"Since you're here, don't let anyone or anything spoil your good mood.
Since we're already here, how can we not try the blind box dishes that are all the rage in the capital?
Who do you think came up with the idea of selling dishes in the form of blind boxes?"
Seeing Mingyue's lack of interest, Ji Shiyou kept urging her, then suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
"Could it be?"
He suddenly remembered that this Taoyuan Xiaozhu belonged to Wushang, and Mingyue was the head of Wushang.
"That's right, it's just as you thought, I came up with the idea of blind box dishes.
However, I only provided the concept. I don't know what dishes are in each box.
As you said, since we're here, let's experience it?"
Mingyue increasingly felt that Ji Shiyou was acting strangely. Normally, Ji Shiyou would always consider her feelings.
As long as she didn't want to do something, Ji Shiyou would unconditionally support her.
But today, she had clearly expressed her lack of interest, yet Ji Shiyou was still relentlessly trying to persuade her.
There must be something going on, so Mingyue changed her mind.
She wanted to know what Ji Shiyou was up to.
The two of them arrived at the blind box ordering area, a lavishly decorated hall with a round table made of nanmu wood featuring a nine-dragon-playing-with-a-pearl carving in the center.
On the table, three gilded food boxes were placed.
The blind box dishes were limited to ten portions per day, so it seemed the others had already been sold.
Each food box had a number in front of it, arranged from one to ten.
Currently, there were still food boxes behind numbers one, three, and six.
"We can't tell anything from the outside, so let's not overthink it. Let's just pick number one!"
Mingyue pointed casually and said to the waiter standing by the round table.
She had designed these blind box dishes herself and knew the details.
The dishes in the food boxes were prepared in advance.
Some were sashimi, which would have crushed ice at the bottom for preservation.
Some were hot dishes, with heating devices inside the food boxes for warmth.
It was winter now, and she wanted Ji Shiyou to eat something warm.
Standing aside, she could sense that the number one food box was warm, indicating it was a hot dish, so she chose number one.
"Wait, I think we should choose number six."
Upon hearing Mingyue choose number one, the waiter's expression changed, and he looked at Ji Shiyou.
Ji Shiyou also looked anxious and quickly suggested Mingyue choose number six.
"Alright, I'll listen to you. Let's choose number six."
Mingyue suppressed a smile. She vaguely knew what Ji Shiyou was planning.
The number six food box must contain a gift Ji Shiyou had prepared for her.
If she exposed Ji Shiyou's elaborate surprise, it would be too unromantic.
So, she went along with Ji Shiyou's suggestion and chose number six. The waiter next to them let out a sigh of relief.
He immediately instructed someone to deliver the number six food box to the private room at Zai Shui Yi Fang.
Ji Shiyou also felt relieved. In fact, he had visited Taoyuan Xiaozhu once yesterday for this date.
He felt that marrying Mingyue without a proposal was a great disservice to her.
So, he wanted to arrange a unique proposal ceremony that would leave a deep impression on Mingyue.
Even when they grew old, Mingyue would not forget it.
He thought hard and came up with an excellent idea.
He paid a large sum of money to the head chef of Taoyuan Xiaozhu and the waiter guarding the food counter to cooperate with him.
He gave the engagement ring to the chef and asked him to put the ring into the number six food box, which would be kept in the kitchen first.
Before he and Mingyue went to choose their dishes, the waiter would then place the food box on the round table.
This way, Mingyue would discover the ring while dining, and he would propose.
Since he didn't need to know what set of dishes was in the food box, and it wouldn't cause any loss to Taoyuan Xiaozhu, it wasn't against the rules.
Moreover, he was generous, so both the chef and the waiter agreed.
Mingyue returned to the private room with anticipation, followed by a nervous Ji Shiyou.
He was silently rehearsing what he was going to say, feeling a bit anxious, fearing Mingyue might refuse.
With different emotions, they opened the food box. Inside was a seafood sashimi set.
All the ingredients were air-freighted from abroad and looked very fresh and delicious.
Mingyue glanced at it, found no hidden surprises, and saw no sign of a gift.
She wondered if she had guessed wrong and if Ji Shiyou just wanted to have a meal today?
She didn't mind not having a gift. As Ji Shiyou had said, since they were here, they should enjoy the food.
The seafood was delicious, and she was a bit hungry, so she first picked up a slice of bluefin tuna for Ji Shiyou.
Then she began to feast on tiger crab, goose barnacles, and albino sturgeon caviar.
These ingredients were rare and hard to come by, each bite worth tens of thousands.
It seemed they had struck gold with this blind box today, though there was a bit too little, not enough for her alone.
She would ask Zhecheng to bring another portion later, Mingyue thought to herself.
Mingyue was eating with great enjoyment, while Ji Shiyou across from her found it difficult to swallow and felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.
When the food box was opened, he had been looking for the ring, but he didn't see it.
He was only puzzled for a few minutes. When he looked up again, Mingyue had already devoured most of the ingredients in the food box.
Only crushed ice remained at the bottom, but the ring still hadn't appeared. Ji Shiyou became anxious.
He suddenly stood up and used his chopsticks to rummage through the crushed ice. He thought the chef had hidden the ring in the ice.
"What are you doing? I told them to bring another portion.
You weren't hungry just now, and now you're in a hurry. It's not in the ice, I ate it all."
Mingyue felt a bit regretful, having gotten carried away by the sight of the delicious food.
She had only given Ji Shiyou a slice of bluefin tuna sashimi. She wasn't a very considerate person; look how hungry Ji Shiyou was.
"Darling, let's go to the hospital. You might have eaten a ring.
I was going to propose to you today, and the engagement ring was in the food box. You must have eaten it.
I'm sorry, it was all my bad idea. I'll take you to the hospital to get it out right away."
Ji Shiyou's face was filled with panic. He had already searched through all the ice in the food box, but still found no trace of the ring.
Recalling Mingyue's voracious eating just now, he was certain that Mingyue had eaten the ring.
"No way? I was eating a bit fast, but I didn't feel like I ate anything foreign.
The ring is so big, I should have noticed it. I promise I didn't eat it."
Mingyue was also bewildered. She had eaten the ring, but she didn't feel anything?
"If you had felt it, you wouldn't have eaten it. Don't move, we're going to the hospital now.
Don't worry, Junhui will handle it. Don't walk yourself, I'll carry you!"
Mingyue remained calm, but Ji Shiyou was extremely anxious. He scooped Mingyue up and was about to leave.
At this moment, the door opened, and Zhecheng walked in.
"If I said I came to deliver the ring, would you kill me?"
Zhecheng held a ring box in his hand and asked weakly with an embarrassed expression.