The three large durians were already ripe. Because of durian’s strong smell, Song Tingshen would always politely decline eating it. Whenever there was durian in the refrigerator at home, he wouldn’t even open the refrigerator.

  After Ruan Xia and the housekeeper aunty worked together to break open the durian, they were pleasantly surprised that there were several pieces inside. In an instant, the room was filled with an intoxicating scent. The opened durian was put into the refrigerator to be chilled and eaten after dinner.

  After enough time had passed for them to digest dinner, under Little Wang’s expectant gaze, Ruan Xia opened the refrigerator, gave him a small piece and gave the housekeeper aunty a large piece. However, she didn’t try any herself. Ruan Xia had put herself on a strict diet.

  Later, Ruan Xia pulled Little Wang over and handed him a small glass bowl with durian inside. “Don’t misunderstand. This isn’t for you to eat.”


  Little Wang: “.…… Mom.”


  “This is for you dad. Bring this over to him.” Ruan Xia thought it over and added, “If your dad says he doesn’t want to eat it, tell him it’ll be wasting food if he doesn’t eat it.”


  Little Wang pouted. “Dad doesn’t want to eat durian, but I do.”


  The kiddo was very discerning. He knew that chilled durian wasn’t that much different than ice cream. No, that’s wrong. It was even better than ice cream. Dad didn’t like durian, but he liked it a lot.

  Ruan Xia hummed. “If you don’t eat anymore durian today, mom will make you durian box cakes. You can bring it to nursery school tomorrow and share it with your teacher and classmates. How does that sound?”


  She had always liked to make desserts, but she had been limited by her knowledge and skill level before. But now, after getting professional training in this area, her desserts already look very good. At the very least, she could make durian crepe cakes and durian box cakes without feeling any pressure.

  (T/N: Below are pictures of the two cakes.)

  TVM – 071 – durian crepe cake.jpg

  Little Wang immediately cheered up after hearing these words. He had already boasted about his mom being able to make yummy desserts countless times to his friends at nursery school. Thinking of how he would go to nursery school tomorrow and be the focus of everyone’s attention and how he would be able to hear everyone praise his mom, he gave up wheedling. He took the small glass bowl and scurried upstairs.

  Before Little Wang even reached the study’s doorway, Song Tingshen had already smelled the durian. Moving his gaze from his laptop screen to the doorway, he saw Little Wang rushing into the study and to his side in the following second.

  Offering up the small glass bowl with his chubby hands, Little Wang said, “Dad, have some durian.

  Of course, Song Tingshen refused. He shook his head and said, “Dad doesn’t want to eat it.”


  Just smelling it was enough to suffocate him, let alone eating it.

  Little Wang still shoved the little spoon at his dad. “Mom said it’s wasteful if you don’t eat it.”


  Song Tingshen: “.……”


  Was she making fun of him for buying three durians?

  “Wasting food is bad.” Little Wang continued to say, “Besides, dad, durian is really good. If you try some and it doesn’t taste good, you can…… hit me once!”


  Since his son had already spoken to such a point, Song Tingshen, who had vowed to be a good role model for his precious son, could only accept the spoon as if he was unflinchingly facing death. Under Little Wang’s attentive gaze, Song Tingshen tried a small bite of durian.

  Even though Song Tingshen had the outward demeanor of a lofty and profound individual, he loved sweet stuff, especially sweet buns. He liked Hangzhou-style cuisine the most.

  (T/N: Hangzhou is famous for their desserts. One of Hangzhou’s most famous desserts is flaky lotus puff pastry. Below is a picture.)

  TVM – 071 – lotus puff pastry.jpg

  The three durians that he had blindly chosen were ripe and very good. The sweet taste of durian spread through his mouth. Nice and cold, it was like eating ice cream.

  That’s probably how preferences worked. If you didn’t like a certain food, you wouldn’t have a craving for it and would baselessly refuse to eat it. But once you tried it and found out that you liked it, what was once intolerable about that food would become cute to you.

  At the very least, after tasting the durian, Song Tingshen no longer felt the smell of it was unbearable.