After wearing the masks, Huang Xiaotao and I sat on both sides of the table. She took the lead and began, “Honey, did you enjoy the food?” Then she burst out laughing.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she said, “It just feels like when I played house as a kid. Okay, I promise I won’t laugh this time. Let’s try again.”

She took a deep breath to clear her mind and got into the role.

“Honey,” she said again, “did you enjoy the food?”

“Your cooking is getting better and better, darling,” I replied casually, and then thought about what to say next. “By the way, did Mom go out to play mahjong again today?”

Huang Xiaotao nodded. 

“Uh huh, she even won twenty yuan today! She was so happy about it!”

I couldn’t help but smile. “She usually loses hundreds of yuan though! You shouldn’t let her go out and play mahjong all the time! Let her watch TV at home!”

“You tell that to your...