Madam Shen asked kindly, “An-an, what happened just now? What were you looking at? Tell grandma about it.”

Shen Er’an gave a slight shake of his head.

The old lady moved her prayer beads, feeling powerless in the face of her grandson’s estrangement and rejection. Soon, the Shen family and Qi family would become one family. The main purpose of tonight’s dinner wasn’t to discuss the wedding, but because Mrs. Qi nagged her until she agreed to have her grandson come over to meet his future stepmother.

Madam Shen said to the Qi family that the two children were former classmates and that it was uncertain how well they would get along in their new relationship.

In reality, Madam Shen didn't care about that at all. Her true aim was to find an excuse to make the father and son sit at the same table.

The reason she chose Fuyuan Restaurant was because it was close to Third High so it wouldn’t take up too much of her grandson's time and affect his studies.

But her grandson hadn’t spoken since he entered the private room. He was so quiet he didn’t seem like a child in puberty. Although just now, he had finally behaved slightly more like his age, he still didn’t talk. Madam Shen wanted to try chatting with her grandson but Shen Ji said coldly, “Serve the food.”

“You all go ahead and eat. Don’t wait for me,” Shen Ji said, then pushed his chair back and got up to step outside to smoke.

A mature and faint scent of perfume wafted into Jiao Bai's nostrils. He was physically repulsed and couldn't help but hold his breath.

As Shen Ji passed by him, he turned his head slightly and cast him a glance, like he was giving charity to the little thing that used clumsy tactics to attract his attention.

Jiao Bai was calm and collected. The old man preferred people who were striking and gorgeous. His appearance was nothing like that so he was completely safe.

Shen Ji, who was about to leave, stopped in his tracks. His voice was deep and commanding as he said, “Take off your mask.”

Jiao Bai: ? Laozi’s not going to listen to you.

The atmosphere in the room was a little strange.

No one heard Shen Ji say anything, but they felt that he looked really out of place standing next to the waiter.

“A-Ji, come back and eat,” ordered Madam Shen. She had no demands regarding her son's private life. He could relieve stress however he wanted, as long as he didn't do it in front of her grandson.

Shen Ji took a step forward, flicking his lighter with his rough fingers. He had simply sensed the waiter's leisurely, relaxed and fearless demeanour, which struck him as quite unusual.

The last time someone dared to show this sort of attitude in front of him was that little dog with prominent canine teeth.

The sight of the dog joyfully wagging its tail and frolicking freely after its leash had been removed flashed before him once and then again. It really needed disciplining.

The expressions of the people at the dining table varied.

Shen Er'an, lost in his own world, fidgeted with his knuckles like he hadn't noticed his father's behaviour. Madam Shen patted his head, as if praising him for being sensible.

The elders of the Qi family were unperturbed, and Qi Zizhi showed no reaction either.

Only Qi Shuang carefully scrutinized the waiter who had caught Shen Ji’s attention. His face couldn’t be seen but his butt was pretty fleshy. Qi Shuang curled his lips and snorted. This waiter wasn’t even as good as Wang Chuqiu. At least Wang Chuqiu was uniformly scrawny.

.

For Jiao Bai, Shen Ji leaving the private room was a good thing. His target wasn’t Shen Ji but Qi Shuang. Only Qi Shuang needed to be here.

Jiao Bai wasn’t worried that other waiters would cause trouble at this critical moment. The supervisor definitely would have given them a heads-up. They knew that keeping their jobs was more important than anything else.

When the dishes were being served, Jiao Bai made almost no mistakes. Just as he and everyone else were walking out, Qi Shuang's distinctive voice, which sounded like he had a piece of candy in his mouth, sounded from the table.

“Wait.”

All of the waiters stopped in their tracks, bewildered.

Jiao Bai adjusted his grip on the dining cart and he and the others turned around. He stared at the shadows on the floor as he asked anxiously in his mind, “The target is right in front of me. Have the mission details been extracted yet?”

【Please wait patiently. 】

Jiao Bai rolled his eyes secretly. Can you extract it or not? Can you or not?!

.

Qi Shuang stopped the waiters, not for anything else, but to request a bowl of rice. After that, he flashed a sweet and obedient smile at Madam Shen and asked, “Mum, do you like the soft and delicate texture?”

The word ‘Mum’ made the Madam Shen’s face twitch. She tightened her grip on the Buddhist beads and lifted her wrinkled eyelids, “It’s not bad. How thoughtful of you.”

Jiao Bai had no doubt that Qi Shuang was likely informed that he wasn’t allowed to change how he addressed her even after marriage[1]. That was why he deliberately addressed her that way on this occasion, in the presence of outsiders.

The old lady was so angry that she wanted to throw the Buddhist beads at Qi Shuang’s face. She looked down on this daughter-in-law’s family background and physical appearance, but couldn’t let go of his fortune and astrological chart. In the original story, it was this very daughter-in-law who caused her to die from anger. Serves her right.

Jiao Bai found the two elders of the Qi family quite intriguing. They weren’t embarrassed by their youngest son's behavior at all, as if they couldn’t sense the change in the atmosphere and couldn’t see the old lady's displeasure. Tsk tsk, as expected of the older generation of a prestigious family.

Qi Zizhi, who was sitting diagonally opposite, paused. He cast a sidelong glance at one of the waiters, and fell deep in thought. That lively and cunning gaze, which contained a hint of omniscient[2] malice, was something he had seen a few months ago.

That was at Madam Shen's birthday banquet.

The reason he still remembered it was because he had never encountered anything like it before.

Qi Zizhi set down his chopsticks and rested his distinct strong hands on his abdomen. The waiters all wore identical uniform and, with their masks and hats covering their face, only their eyes were visible. As a result, they could only be distinguished by their body shape and gender.

However, Qi Zizhi noticed a certain scent.

A medicinal smell.

The smell emanated from under the uniform, as if it was often applied to the skin and had blended with the person’s body odour over time.

Qi Zizhi had also smelled this scent in the corridor and concluded that the waiter was the same person who felt familiar to him at that time. Now, the sense of familiarity returned, even stronger than before.

Qi Zizhi's investigation was interrupted by a clear, crisp sound.

Shen Er’an had dropped and shattered a soup ladle.


[1] He has to keep calling her Madam Shen

[2] 上帝视角 (shàngdì shìjiǎo) means ‘God’s perspective’ or ‘God’s view’ - describes a viewpoint that has a comprehensive, all-encompassing view of a situation, as if one were omniscient or had the ability to see everything from above.