The man looked like he was around mid-twenties. He was well-dressed and well-mannered. He was looking at Mu Yu with a smile on his face. Mu Yu thought he looked familiar, but she couldn’t remember where she had seen him.
“Hello, Miss Mu,” The man greeted her very politely.
“Hello,” Mu Yu responded, still thinking. However, her mind couldn’t figure out whether she had met this man before, so she turned to look at Xin Yihan.
Before Xin Yihan could speak, the man spoke out to clear up her confusion. “My name is Yunzhe. We met each other at Yihan’s annual dinner last year.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Yun.” Mu Yu still had an apologetic look on her face. She really couldn’t remember anything.
Yunzhe clearly saw through her look. He laughed lightly and joked, “I don’t blame you. I blame myself for having normal features.”
“Oh, it’s not that. I have a bad memory.”
“Don’t bother him. He likes to make jokes.” Xin Yihan smiled and gestured for Mu Yu, who was still embarrassed, to sit down. “There were so many people at that time. It’s normal to not remember him.”
Yunzhe smiled and said, “Based on what you have said, am I abnormal for remembering Miss Mu then?”
“It’s not abnormal. You can only blame Yu for singing so beautifully.”
During the annual dinner last year, Xin Yihan had publicly announced his wedding date with Yin Xiaotian. Although Mu Yu was very sad at that time, she sang a song for them to congratulate them. She was really into her singing at that time and had gotten a roar of applause from the audience.
Yunzhe smiled and said, “Yes, indeed. After hearing Miss Mu’s singing, I fully understood the feeling of having one’s voice lingering around the beams for three days.”
“Mr. Yi, you’re exaggerating.” Mu Yu was embarrassed by his praises.
Xin Yihan gestured to the waiter to serve their food. Then, he smiled and continued, “It’s not an exaggeration. I also had that kind of feeling. Talking about this, not only have I not had a meal with you for a long time, but I also haven’t listened to your singing for so long. Why don’t we go to sing karaoke songs after dinner?”
Yunzhe agreed happily, “This is a good idea. Call Xiaotian to join us after this.”
Hearing Yin Xiaotian’s name, Mu Yu’s heart tightened. She turned to see Xin Yihan, who still had a smile on his face, and asked, “Where is Xiaotian?”
“She’s working overtime.”
“Working overtime? Didn’t she apply for a wedding leave?”
“I’m too busy with work these days, and I couldn’t squeeze any time out to accompany my wife for our honeymoon, so we have postponed our honeymoon trip. She was bored being alone at home and started going back to work yesterday.”
The phrase ‘my wife’ made Mu Yu stiffen. It was the first time Xin Yihan addressed Yin Xiaotian like this in front of her. She felt somewhat disappointed inwardly, but she was mostly happy for them for having a stable relationship. She was especially happy that he didn’t ask anything related to Qin Jinhuan. She felt a little guilty and was afraid to be seen through. Desperately wanting to start a conversation, she asked, “Well, isn’t today the day you would go to the bride’s home?”
“Her dad had passed away at the beginning of the year because he was ill. Her stepmother had remarried. So there will be no need to go to the bride’s home.”
“Oh, I didn’t know Xiaotian had so many misfortunes in her family. I can’t believe I didn’t know anything about it.”
Sensing that Mu Yu was feeling guilty, Xin Yihan quickly smiled and comforted her, “It’s been more than half a year. My wife has already let it all go. By the way, Yunzhe’s voice is also good. You guys can have a battle later. Let’s see who will be honored as the best singer.”
“I’m definitely not as good as Miss Mu.” Yunzhe smiled while he poured some juice for Mu Yu.
“Thank you, Mr. Yun, for your compliment,” Mu Yu took the cup with both of her hands and said shyly. “Actually, I’m just singing for fun.”
“Call me Yunzhe. This sounds friendlier,” Yunzhe smiled and said. “You can sing so well just by singing for fun. Imagine if you sing seriously, won’t you then become the most famous pop-star in the music industry?”
Xin Yihan chuckled. “Both of you should stop being so humble. Later Xiaotian and I will be the judges and decide the points for the two of you.”
Yunzhe immediately said, “Then both of you should be in charge of awarding us.”
“Do I need to make an announcement to the press and let the whole world know about you two getting an award?”
“That would be the best.”
“All right, let me call the press over now. You two can have a live broadcast by then.”
When she saw Xin Yihan had indeed taken his phone out, Mu Yu was shocked and quickly stopped him. “Yihan, please don’t. I-I can’t do this.”
“Silly girl, I was just joking with you. I was going to call my wife to tell her about going to the karaoke.”
“Oh.”Mu Yu then let go of her hand and saw Yunzhe was looking at her. She realized that she was out of the line and grimaced at him embarrassingly.
“The signal isn’t good here. You guys eat up first. I have to step out and call Xiaotian,” Xin Yihan said and walked out of the private room.
Mu Yu shouted, “We’ll wait for you to eat together.”
“We don’t have to wait for him. Let’s eat first. You don’t look too good. Drink some herbal black-bone chicken soup,” Yunzhe said as he took a small bowl and poured some soup for her.
“Thank you. I can do it myself.”
“You’re Yihan’s sister. I am Yihan’s buddy. You don’t have to be so polite.” After seeing her taking a few sips of the chicken soup, Yunzhe then pushed the Osmanthus Rice Cake to her. He said, “This Osmanthus Rice Cake tastes really good. You should try it.”
“Thank you.”
The Osmanthus Rice Cake was Mu Yu’s favorite. When this dish was served, she was already swallowing her saliva after inhaling its sweet fragrance. If it wasn’t because of Yunzhe being there, she would have already gone for it as soon as it was served. Finally, she took a piece of the glutinous rice cake that had sweet osmanthus on it and slowly enjoyed the food in her mouth. The sweet fragrance and the right amount of osmanthus sweetness had complemented nicely with the chewy glutinous rice cake. She couldn’t stop praising the delicious dessert, but she realized something weird while she was eating.
“This Osmanthus Rice Cake is too delicious. Are there any additives added in it?”
“No, it’s delicious because this osmanthus is collected from the best orange osmanthus from An Ping Mountain. It’s completely uncontaminated. Every petal is carefully picked. The sugar used to preserve the osmanthus and the glutinous rice used to make the rice cake are also carefully picked too. Of course, the baker who makes the rice cake and the chef who cooks it have to be carefully selected too. Their culinary skills are the best. Otherwise, even if you have the best osmanthus sugar, it wouldn’t do any good without the best rice cake.”
Mu Yu was utterly shocked. “It’s so complicated. How expensive is this Osmanthus Rice Cake, compared to the average Osmanthus Rice Cake?”
It just happened that Xin Yihan walked in. He smiled when he heard those words and interjected, “It’s not how this one is more expensive than the average one. It’s simply not for sale. The hotel chef had specially prepared for Yunzhe, this big foodie.”
“What?” Mu Yu felt it was beyond her imagination.
“He likes to torture the chefs all the time.”
“You really don’t know how to talk. What do you mean by ‘torturing the chefs’?” Yunzhe immediately retorted. “Food is the first necessity of the people. Devouring delicious food is one of the best things in my life. It not only satisfies the desire of hunger, but it also induces a sense of spiritual enjoyment.”
Xin Yihan smiled and sat down. Then, he picked up his chopsticks and said, “It’s only a meal. How do you discover so much profound philosophy in it? For me, eating is just to fill the stomach.”
Seeing Xin Yihan eating quickly with his chopsticks, Yunzhe shook his head and sighed. “Do you know the way you gobble your food shows that you’re unappreciative of such heavenly food??”
“Regardless, it’s devouring the food slowly or gobbling it down. It becomes the same thing after it enters your stomach. I don’t see the difference in it.”
“You are the typical type of caring only for the result, not the process of it.”
“The result is indeed more important than the process. Yu, don’t you think so too?”
Mu Yu was listening intently to their conversation. She didn’t expect Xin Yihan to ask her all of a sudden and couldn’t help but stiffen.
Honestly speaking, she agreed more with Yunzhe’s point of view because she was also a foodie, but she wasn’t as particular as Yunzhe. However, she felt she couldn’t go against Xin Yihan in front of an outsider, so she didn’t say anything. She only laughed dryly and nodded slightly.
“If you ask Yu in that way, she wouldn’t dare to disagree with you.”
Unexpectedly, Yunzhe had pointed out her inner thought. Mu Yu was a little embarrassed. After thinking for a moment, she compromised and said, “The process exists for the results. Without a process, there will be no results. That’s why the process and the results are both important.”
“Our argument had indeed given Yu a hard time.” Xin Yihan laughed. He turned to look at Mu Yu and said, “Yunzhe and I are used to arguing all the time. Don’t mind us at all. It’s normal if you lean more toward Yunzhe’s point of view. The reason why I’m not particular when it comes to eating is because my family was poor when I was small. I have already thanked God for having something to fill my stomach. I don’t even dare to wish for more than that. Although my living conditions now are better, it’s a deeply ingrained habit that has been formed for more than ten years, and it cannot be changed.”
“You didn’t even have enough to eat when you were small?”
Normally, Xin Yihan rarely told Mu Yu about his childhood. She was very shocked by his words. When she was small, she grew up in a close-off and poor valley. However, even if her living conditions in the valley weren’t good, she never went hungry. That was why she couldn’t imagine the conditions that Xin Yihan said he had lived in.
“My family used to be poor. Now that my life is better, I think I should learn from Yunzhe, this foodie, on how to enjoy life. This beef is really good. Try it.”
As she stared at the beef in her bowl, Mu Yu knew Xin Yihan didn’t want to continue talking about the previous topic, so she didn’t ask any more questions. After all, the past was just a memory, and the most important thing was the present.
“They’re both beef, but they taste completely different when they are used to make a delicious dish because one is a captive cattle and the other is a free-range cattle.”
“Can cattle be raised free-range?” Mu Yu expressed her curiosity.
“Of course. It’s the same as rearing chickens and ducks. If I get the chance, I will bring you to have a look at the forest where I specially rear my carnivorous animals.”
“You mean you have a forest dedicated to providing food for your animals?” When Yunzhe smiled and nodded, Mu Yu suddenly felt a sense of awe and stared at Yunzhe for some time. She suddenly shouted out, “I know where I’ve seen you!”
“Oh? You finally remember me?” Yunzhe’s eyes shone with happiness.
“Yes! It’s not during Yihan’s annual dinner, but it was in a previous talk show on TV! You are the executive of the Yuchi Industry, aren’t you?” Mu Yu instantly had great respect for him.
Her words made Yunzhe a little disappointed as the smile on his face couldn’t help but dim.
“The Internet was talking about how Yuchi Industry intends to acquire the Residential Area of the Peaceful Cloud in Xi City and the west side of that land, is that true?”
“Yu!”
Mu Yu realized that her question was inappropriate after hearing Xin Yihan’s reminder. Embarrassed, she immediately apologized, “I’m so sorry. Because my family is living in the Peaceful Cloud Residential Area, my parents are particularly concerned about the demolition. That’s why I couldn’t help asking more about it.”
“It’s okay. This is no longer a trade secret. It’s okay to talk about it with you,” Yunzhe said while he glanced shortly at Xin Yihan, and his eyes flashed with disapproval.
“Is it really going to be demolished?” Mu Yu didn’t notice this tiny detail. She was only curious while she continued asking her question.
“Yes. Everything is going as planned. This shrimp is good.”
“Thank you.” Mu Yu took her plate to receive the shrimp that he gave her and looked at him while she ate. She was listening carefully to his every word, so that she could go back and tell her parents. However, she didn’t realize that something was wrong with Yunzhe’s behavior just now.
“A few days ago, the company had held a special meeting for the compensation of the residents of the Peaceful Cloud Residential Area to plan…”
“Yu.”
“What?”
When she heard someone was calling for her, Mu Yu instinctively turned around. She didn’t expect to see Qin Jinhuan standing at the door of the private room. She was startled and quickly got up, but her movements were too big, causing her to lose balance.
“Ah!”
“Be careful!” The next thing she knew, she fell into Yunzhe’s arms.