He was reading intently. Hearing his mother's voice, he instinctively opened his mouth, without looking at her once.
Whatever she fed him, he ate.
The director shook his head secretly, thinking this child was truly spoiled. What good was being a genius if he was useless in daily life?
Mother Song, unaware, even bragged to them, "Look how diligent my Yi Cheng is. He doesn't forget to read even while eating. He's reading Arabic."
"Mother Song, haven't you ever thought of letting Yi Cheng feed himself? You can feed him now, but you can't feed him forever," Yun Duo'er couldn't watch anymore.
Mother Song was very resistant, "Even if I can't feed him forever, he'll learn to eat on his own when he grows up. He's still so young, the most important thing is his studies. Go out and see for yourself, which child knows more than my son? I also know my son studies hard, so I make him various nutritious soups for his three meals. I even take him for a physical check-up every six months, so he's very healthy!"
Seeing Mother Song's stance, Yun Duo'er couldn't say anything more and could only lower her head and eat plain rice.
If Mother Song hadn't focused all her attention on Song Yi Cheng, she would have noticed that Yun Duo'er and the others hadn't touched a single dish since, only eating plain rice.
But just as they finished their rice and felt a little dry, preparing to get some crucian carp and tofu soup.
Mother Song noticed them and said apologetically, "I'm so sorry, everyone. This soup is specially prepared for my son alone. He drinks a bowl of soup every noon, and I'll reheat the leftovers for him in the afternoon. If you want soup, you can have some of the broth from the boiled meat. I added soy sauce, so it should taste quite good too."
Yun Duo'er was so scared she waved her hands repeatedly, "No... no need. I'm full." She'd rather be killed than drink that soup.
The director quickly put down his bowl, also stating he was full.
This meal was a form of torture.
No matter what, they wouldn't be eating at her house tomorrow. Being here today made him feel like Mother Song was repaying kindness with enmity.
"Are you really full? I see you haven't touched the dishes. Are they not tasty?" Mother Song's gaze fell on the dishes, noticing that what she had made was mostly left untouched.
Yun Duo'er smiled, "We've eaten plenty of dishes, we really can't eat anymore. Regardless, thank you for your hospitality. You've worked very hard."
Mother Song waved it off, "What's there to thank? You're not here to eat, I still have to cook every day. By the way, how many days do you plan to film here?"
The director didn't know her intention for asking but answered honestly, "Three days."
As soon as he spoke, Mother Song said, "Then you'll eat at my place for these three days. It's been a long time since my home was this lively. You absolutely cannot refuse, otherwise, I'll think you don't like my cooking." She deliberately said this, fearing they would feel embarrassed to eat at her house every day, thus giving them a reason they couldn't refuse.
Yun Duo'er looked pleadingly at the director. Today's meal was enough for her to remember for a lifetime. Forcing her to eat for another two days would be the death of her. She even had the urge to quit filming if she had to eat here. It wasn't worth risking her life for the show.
Fortunately, the director also didn't want to risk his life here. He came up with an excuse, "Mother Song, I'm truly sorry, but besides filming Yi Cheng's daily life, we also have other programs to record, so we probably won't have time to eat at your place. However, we appreciate your kindness. I'll treat you to a meal another time."
Now he finally understood why Song Yi Cheng's father never ate at home. It was a wise decision! With this cooking, why would they stay? Did she have any self-awareness? Were the dishes too salty or too bland? Couldn't she taste it? Old Mo seriously suspected this woman had a taste bud problem; otherwise, how could she tolerate such flavors? It was a pity that Song Yi Cheng not only had to study relentlessly every day but also had to eat this inedible food.
Mother Song didn't catch on to the excuse and instead felt a bit regretful, "Is that so? I was planning to make a few more hard dishes tomorrow. But since you're busy with work, there's nothing that can be done. I'll cook for you again when there's an opportunity!"
"Alright!" The director immediately agreed, thinking to himself that he'd be a dog if he ever ate her cooking again.
Yun Duo'er didn't expect the director to have such a move and immediately gave him an admiring look.