A reborn mother longs for her daughter's happiness.

Chapter 158 Romantic Picnic

Before leaving get off work on Friday, the office was filled with a cheerful atmosphere of impending holiday. Li Shiqing, while organizing documents, secretly glanced at her phone. The screen showed the weather forecast: sunny and pleasant temperatures for the weekend—perfect weather for a picnic. Unable to contain her excitement, she nudged Zhang Chen, who was staring blankly at his computer screen next to her.

"Hey, Zhang Chen, what are you doing this weekend?" Li Shiqing blinked her big eyes and asked casually.

Zhang Chen snapped out of his daze, stretched, and yawned: "What else can I do but sleep at home? I'm so tired from working all week, my bones are about to fall apart."

Li Shiqing's lips curled up slightly, revealing a sly smile: "Don't sleep! It's such a waste to waste such a beautiful weekend in bed. I saw the weather forecast says the weather will be amazing this weekend, how about we go on a picnic?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen's eyes lit up instantly, but then he frowned and said with a worried look, "A picnic sounds nice, but the preparation is too much trouble. We have to bring food, drinks, picnic mats, tents, and so on. Just thinking about it gives me a headache."

Li Shiqing rolled her eyes at him and gently patted his shoulder: "Look at you, so pathetic. With me here, you can rest assured. I'll take care of the food and drinks. You just need to bring a picnic mat and a tent. It's very simple."

Zhang Chen shrugged helplessly and said with a smile, "Alright, since Miss has said so, how could I dare not comply? But don't bring a bunch of terrible dishes with you, I don't want to go hungry in the wild."

Li Shiqing put her hands on her hips and pretended to be angry, saying, "Don't underestimate me. This time I'm going to show off my skills and let you taste my cooking. I plan to make sushi, sandwiches, and bake some cookies. They'll be so delicious you'll lick your fingers."

Zhang Chen raised an eyebrow and teased, "Really? You didn't find a tutorial online and plan to learn it and use it right away, did you?"

Li Shiqing glared at him: "Just you wait and see. Don't be so amazed by my cooking skills that you'll be begging me to make more."

After get off work, Li Shiqing headed straight to the supermarket and began a shopping spree. Pushing her shopping cart, she weaved between the shelves, muttering to herself, "Sushi rice, seaweed, cucumber, ham... hmm, all of that. And sandwich bread, lettuce, eggs, bacon..." In no time, her shopping cart was overflowing.

After paying, Li Shiqing struggled out of the supermarket carrying several large bags of groceries. As she walked, she muttered to herself, "I really went all out for this picnic. If Zhang Chen doesn't praise me, I'm not finished with him."

Back home, Li Shiqing didn't even have time to rest before diving straight into the kitchen. She tied on an apron, opened her phone, found a sushi-making tutorial, took a deep breath, and prepared to get to work. However, reality gave her a little "baptism of fire."

While cooking rice, she accidentally added too much water, turning what should have been plump grains of rice into a pot of mushy porridge. "Oh dear, what should I do?" Li Shiqing stamped her feet in frustration. "No, I can't just give up like this." She had a sudden inspiration and decided to turn the mistake into an opportunity and make the rice into sushi rice balls.

After a flurry of fumbling, the sushi rice ball was finally formed. Although it looked a bit odd, Li Shiqing comforted herself, "It's okay, as long as it tastes good, that's what matters. Maybe Zhang Chen will like this unique shape."

Then, she started making sandwiches. While frying the eggs, the oil in the pan suddenly splattered out, burning her and making her hiss. "Cooking is so hard! Zhang Chen always doubts my cooking skills. I'll definitely make him experience how hard I work later," Li Shiqing complained softly as she blew on her burned fingers.

After finally preparing all the food, Li Shiqing was exhausted, her back aching. Looking at the table laden with delicious food, though its presentation wasn't the best, she felt a great sense of accomplishment. "Zhang Chen, just wait until tomorrow to be conquered by my culinary skills," she said to herself with a smile.

Early Saturday morning, Li Shiqing was woken up by her alarm clock. She groggily opened her eyes, glanced at the bright sunshine outside the window, and instantly woke up: "Oh no, I almost overslept." She quickly washed up, changed into a pretty dress, packed the food she had prepared into an insulated bag, and also packed some fruit and drinks. Everything was ready.

Before leaving, she sent Zhang Chen a message: "I'm all ready, where are you?"

A moment later, Zhang Chen replied, "I'm ready too. I'll be waiting for you at the usual place."

When Li Shiqing arrived at the agreed location, she saw Zhang Chen carrying a large bag and holding a brightly colored picnic mat. He greeted her with a smile, "Oh, Miss, you've finally arrived! I thought you were going to oversleep."

Li Shiqing rolled her eyes at him: "Do you think I'm the kind of person who oversleeps? I got up early to prepare food. Look, I made sushi rice balls, sandwiches, cookies, fruit, and drinks. Isn't that a feast?"

Zhang Chen took the insulated bag from her, opened it, and, barely suppressing a laugh, said, "Hmm, it looks...very creative. But why is this sushi turned into rice balls? And this sandwich...it feels a bit..."

Li Shiqing quickly interrupted him, "What do you know? This is called innovation. And the taste is the most important thing. You'll know how delicious it is once you taste it."

The two hailed a taxi and arrived at a park in the suburbs. The park was lush with green grass, vibrant with flowers, and the lake shimmered in the sunlight—a perfect spot for a picnic. They found a scenic spot by the lake, where Zhang Chen laid out his picnic blanket and set up his tent.

Li Shiqing couldn't wait to take out the food and place it on the picnic mat: "Come on, try my cooking. Have a sushi rice ball first, it's my own secret recipe."

Zhang Chen carefully picked up a rice ball, took a bite, and showed a surprised expression: "Hmm, I didn't expect it to taste so good, much better than I imagined."

Li Shiqing smiled smugly: "Of course, I put a lot of thought into it. Try this sandwich too. It may look a little ugly, but the taste is absolutely amazing."

Zhang Chen took the sandwich, took a big bite, and mumbled between chews, "Delicious, really delicious. I take back what I said before, your cooking skills are so good you could open a private restaurant."

Li Shiqing burst into laughter at his exaggerated expression: "You're such a smooth talker, but it's good that you like to eat. By the way, let's play some games while we eat, otherwise it'll be so boring."

Zhang Chen's eyes lit up: "Great! What should we play? How about a word chain game? The loser has to eat a lemon."

Li Shiqing frowned: "No, lemons are too sour, I don't want to eat them. Let's play a riddle game, and the loser has to clean up the trash."

Zhang Chen thought about it and thought the suggestion was pretty good, so he nodded in agreement. Then, the two of them enjoyed their food while playing a riddle game.

“I’ll go first,” Li Shiqing said after thinking for a moment. “There’s something born strong, busy weaving a web every day. After it’s finished weaving, it sits quietly, waiting for mosquitoes to bump into it. What animal is it?”

Without hesitation, Zhang Chen answered, "Spider? That's too easy. Now it's my turn to ask a question: 'A winding vine climbs the trellis, strings of pearls hang from it.' Guess the fruit."

Li Shiqing rolled her eyes at him: "Grapes, what's so hard about that? Let me give you another one: Something that looks like a person and a dog, a master at climbing poles and trees, adept at imitating human actions, not found at home but in the mountains. Guess the animal."

Zhang Chen scratched his head, thinking for a long time but still couldn't figure it out: "What is this? I can't guess, tell me quickly."

Li Shiqing smiled smugly: "It's a monkey. You couldn't even guess that? You're so stupid. A bet's a bet. You lost, so you'll have to clean up the trash later."

Zhang Chen shrugged helplessly: "Okay, I'll accept my loss. But your riddle was too difficult. I'll definitely beat you next time."

The two were having a great time when suddenly a large dark cloud drifted in from the sky, followed by a downpour of large raindrops. "Oh no, why is it raining?" Li Shiqing exclaimed in a panic.

Zhang Chen quickly packed up the food and drinks and stuffed them into the tent: "Quick, let's get into the tent and take shelter from the rain. The weather is changing too fast; it was sunny just a moment ago."

The two took shelter in the tent, watching the rain outside intensify, feeling incredibly frustrated. "When will this rain stop?"

Li Shiqing sighed and said helplessly, "My picnic plans are completely ruined."

Zhang Chen comforted him, "Don't be discouraged, maybe the rain will stop soon. We can still have a lot of fun in the tent. Come on, let me tell you a joke."

So Zhang Chen started telling jokes with great enthusiasm, making Li Shiqing laugh heartily. Amidst the laughter, the two temporarily forgot about the rain outside and fully enjoyed their precious time together.

After a while, the rain gradually stopped. Li Shiqing excitedly crawled out of the tent: "The rain has stopped! The rain has stopped! Zhang Chen, let's continue our picnic!"

However, the sight before them left them dumbfounded. The once-flat picnic mat was now covered in rainwater and mud, and the food was partially soaked. "This is it," they thought.

Li Shiqing said, on the verge of tears, "We can't eat any of the food, and the picnic mat is all dirty. What are we going to do?"

Seeing her dejected look, Zhang Chen smiled and said, "It's okay, let's throw away the food, wash the picnic mat, and go to the restaurant next door for lunch. Although today's picnic had a little hiccup, it was still a memorable experience, wasn't it?"

Li Shiqing thought about it and felt that Zhang Chen made a good point. She smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll listen to you. But next time we go on a picnic, we must check the weather forecast in advance. We can't be this unlucky again."

After packing their things, the two went to a nearby restaurant. After ordering a few dishes, Li Shiqing looked at Zhang Chen and suddenly laughed: "Zhang Chen, what do you think of our picnic today? Everyone else has a happy picnic, but we got soaked by the rain and our food got wet."

Zhang Chen couldn't help but laugh: "This is a little surprise in life. Maybe God saw that we were too bored at work and deliberately arranged such a special picnic for us to make our weekend more interesting."

Li Shiqing rolled her eyes at him: "You're just trying to comfort yourself. But even if we encounter a lot of unexpected things today, I'll still be happy to be with you."

Zhang Chen held her hand and said affectionately, "Me too. As long as I'm with you, I feel happy no matter what we do."

After lunch, the two strolled hand in hand through the park. The air was exceptionally fresh after the rain, and the flowers, trees, and grass were washed clean, exuding a delicate fragrance. Although the picnic didn't go perfectly as planned, it left them with wonderful memories. They looked forward to their next get-together and many more days filled with surprises and laughter.