Qu Xiujie smiled at Ran Ran. His pouty look was like a hungry little swallow that was playful and cute.
“Ran Ran, you want to eat this sweet and sour pork ribs, right?”
Seeing Ran Ran’s angry look, Qu Xiujie suddenly had the interest to tease her and continued, “How about I give you this pork rib if you’re willing to call me granduncle?”
There was a hint of smile in Qu Xiujie’s eyes as he looked at Ran Ran with love and benevolence. It was completely different from the vicious aura he had before. He was originally someone who fought on the bloody battlefield but now, he had evolved into the softest person.
“Granduncle, you’re the best.”
Ran Ran looked at the plate of ribs and then at the braised fish in front of her. She gritted her teeth and shouted sweetly.
“This won’t do. You failed, please change it.”
Qu Xiujie shook his head in dissatisfaction. He was in a good mood today and Ran Ran was the most amusing among the three children.
“Granduncle…”
Ran Ran’s soft and cute voice gradually sounded in Qu Xiujie’s ears. As long as Qu Xiujie was willing to continue listening, he could hear Ran Ran saying in her heart, “Pork ribs ribs ribs ribs ribs…”
“No, this still won’t do.”
Qu Xiujie still shook his head and pretended to be unsatisfied.
Just as Ran Ran was in a dilemma and could not offend Qu Xiujie, little Ji Chi, who was sitting beside Qu Xiujie, stood up and took the plate from Qu Xiujie. He quickly passed it to Ran Ran and Ran Ran quickly took the plate and placed it somewhere Qu Xiujie could not reach.
Ran Ran raised her head proudly and said smugly, “Granduncle, you have to admit defeat now.”
Qu Xiujie smiled and turned to look at little Ji Chi. “Ping An, you can’t do this to your granduncle.”
“But granduncle treats sister like this.”
Ji Chi was not afraid at all. As long as that person was happy, he was fine with anything. However, if Ran Ran was unhappy, he would be unhappy as well. Although he knew that in Qu Xiujie’s heart, taking away the plate and not letting Ran Ran eat was just a joke, he suddenly could not stand it anymore when he saw Ran Ran working hard for the plate of ribs.
He could only snatch the plate of ribs from Qu Xiujie.
“Alright, alright. It’s not like you don’t know that Ran Ran loves to eat pork ribs. You are just teasing Ran Ran. Ran Ran has An An and Ping An to protect her. You must stay away from Ran Ran, or else you won’t know what to do with these two little men.”
Zhang Manhua, who was well aware of the relationship between the three children, smiled and brought the plate of burnt braised fish to her. She was about to reach out her chopsticks when Ji Ziming took it away.
“Mom, Pei Ge made this fish for me, so don’t eat it. Besides, this fish isn’t suitable for you.”
Seeing that Qu Xiujie was teasing Ran Ran, Ji Ziming did not stop him and merely stared blankly at the plate of burnt braised fish in front of Ran Ran.
He knew what Pei Ge meant when she said that the fish would be spoiled, but he did not know that this braised fish could be made to look like this.
It was not that he did not know, but he had overestimated her ability to turn the tide.
For example, this plate of braised fish would probably never have the power to revive the dead.
“This fish…”
Zhang Manhua did not expect that her daughter’s plate of fish would be ruined by the butler. If she had known that this would happen, she would have gotten Charlie to leave the kitchen earlier, but it was too late.
Meanwhile, the culprit was not the least bit concerned about the family’s affairs. He was carefully cutting his steak since he was not used to Chinese food. Luckily, Zhang Manhua had prepared a medium-well steak for him.
The fire was just right, and the seasoning that was sprinkled on it was his favorite flavor. Even the steak’s meat quality was top-notch. What else could Butler Charlie be picky about?
When it came to delicious food, of course, it was to enjoy it.
Hence, Butler Charlie did not care about what was happening. Anyway, it had nothing to do with him. Even if it had something to do with him, based on Butler Charlie’s attitude, it was not easy for him to settle things peacefully.
“Are you saying that this dish ended up like this because of him?”
From Zhang Manhua’s explanation, Ji Ziming realized that everything that had happened to him today was because of Butler Charlie. However, when he saw Butler Charlie slowly eating his steak, the anger in his heart could not seem to be released.
“Yes, it’s because of him that I…”
Pei Ge nodded and did not think that she was exaggerating.
Everyone at the table turned to look at him. When their gazes landed on Butler Charlie, he raised his head and saw that everyone was looking at him. He frowned and asked, “What are you guys looking at?”
“Nothing, continue to eat.”
Zhang Manhua explained, not wanting to have another round of fun at the dining table.
“Okay, madam. Hurry up and eat, too.”
The butler nodded and listened to Zhang Manhua.
“Alright, alright. You guys don’t have to watch anymore. Let’s eat. If you don’t eat, it’ll get cold.”
Zhang Manhua said. Indeed, if they did not eat now, the food on the table would probably turn cold. However, because the entire family was together, it seemed like all the chilliness dissipated and everything seemed to have a new meaning.
The new life that she yearned for was quietly approaching, and those dark schemes that they were unaware were also quietly enveloping them. It was just that the time was not right yet, and the person involved had yet to realize it.
The whole family was having a great time eating at the dining table. The three children were probably the happiest. Usually, they would leave the table after half a bowl of rice, but today, they had turned the food in front of them into a small hill and still did not leave the dining table. It was as if the three children were secretly competing with each other.
On the surface, it seemed that Ran Ran was slightly better.
The prawn in front of her had been peeled clean, and her meaty hands were very good at peeling prawns. Pei Ge felt that she might not even be able to peel them herself.
“Ran Ran, you’ve eaten a lot of prawns; can you eat less?”
Pei Ge took a wet towel to wipe Ran Ran’s hands. The color of the prawn shell fell on Ran Ran’s hands, and her meaty hands looked like a prawn made of flesh. It was very cute and amused Pei Ge.
“No, they’ll be eaten by my brothers later.”
