Overprotected By My Tsundere CEO

Chapter 820 - 532: Mechanism City [02] Not a Reliable Word Spoken [Second Update]

"Uncle, are you here for an evening walk too? Oh no, why are you here? My brothers are here too!"

As Benjamin Durant spoke, the Buddha landed on Nora Scott’s shoulder.

Nora turned her head, raised an eyebrow upon seeing Benjamin, and said, "What are you doing here?"

Benjamin was momentarily speechless.

Then, he pointed towards the courtyard behind him and suggested, "Shall we talk inside?"

Nora glanced at the other three people.

None of the three had any objections.

...

In the courtyard, a whole lamb was being roasted, and the aroma was enticing even from afar; the closer you got, the more mouth-watering it became. Surprisingly, it wasn’t Humphrey Jennings in charge of the roast but... Eli Linfield.

"Found the eagle already, eh—" Eli, who was roasting the lamb while speaking, looked up upon hearing the commotion, froze for a moment seeing the group behind Benjamin, and then quickly changed his tune, "Nora!"

"In a leisurely mood, I see," Nora started to affirm before swiftly switching tone, "Got everything done?"

Eli’s hand trembled, spilling a generous amount of cumin onto the lamb.

Ever the perfectionist with food, Benjamin winced and closed his eyes in pain, daring not to curse the instigator, Nora, instead glaring at Eli—You coward! You can be scared, but don’t tremble!

Eli glared back in annoyance.

!!!

Was Eli scared of Nora? No, it was about knowing the right time and place!

"Ahem," Eli chuckled awkwardly and quickly said, "We found the person, but he’s stubbornly unresponsive. As soon as we stated our purpose, he kicked us out. I’ve been negotiating with him for days. So, uh, Benjamin wanted to roast a whole lamb, and I helped out a little, hoping to use some roast lamb to win him over... You’re done with your stuff, right? When will you go see him?"

When it comes to prying information from others, Eli believed Nora was the best fit.

Around the Northwest, there was nothing Nora couldn’t do.

Eli always had a mysterious belief in such hearsay, which was clearly unrealistic.

Nora said calmly, "Tomorrow."

After a day on the road with many unexpected incidents, it was now late, and Nora had no energy to deal with stubborn old folks.

"Alright then."

Eli had no objections whatsoever.

For Marcus Shaw and Oliver Scott, everything was based on Nora’s wishes; their opinions were simply not taken into account.

With about fifteen minutes left for the roast lamb to be ready, Nora and the others sat around, except for Clement Winter, who had gone off to enthusiastically feed the Buddha, eager to build a good rapport with it.

"I came nearby to handle some affairs and thought to let the Buddha have some air, so I brought it along," Benjamin offered a brief introduction, "After finishing up yesterday, I thought of leaving but saw Eli’s post online saying he was here, thought we haven’t seen each other in a while, so I came over for a get-together."

Although Benjamin was a bit of a carefree rich second generation, he wasn’t solely focused on that role.

He moonlighted as a chef.

Oh, occasionally he’d be of some value by running errands and handling affairs for the family.

Typically, when taking on non-chef tasks, he wouldn’t bring Humphrey Jennings along. After all, both of them had their own things to attend to; they couldn’t just stick together over culinary arts all day.

Benjamin took a deep breath, skeptically assessing the group, "But why are you all here?"

Then he pointed behind him at the oblivious fellow playing with the Buddha, "Where did you pick this one up?"

"Filming a show," Nora replied, lifting her gaze past Benjamin to Clement Winter, "He’s Evelyn Winter’s son."

Benjamin was taken aback, "Winter’s child is already this big!"

He turned his head incredulously.

Clement, having heard the noise, turned as well, and upon meeting Benjamin’s gaze, he smiled, "You know my mom?"

When he smiled, he did bear a slight resemblance to Evelyn.

Benjamin asked, "How old was your mom when she had you?"

Clement seriously thought about it and said, "Three years old, I think."

Benjamin: "..." Well then, someone hanging around with their Uncle is indeed not reliable in their speech.

Thankfully, he’s the son of his Uncle’s sister; if it were a brother, this oblivious fellow would suddenly jump a generation.

— Everywhere his master and uncle acknowledged siblings, it felt as though he was surrounded by elders, which was just stomach-churning.

Benjamin sighed, changing the topic, "And Clarence?"

Nora lifted her eyelids slightly, "It’s a long story."

This was a polite way of saying she was unwilling to explain.

Benjamin fumed, turning his head to look at Eli, who was seasoning with cumin and hands in pockets. With Benjamin’s gaze lingering, Eli’s scalp prickled, and he begrudgingly complied, "Alright, alright, I’ll tell you."

Eli babbled on for so long that Benjamin almost dozed off. Still, Benjamin managed to grasp the gist of Eli’s words.

"The Loulanel Plan..." After hearing him out, Benjamin scratched his head, furrowing his brows, "Why does that sound so familiar?"

Eli casually replied, "Probably because ’Loulanel’ sounds quite familiar."

Eli didn’t let Benjamin’s forced connection trouble him—how can everyone possibly know about the Loulanel Plan and still expect it to remain a secret project?!

All those claiming it’s familiar are just trying to hop on the ’Loulanel’ bandwagon nonchalantly!

Fortunately, Benjamin’s gleeful oblivion set in, and he didn’t persist against his memory, nodding carelessly, "Could be."

Eli hummed triumphantly, exceedingly proud.

The red earring shimmered under the light, making it look all the more flamboyant.

...

They caught the perfect timing as the lamb finished roasting. Even if they were already full, Nora and her group didn’t mind having a late-night snack, tearing into the finished lamb collectively, leaving the rest for Eli and Benjamin to curry favor with others.

With such meat, a little wine seemed just right. Nora made do with a little drink, and even though she restrained herself, eventually she felt a bit woozy.

Ultimately, she decided not to return, kicking Benjamin away and taking over the room he rented, slamming the door shut behind her.

Outside, Benjamin was left with, "..."

Eli sympathetically patted Benjamin’s shoulder, "She’s much better without drunkenly hitting you."

"My Uncle’s never bad when she drinks, she won’t get drunk and cause trouble," Benjamin staunchly defended his family.

Marcus Shaw, who silently passed by: "..." Well, if dragging people up to play card games doesn’t count as drunken trouble, then it’s not drunken trouble.

...

Inside the room, Nora found the bed, collapsed onto it, covered herself with the blanket, and closed her eyes to sleep.

After two hours of sleep, she suddenly awoke.

Groping to her side, finding it empty, her eyes opened slightly to a narrow slit, and seeing where she was, she immediately felt a surge of irritation.

Fumbling in her pocket for her phone, Nora lightly ground her teeth and dialed Pedro Langley’s number.