In the private room.
Olivia sat quietly and watched the broth in her hotpot bubbled. As Brenda had not arrived yet, Olivia placed a few pieces of vegetables and potatoes into the broth.
She also ordered a few bottles of beer.
The vegetables and potatoes were almost cooked. Olivia took them out of the broth and placed them onto her plate. Then she swirled some meat in the broth. When that was cooked too, she took the meat out and dipped it into sauce she mixed herself and ate it with the vegetables.
That was her favorite way of eating hotpot.
Then, she ate a piece of the potato, and opened a bottle of beer and drank it.
Ah, she missed the taste of such dishes. She hadn't eaten hotpot for over six months when she was abroad. Her nose felt slightly blocked, and her eyes watery. She reached out for a napkin and gently dabbed it at the corner of her eye.
Knock, knock...
Someone knocked on the door. Olivia raised her
head and figured that it might be her mother.
With the thought in mind, Olivia put down her cutleries, approached the door and opened it.
Brenda stood in front of Olivia, looking beautiful. She had dressed up specially, put on a nice dress and makeup just to meet Olivia.
Although Brenda liked to dress up in the past as well, ever since Ollie left, Brenda hadn't been in the mood to do so like before. For the longest time, she hadn't paid attention to her appearance and as a result, her skin no longer had the healthy glow that it once had.
As she was going to meet up with Ollie, Brenda had frantically applied skincare products and put on a face mask before putting on her makeup. She hoped that it would help her look healthier and younger.
When the mother and daughter met, both of them were quiet. After a while, Olivia reluctantly smiled.
"Mom."
Brenda walked carefully into the room.
Click!
After the door of the private room was closed, only did Brenda see that Olivia was eating hotpot.
"I didn't know when you would arrive, so I began eating first and also drank some beer."
Suddenly, Olivia belched. The mother and daughter duo were stunned by that and couldn't help laughing at each other after a while.
As they continued to laugh at each other, their tears couldn't help but to stream down their faces. Soon, they were crying uncontrollably.
When they finally calmed down, both ladies had their make up ruined. However, none of them cared the least as they were a family, so they sat down and started eating the hotpot together without even touching up on their makeup.
Brenda looked at the hotpot and immediately said, "What kind of hotpot is this? If it's hotpot, you should make it hotter. Have you been abroad for so long that you couldn't eat spicy food anymore?"
"Who said I can't eat spicy food anymore? I didn't add too much chilli because of you, okay?"
"Oh, so it's my fault then?" Brenda teased Olivia, "Don't you know when I was pregnant with you, I ate nothing but spicy food? Do you think I'll lose to you?"
"Mom, you are outdated. Haven't you heard of the saying 'the student surpasses the teacher'? Don't challenge me! I'll surely win."
"Okay, should we get the waiter to add more chilli and compete?"
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