Chapter 1171 A Long Face
Sonia didn’t think she could finish the soup. Toby, who was beside her, remained silent. However, he was holding the bowl in his hands as he watched Rose with a look similar to Sonia, quietly protesting.
Not only had he a full stomach, he also found the soup disgusting as he studied it. Even more, it was giving him an impression of sewage water instead of soup.
“I’m not taking no for an answer. You must drink them.” Rose’s smile dropped from her face, and a serious and stern expression replaced it as she watched them. “These soups are made for you. You can take it slow if you’re full. You don’t have to rush, but you must finish them.”
Mary nodded as she agreed with Rose, “That’s the point, Miss Reed. This is for your good. Drinking the soup can nourish your body.” “I don’t doubt the benefits. However, I want to know why you made the soup for us all of a sudden?” Sonia asked in resignation. Toby nodded, eager to learn the truth as well.
To that, Rose answered, “Both of you went overboard last night. I understand if young ones like you can’t keep yourselves away from each other for more than one minute, but you need to do it in moderation. You can’t risk your health just because you’re young.
Have you ever thought about your older days? Elders like us are hurt to see the young ones not paying attention to their health, so we decided to step in. That’s why we asked the chef to make the soup to nourish your body.”
As Rose finished her words, Sonia could feel her mind go blank in a second as her cheeks flushed and her body heated up. She thought everything was water under the bridge, and both Rose and Mary would spare her the tease.
The two women indeed didn’t tease them with words, and they began to worry about Sonia and Toby’s health instead. Moreover, the elderly women even made Sonia and Toby the nourishing soup and urged the duo to finish the soup.
Their considerate gesture was causing a bigger impact on Sonia than a tease, as she felt embarrassed and shy regarding this matter.
At that moment, Sonia grabbed the bowl in her hands as she lowered her head to hide her face. She sat there with a flushed face, but she couldn’t even form a reply due to the embarrassment.
Toby raised his brows out of surprise as the corner of his thin lips twitched in disbelief. Before this, he cast a look at his grandmother to remind her not to mention the matter in front of Sonia, or else the younger woman would be embarrassed.
To his surprise, even though Rose didn’t tease them at first, she couldn’t help but talk about it when she explained the purpose of the nourishing soup to them.
Toby turned to the woman on his side, who was hiding her face from the others, and a look of resignation emerged on his face.
He wasn’t the one to blame in this situation as he already reminded Rose to not mention the topic. Never would he know that she asked the chef to prepare the nourishing soup for them.
His serving of soup kept bothering him, so he lowered his head to study the bowl of soup with an odd smell in front of him. Then, he shifted his attention back to the two elderly women on the other side and began with a low tone, “Grandma, I understand the need to make soup for Little Leaf. After all, she’s a woman, and has a physically weaker body.”
As he finished his words, Sonia immediately rolled her eyes at him. Pretending to not notice her, Toby continued as he looked at Rose. “I’m a man, but you still made the soup for me. Do you think I have a weak body?”
In short, he found the existence of the soup before him unpleasant. The nourishing soup was nothing more than a symbol of humiliation to him. I’m a man! A healthy man, alright? Why would I need this?
To Toby, the soup implied that he was a man with a deceiving appearance in others’ eyes. It told the story that he was a strong and tall man by appearance but in fact was physically weak inside. Moreover, it was indicating that his ability to function as a man was being looked down upon.
No matter what the intention was, Toby wasn’t pleased to have the bowl of soup to himself. If the soup wasn’t given to him by Rose but by somebody else, he would think that person had a death wish.
“I didn’t say anything, did I?” Judging from the gloomy look on his face, Rose could tell what thoughts were running through his mind without even asking. After all, Toby’s grandfather had asked her about the same thing back when they were younger.
In their younger days, she made the same soup for her husband, but he didn’t appreciate the gesture as he thought she was implying that he lacked certain abilities as a man.
She could still remember her husband’s expression until today, and it was no different compared to her grandson’s expression at the moment.
Thus, it only took one glance for Rose to understand Toby’s displeasure. Sipping her tea in a calm manner, she continued, “You can nourish your body without being physically weak. You shouldn’t think that your health doesn’t matter and doesn’t need any nourishment just because you’re still young and healthy. Once you age, you’ll no doubt get weaker. I’m doing this for your good. Who else do you think?”
Toby wasn’t pleased to listen to the words “weak” and he got more uncomfortable.
Even though he knew Rose made the soup for him out of the purpose to strengthen his body and maintain its health instead of thinking he was weak, he lacked the spirit to accept her gesture.
Due to the men being competitive and holding their egos in this kind of matter, as long as there was a suggestion to nourish the body, the men would involuntarily relate them to the implication of their incompetence as a man.
Even after the men learned that the other party had good intentions, they would still feel discomfort.
Toby was sharing those same thoughts, just like any other man would have at the moment. Watching the soup in front of him, he found it especially irritating and couldn’t wait to pour it away.
Meanwhile, as Sonia was a woman, she didn’t see someone making the soup as an implication of her incompetence as a woman. She was merely embarrassed by the gesture.
Seeing the young ones in front of her not making a move to have the soup at all, Rose could feel a headache coming on.
She massaged her temples to ease the pain. “What are you waiting for? Drink it, Sonny. Last night was too much for you, so you need to drink more to nourish your body. Remember that you’re a girl, that kind of thing would bring more burden to your body, so you must drink the soup for your health. There’s no need to be embarrassed at all. It’s common among women, and all of us have experienced the same feeling. In my younger days, my mother-in-law also made me soup. I didn’t even feel embarrassed as a woman from the previous era, so there’s no point in feeling shy as a modern woman.”
Sonia reflected on Rose’s words as she began to think she was indeed conservative and easily got embarrassed.
After all, the people around her were well aware of what happened between her and Toby last night. Sonia saw no point in shyly avoiding it. Instead, she should face it by taking a direct approach.
Besides, Toby had never got shy about it. It was basically about her blushing the whole time in this kind of situation while he didn’t even give a care in the world.
Thus, Sonia made a mental note to learn about his optimism from time to time, so she could have less pressure in her daily life.
As she finished the thought, she took a deep breath and raised her head before she cast a smile at Rose. “You’re right, Grandma. Thank you for your consideration in asking them to make the soup for me.”
“That’s the spirit! And you don’t have to thank me. I’m your grandmother, too. We’re family. This is what I should do for you as your grandmother. Come on; drink it.” Rose chuckled.
Sonia hummed before she used the spoon to drink the soup.
Drinking the hot chicken soup, she wondered whether it was her mind affecting her thoughts, but she indeed felt the effect.
The warmth spread through her exhausted body. As the tiredness was lifted from her body, she couldn’t help but drink more.
Rose was watching Sonia enjoying the soup the whole time. However, the former slowly steered her attention to Toby after some time.
He wasn’t drinking the soup like Sonia. Instead, he pursed his thin lips and furrowed his brows, pulling a long face at the soup in front of him. Noticing he looked at the soup as if he was facing his enemy, Rose almost rolled her eyes at him.
“What now? Do you think I’ll poison you? Are you going to keep staring at it?” Rose muttered, intending to embarrass him.
