Although there were two “chefs” available, it still took more than an hour before all the dishes reached the table.
Every time Zhao Anan finished making one dish, she would carry the plate around for everyone to have a taste. So Shangguan Ning had already tried most of the dishes on the table when the meal started.
The three men didn’t talk much when they sat down for the meal. Zheng Jing and Mu Qing got on well with each other and both of them could be quite talkative. But they seemed very quiet in front of the chatty women.
Zhao Anan and Zheng Lun who had just learnt to cook almost forgot about eating. They were so excited that they kept discussing the new cooking skills they had picked up.
Shangguan Ning kept raising questions out of curiosity and they eventually started to talk about opening a restaurant together.
Zhao Anan already had a western restaurant, so she spoke like an experienced owner. Shangguan Ning kept coming up with questions and Zheng Lun nodded constantly.
“Anan, you have already got a restaurant? I didn’t know about that. You are great!” Zheng Lun envied her. She knew that she was a timid woman and didn’t like interacting with outsiders, especially men. She was scared of men who badgered her, or courted her enthusiastically whenever they met her. They didn’t even take her rejection seriously, only because she was weak and easily bullied.
Zhao Anan had been devoted to the restaurant while it was under construction, but she left the place running on its own later. Hearing Zheng Lun praise her, the bold girl became a bit modest. “No, no, I am not great. I didn’t do anything. I just copied everything from a western restaurant which I usually go to! Oh yes, Ning has a café too, and she runs it better than I do.”
Having heard the words, Zheng Lun turned to look at Shangguan Ning enviously, “Ning, you have your own store too? No wonder you look quite charismatic.”
Shangguan Ning burst into laughter. She couldn’t have become more charismatic just because she had opened a café, could she?
“Anan is just talking nonsense. I also have left the café in someone else’s hand and haven’t been there in a month. If you ever want to open one, you will definitely do it better than me.”
Shangguan Ning consoled Zheng Lun, smilingly. She thought that Zheng Lun should step out of Family Zheng and enter society so that she wouldn’t be too isolated from reality. She was overprotected and had never worked, even at the age of 26. She even attended the university in this very city, because she didn’t want to leave home and go somewhere far.
She, Zhao Anan, and the three men, had been abroad for work or study. Zheng Lun was the only one who had never been outside the country.
Family Zheng had never forbidden her to travel abroad. Zheng Jing had even tried to persuade his sister to pursue her studies outside the country. But she didn’t want to leave home. She believed that she couldn’t possibly get used to the exotic environment of foreign countries.
Encouraged by Shangguan Ning, Zheng Lun became a bit confident. She turned to Zheng Jing who was sitting next to her and said softly, “Brother, I want to run a store too, is that okay?”
Zheng Jing didn’t want to disappoint her while she was this excited. So he said between laughs, “Of course, open one if you want to. My sister is very smart and she can definitely do it well! I am not well paid as a crime policeman, and if I ever lose my job, you better support me!”
Policemen were not well paid, and Zheng Jing’s salary was only 5,000 – 6,000 per month. But Family Zheng had other businesses so the family was so rich that they wouldn’t really care much about Zheng Lun’s potential failure as long as it could buy her an experience.
Hearing her brother’s supportive words, Zheng Lun became delighted and her eyes twinkled.
She kept asking for advice from Zhao Anan and Shangguan Ning all the time during the meal.
Zheng Lun looked at his sister and thought that she must be serious this time.
Suddenly, he had a feeling that his sister had grown up. She wanted to go to establish her new business independently. Was she about to leave him?
On Zhao Anan’s birthday, none of the men discussed about Shen Lingbing. The topic would only cause worries to the women.
It was a critical situation right now which had affected Family Jing deeply. But Jing Yichen was not panicking. He had dealt with many crises and was capable of handling this incident of Family Shen’s.
When they were at Family Jing, Shen Jinjun, Shen Lingbin’s father seemed to believe that Jing Yiran had not killed his daughter. Or in other words, he believed Jing Yichen and Jing Zhongxiu whom he had followed for years. The two families were on intimate terms with each other and he trusted Jing Zhongxiu. He was a rational and experienced man who would not want to have dispute with Family Jing even if Jing Yiran had been the murderer. After all, Jing Zhongxiu and Jing Yiran were different.
Jing Zhongxiu was not the kind of man who would have covered up for his own son if the son turned out to be the murderer.
Mu Qing didn’t know much about the case. He didn’t have much knowledge about how crime cases were handled. But he was a doctor and after working for umpteen number of times with Zheng Jing, he was almost a forensic expert. He had put forward a detailed statement about the cause of Shen Lingbing’s death.
Zheng Jing was a famous policeman of A City who had solved many important and difficult cases. He was an influential man.
At Family Jing, when they put forward the analysis, Shen Lingyue, who had been anxious and upset believing that Jing Yiran killed his sister, also calmed down and finally was convinced that someone else was the murderer.
By this time, Family Shen should have refuted the rumor by announcing to the media and public that Shen Lingbing had been murdered by someone else.
Jing Yichen and Zheng Jing left after lunch. They needed to continue the investigation for the murderer.
Mu Qing stayed back though. He wanted to spend the entire day with Zhao Anan to celebrate her birthday.
He hadn’t celebrated the birthday with her for years and had a present prepared for her.
But now, he had become the male servant for the three women who were playing cards.
“Mu, go and make tea! We are thirsty!” Zhao Anan ordered.
Shangguan Ning was relatively politer. “Doctor Mu, could you wash some strawberries for me, thanks!”
Zheng Lun, who had been shy at the beginning, started to feel at home. “Doctor Mu, I don’t like green tea, could you please make rose tea for me instead?”
Mu Qing looked delighted. His handsome face was full of happiness. “No problem, I will definitely treat the guests well when you are at my home.”
Zhao Anan glared at him. “This is my home!”
