After a busy morning, lunch was finally ready.
It was mainly Xue Yuantong who was busy, with Jiang Ning occasionally helping. When it came to the last dish, he moved the dining table to the living room.
Xue Chuchu and Xue Yuantong washed their faces and gathered around the dining table, ready to eat.
The neighbor’s dog, having smelled the food, could only watch helplessly, unable to come near because Jiang Ning, annoyed by it, had cast a spell to restrain it ahead of time.
The dog could only smell the food, yearning and longing.
Xue Yuantong picked up half a crab, took a bite of the roe. The rich, fragrant, crisp yet tender texture almost brought her to tears.
Looking again at the crab roe, under the sunlight, it exhibited a warm luster, emitting a rich, mellow aroma.
She couldn’t resist the temptation and hurriedly took another bite.
The crabs that Jiang Ning had caught from Hu Qi Mountain weren’t very big, but they were robust with plentiful roe, allowing for a big bite.
Compared to Xue Yuantong’s indulgence, Xue Chuchu was much more conservative. She used her chopsticks to pick a piece of the crab’s accompanying dish, lettuce.
The lettuce had absorbed the unique savory flavor of the crab, refreshing and crispy, which greatly satisfied Xue Chuchu.
After Xue Yuantong had devoured half the crab’s roe, seeing her eating the greens, urged, "Chuchu, what are you waiting for? Eat the crab!"
Xue Chuchu smiled modestly, showing that even faced with a Spiritually nourished crab, good upbringing and willpower still enabled her to be restrained.
Jiang Ning figured it out; it wasn’t enough for only Xue Yuantong to eat the crab, Chuchu had to wait until he started eating before she would continue.
That was really... too traditional.
However, Xue Yuantong, undeterred, picked up a piece of crab and placed it in Chuchu’s bowl.
Xue Chuchu was helpless.
Meanwhile, in the urban area.
Shen Qing’e was working on test papers in her room. Coming from a small and educationally backward town, her grades had not been outstanding, even less so than Jiang Ning’s at the beginning.
Back then, when she encountered questions she couldn’t solve, it was often Jiang Ning who explained them to her.
After arriving at Fourth Middle School, she realized the gap between her and her classmates, so she studied extremely hard. On weekends, aside from occasionally going out to play, she spent most of her time reviewing and solving practice problems.
If she was at school and couldn’t solve a problem, she would proactively seek help from the class monitor and Dong Qingfeng.
If at home, it was Jiang Junlong from the Second Middle School Experimental class who would help. After nearly a year’s effort, Shen Qing’e’s grades were now among the top fifteen in the competitive class eight.
In contrast, next door, Jiang Junlong seldom did his homework and often locked himself in to play video games, which had led to several rows with his mother about locking his room door.
At that moment, noises came from outside.
Shen Qing’e glanced at the clock on her desk. It was half-past eleven.
She pressed the pen down on her test paper, got up, and left the bedroom.
She had just stepped out of the bedroom when she saw several figures, led by her uncle, followed by two strangers, one a bald middle-aged man, and the other a girl about her age.
Facing someone of her age, Shen Qing’e took a closer look. The girl was dressed in designer clothes, wearing Adidas shoes, her hair tied in a high ponytail with tresses falling beside her pretty face, adding a charming quality.
There was a faint arrogance in her eyes, a nonchalance rarely seen by Shen Qing’e.
Uncle Jiang Qitian’s voice was loud, "Brother Yao, come, please sit."
He puffed out his belly and greeted the bald man.
Jiang Junlong, who was watching TV on the sofa, upon hearing this, quickly ran to the refrigerator, took out three ice creams, and shared them with Shen Qing’e and the new girl.
Thanks to the influence of his family, Jiang Junlong was quite adept in social interactions.
Shen Qing’e smiled at the girl to signal a warm welcome.
The aunt came out later, and Jiang Qitian said, "Open the bottles of wine in the storage room. I’ll have a couple of drinks with Brother Yao today."
The uncle owned a restaurant and had wide social connections. Occasionally, when guests were brought home, it indicated their importance.
With the arrival of Uncle Jiang Qitian, the family began their lunch.
At the table, Jiang Qitian pointed at the spread of dishes, "It’s a pity that the ’Little Green Dragons’ I ordered haven’t been delivered yet, or we could have tasted those today."
The middle-aged Mr. Yao was very responsive and immediately piled on the smiles, "Hey, why bother? It should be me taking you out!"
The two drank and conversed joyfully, and during the talk, Shen Qing’e roughly understood what was going on.
This Uncle Yao worked in construction and was doing very well locally, renowned for quality assurance.
Changqing Liquid was continually expanding, and the company had acquired hundreds of acres of land in Yuzhou.
This land was dedicated to building the Changqing Liquid Headquarters Park. The Yuzhou officials, having heard about it, quickly approved the land for Changqing Liquid, with all sorts of preferential treatments maxed out.
Previously, there had been concerns about Changqing Liquid moving away. These had finally been put to rest.
For such a large park being constructed, Uncle Yao was eager to grab a share, and then Uncle Jiang Qitian, having contacted Jiang Ning’s parents, tentatively raised the matter in a remote company meeting. In result, Uncle Yao managed to secure some minor construction projects.
The affluence of Changqing Liquid was well-known; even these minor scraps meant profits in the millions, nearly overwhelming Uncle Yao’s team.
Having received such a significant favor, Uncle Yao was incredibly grateful, almost ready to become sworn brothers with Jiang Qitian.
While Uncle Jiang Qitian and Brother Yao were drinking, the former was still inwardly shocked. He had simply tried his luck by calling his brother in Wen City, and it had actually worked.
He was beginning to understand just how immense the authority of the Changqing Liquid executives could be.
The aunt picked up a watermelon and said to him, "Ningning came this morning and brought a melon; let’s have it sliced."