reignition

"Stop gossiping," Sister Cai said, frowning. "Hurry up, we need to be on time for dinner, and there are still so many dishes that haven't been prepared!"

The cooks and nannies also stopped gossiping and got busy with their work.

Sister Cai walked over to Jiang Mian's side. She thought Jiang Mian looked quite young and probably wouldn't be able to do the work, and was worried that she wouldn't be able to finish, so she decided to come and lend a hand.

To my surprise, I found that Jiang Mian had done a pretty good job.

"I didn't expect you to be such a capable person."

Jiang Mian smiled but didn't say anything, her hands continuing to move.

"Is your hand alright?" Sister Cai glanced at her hand.

Jiang Mian was taken aback, realizing that Sister Cai must have heard about her injured hand.

"It's alright, I'm much better now. It's fine if I'm not carrying heavy loads," Jiang Mian replied. After a moment's thought, she added, "Thank you for your concern, Sister Cai."

Sister Cai didn't speak, stared at her for a moment, and then sighed softly.

“I’m not usually a talkative person, but seeing that you’re young and have gone through something like this, I’m giving you some advice.”

"Hmm? Please go ahead, Sister Cai."

“You have done a favor for the young master. Use that favor to find a better way out.” Sister Cai’s voice was low and her tone was serious. “Leave the Bozhou family.”

Jiang Mian's gaze froze for a moment, but she remained silent.

If these words had come from someone else, she might have thought they were a warning.

Just like Yan Ke before, and Aunt Lu before.

But from what Sister Cai said and her tone, Jiang Mian could tell that she was genuinely thinking of her.

"Don't blame me for being blunt, I just thought you... were very pleasing to the eye, so I said a few words of advice."

Sister Cai sighed, "This place is a quagmire, a pit. Get out while you can. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't say anything, but you really are..."

As Sister Cai spoke, she couldn't help but glance at Jiang Mian's face a couple more times, "And even her name..."

"Like Jiang Mian?" Jiang Mian said, a slight smile curving her lips.

Sister Cai was taken aback. "You knew?"

"Pretty much. Anyway, don't worry, Sister Cai, I will leave when it's time for me to leave."

Regardless, Jiang Mian was still very grateful for Sister Cai's kindness.

Sister Cai could tell that although she was young, she was quite sensible, so she didn't try to persuade her any further.

Before long, Jiang Mian had prepared all the ingredients. She was just there to help out; it wasn't her place to cook.

Sister Cai called her, "Jiang... Mian."

It's not hard to tell that people are still a little unaccustomed to this name.

Jiang Mian smiled and said, "If you're not used to it, you can just call me Xiao Jiang."

"Xiao Jiang, go over there and have the people over there bring up the stew pots first. The cold dishes will be ready soon."

"Okay." Jiang Mian wiped her hands and headed towards another side kitchen at the back.

The steamers are all over there, and the stew pots are all placed there to stew.

As soon as Jiang Mian went over, she saw a figure from behind, wearing a cook's apron and a disposable cap.

He was hunched over in front of the steamer, opening the lid of the stew pot, and seemingly adding something inside.

"Hello," Jiang Mian greeted.

The sound wasn't loud, but the other person shuddered!

She seemed quite frightened; her voice was trembling. "W-what happened?"

Her gaze and expression were somewhat stiff, and she added awkwardly, "You suddenly spoke up, which startled me!"

Jiang Mian didn't think much of it when she heard this, and simply said, "Sister Cai said we can serve the stew pot first."

"Okay, sure! I'll take it up now."

Jiang Mian then went back to help in the kitchen.

Soon, all sorts of dishes were served.

The kitchen gradually quieted down, but there was still a lot of work to be done to wrap things up.

But the pace wasn't as hectic as before.

Jiang Mian was tidying up the various bowls used for preparing vegetables.

Sister Cai came over to wash the pots and pans, letting out a long sigh of relief. "We're finally done! We've set up a table in the back too. Why don't you join us for a bite later?"

"Okay, thank you, Sister Cai."

"Except for the stew pot, everything else is the same as before. The abalone in that stew pot is too precious for us."

When Sister Cai mentioned the stew pot, Jiang Mian couldn't help but think of the cook who had added things to it before.

His brow furrowed involuntarily.

Jiang Mian couldn't help but ask, "Sister Cai, is the stew pot filled with three-headed abalone?"

"Yes, these are ingredients I brought specially."

"Do we need to add salt when stewing this?" Jiang Mian asked again.

"Why add salt? The flavor itself is so fresh it'll make your eyebrows fall off. Adding salt will only make it tough."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mian's eyes widened suddenly.

She turned her head sharply, searching the vast kitchen for any trace of the cook from before.

Sister Cai noticed something was off about her expression and frowned, asking, "What's wrong? Is something the problem?"

"Just now, when you asked me to call for the stew pots to be delivered, I happened to see the person in charge of stew pots adding something to one of them."

Jiang Mian frowned deeply. "I originally thought it was just salt, so I didn't think much of it. But you said it was abalone."

Upon hearing Jiang Mian's words, Sister Cai's expression changed drastically!

"Who's in charge of the stew pot today?" Sister Cai asked in a deep voice.

"It's Yang Feng. She just said she went to the restroom," someone replied.

Sister Cai pulled off her apron and said, "I'll go take a look."

Jiang Mian bit her lip, extremely worried, and pulled on her apron as well.

Heading towards the restaurant.

How could she not be worried? What exactly was added to that stew pot?

The Lu family's situation is incredibly volatile and unpredictable...

Her son is still eating up ahead! How could she not be anxious!

He couldn't care less about his face when he went to the front and interacted with so many members of the Lu family.

So many members of the Lu family, whom she regarded as a monstrous threat both in her past life and now, gathered together with them.

How painful it must be.

She couldn't care less!

She didn't care who Yang Feng was trying to target by adding ingredients to the stew, as long as it wasn't her son!

Of course... it would be even better if Lu Bozhou were also alright.

In the lobby, there was a superficial, false sense of peace.

Everyone seemed to have a superficial smile on their face.

So hypocritical it's utterly disgusting.

One table for my eldest uncle's family, one table for my second uncle's family, and one table for Yan Ke and Lu Hong's family.

Lu Bozhou was also sitting at this table.

In addition, Qiu Fenglan was also sitting at this table.

Normally, attending such a family gathering should be quite awkward and uncomfortable.

But Qiu Fenglan seemed to be doing well; she sat next to Lu Bozhou with a gentle smile on her face.

She would occasionally glance at Lu Bozhou, her gaze filled with tender affection.

"Fenglan, how was your meal today? I hope you don't feel like we neglected you."

"How could that be, Auntie? The food is delicious, and the Lu family's old house is very beautiful. It's my honor to be here." Qiu Fenglan's demeanor and manners were impeccable.

Yan Ke and Lu Hong both had satisfied expressions on their faces.

Lu Bozhou sat there, his expression indifferent.

But a faint blush was slowly spreading across her cheeks.