Shen Mochen was not paying attention to Shu Lingyun's facial expression at the moment; he was squinting his eyes, struggling with the sourness that followed the sweetness of the Candied Hawthorn. Candied Hawthorn is sweet at first, but if eaten slowly, the taste of the hawthorn comes through and it's sour enough to make your teeth hurt.
He remembered the first time he had Candied Hawthorn was when his mother, Wu Wenyue, bought it for him. She had married and usually came back to visit only a couple of times over a few days.
That time, after she returned, she took Shen Mochen to a snack street outside the slums, and before heading home, she bought him a stick of Candied Hawthorn.
That was also her last visit.
That stick of Candied Hawthorn seemed like a "breakup fee" she gave.
