The Daily Life of a Female Esper in Ancient Times

Cao Dabao also became irritated and directly stabbed a meatball with his chopsticks. He began eating the delicious meatballs in large bites.

"Dabao, have some soup," Li Xia said, filling a bowl with soup and handing it to Cao Dabao. Cao Dabao took it and drank it down in one hearty gulp.

"Dabao, you're really impressive. Chengcheng, learn from your little brother. Look how delicious his big bites of food look, isn't that right, Dabao?" Li Xia said as she wiped Cao Dabao's mouth. Lu Liucheng looked at Cao Dabao's face covered in sauce and thought he certainly didn't want to be like that.

Cao Dabao puckered his lips to let Li Xia wipe his mouth, nodding his little head in agreement.

"Auntie, I'm full," Cao Dabao said, gesturing for Li Xia to untie the cloth around his neck.

Li Xia reached out to untie the cloth and the string tied around his sleeves. "Play in the room for a while. After auntie and your brothers finish eating, I'll take you all to do something fun, okay?"

"Okay," Cao Dabao obediently climbed down from his chair and played nearby.

Li Xia sat up straight, ready to eat, and saw her bowl filled with fish and shrimp. Lu XuanNing had noticed that Li Xia rarely ate fish because of the bones, finding it troublesome, and she was too lazy to peel shrimp, so she didn't eat much of that either. So when eating, he would now automatically remove the fish bones and peel the shrimp for Li Xia.

"Eat up," Lu XuanNing said, placing another piece of deboned fish meat in her bowl.

"Father, I want some too," Lu Liucheng held out his bowl.

Lu XuanNing picked up a piece of chicken and put it in his bowl. "Eat up."

"Father, I want fish and shrimp," Lu Liucheng said, unsatisfied. He could pick up chicken by himself.

Lu XuanNing picked up an unpeeled shrimp and put it in Lu Liucheng's bowl.

"Father, you're playing favorites," Lu Liucheng grumbled, dissatisfied. His mother got fish and shrimp with the shells removed, but his were left unpeeled.

"Between my wife and son, I'll definitely favor my wife," Lu XuanNing's unabashed words surprised Lu Xuanyu with their directness.

"Mother, I want to eat that," Lu Liucheng looked at Li Xia's bowl.

"These were peeled for me by your father. I can't give them to you. If you want to eat them, peel them yourself," Li Xia refused and quickly finished the fish and shrimp in her bowl.

Lu Liucheng turned away from his parents and looked towards Lu Xuanyu, calling out pitifully, "Uncle."

Lu Xuanyu looked at the peeled shrimp in his hand, then at Lu Liucheng, and put the shrimp in Lu Liucheng's bowl. "Eat up."

"Uncle loves me the most," Lu Liucheng said proudly, glancing at his parents across from him. But Lu XuanNing was ladling soup, and Li Xia was lowering her head to drink soup. Neither of them gave Lu Liucheng even a glance.

Lu Liucheng humphed and stuffed the shrimp into his mouth, chewing vigorously.

"Uncle, I want to eat shrimp too," Cao Dabao, finding this interesting, ran to Lu Xuanyu's side asking for shrimp.

"I'll peel some for you," Lu Xuanyu peeled shrimp for Cao Dabao to eat.

"Xuanyu is so good at taking care of others," Li Xia said in Lu XuanNing's ear.

"He was taught by mother to be unlike the Lu family," Lu XuanNing commented.

"Taking the imperial examinations isn't bad either. The battlefield is unpredictable," Li Xia could understand Madam Zhou's thinking, but her guidance for Lu Xuanyu was too strict.

"I'll talk to father about it," Lu XuanNing didn't want his own brother to be taught by his birth mother to become a pedantic bookworm.

After the meal, instead of returning to the manor, Li Xia and Lu XuanNing went to the theater. After years of development, theaters in the capital had grown rapidly.

Li Xia held Lu Liucheng's hand in one hand and Cao Dabao's in the other as they entered the theater. Behind them, Lu Xuanyu called out to Lu XuanNing, "Brother, aren't we going home?"

"We'll go back after watching the play," Lu XuanNing said, gesturing for Lu Xuanyu to come in with him.

"But brother, I haven't written the essay the teacher assigned," Lu Xuanyu said hesitantly.

"You have a three-day break. Play for one night, and write it tomorrow or the day after," Lu XuanNing said, pulling Lu Xuanyu towards the theater.

Lu Xuanyu struggled a bit. "But what about mother?"

"I've already sent someone to tell mother that you'll be staying at the Mansion of Marquis of Pacifying the South for two days of your break. If you're with me, mother won't say anything," Lu XuanNing said, not allowing Lu Xuanyu to refuse as he pulled him into the theater.

The play hadn't started yet, and the theater was very lively. The noisy sounds made Lu Xuanyu a bit uncomfortable, but also curious. This was a place he had never been before.

"Father/Uncle, Uncle/Uncle," Lu Liucheng and Cao Dabao waved to the two men from the second-floor private box.

"Let's go up," Lu XuanNing and Lu Xuanyu walked into the private box. Lu Liucheng and Cao Dabao were leaning against the window, excitedly watching the scene below. Qiuchan and Qiuling stood beside them to prevent them from falling.

"The fruit tea here is quite good," Li Xia handed a cup of fruit tea to Lu Xuanyu.

"Thank you, sister-in-law," Lu Xuanyu accepted the fruit tea and took a small sip. The sweet and sour flavor was quite nice. He couldn't help but take another sip, but then remembered what Madam Zhou had said about not indulging in external things, so he put down the tea.

"Is it not good?" Li Xia asked as she finished a cup and poured another. She clearly enjoyed the fruit tea.

"It's good," Lu Xuanyu said, picking up the cup and taking another sip.

"Their honey-coated puffed rice is quite delicious, try some," Li Xia pushed the plate of puffed rice in front of Lu Xuanyu for him to taste.

"Sister-in-law, I just ate and I'm not hungry," Lu Xuanyu picked up a few grains and ate them.

"Auntie, I want some too," Cao Dabao heard about the tasty treat and ran over. Lu Xuanyu took out the box, and Cao Dabao grabbed a handful of puffed rice and stuffed it into his mouth. Lu Liucheng, who came over shortly after, also grabbed a handful to eat.

"Delicious/Delicious," the two boys loved eating this and kept stuffing it into their mouths. Lu Xuanyu watched the two eating so inelegantly. He wanted to say something, but seeing that Li Xia didn't object, he didn't feel it was his place to comment.

"I can't eat anymore, Auntie, my tummy hurts," Cao Dabao, who had eaten too much, held his stomach and leaned against Li Xia.

Li Xia reached out to rub his stomach. "Remember next time, no matter how much you like something, don't eat too much. Overeating will make you feel uncomfortable like this."

Cao Dabao made a sound of agreement and leaned against Li Xia.

"Mother, I want that too," Lu Liucheng, seeing Cao Dabao leaning against his mother, disregarded what the teacher said about the separation of men and women. He came forward asking Li Xia to rub his stomach too.

Li Xia rubbed both their stomachs, teaching them not to overeat next time.

The two boys grunted, like two little pigs. This kind of mother-son affection was something Lu Xuanyu couldn't experience with Madam Zhou. Madam Zhou always told him to study hard, saying that was the only way to support the Beining Marquis Manor and bring his grandmother's family back to the capital.

The sound of gongs and drums rang out from downstairs, signaling that the good show was about to begin. Opening the window of the private box, Li Xia and Lu XuanNing each held a child, rubbing their stomachs while watching the play.

Lu Xuanyu sat to the side, curiously watching the theater below as the curtain rose.

Today's stage play was adapted from the Journey to the West, specifically the part where Tang Monk recruits Zhu Bajie as his disciple at Gao Family Village. The actor playing Zhu Bajie had the entire audience laughing uproariously as soon as he came on stage. Lu Liucheng and Cao Dabao laughed the hardest, finding it incredibly funny.

Lu Xuanyu no longer thought about how late it was getting, completely immersed in watching the play.

When it ended and all the performers took their bows, Lu Xuanyu finally realized it was over. Looking at the hourglass, he saw it was already the end of the dog hour and the beginning of the pig hour. Usually, he would have been resting by this time.

Lu Liucheng and Cao Dabao excitedly talked about Zhu Bajie carrying his bride. Lu Xuanyu followed behind the two. The family walked out of the theater and got into the carriage to return to the Mansion of Marquis of Pacifying the South.