On the day of her return to China, she was tied up and coaxed by the richest man to get her marriage

At this moment, Si Yao's fiancé, He Ziyu, walked towards her from one end of the corridor.

"Ziyu." Si Yao's eyes crinkled into a smile. She immediately let go of her mother and skipped excitedly towards him, overjoyed.

"How did you come?"

He Ziyu raised his hand and ruffled Si Yao's hair, saying affectionately, "Don't you like cherries? You can't buy this kind of country fruit in the capital, so I specially went to the suburbs to pick a basket for you. Now that it's hot, I was afraid they would spoil, so I quickly brought them over."

Si Yao took the basket of cherries from He Ziyu. The usually gentle and graceful woman revealed a rare shyness and sweetness of a young girl in love.

Cherries are cheap, but the thought behind them is precious.

She handed the cherries to the maid beside her, carefully instructing her to refrigerate them, and then said softly, "Our family is about to eat, and you must be hungry after all this trip, so please stay and have a meal."

He Ziyu felt uneasy and hesitated slightly. Madam Si, who had walked over, saw this and was very pleased with her future son-in-law's doting attitude towards her daughter. She couldn't help but speak gently.

“You and Yaoyao are getting engaged soon, so you’re family now. Today is my daughter-in-law’s first meal at home, so come along so we can get to know each other better and avoid not recognizing each other if we bump into each other outside.”

Upon hearing this, He Ziyu nodded and, at Madam Si's prompting, took the initiative to greet Yu Jinzhao.

Yu Jinzhao nodded in response.

The family chatted and laughed as they entered the flower hall and sat down at the pear wood table.

Madam Si sat down on the main sofa and arranged for Yu Jinzhao and Si Qing to sit on the double sofa to her right, and Si Yao and He Ziyu to sit on the double sofa to her left.

This resulted in An Ran being left to sit on a single sofa at the corner of the table, completely excluded and feeling out of place.

Next, the servants filed in and began setting the table. Anran was seated in a convenient spot for serving the food, so the servants would inevitably bump into her body while serving.

An Ran felt that the maid was greasy and dirty, and she clenched her fingers unbearably.

She stomped her foot and muttered in dissatisfaction, "Can you please stop serving the food from my side? You're all dripping oil all over my clothes."

The servants who were being blamed were at a loss and didn't know how to explain themselves.

Madam Si glanced at her, her brows furrowing slightly, her expression stern. "If you won't serve the food from your place, do you want to serve it from mine?"

An Ran's expression froze, her face turning pale and then flushed, and she stammered, "Madam, I..."

She wouldn't dare to mean that... She just thought the two-seater sofa that Si Qing and Yu Jinzhao were sitting on was spacious enough that she could sit in it too.

However, it was clear that Mrs. Si did not understand her hints at all.

Seeing this, Si Yao was about to ask An Ran to sit next to her, but Madam Si held her hand down and gave her a stern look.

Si Yao knew that she had already overstepped her bounds by letting An Ran, an outsider, attend the family banquet without her consent, and she could not do anything further out of line.

He could only glance apologetically at An Ran, thinking he would comfort her privately later.

After Madam Si spoke, the servants withdrew, giving An Ran a disdainful look as they left.

That look seemed to say, "The host family is having a harmonious meal, don't you feel awkward sitting here alone as an outsider?"

An Ran was naturally embarrassed, but she didn't want to leave just like that.

Today is Yu Jinzhao's first meal at the Imperial Garden, which is of great significance. She doesn't want to lose the sense of participation in her first family banquet when she becomes Si Qing's wife in the future, and not know how to answer when others ask, which would make her look bad.

She believed that Yu Jinzhao had stolen her credit for the meal that she had been given, and that it was all rightfully hers, so why should she leave?

Seeing that An Ran was oblivious to the situation, Madam Si looked down on her even more and simply treated her as if she were invisible. She turned around and asked Yu Jinzhao warmly what dishes she liked to eat and whether she had any dietary restrictions.

Yu Jinzhao replied gently, "I'm fine with anything, I'm not picky about food."

As soon as she finished speaking, Si Qing, who was sitting next to her, suddenly chuckled softly.

She couldn't help but glance to the side and saw that he had his head down, his nose was very high, and his profile was as straight as if it had been drawn with charcoal. His hair fell naturally down his forehead, and she couldn't see his expression, but she could feel the full of disdain emanating from him.

Yu Jinzhao's heart skipped a beat. She suddenly remembered that when he was still her bodyguard, she seemed to have told him a long list of foods she couldn't eat.

But it's been so long, he couldn't possibly still remember.

Yeah, it was probably just a casual laugh.

Madam Si said with a smile, "The young lady is much better, unlike A-Qing, who is very picky. I get a headache just looking at him."

Yu Jinzhao smiled faintly, but she dared not respond to that.

At this moment, the maid in charge of serving the dishes took the lead in using serving chopsticks to put a piece of braised prawn on Mrs. Si's plate.

Just as Madam Si was about to put it in her mouth, Yu Jinzhao stopped her, "Mom, you've just recovered, so it's not suitable for you to eat food that's too oily or salty. You should eat light food."

Mrs. Si paused, staring longingly at the large shrimp in her hand.

She loves heavy, oily foods; if you ask her to eat something bland, she'd rather go hungry.

As she spoke, Yu Jinzhao got up, ladled out a bowl of fresh meat and mushroom porridge, and placed it in front of Madam Si.

Seeing this, An Ran's eyes were filled with a cold smile.

This bitch really thinks she's something special. She thinks that just because she got Madam Si's favor through my connections, she can boss Madam Si around.

Madam Si may seem easy to talk to, but she is actually very self-centered. Master Si inherited her temper and does not allow anyone to disobey her.

It seems that even before she exposes Yu Jinzhao, that bitch will be sidelined on her own.

Madam Si remained motionless, her head bowed. To those who knew her, this was a sign that she was about to lose her temper.

Si Yao's heart tightened, and she quickly patted her mother's back, "Mom, you can eat a little less."

Although she agreed with Yu Jinzhao's words, she really didn't dare to disobey her mother.

In the Si family, her mother's words were law. Even during the three months her mother was sick, no matter how much Dr. Li warned her or how much the whole family tried to dissuade her, she still ate heavily oiled and salty food.

Just as Si Yao was feeling uneasy, Madam Si put down the shrimp in her hand and said, "Alright, if Chaochao says she doesn't want to eat it, then I won't eat it either."

Mrs. Si lowered her head and drank the fresh meat and mushroom porridge that she used to refuse to touch, and said with a smile, "I'll just drink porridge."

Si Yao was surprised, her brows furrowing slightly.

"Mom, how many times have Dr. Li and I told you to eat less oily and salty food, but you never listened. Why do you listen as soon as Miss Yu says something?"

The daughter's tone also carried a hint of jealousy.

Mrs. Si scoffed, "Chaochao is a doctor, and I am her patient, so naturally whatever she says goes."

Si Yao understood immediately.

The mother didn't listen to Dr. Li because she didn't believe in Western medicine, so no matter how they tried to persuade her, she remained unmoved.

However, her mother believed in traditional Chinese medicine, and she also believed that Yu Jinzhao had cured her illness, so she did everything she could for Yu Jinzhao.