Eden puts her hand in her pocket and feels the outer edge of her wallet beneath her finger. She has a decision to make.
* * *
They get back to the house in time to see Xu Hong making a fresh pot of chrysanthemum tea. Li is seated in his electric wheelchair at the table. He smiles wide when he lays eyes upon Eden.
“Caught yourself a lovely one, son,” he says fondly. “It’s so wonderful to meet you, Eden.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too.”
He raises his eyebrows, noting her light accent. “A Texan gal? Whereabouts did you grow up?”
“Houston for a little while, and then Austin until I was eighteen.”
“I remember Austin very well. Used to travel there all the time.”
“You did?” she asks as she takes a seat next to Li at the table. Shang pulls out her chair for her—like an absolute gentleman—before joining Xu Hong in the kitchen to deliver the final ingredient needed for lunch.
Li nods, and Eden can recognize Shang in the corners of his eyes and the shape of his nose. It occurs to Eden that Shang looks a great deal like his father. They have the same dark eyes and straight nose.
“I actually met my wife in Austin,” Li says. “I was visiting an old friend. Almost missed the bus, so I was running like a mad man to catch it. Guess who I ran straight into?”
Eden laughs, looking over to Xu Hong. The woman has her hands on her hips, shaking her head in dismay.
“Cussed him up and down for it,” Xu Hong says sternly.
“And I fell in love in an instant,” Li adds. “I was only in town for a week, so I did everything under the sun to convince her to give me her number.”
Xu Hong rolls her eyes as she expertly picks up a soup dumpling and deposits it into Eden’s bowl. “This guy just wouldn’t take the hint.”
“I’m guessing he wore you down eventually,” Eden says thoughtfully.
“Boy, did he ever. There’s just something about that Chen family charm.”
Eden gives Shang a sheepish smile as he sets down a plate of food in front of her before taking his place in the chair to her left. She knows all too well what Xu Hong’s talking about. It’s not hard to notice that Shang doesn’t say a whole lot, but he doesn’t appear to be displeased. Eden wonders if he’s just busy taking it all in, treading lightly.
They dig in.
Eden can’t remember the last time she had soup dumplings this flavorful. It takes much too long to prepare the meal from scratch, so whenever she has a craving for it, she buys the frozen kind from the local grocery store. But it always comes out a bit soggy and flavorless. This, on the other hand, is an explosion of ginger and green onion and salty soy sauce with Chinese vinegar. Nothing really beats home cooking.
“How is it?” Xu Hong asks. “Do you maybe want a fork?”
“Oh, no. I’m all good, thank you.”
“It’s a little nerve-wracking having professional chefs at my table.”
Eden laughs softly. “This is excellent. Really, really good.”
Shang nods in agreement, quietly muttering, “Just like I remember it.”
They eat in silence for a bit, but it isn’t uncomfortable. Eden actually likes it. She can’t remember the last time she sat down for a family meal. There’s more than just soup dumplings to enjoy: an entire collection of garlic-fried broccolini, fluffy jasmine rice, and a big plate of shrimp chow mein to help themselves to. She enjoys the simplicity of the moment, likes how Xu Hong patiently feeds her husband extra pieces of pork while Shang loads Eden’s bowl up with extra veggies.
“What were you doing in Austin?” Eden asks Xu Hong curiously.
“I was studying at the University of Texas at the time.”
“What was your major?”
“Political science.”
