Switched Life:I Went Viral on a Family Variety Show-Chapter 76: There Can Only Be One Mom

On the way back, the guests tacitly avoided mentioning what had just happened. Disputes are normal, and now that it’s over, continuing to console the two parties would somehow feel like fueling the fire.

Unexpectedly, Hu Zhi turned her head and completely tossed the matter aside, chatting incessantly with Shen Yi in the same car.

"Xiao Shen, Auntie’s cooking is amazing. Today, you’re lucky to indulge yourself! I’ll let you taste what true culinary delight is like in a bit."

After saying this, she wasn’t satisfied enough. She listed out all her signature dishes and asked Shen Yi what he wanted to eat—a promise to whip it up for him.

Shen Yi replied with the enigmatic three words: "Anything works."

Hu Zhi, slapping her thigh enthusiastically, exclaimed, "Alright! Since you’re hyping up Auntie’s cooking, I’ll make them all! Trust me to feed you to your heart’s content!"

Recalling the dozens of dish names Hu Zhi had just rattled off, Shen Yi instantly felt his stomach tighten and put on a rare look of panic: "Uh, Auntie... maybe just make braised pork today instead."

Hu Zhi raised both hands dramatically, creating a theatrical gesture with her wrists turned upwards, then dragged her voice into an operatic tone: "Braised pork, such a trifling task—await my masterpiece! I’ll cook it for you, and you shall taste its splendor—!"

[Social butterfly strikes again. Suddenly, I find Hu Zhi exudes an irresistible charm, one that ignores anyone else’s plight.]

[The Sang Family is an entire clan of social butterflies. Only Sang Ning seems like a normal person.]

Sang Chuan discreetly rolled his eyes at Hu Zhi while looking at her like she was an idiot. His mom was totally embarrassing.

Sang Ning’s expression remained poker-faced, though the slight twitch at the corner of her mouth betrayed her mood at the moment.

Meanwhile, Shen Yi awkwardly chuckled a few times in return: "Aunt Hu, your voice is really... something!"

Then, attempting to escape, he pretended to enjoy the scenery and turned his head to the other side.

But as soon as he turned his head, he saw the tricycle carrying Chu Xi and Li Sulan passing by their car and heading forward.

On the tricycle, Li Sulan kept her head hung low like she had suffered a grim blow and appeared dispirited.

Shen Yi turned back to glance at Sang Ning next. She, too, was quietly gazing at Hu Zhi with what seemed like a trace of amusement in her eyes.

Having almost no curiosity before, Shen Yi suddenly felt nosy—what exactly had happened between Sang Ning, Hu Zhi, and Li Sulan?

Arriving at Yuan Village, the guests carried their ingredients toward the renovated cow shed.

Li Sulan gradually recovered from her earlier gloom. Watching the Sang Family trio chatter and laugh together, she felt deeply upset.

Sang Ning had only been with the Sang Family for a few days, and yet her relationship with them seemed to have blossomed so quickly?

Then what about her, as the woman who had been her mother for decades—what did that count for?

At this thought, she suddenly straightened her back. Her pride refused to let anyone trample on it.

She was determined to show Sang Ning who between Hu Zhi and herself was the truly dignified mother.

"Xixi, what would you like to eat tonight? Mom will cook it for you herself."

Li Sulan immediately put on a different face, linking arms with Chu Xi, exuding an exaggeratedly affectionate maternal posture.

Chu Xi felt completely baffled. Li Sulan—what sort of mood swing is this now?

She was on the brink of despair a second ago, and now she’s suddenly sunshine and smiles. Could she be suffering from split personality?

"Mom... Maybe I should cook instead," Chu Xi answered awkwardly. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

Li Sulan was a woman who had never entered the kitchen before; whatever meal she prepared—would it even be edible? Hopefully, she wouldn’t accidentally poison Chu Xi.

"No way." Li Sulan stopped and gripped her shoulders tightly, turning her around to face her. With a deadly serious expression, she said, "Yesterday’s dinner was cooked by you for Mom, so today it’s Mom’s turn. You can’t just dote on Mom; Mom needs to dote on her daughter too. You’re my only daughter—if I don’t spoil you, then who should I spoil?"

She deliberately raised her voice as she said this, but her peripheral vision noticed that Sang Ning, who walked ahead, showed zero reaction.

Instead, Chu Xi suddenly felt her heart warm up. She clutched Li Sulan’s hand in excitement and called out sincerely, "Mom~"

After being back at the Chu Family for so long, Li Sulan’s concerns for her had always been superficial. Besides money, she only offered more money.

Li Sulan now willingly cooking for her—pretending not to be touched would be an outright lie.

Hu Zhi spent the entire way boasting about her exceptional cooking, leaving everyone eager to enjoy a feast.

Once they arrived at the courtyard, Sang Youming and Mr. Shen were still asleep. The guests took it upon themselves to prepare barbecue ingredients and asked Grandma Song to assist Hu Zhi with tonight’s dinner.

Li Sulan also prepared dinner, though she stubbornly refused anyone’s help.

Watching her struggle frantically, Chu Xi felt a surge of nerves—her mom better not accidentally hurt herself with the knife or start crying afterward.

Seeing how persistent she was, Chu Xi decided to leave her alone.

With barbecue and Hu Zhi in charge of cooking, there was no need to worry about food, so she relieved herself of any mental burden and went over to help Shen Yi set up the grill.

Observing Hu Zhi slicing tofu, Li Sulan took a block of tofu herself and decided to copy Hu Zhi’s technique.

She refused to believe her intelligent brain couldn’t master this—her dish was destined to be better than Hu Zhi’s.

Yet, inexplicably, within mere moments of picking up the knife, Hu Zhi had transformed her tofu into uniformly thin slices.

Grandma Song lifted one tofu slice high, discovering it was almost half an arm’s length and, hanging in mid-air, didn’t even break.

"Xiao Hu, your knife skills are truly remarkable! These tofu slices are as thin as strands of hair." Grandma Song exclaimed in awe. Having cooked for decades, her knife work was barely functional at best.

No comparison, no harm. Li Sulan’s confidence initially soared—until she glanced down and found her tofu messily mashed into a lump.

She fell silent...

Clearly, mimicking Hu Zhi wouldn’t work—what she did was far too showy and impractical.

The simpler ingredients often lead to irresistible dishes. She decided—she would cook tomato and egg stir-fry!

An hour later, the aroma of barbecue wafted through the courtyard as Sang Youming and Mr. Shen were finally awakened by the smell.

The two shuffled out of bed and strolled into the yard, only to be startled by the crowd packed tightly within.

"Son, why are there so many people in the yard? What time is it, and you’re already barbecuing out here?" Mr. Shen asked Shen Yi, his short hair a disheveled mess.

Recalling his father’s drunken antics from last night, Shen Yi became completely annoyed and ignored him, turning his head away.

Instead, Chu Xi eagerly approached, offering a cup of tea to Mr. Shen: "Uncle Shen, you got drunk last night. I kept you company with Senior Shen Yi until we found you. This is hangover tea I specially brewed for you using ingredients from the village chief’s home—give it a try."

Mr. Shen had no memory of last night after drinking himself silly with Old Sang at a villager’s house. Whatever followed was a blur.

Rubbing his still achy temple, he accepted the cup of hangover tea from Chu Xi, his eyes full of gratitude.

This girl’s not bad—warmhearted and generous, unlike his bratty son.

Sang Youming sluggishly yawned, ruffling his messy hair as he reached his hand out: "Xiao Xi, and mine?"