Rose Manor: Tycoon's Relentless Chase-Chapter 295 - 276: Remembering Something

Returning to the kitchen once more, Ni Yiqiong remained silent, occasionally glancing at Fu Jichen with an extremely complex expression. She simply couldn’t associate the man rolling up his sleeves to handle scallops before her with the President Jun Shan from Baidu Encyclopedia.

Fu Jichen, he was actually Fu Jichen.

Zhao Shunyi noticed Ni Yiqiong’s bewildered expression and knew that she had already found information related to Fu Jichen.

Not even Ni Yiqiong, she was very surprised as well.

Bai Changxia felt that the kitchen was overly quiet; even the often outspoken Miss Ni was silent, which was completely out of character for her. Bai Changxia silently finished cutting all the strawberries and asked Ni Yiqiong, "Is this much enough?"

Ni Yiqiong snapped out of her daze, looked at the diced strawberries piled in the glass bowl, and absentmindedly replied, "Enough, enough."

Bai Changxia glanced at the time and started cooking.

After over three hours of bustling about, they finally set a sumptuous dinner table at a quarter past seven in the evening.

Bai Changxia made a roast chicken, cooked prawns, and steamed a fish. Fu Jichen made garlic vermicelli steamed scallops and also pan-fried lamb chops and asparagus. Zhao Shunyi contributed a pot of sukiyaki, which was a pre-packaged box of ingredients that Shen Jianian had bought from the supermarket and just needed to be poured into the pot and heated. Ni Yiqiong baked pastries and made a cake.

As for Shen Jianian, the birthday girl, everyone didn’t let her cook, so she was responsible for mixing cold dishes and cutting fruits.

"I’ll take a photo first and post it on WeChat Moments later." Zhao Shunyi took out her phone and snapped a picture of the dishes on the dining table.

Bai Changxia: "Send it to me later, so I don’t have to take one."

Zhao Shunyi: "Alright!"

Shen Jianian was pushed to sit at the main seat, with Fu Jichen and Ni Yiqiong on her left, and Bai Changxia and Zhao Shunyi on her right. She cheerfully invited everyone, "Don’t be shy, let’s dig in." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Bai Changxia took a sip of orange juice, smacking her lips, "It would be great if we had some red wine, on such a festive day, a bottle of wine is a must to celebrate."

Shen Jianian initially thought that the three of them girls could make do with juice, but now with Fu Jichen and Ni Yiqiong added in, drinking only juice seemed a bit lacking.

"I’ll order a bottle online to be delivered." Shen Jianian got up to find her phone, "It should be on time."

As she just moved the chair, Fu Jichen spoke up: "I have some at home. Do you want to drink?"

Shen Jianian was taken aback for a moment, then couldn’t be bothered to be polite with him anymore: "Let’s drink."

"Wait."

Fu Jichen left a brief word, went to the next room to fetch two bottles of red wine, along with a wine opener and a decanter.

As the cork was pulled out, the rich aroma of red wine diffused throughout the dining area, mingling with the scent of the dishes, bringing a tangible representation of the festive atmosphere.

Fu Jichen poured the red wine into the decanter, and after a moment, poured wine for the ladies present.

Only a small amount was poured into Shen Jianian’s glass.

When it was the turn of the two across the table, they were flattered and carefully held the glasses with both hands, bending over to receive them: "We can do it ourselves."

Lastly, he poured for Ni Yiqiong by his side, and she was a bit caught off guard, appearing bewildered.

Bai Changxia noticed this, leaned over to whisper to Zhao Shunyi: "What’s going on? Miss Ni seems off." She wasn’t like this before; why did she suddenly become reserved?

Zhao Shunyi knew the score: "She looked up Fu Jichen online."

Bai Changxia twitched the corner of her mouth: "No wonder..."

Shen Jianian took a sip of red wine, noticing them whispering, feeling curious, "What are you two talking about?"

Bai Changxia immediately sat up straight and replied in a very official tone: "We were saying that Boss Fu’s cooking skills are good. He doesn’t seem like a beginner, has he practiced before?"

Zhao Shunyi nodded in agreement.

Ni Yiqiong placed a scallop in her bowl and tasted it and shared their thoughts. She secretly glanced at the man next to her. He sat informally, with a slight smile at the corners of his lips, lacking the authority she imagined belonged to a man in power.

She finally couldn’t resist speaking up to compliment: "It’s truly delicious. Whoever becomes Mr. Fu’s girlfriend would be so fortunate."

Fu Jichen picked up his wine glass, glanced sideways at a certain person who was busy picking out fish bones from her bowl, seemingly unaware of the conversation. He lowered his eyelashes, rested the rim of the glass on his lips, took a sip, and casually remarked: "Really?"

Hearing his response, Ni Yiqiong’s slightly calmed heart started racing again. What he said suggested he didn’t have a girlfriend yet. She curled her lips in a smile: "For sure."

She picked up a piece of lamb chop for herself; the lamb chops were made by Fu Jichen. She boldly continued to converse with him: "It’s a pity today’s time is too short, otherwise I could have cooked a few dishes for Mr. Fu to critique."

Bai Changxia choked a little, feeling as if the previous Miss Ni had returned.

Fu Jichen replied calmly, "I’m not skilled in cooking, can’t really judge."

Ni Yiqiong chuckled, "Mr. Fu, you’re too modest."

Regardless of whether he was Mr. Fu or Boss Fu, in essence, he was just a man, a man with desires and feelings. He also lived in this building, which was a rare opportunity for her.

When fate arrives, she must find a way to seize it.

Ni Yiqiong quietly pulled down her neckline a bit, picked up the decanter, and poured wine for Fu Jichen, just in time to see Shen Jianian’s glass was empty, casually asking, "Jianian, want more?"

"Thank you." Shen Jianian handed over the wine glass.

Fu Jichen’s lips pressed together slightly, his gaze scanned her face, noticing her cheeks and the corners of her eyes were already red. Didn’t she know her own limits?

"Not worried about getting drunk?" Fu Jichen thought about not interfering, but couldn’t help saying it.

Shen Jianian was eating a mushroom scooped out from the sukiyaki pot and said softly, "There’s nothing important tomorrow anyway." Drunk or not, it’s more important to be happy on her birthday.

Fu Jichen stopped minding her.

Ni Yiqiong unknowingly moved closer to Fu Jichen during the conversation, "Haven’t seen Mr. Fu lately, have you been on a business trip?"

Fu Jichen: "No."

Ni Yiqiong’s cheeks flushed slightly, "Then you must be very busy with work." She nodded, affirming her guess; at his level, he indeed could not be too idle, "I baked pastries earlier and brought them for you to try, but you were never around. I’m glad for the opportunity today."

Fu Jichen wasn’t an idiot; he was perfectly clear of her intentions, and his refusal was obvious: "Thank you for your kind gesture, Miss Ni, but I don’t eat pastries."

Ni Yiqiong paused awkwardly for a moment but quickly smiled again, "Is it that you don’t like sweets? The pastries I make aren’t very sweet, but my male friends rave about them."

Fu Jichen didn’t respond, instead, he grabbed a pinch of cold-pickled carrot strips with his chopsticks and put it in his bowl.

Bai Changxia felt embarrassed for Miss Ni and helped ease the atmosphere, "Just now, when Miss Ni was baking in the kitchen, I couldn’t help but drool from the aroma. I’ll definitely eat more later."

Ni Yiqiong smiled faintly, unwilling to concede, feeling that if this man were easy to win over, she might not be interested. The more he kept her at a distance, the more it proved he wasn’t just anyone, making him more attractive.

Shen Jianian also helped break the awkward silence, "Let’s divide the roast chicken. It’ll taste bad if it gets cold." She put on disposable gloves and first asked Ni Yiqiong, "Miss Ni, would you like to try some?"

Ni Yiqiong shook her head, declining her offer, "I’m on a diet recently, and I’ve already exceeded my limit for tonight."

Shen Jianian tore off a drumstick and placed it on Zhao Shunyi’s plate.

"Thanks! I’ve been eyeing it for a while!" Zhao Shunyi never hesitated when it came to food.

The other drumstick was given to Bai Changxia by Shen Jianian, as it was a dish she had made.

Bai Changxia smiled, "The birthday person should eat the drumstick."

"Don’t be so formal with me." Shen Jianian smiled, "I’ll eat the chicken wing."

Fu Jichen raised an eyebrow slightly, trying not to reveal his dissatisfaction in his tone, he asked lightly, "What do I get to eat?"

Shen Jianian was tearing at the chicken wing when a slightly low voice suddenly came from beside her. She was about to ask Fu Jichen if he wanted a chicken wing—there was one more. But just as the words reached her lips, a sudden thought flashed in her mind, and what came out was another sentence: "You can eat the chicken butt."

Fu Jichen’s right hand, resting on the table, visibly trembled, accidentally bumping into the wine glass.

Ni Yiqiong noticed the glass tipping to the side and quickly reached out to grab it, but it was too late. A glass of wine spilled down, soaking Fu Jichen’s shirt, and a few drops splashed onto her dress too.

Fu Jichen stood up, not caring about the chaotic accident at all, his eyes were fixed on Shen Jianian, throat tightened, "What did you say?"

Shen Jianian didn’t understand why he reacted so strongly. Recalling her earlier words, she realized they might not have been very polite. She tried to explain she was joking, but a reproachful voice suddenly chimed in: "Jianian, how could you treat Mr. Fu like that?"

Shen Jianian’s words got stuck.

Ni Yiqiong shook her head as if at a loss for her, "Do you have a towel? Hurry and get one for Mr. Fu to clean up, his clothes are covered in wine stains!"

Shen Jianian, shouted at and stunned for a few seconds, finally spoke the words she didn’t get a chance to say earlier, "Sorry, I was just joking, didn’t expect..." didn’t expect Fu Jichen to lose his composure.

She went to grab a towel but was stopped by Fu Jichen, who held her sleeve. He looked at her stubbornly, nearly obsessively, and asked, "Did you remember something?"

"Remember what?" Shen Jianian blinked blankly.