Ji Shuang hadn’t lied; during the time she was waiting for Jiang Ning and Qi Xingzhou to return, she had indeed prepared quite a bit of food.
Besides the washed fruits and various snacks, Ji Shuang, worried that Jiang Ning and Qi Xingzhou might be hungry after the flight, had specifically called a five-star restaurant under Qi Corporation to deliver some food.
Qi Jingshan and Qi Chen didn’t come home for lunch when they were working, and Ji Shuang had spent the morning with a few close friends getting beauty treatments and shopping, only eating out before coming home.
Rather than cooking on the spot, it was faster to directly order hot food from the restaurant.
The cooking from a top-tier restaurant, needless to say, was exquisite.
Once served, the delicious aroma of food filled the air, and Jiang Ning’s stomach, which hadn’t felt hungry before, suddenly started to rumble.
Jiang Ning had recently been in close contact with the Qi family, so she didn’t hesitate and, with Ji Shuang’s encouragement, immediately sat down at the dining table with Qi Xingzhou to start eating.
Ji Shuang had had lunch and wasn’t hungry. Being afraid that her presence might make the two kids feel uneasy, she didn’t linger at the dining table, choosing instead to sit on the living room couch to watch television.
The rich seafood porridge tasted exceptionally good.
Jiang Ning had two bowls of it.
Qi Xingzhou and Jiang Ning’s tastes were quite similar; both had a special fondness for seafood, and that didn’t exclude seafood porridge.
Not to mention, in addition to the seafood porridge, there were other dishes on the table—shrimp dumpling royale, sauce-steeped phoenix claws, crab roe buns—which turned Jiang Ning and Qi Xingzhou into voracious eaters.
After the two had their fill, Ji Shuang called Jiang Ning over to the living room to drink tea and eat fruit.
Ji Shuang intentionally only invited Jiang Ning and then silently observed her son’s reaction. Seeing that Qi Xingzhou followed Jiang Ning without any thought of going upstairs, Ji Shuang’s smile deepened.
Before Jiang Ning came into the picture, it had been harder than scaling the heavens to keep Qi Xingzhou in the downstairs living room; he only liked to stay on the undisturbed second floor, rarely coming down even for meals.
Now, it seemed, Qi Xingzhou had completely transformed after going out with Jiang Ning!
But soon, Ji Shuang discarded this thought, as Jiang Ning left after sitting for a while, and Qi Xingzhou stood at the door quietly watching Jiang Ning’s car disappear from his sight, the bright gleam in his eyes slowly dimming along with her departure until it settled into silence.
Carrying his luggage, Qi Xingzhou went back upstairs dejectedly, lacking the energy and obedient demeanor he had shown in Jiang Ning’s presence.
What’s going on here?
On another front, after Zhang Lang and his colleagues had brought Hao Manman and the rest back to the station, other colleagues on duty were shocked to hear about it.
Five people were detained for interrogation.
Wang Qingli, Liu Zuolin, Huang Xianfu, and Chen Ergou, these four amateurs, could be overlooked, but it caused some surprise when they realized one of the five was a popular actress.
"Zhang Lang, that’s Hao Manman we’re talking about; she actually broke the law too! Thinking about how she always appears so at ease in front of the cameras, crafting an image of diligence, endurance, and eagerness to help others, you wouldn’t guess she could be a she-devil who would trade her own sister!"
Zhang Lang, upon learning of Hao Manman’s identity, was also somewhat shocked.
But seeing his colleagues acting as if they’d never seen the world, Zhang Lang was calm, giving them a look as if to say they were making a mountain out of a molehill, and cooly said, "Be thankful, her being a famous actress is what brought this to light. Otherwise, the crimes they committed might not have been discovered for who knows how long."
If it weren’t for Jiang Ning recognizing Hao Manman and following her to get an autograph, the subsequent events might not have occurred.
Another way to look at it: being a fan could land someone in jail.
Isn’t this the bulldozer of modern law?
Suddenly, he felt the urge to throw Jiang Ning into the entertainment industry to see her shine.