Night, river dam.

Rural courtyard, moonlight like water, spring insects singing harmoniously.

Xue Chuchu is so embarrassed she just wants to run away.

But leaving in such a ridiculous manner would be too petty, and Tongtong would definitely think she’s upset over a cup of lemon tea mixed with chili powder, and would probably laugh at her for a long time.

’And Jiang Ning... he did it on purpose!’

If she confronts him, Jiang Ning might say, ’Do you have a guilty conscience?’

How would Xue Chuchu respond then?

Seeing Xue Chuchu’s conflicted expression, Jiang Ning apologized, "My mistake, sorry."

Xue Yuantong waved generously, "Jiang Ning, pour her another cup! No, two cups!"

After saying that, she continued grilling skewers, already starting to brush honey on them.

Jiang Ning picked up a cup of honey tea again, "Have a drink."

Xue Chuchu felt very chaotic inside, with a bit of an urge to escape, as she reached out and took the cup.

Tongtong held a handful of beef skewers, "Have a bite!"

Seeing Chuchu still dazed, Jiang Ning intentionally asked, "We’re both serving you, why are you neither eating nor drinking?"

Tongtong continued rubbing the skewers, chiming in, "Exactly, exactly."

When people are extremely embarrassed, they often lose their appetite. Chuchu said, "Tongtong hasn’t eaten yet; I’m afraid I won’t be able to resist eating it all."

Jiang Ning: "Just make sure she doesn’t find out."

Tongtong, who was diligently grilling skewers, immediately glared at Jiang Ning.

Xue Chuchu said, "I won’t do that."

Tongtong: "Humph, you better not!"

Xue Chuchu, feeling guilty, just thought the two were using objects to represent people, feeling even more melancholic inside.

She unconsciously picked up a beef skewer, took a light bite, first feeling a slight warmth. The honey grilled skewer’s surface was surprisingly crispy, and she seemed to taste the sweet freshness of locust flowers, followed by the tender beef and spice flavor.

’Wow, it’s really good.’

’Take another bite, one more bite, delicious.’

Lost in her thoughts, Chuchu unknowingly finished all the first batch of grilled skewers, indeed not leaving a single one for Tongtong.

Xue Yuantong was furious, what did this equate to?

Equivalent to knowingly committing a crime, and doing it right in front of her!

Xue Chuchu, having finished eating, found herself without any skewers, preparing to grab more to eat. As she looked at Tongtong, she happened to meet Tongtong’s glaring eyes.

Xue Chuchu suddenly awakened, immediately apologizing, "Tongtong, it’s just too delicious!"

"Humph, so it’s delicious and you just keep eating it, huh?"

Xue Yuantong was mildly annoyed, but considering Chuchu’s contributions, she still gave her a few skewers.

Jiang Ning was more considerate; having received the skewers, he didn’t eat them himself first, instead bringing them to the hardworking Tongtong’s lips.

Xue Yuantong bit on the grilled meat, speaking unclearly, "You’re so good, Jiang Ning."

Only then did Jiang Ning take a bite of the skewer and sip two mouthfuls of honey lemon tea with ice cubes.

This honey originates from the local beehive at Hu Qi Mountain, made by honeybees collecting nectar from Spirit Flower buds, painstakingly brewed.

Even the small bottle of honey he gave to Lin Zida, despite being the lowest grade honey, is incredibly rare.

Meanwhile.

At the rural tourism spot, Lin Zida was operating a small grill alone, skillfully grilling skewers.

He wasn’t lacking in intelligence, frequently hanging out at the rural tourism spot, watching often, thus able to grill decently.

The atmosphere around Lin Zida became lively; even at ten at night, Wang Yong brought over four girls, Xu Wenyi, Yin Yu, and two other girls of the same level as Xu Wenyi, none of them tattooed party girls, all appearing classy.

After all, many wealthy second-generation individuals can summon a bunch of beauties late at night, especially now when they’re here to hang out with the deputy secretary’s son, plenty are willing.

Wang Yong didn’t actually want to bring Yin Yu along; this girl’s mouth was too sharp.

However, with Yuzhou’s rapid development recently as the place where heroes and powers converge, attracting various forces, Hui Province’s inspection team arrived, and to strengthen supervision, plans to station permanently; Yin Yu’s father was leading the team.

Wang Yong, a mere small ant, wouldn’t dare refuse?

After Lin Zida brushed honey on the skewers, the difficulty increased immediately. Honey rapidly caramelizes under high heat, hence requires frequent brushing; he couldn’t control the heat well, realizing too late that two tiger prawns had already roasted black.

Yin Yu smiled and said, "Such nice shrimp heads."

Lin Zida heard this; though it was a compliment, he felt attacked.

So with a darkened face, wanting to drive her away, but restrained himself out of manners.

Zhuang Jianhui was displeased with Yin Yu; Wang Yong shared her background with him, and that night at the villa, Lin Han also discussed Yin Yu with him.

Driving her away wasn’t an option; if any incident occurred late at night, Zhuang Jianhui would have to take the blame.

"You say it’s well grilled, right?" Zhuang Jianhui seized the opportunity, saying, "Xiao Pang, please offer Sister Yin some shrimp."

Lin Zida handed over the two blackened tiger prawns to Yin Yu, "Want to try?"

Yin Yu kept her smile, "Thank you, you’re really good."

She took the skewers, using her fingernails to peel the prawns’ blackened exterior, putting it directly to her lips, seemingly unconcerned about whether it was burnt.

Everyone observed that as Yin Yu took the first bite of shrimp meat, she noticeably paused.

Zhuang Jianhui was satisfied, secretly thinking: ’You paused a half-second, is it out of reluctance?’

For once, successfully. Zhuang Jianhui’s mood was great.

Yin Yu finished two tiger prawns like that, smiled slightly, "Any more?"

Zhuang Jianhui: ’You’re quite resilient, aren’t you!’

He signaled Xiao Pang with his eyes.

Between brothers, no words needed!

Lin Zida prepared two more grilled tiger prawns.

"Want more?"

Two more.

"Want to keep eating?"

Finally, Yin Yu even urged Lin Zida to grill the tiger prawns, lightly saying, "Is this your limit?"

Gong Jin noticed something amiss. When Lin Zida grilled another two tiger prawns, he voluntarily took one, mimicked peeling off the black exterior, looked closely, realizing the shrimp meat wasn’t black but caramel-colored.

He took a bite; the shrimp mixed with chili and cumin seemed filled with fresh sweetness.

Suddenly, an advertisement phrase sprang to his mind, ’The taste of the sea, I know it.’

’Wow, it’s delicious!’

However, Gong Jin cunningly wore a disgusted expression, shaking his head, "No, the burnt taste is too strong; your skills are lacking, Xiao Pang."

Lin Zida knew Gong Jin was sneaky; after grilling two more less darkened skewers, he gave one to himself and one to Zhuang Jianhui.

Zhuang Jianhui peeled off the black exterior, lowered his head to eat a bite, and suddenly realized the fool was himself.

He raised his head, meeting Yin Yu’s gaze, Yin Yu smiled faintly, "You were really cool inviting me to eat earlier."

Zhuang Jianhui ordered, "Do not let her eat it."

Yin Yu didn’t take it seriously, and spoke softly in front of everyone: "None of them are as stingy as you, right?"

Zhuang Jianhui’s expression didn’t look good, this woman was too scheming.

Lin Zida laughed and said, "Jianhui isn’t stingy; he’s just worried that eating too much at night isn’t good for girls."

Then he changed the subject: "However, I won’t kill the mood."

Lin Zida generously grilled two more skewers of shrimp, but cunningly didn’t add honey, and deliberately burned them.

Yin Yu took a bite, and her fake smile immediately disappeared as the taste was significantly worse.

Gong Jin, having witnessed the whole thing, thought: ’This honey is really something!’

...

The courtyard.

After finishing the skewers, Tongtong tidied up the table and went home to brush her teeth and shower. Chuchu also left.

Without them, Jiang Ning could finally practice properly.

Soon after, wearing pajamas and with her hair just dried, Tongtong came back to him for fun.

"Hmph, what are you doing sitting there all silly again?"

Jiang Ning leaned against the sofa: "Meditating."

"I bet you’re just daydreaming!"

Tonight, Xue Yuantong wasn’t playing computer games but instead jumped to Jiang Ning’s bed, found the iPad under the blanket, laid on the bed, and started swiping through ’Clash of Clans’.

She was wearing white Hello Kitty pajamas, the material very soft. When she got excited, she’d lift her feet wrapped in white socks.

Time quietly passed, and Jiang Ning completed his breathing cycle.

He opened his eyes to see a little white sock shaking proudly on the bed beside him.

Jiang Ning moved closer to the edge of the bed, stretched out two fingers, and gently poked the sole of the little foot, through the white sock.

Tongtong felt as if she had been electrocuted and quickly withdrew her little foot.

She twisted her waist, turned around angrily, "Nasty Jiang Ning, what are you doing!"

Jiang Ning laughed and said, "Nothing."

"Hmph!" Tongtong didn’t bother to argue with Jiang Ning and went back to playing her game.

"It’s half-past eleven, you should get home and sleep." He reminded her.

"One more game and then I’ll sleep."

"Sleeping too late will stunt your growth."

"..."

Tongtong put away the iPad and silently went home.

But Jiang Ning wasn’t left in peace for even five minutes before her call came in.

Jiang Ning preemptively said, "Great, I couldn’t sleep, tell me a story now."

Xue Yuantong: "?"

Did something feel off?

However, she was bold, storytelling was a piece of cake. Her dark eyes flashed with a spiritual light.

"Sure, sure. Once upon a time, there was a quail."

Jiang Ning enjoyed the bedtime story, feeling like he was back in his childhood. Well, actually, his mom never told him bedtime stories as a kid...

But, it’s not too late now.

Xue Yuantong snuggled under her little blanket: "Other birds lay eggs in the morning and afternoon, but it was the only one that laid eggs at night."

Jiang Ning was slightly expectant: "Hmm, then what?"

Xue Yuantong giggled, "So, many people called it—Evening Quail Egg."

...

Night, a residential area in the urban area.

After a busy day, Shao Shuangshuang opened the door to her house, quietly walked to the kitchen, and found the stove empty.

Shao Shuangshuang couldn’t help but call toward the living room: "Mom."

Echoing back to her was the silence of an empty room.

She suddenly recalled that she had been complaining that her mother was too nagging about marriage, so she recently organized a travel group abroad for her parents.

’Now it’s great, there’s no one to leave me food anymore.’ Shao Shuangshuang smiled wryly.

Although the company has several employee cafeterias, sometimes she still preferred her mom’s cooking, especially when Jiang Ning would often bring her specialties for her mother to cook.

In the old house, without the constant nagging of her parents, Shao Shuangshuang suddenly felt a bit out of place. A sense of emptiness engulfed her from all directions.

Everyone has their weaknesses, it’s impossible to be tense 24 hours a day.

At this moment, Shao Shuangshuang suddenly understood why her parents always wanted her to settle down.

Shao Shuangshuang’s eyes darkened; it wasn’t possible for her.

The phone rang, she took it out and answered.

The efficient voice of her secretary, Zhao Shuang, was on the line: ’President Shao, the group of children you chose will arrive at the station in twenty minutes, would you like to meet them?’

Shao Shuangshuang: "Hmm, I’ll head to the South Station now."

She stopped lingering, turned around, and went downstairs.

In front of Yuzhou South Station.

The night breeze gently blew, police lights flashed, several plainclothes men and women walking briskly with three little girls.

Zhao Shuang whispered: "They’re here."

After meeting, Shao Shuangshuang glanced at the three little girls, around eleven or twelve years old, with dark skin. One was particularly skinny and small, but her eyes were bright, not flinching even at Shao Shuangshuang’s gaze.

Shao Shuangshuang found it quite interesting.

"President Shao, they’ve slept all the way, they’re full of energy." A man laughed.

"Hmm, let’s go."

The three little girls got into a Mercedes business car, while Shao Shuangshuang got into a Maybach. Then, with a police car leading, they drove towards Guanlan Building by Snowflake Lake.

Shao Shuangshuang sat in the back seat, crossing her legs and closing her eyes to rest.

Zhao Shuang said in her ear, "The clinical phase of Longevity Medicine is completed, with all 128 kidney disease trial patients achieving fibrosis reversal, necrotic kidney units regeneration... Several academicians hope to push the drug soon."

Zhao Shuang, thinking about the efficacy of the culture medium, was secretly amazed. With nearly 700 million chronic kidney disease patients worldwide and the incidence of uremia as an end-stage condition rising yearly, this market is huge...

Shao Shuangshuang asked, "What about Changqing Hospital?"

Zhao Shuang: "All personnel joined a week ago and are ready to be put into use."

Shao Shuangshuang nodded.

Zhao Shuang reported a few more issues, and finally turned to an apparently trivial matter: "President Shao, is it confirmed that the new drug will be released with the Fourth Middle School’s spring event?"

Zhao Shuang found it inexplicable.

Shao Shuangshuang opened her eyes, the beauty spot at the corner of her eye even more alluring. She smiled: "Isn’t it ridiculous?"