novelraw Chapter 312 - 288: Gathering 2_2
Chapter 312 - 288: Gathering 2_2
Lu Shishu listened, his cold eyes swept over him briefly before retracting quickly.Nan Jiayan walked to the door, pushed it open, and was stunned to see the three people standing outside. The three outside were similarly taken aback upon seeing him, and Lu Xize blurted out, "Whoa, am I seeing ghosts?"
In contrast, Jiang Baizhou was much calmer after his initial surprise, knowing he lived next door and it was Lu Shishu’s birthday today; it was no surprise he wouldn’t want to miss it. Slightly moving aside, he made introductions: "Let me introduce, this is Yun Qi, President of Yun Group, and... next door is Nan Jiayan." When introducing Nan Jiayan, Jiang Baizhou thought carefully but couldn’t find a suitable identity and just casually said it.
Regarding Jiang Baizhou’s perfunctory introduction, Nan Jiayan gave him a resentful glance, then greeted Yun Qi with a handshake and turned to Lu Xize with a smile, "Long time no see, Old Lu."
With Jiang Baizhou, Lu Xize, and Yun Qi arriving, Nan Jiayan felt like a savior had come, and finally, he didn’t feel so awkward and restless.
On the contrary, Cen Jin, Lu Shishu, Ye Lingran, and Yu Feici looked at this large group, somewhat stunned: "What’s going on with you all?"
Jiang Baizhou looked innocently at his wife, "Don’t blame me; he insisted on coming along."
That ’he,’ of course, referred to Lu Xize.
"Oh, I just thought since I’ve known Miss Lu for so long, naturally, I should come over to congratulate her on her birthday!" Lu Xize chuckled and handed the bag in his hand to Lu Shishu: "I didn’t know it was your birthday before, I just bought this on the way, please don’t mind!"
"Thank you." Lu Shishu gave a slight smile and took the bag. As he politely opened it, he saw it was a travel souvenir album, simple yet beautiful in design. He raised an eyebrow, "Hmm, nice."
"Glad you like it." Lu Xize scratched his head, suddenly recalling, and patted Yun Qi beside him: "Ah... we just bumped into President Yun downstairs. Seeing him on the phone, we chatted briefly and found out he was also coming here, so we came up together."
"Ah, I asked my brother to come." Yun Xi’s expression upon seeing Lu Xize was neither ecstatic nor upset. When Yun Qi was mentioned, she immediately jumped in to respond and ran up to Yun Qi, cheerfully taking the pink bag he was carrying and shaking it: "I left the gift I was supposed to give Shi Shu today in his car, so I had to ask him to deliver it."
Lu Shishu had seen Yun Qi once before at Cen Jin’s birthday party and housewarming party, making a lasting impression. He nodded and greeted with a smile, Lu Shishu also gave a small smile, "Since you’re here, please sit down! We’re about to start dinner."
"Sorry to intrude." Yun Qi smiled warmly. As they turned back to their tasks, his gaze inadvertently met Ye Lingran’s, who was also wearing an apron. The difference today was that her usual loose hair was tied into a high bun, exposing her fair neck and delicate collarbones.
Ye Lingran gave him a gentle smile, then Yu Feici suddenly nudged her, asking, "Ling Ran, how do you do this? Should I throw it into the pot and cook it together?"
"Not yet; otherwise, you’ll ruin the whole pot of soup. This needs to be blanched separately first to remove its fishy smell. Then, throwing it in won’t spoil the taste of the other ingredients. You can add some scallions, ginger, garlic, and cooking wine for blanching," Ye Lingran quickly retracted her gaze and explained patiently with a smile.
Yun Qi couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched, and Lu Xize patted his shoulder and gestured for him to sit down. He then withdrew his gaze, nodded, and joined them on the living room sofa.
"Old Jiang, does your wife cook?" Lu Xize sat in the dining room, stroking his chin as he watched the five women inside rhythmically preparing dinner, curiously asking.
"No." Jiang Baizhou’s response appeared rather confident, with no trace of doubt.
Lu Xize gave him a sideways glance, "You say that like you’ve got some kind of pride."
"I find it amusing." Jiang Baizhou dismissively glanced at him and spoke calmly, "You, as someone who doesn’t even have a girlfriend, have no chance to feel proud."
"Oh damn, don’t stop me, don’t stop me, I want to kill him." Lu Xize cursed loudly, forcibly placing his elbow into Nan Jiayan’s hand beside him, and made a big show of charging toward Jiang Baizhou, complete with sound effects but no real action.