Chapter 593: 378 A Difficult and Childish Old Man? Just a Colleague (3 more updates)
Shen Shuci had experimented with cooking several fish dishes, and with practice, she became adept at making braised fish. Her movements were smooth and effortless.
Qi Zeyan looked around the kitchen and nudged the person next to him, "Old Huo, what’s going on between you two? She doesn’t go to work and comes to your house to learn cooking?"
He had no idea that Shen Shuci’s manager had given her time off, so naturally, he couldn’t have guessed she would appear at the Huo Family at this time.
What kind of luck had he walked into that always led him to encounter these situations?
"Can’t you tell? We’re cooking."
"Just that?" Qi Zeyan scoffed lightly.
"What else do you want to see?"
"Didn’t you say that you two had held hands and hugged? But..." Qi Zeyan lowered his voice, the two were politely interacting, hardly looking like they were in that kind of relationship.
"But what?"
"Never mind."
Qi Zeyan stroked his chin, wondering if these two were still at a stage where they were playing coy with each other.
With Shen Shuci busy, evening arrived. She had made quite a few braised fish dishes, and the Huo Family also benefited from it. They had an extra meal in the evening. Qi Zeyan had sampled too much earlier and was not very hungry by dinner time, but his presence kept the atmosphere at the table lively.
"Miss Shen, would you like some wine?" Qi Zeyan had brought two bottles of wine, being quite familiar with the Huo Family, he directly took some wine glasses and without asking, opened the wine.
"I drove here," Shen Shuci declined politely.
"No problem, worst case, let Old Huo drive you back later, or if not, there are plenty of spare rooms at the Huo Family. Just stay here, Old Huo, get someone to prepare a room for her."
"That would be too troublesome..." Staying at the Huo Family? Shen Shuci was genuinely a bit scared.
The area was really secluded, and the house was full of men, sometimes you could even hear dogs barking from the backyard. In such silence, it was hard to ignore.
"Don’t be scared; we are all friends of Xiaowu and his wife, all absolutely upright people. We won’t do anything to you," Qi Zeyan said with a smile.
"That’s not what I meant." Shen Shuci naturally believed they were good people.
"Have a little, you’re not working anyway."
Since he was young, Qi Zeyan had been toughened up by accompanying his grandfather and father at banquets, so he knew exactly how to persuade others to drink. Shen Shuci was not used to these local customs and had been asking Qi Zeyan for help all day, she ended up being coaxed into having a drink...
With one drink came another, and soon her cheeks were flushed with a playful red.
If it were anyone else, Shen Shuci would have outright refused, but Qi Zeyan was just too persuasive.
The Huo Family stood not far away.
"Why is Young Master Qi persuading Miss Shen to drink, and Lord isn’t intervening?"
"You know nothing — it’s easier to handle someone who’s drunk."
"Are you saying..." The person’s pupils dilated, "Our Lord is always upright. He wouldn’t do such a thing."
"A watch can accidentally end up at Miss Shen’s place, what won’t he do?"
That did make some sense...
...
"Miss Shen, about the incident with the spooked horse last time, let me apologize to you again." If Qi Zeyan wanted to get her drunk, he naturally had all sorts of excuses.
"That was a long time ago, you don’t need to worry about it."
"I’ve always been like this since I was young. If I did poorly on a test, I would feel bad for days, let alone nearly causing you harm. My conscience has been uneasy. Let me toast to you again."
The Huo Family was speechless by now, spouting nonsense so freely.
Qi Zeyan had been spoiled, with a strong heart and thick skin. He had once been chased by Grandpa Qi for copying signatures, his skin was as thick as a city wall. To hear him spouting such shameless words, one could tell he wasn’t a very conscientious person.
"Mr. Huo, aren’t you drinking?" Shen Shuci held her wine glass, trying this litchi fruit wine for the first time, which was very sweet.
It was brought by Qi Zeyan for a midnight snack and was naturally not a strong liquor.
"I might get a call at any time and need to respond immediately; it’s inconvenient for me to drink."
"I see..." Shen Shuci pursed her lips, "It must be tough."
"It’s okay."
"Miss Shen," Qi Zeyan noticed she was getting tipsy and coughed twice, "what do you think about Old Huo?"
"He..." She gauged the person sitting across from her, his actions while eating, even the arrangement of his chopsticks were properly structured, he was silent and spoke little, she indeed used to be quite afraid of him...
Suddenly, she remembered seeing him a few times before, she had chased him to the elevator, and he had actually closed the elevator doors on her, and also asked Jiang Jinsang how to choose between books and health products?
She pursed her lips, seemingly pondering the right adjective to use.
The atmosphere at the dining table instantly solidified, and Shen Shuci, feeling a bit dizzy, naturally didn’t notice the subtle change.
"He’s... difficult, incomprehensible, and a bit..."
"Childish!"
Pfft— Qi Zeyan couldn’t help but laugh out loud. After laughing, he waved his hand to the person beside him, "Old Huo, I’m really sorry, I just..."
Having known him for so many years, this was the first time he described him as childish.
"Hey, what exactly did you do? She actually called you childish? Haha..."
"Is that funny?" He asked, his face cold. Did he only have labels like difficult and childish in her heart?
Shen Shuci, with her dizzy head, couldn’t think much about it. She lowered her head and took another sip of the Litchi Wine, which was still quite sweet.
...
After the meal, since the Huo Family didn’t have much in the way of leisure activities, they decided to send Shen Shuci home first.
"Old Huo, I created the opportunity for you, you should cherish it," Qi Zeyan patted his shoulder, lowering his voice, "You don’t have to come tonight, don’t mind me, I can have fun on my own."
"Don’t think I’m as dirty-minded as you."
Qi Zeyan chuckled, "I don’t like to hear that. When I was encouraging the drinking, you didn’t say a word, and now you act all high and mighty. I’ve noticed, every single one of you, after getting into a relationship, becomes flirtier than the next."
"Yanting is still better. He acts quite normal outside, Jiang Xiaowu has always been flirtatious, but you..."
"If you don’t want to stay at my house, I can call Grandpa Qi to come pick you up."
Qi Zeyan closed his mouth and turned to enter the house.
After the two left, he continued to eat the snacks he brought, drinking his wine, and he bet with the Huo Family:
The bet was: "Will he come home tonight?"
**
Jiang Mansion
Jiang Jinsang and Tang Wan were snuggled together, discussing how to decorate their new home. The place was originally a bare apartment, but now it had been renovated according to Jiang Jinsang’s requirements. It was now time to choose the furniture.
"Go for brighter colors. It looks more vibrant. Keep a fish tank for Lord Wansui to have company, buy some flower pots for the balcony, set up a flower rack, and raise some succulents..." Tang Wan spoke of the ideal scenario.
Jiang Cuo and Jiang Jiu stood by quietly, listening. They would be the ones to carry out the decisions.
A person who can even kill a cactus is now so keen on gardening, no wonder there are so many empty flower pots in the Tang Family’s yard.
"By the way, should we get a cat and a dog?" Tang Wan had wanted to raise cats and dogs before, but she was too busy and couldn’t take care of them herself. Eventually, they might end up being taken care of by Grandpa, and she couldn’t be responsible, so the idea was shelved.
"Wouldn’t the cat and dog fight?"
"Let them fight."
"..."
Tang Wan suddenly thought, "When we have kids later, wouldn’t it be inconvenient to keep small animals?"
Jiang Cuo’s pupils shivered slightly. Truthfully, it was Grandpa who was eager for children before. Why had it reversed now?
"By the way, I haven’t confirmed with Auntie yet whether we are going for lunch or dinner tomorrow. I’ll call her to ask." Tang Wan said as she took out her phone and dialed Shen Shuci.
The buzzing of the phone vibrated, breaking the silence in the car. Shen Shuci, originally leaning on the back of the chair with her head feeling heavy, had her bag on her lap, continuously vibrating. She squinted and reached for the phone...
But her finger twitched, and the phone slipped. Coincidentally, the call connected.
"Hello, Auntie, tomorrow I am..."
"I..."
Tang Wan frowned, not fully making out what the person on the other end had said before the call was disconnected.
"What’s wrong?" Jiang Jinsang asked, seeing her shocked expression.
"My Aunt has a man with her!"
"Hmm?" Jiang Jinsang was still pondering how to decorate the new home. "Didn’t you say she originally planned to go out with you but canceled last minute? Maybe she has another appointment."
It was quite normal for Shen Shuci to have her own social circle.
However, the call was quickly redialed, and Shen Shuci’s explanation was that he was just:
An ordinary... male colleague!
The atmosphere in the car suddenly turned a bit strange.