Chapter 376: Pre-season

Lu Yizhan was working in the kitchen for half a day, breathing heavily as he came out with a steaming pot: "Quickly, quickly! Get it on the induction hob! It's hot!"

Quick as a flash, Fang Dian set up a table and directed Bai Liu to bring over the induction cooker, finally getting the bottom of the pot on the ground before Lu Yizhan was about to be burned and send it flying.

A large pot of steaming hot spicy potage bubbles over the induction stove and the pungent, warm smell of spices fills the room instantly, with every available table and bench beside it filled with ingredients on plates and washed lettuce dripping down.

Lu Yizhan breathed a long sigh of relief as he clapped his hands together and admired it for a moment, his elbow raised to rest on Bai Liu's shoulder: "Not bad, huh? I've been simmering this bone broth for over an hour, so if I were to buy it, I'd have to buy a pot of 168 with my skills, right?"

"The keel is over forty dollars a catty, this pot of soup is the most expensive thing in the house, if you hadn't brought me here, I wouldn't have made such an expensive base pot ......"

Before Lu Yizhan could say anything, Tang Erda looked up at Bai Liu next to Lu Yizhan, holding up the bottle of wine that cost over 60,000 yuan: "Do you have a corkscrew?"

Muke pulled a lobster with pincers about the size of his head out of the chiller and looked apologetically over at Lu Yizhan: "I'm sorry we're not finished with the ingredients, can I use the kitchen so my butler can help with that?"

Lu Yizhan The smile on his face froze: "......"

Lu Yizhan slowly withdrew his hand from Bai Liu's shoulder, slightly woodenly stepping aside: "...... I may not have a knife here worthy of handling this lobster ...... "

Muke smiled politely, "No, it's not an expensive lobster, just deal with it."

With that, Muke handed the lobster to the butler, and Lu Yizhan caught sight of the tag hanging from the lobster's tail, with a money symbol under a string of English, $ followed by five digits.

Muke, with Lu Yizhan's permission, called the four housekeepers in and then turned to Lu Yizhan and said, "We'll use the kitchen carefully, no damage will be done."

Lu Yizhan's lax gaze is marked by Buming's sadness as he watches Muke take his team of chefs into the cramped kitchen of his home: "...... doesn't have to be too careful."

That lobster is already more expensive than their kitchen, which is only three square metres.

Bai Liu casually pulled a bottle opener from the fridge door and handed it to Tang Erda, with the faded words [Brave and Bold] printed on it, a gift with the purchase of a beer: "Can I open this?"

"Yes." Tang Erda took it straight away and was about to open it, when Lu Yizhan, next to her, snapped her voice to a halt, "No!"

"That bottle opener has opened cans of stinky tofu and Lao Gan Ma." Lu Yizhan looked at the label on the wine as he tried to maintain his composed expression, "...... I'll go and find you a new bottle opener."

After a long search, Lu Yizhan finally found a bottle opener that was not a gift and handed it to Tang Erda with tears in her eyes: "Open it, it should be the most glorious moment of its life."

"The bottle was opened with a bang, and the doorbell rang at the same time.

Bai Liu turned to open the door and there stood Liu Jiayi in the doorway wearing a small floral dress with a double ponytail, princess shoes and white lace-trimmed socks and two pink bow clips in relative silence.

"The way you're dressed today." Bai Liu commented politely, a little smile coming out of his face, "It fits your age."

Liu Jiayi tugged down her skirt, straightened her tense expression and took a deep breath to taunt Bai Liu when she heard Fang Dian's surprised voice: "Why is there a little girl?"

Liu Jiayi smiled sweetly for a second and opened her big grey eyes blankly, "Hello sister, I didn't bring anything with me for my first visit, I bought some candy downstairs."

"Do you want some candy, sister?" Liu Jiayi handed her pocket over and winked.

Fang Dian stares at Liu Jiayi for a long time, making Liu Jiayi feel like he's not sure if his disguise is revealing something.

Fang Dian's eyes were fixed on Liu Jiayi who was holding a small candy pocket in the doorway and looking at her with her head tilted, while her hands were clutching Bai Liu's arms and twisting hard, trying her best to control herself and lowering her voice to a hiss: "...... She's so cute!!! "

"Do you think her mother would mind if she had an extra mother after she came out to dinner?" Fang Dian's mind flew off the rails.

Bai Liu looked over at Liu Jiayi, who had been nervous to the point of relief, and the smile on her face thickened, "I think her mother would be happy to have a great beauty like her."

Fang Dian quickly turned and went inside, "Wait for me, I'll put on my makeup! Five minutes!"

When so many young men came to Fang Dian, she looked at them as if they were transparent, walking around the house in big slippers, laughing so loudly that the roof could be lifted, sitting on the sofa with her legs crossed, examining the Bai Liu team members one by one, a group of people stood in front of her as if they were minions on parade.

"You're the youngest son of that Wood Group! Wow, that's awesome! How do you and Bai Liu, the poor guy, know each other?"

"A famous university student, can can can!"

"Wow, those muscles, how did you build them! Teach me!"

In short, it doesn't care at all about its personal appearance and doesn't remember that it needs to wear make-up.

When a little girl arrived, Fang Dian's long-lost kindergarten teacher's professional ethics awakened and she rushed inside to change her clothes and freshen up.

When Fang Dian left, Bai Liu squatted down and looked at Liu Jiayi, smiling, "Xiang Chunhua and I said you hate wearing pink dresses, why are you wearing such a neat and tidy suit today?"

"I suddenly like it today." Liu Jiayi said, "Don't you know how to dress formally for your first visit to a friend's house? Don't know how to be polite."

Bai Liu repeats Liu Jiayi's words in a thoughtful tone: "So nervous because it's your first time to visit a friend's house?"

Liu Jiayi froze, but the situation was soon eased by Fang Dian, who rushed out of the room.

She squatted in front of Liu Jiayi with her make-up neatly done, sweeping away her previous casual look, wearing a dress, a polka dot bow hair cover on her head, holding a cloth doll in her hand, smiling, looking friendly and gentle, waving her hand at Liu Jiayi like a strange aunt, enticing her: "Come here, little one, teacher, pooh no, sister has a lovely Do you want to play with it?"

Liu Jiayi: "......"

Fang Dian gave Liu Jiayi a careful and cherished hug and stroked her fluffy ponytail with an expression that looked like she was about to burst into tears: "She's so soft and cute when she lets people hug her."

Liu Jiayi sits stiffly on Fang Dian's lap, her little hands holding down the hem of her skirt, not daring to move.

Lu Yizhan was amused by Fang Dian's behaviour, as she put her hands on her apron: "You play with all those children in kindergarten every day, haven't you had enough hugs?"

"How can you just hug." Fang Dian propped up her chin and sighed, "You can't have physical contact with children, the kindergarten has installed surveillance, which is connected to parents' mobile phones in real time, so if a parent sees you hugging a child casually, you will be reported."

"Especially with girls, parents would be extra careful that I couldn't touch them much even if they approached me voluntarily."

"It's not my child, after all."

Fang Dian said this seemingly casually, but she did not react, but Bai Liu and Lu Yizhan next to her were both moving their hands.

She put Liu Jiayi down, straightened Liu Jiayi's skirt and hair and knelt down to look tenderly at Liu Jiayi: "It certainly feels different to see a little girl who almost became my daughter now."

Lu Yizhan had previously discussed the adoption of Liu Jiayi with Fang Dian, who had also seen Liu Jiayi's photographs, but in the end Liu Jiayi did not choose them.

Liu Jiayi now remembers this too, and she purses her lips as if she doesn't know what to say.

...... Lu Yizhan and Fang Dian are really good parents, so good that I feel guilty for not choosing them.

"Now it seems we have a good eye." Fang Dian smiled as she reached up to part Liu Jiayi's hair from her temples, "What a lovely little girl, no wonder we're not the only ones who want to be your family."

"But it's nice to be friends!"

Fang Dian half-kneeling on the carpet, her eyes at the same level as Liu Jiayi, she solemnly extended her palm to Liu Jiayi: "Hello, Jiayi, my name is Fang Dian, I am 25 years old, may I ask if you have recently made a new forgettable friend?"

Liu Jiayi is quiet for a moment, and the corners of her pursed mouth start to turn up, two tiny dimples appearing on the side of her face.

She lifted her jaw slightly and put on a condescending face to match Fang Dian's performance, "There wasn't."

"But an exception can be made for you." Liu Jiayi put her hand in Fang Dian's.

Fang Dian made an exaggeratedly flattered face as she laughed and picked Liu Jiayi up and placed her at the table: "I can't repay you for such a big exception, so I'll have to treat you to hot pot! Let's eat!"

The bright wine was poured into glasses and everyone except Liu Jiayi raised their glasses to celebrate, only to have the electricity go out halfway through.

All: "......"

Du Sanying covers her mouth and chokes up: "I'm sorry, it's all my fault ......"

"It's fine." Lu Yizhan is unconcerned, "The circuits here are aging and the power goes out often, so I'll get the solid alcohol and we'll carry the pot to the balcony to eat."

Fang Dian wowed, "Wouldn't that be a lobster candlelight dinner, so romantic!"

Bai Liu calmly pours cold water: "Romance is for two people, and there are seven of us here besides Liu Jiayi, so even if we romance in groups of two, there's still one more person."

"Well, Bai Liu, you've become social after working, haven't you?" Fang Dian rolled up his sleeves, "How dare you talk back to me?"

Tang Erda was quickly led into a ditch by Bai Liu, who frowned and thought hard about Bai Liu's [two-by-two grouping] statement, "So who do I have to team up with? Bai Liu, why don't you and I ......"

Mu Sicheng, who was eating from his bowl, shouted back, "No, Bai Liu and I are on the same team!"

The lenses on Muke's eyes flickered, but the tone of his voice was warm: "Bai Liu, sit over here and I'll get you some lobster slices."

"......" Lu Yizhan was again head over heels and in tears, "Okay, okay, stop it, sit down, I'll get the alcohol."

In the darkness of the night, in the midst of all the lights, a family unlucky enough to have a power cut squatted on their balcony with dishes and chopsticks for a humble yet lively meal of hot pot that was approaching a six-figure price tag.

Years later, when asked what was the best meal of his life, Du Sanying, whose memory is still not so good, would answer in a second -

--The first time Bai Liu took him to his friend's house for that hot pot meal during a power outage.

At 10pm, Du Sanying is lying in Bai Liu's house after a shower, swiping his phone.

Du Sanying has just added a lot of people today, and now his circle of friends is full of content. He looks at them carefully, one by one, and the corners of his mouth can't help but rise.

He scrolled down and found a friend circle that Fang Dian had just posted, a hand-drawn drawing of them having hot pot today.

Fang Dian is holding Bai Liu's head in his crevice, his chopsticks are reaching into his bowl to grab the food, Lu Yizhan is scrambling to stop him, Muke is pulling back, Mu Sicheng is laughing in amusement, Tang Erda is drinking, Liu Jiayi is hiding in the corner, actually taking pictures, and he is holding his glass in the air, giggling and blushing. He looks drunk.

Everyone was there and everyone was laughing.

Fang Dian's circle of friends for this painting reads - 'Quan family fortune'.