âFantastic!â Cui Jiangjingâs brows lifted and his eyes smiled in the moment; he knew todayâs meal wouldnât be wasted. He picked up his chopsticks and began to guess what was on the dining table.
It was laden with a full spread of dishes, some spicy and some not.
âLet me think, the Yuanbao Pigeon Soup, I know that one, must be Mrs. Linâs cooking. This is Mrs. Linâs specialty, and it takes quite a while to prepare. Miss Rong wouldnât have had the time to make it since she arrived, so this one goes to Mrs. Lin.â
His long, narrow peach blossom eyes then darted to the side, to the fiercely spicy boiled beef slices, âThis oneâ¦â
Shen Siyuan looked on, unwilling to accept that the atmosphere was becoming lively, and it was entirely opposite of the kind of liveliness she wanted to see!
She frowned, staring at Rong Yan for a while before suddenly interjecting, âThese spicy boiled beef slices must have been made by the new chef, right?â
âThis chef really doesnât know better, why make it so spicy? Didnât the butler tell him in advance that Mrs. Lin and Shengxiao Brother donât eat spicy food? Especially Shengxiao Brother, he always had a weak stomach and canât eat anything spicy. To think that he would still use so many chilies and make such a spicy dish!â
No sooner had she spoken than the atmosphere, which was about to liven up, came to an abrupt halt!
Li Duidui had been enduring until now, but she couldnât bear it any longer. She directly picked a piece of the spicy boiled beef in front of Shen Siyuan and said with a milky voice, âI like it, I love spicy food the most!â
Cui Jiangjing also jumped in to smooth things over, âThe spicy boiled beef slices are good, I quite like this dish too. Arenât there non-spicy dishes on the table? Not everyone canât eat spicy food. Besides, all these dishes were made by Mrs. Lin and Miss Rong, where did this chef youâre mentioning come from, Siyuan? You are being quite impolite.â
He had preempted Li Shengxiao in speaking up to Shen Siyuan, fearing that when that man spoke, it would make her look even worse.
Lin Zhiyaâs smile also faded at this point, and her clear eyes looked at Shen Siyuan, calmly stating, âSiyuan, I know youâre not the kind of rude child, but you did indeed say the wrong thing this time. Iâve already said to let them guess who made which dish between me and Yan, yet you accused it of being made by a chef, what do you mean? Are you calling me a chef?â
âThatâs not what I meantâ¦â Seeing that she was genuinely angry with her, Shen Siyuan quickly waved her hands in explanation, âI thought, I thought there were also dishes made by a chef, so thatâs why⦠I didnât realize everything was made by Mrs. Lin and⦠Miss Rong together.â
Lin Zhiya didnât want to spoil the first meal her daughter-in-law had at their home, so she didnât pursue the issue further and resumed smiling, inviting everyone to eat, âCome on, letâs eat, the dishes will get cold.â
Shen Siyuan always felt that she was excluded from the dining table, even though she was sitting there, it was as if the people at the table had collectively isolated her.
But this time, even Cui Jiangjing didnât seem inclined to help her smooth things over.
The meal was eaten in a heavy and awkward silence and was finally over.
After the servant cleaned up the dining table, maybe because Lin Zhiya didnât want Rong Yan to stay with Shen Siyuan, she took the initiative to say, âYan, come with me to make fruit tea, we havenât finished the previous batch yet, Iâll teach you what to do next.â
âOkay.â Rong Yan, in the face of Shen Siyuanâs provocation, had remained calm and composed the whole time, without uttering a single word. Once Lin Zhiya called her, she patted Little Babyâs head and headed to the kitchen, contrasting her grace with Shen Siyuanâs earlier unreasonable provocation, which seemed all the more excessive.