"Jingjing, where are you now? Locking up a shared bike, huh? Huihui still hasn’t finished one big problem. I’m afraid of being late, so I brought her directly. She can finish it after dinner, it’s no rush for a couple of questions."
"Come, Huihui, say hello to your Sister Qu."
"Hello, Sister Qu Jing." Chen Huixi obediently greets Qu Jing in the video, "Sister Qu, my mom says your UV allergy is better, and I can see too, you’ve gotten a tan."
Qu Jing, who was locking up her bike, was taken aback and could only smile: "Huihui has sharp eyes. Sister Qu’s UV allergy is almost better."
Chen Huihong, leading Chen Huixi, walks into the private room and is surprised to see only Qin Huai and Huang An Yao present: "They’re not here yet? I thought I’d be late."
Qin Huai glanced at his phone: "Still 8 minutes. Just now, Ouyang messaged me saying Uncle Wang realized he’d forgotten the fruit after setting out, so he went back to get it. Grandpa Qian and others are waiting for him at the community gate; they should be arriving soon."
Just as Qin Huai’s words fell, there was a loud clatter of footsteps outside, accompanied by Chen Juan’s complaints.
"Wang Gen Sheng, if you can’t remember things, wear your reading glasses and check your phone memo. You felt embarrassed coming empty-handed to mooch off Dr. Qu’s feast, yet you bought overpriced Autumn Moon pears that were all looks and no substance. And you still forgot the fruit when leaving."
"Back when you were an accountant, didn’t you remember things clearly? You could still report finances for the first year into the second, even bragged about being the office’s human ledger, and yet you forget a bag of fruit before heading out."
"How about forgetting yourself at home and let me come alone to eat?"
"I was calculating other things in my mind, let my guard down for a moment and forgot the fruit on the way out." Uncle Wang quietly defended himself.
"Calculating other things, what’s there to calculate now? You think it’s year-end performance or bonuses? Don’t make excuses. I’m warning you, just enjoy dinner today and stop reminiscing about the past."
"What’s good for Chen Sister to say! Let me tell you, Wang Laogen loves reminiscing during his morning runs, always revisits the past when slowing down." Xu Tuqiang seized the chance to complain.
"Cough cough, keep it down as we’re nearing the private room. Today, we still have Dr. Qu’s colleagues around. We neighbors shouldn’t embarrass Dr. Qu!" Grandpa Qian reminded.
"Mr. Qian, you’re from a neighboring community, what makes you a neighbor? I’m the real neighbor!"
"Xiao Ou, is the pineapple with you?"
Grandma Ding pushed open the door.
A second before, the grandpas and grandmas ready to argue switched to enthusiastic fake smiles as they entered the room.
Leading with fruit in hands, Grandma Ding and Chen Juan arrived first, each carrying bags of neatly cut fruit, premium fruit packed in plain red plastic bags, with plenty of little forks in the plastic containers.
"Sorry, sorry for being late. We brought some fruit, let’s start by having some fruit. Dr. Qu... hey, hasn’t Dr. Qu and her coworkers arrived yet?" Chen Juan warmly served fruit slices to everyone.
The people sitting in the private room had heard every outside conversation clearly: ...
Huang Ji, as a well-known old restaurant chain, was expanded and renovated from the original state-owned restaurant, and it’s well known by frequent diners that the private rooms aren’t soundproof.
Closing the door is a bit better, not letting conversations in room 888 be heard clearly in 666.
But if the door isn’t fully shut and voices are quite loud...
Private chat turns public broadcast.
When Chen Huihong came in earlier, she only half-closed the door, coinciding with the loud voices of elderly folks due to slight hearing loss from age.
Qin Huai stood up, smiling unchanged, as if not having heard anything before, accepting the fruit: "Grandma Ding, Aunt Chen, you are too polite, even brought fruit especially."
"Dr. Qu and others will arrive soon. Please have a seat first."
Wang Gen Sheng automatically seated himself near the serving area, looking back at the private room door, suddenly recalling something, he couldn’t help but sigh: "Back when I just..."
Two minutes later, Qu Jing, Dr. Zhou, and Director Liu’s daughter rushed into the room.
Qu Jing, despite regaining all memories, and trying to be bright and cheerful, interact and live normally, wasn’t good at making friends or communicating regardless of her past lives as human.
Noticing Qu Jing’s nervousness and tension, under Huang Shengli’s request to properly entertain today’s guests, Qin Huai glanced at Huang An Yao.
Hmm, Young Master was even more nervous and tense. From the moment he entered the private room, Huang An Yao hadn’t said a word, even with acquaintances present.
Qu Jing, Ouyang, Chen Huihong, Huang An Yao all knew each other; Qin Huai saved snacks for the three, and An Yao delivered the goods.
Knowing the Young Master couldn’t be relied on, Qin Huai stood up and began introducing everyone present.
When introducing Huang An Yao, Qin Huai got stuck, momentarily forgot his relationship with everyone there.
"Huang An Yao, Young Master of Huang Ji, Master Huang Shengli is his father. He’s here today mainly because he was worried everyone might lack experience with the Three Heads Banquet and wouldn’t know where to start, so he specially came to introduce the Three Heads Banquet." Qin Huai said.