Zhang the assistant was dumbfounded, staring blankly as Huo Shao Ting took the private elevator down, and had no choice but to take out his phone to call the experts to communicate.
Rong Dai and Huo Mei Shu, the two of them had their moods disrupted by those three foreigners, and had just driven to the place to eat when Rong Dai received a call from Huo Shao Ting.
"Shao Ting, is there something?" Although she was in a bad mood, her voice was still soft and gentle. She would not vent her frustrations on innocent people around her, and did not want Huo Shao Ting to worry because of this.
Hearing her voice, Huo Shao Ting couldn't help but lift the corners of his mouth into a smile. The emptiness he had felt all morning was finally filled by that "Shao Ting".
"I have two hours free during lunch break," he said, implying very clearly.
Rong Dai was clever enough to immediately understand the meaning behind his words. She carefully covered the phone and turned to look at Huo Mei Shu in confusion.
Only then did Huo Mei Shu remember that she seemed to have sent him some photos earlier...
Helplessly, Rong Dai could only ask him, "Have you had lunch? Mei Shu and I are at Wansheng, we plan to have hot pot. Do you want to come?"
"I'll be there soon," Huo Shao Ting answered swiftly, in great spirits.
Looking at the darkened phone screen, Rong Dai felt a little helpless, still remembering the awkwardness from last night.
"What did you say to your brother just now? He's coming to eat with us."
Huo Mei Shu shrugged innocently. "I just sent him some photos, that's all."
Rong Dai: "..." Was she trying to make things even more chaotic?
But she could understand the little sister's kind intentions, and didn't say much more. The sisters-in-law went upstairs together to find a restaurant.
The interior decor of the hot pot restaurant was very Sichuan style, and the name was also very artistic - "Bashan Night Rain". There were also two lines of poetry on both sides: You ask when I will return, but there is no set time; Bashan's night rain swells the autumn pond.
The two entered a windowside private room in the restaurant. Rong Dai sniffed the spicy aromas in the restaurant, and her stomach couldn't help but growl loudly.
In her past life she was the Empress, and when the Emperor didn't come to accompany her for meals, she would be alone facing a dozen exquisite dishes.
She really liked this kind of atmosphere of eating together, it felt more human, more full of the breath of life.
Perhaps it was because she had been so lonely in her past life that she would feel this way, and cherished these moments even more.
Before entering the palace in her past life, she had often been able to eat hot pot with her parents and siblings at home. She still had vivid memories of that flavor today.
Unfortunately after entering the Prince's estate and then the palace, she never tasted it again. The food in the palace was good but the etiquette was strict, without the slightest transgression allowed.
She remembered once she ate two extra bites of a delicious purple rice steamed cake, and that cake was never served at her meals again for a whole year afterwards.
Looking back now, eating in the palace was just like horses eating in the stables - simply to fill the stomach, not to enjoy the flavor.
"Sister-in-law, this hot pot here is the most authentic and delicious I've had in the entire Shenjing! You'll definitely like it."
Huo Mei Shu was the kind of person who could easily forget troubles. She happily ordered food with the menu in hand.
"I want beef tripe, fatty beef, lamb's lettuce, duck intestines..."
Listening to her recite these dishes, Rong Dai couldn't help but swallow her saliva. Eating spicy hot pot in summer, dripping with sweat and breathing fire, that was true flavor.
"What does your brother like to eat? He has a delicate stomach, he can't eat spicy food right?" Rong Dai looked at the menu, first ordering some vegetables. She remembered Huo Shao Ting could even get a stomachache from eating noodles, and they were having hot pot on top of that.
"He's fine with clear soup bases, my brother isn't picky actually, but he absolutely can't eat any wheat or soy products from outside. He'd have to make the spicy pot himself."
Huo Mei Shu looked at the hot pot table longingly. Otherwise she could have ordered a vegetable noodle dish too.
Rong Dai nodded, carefully avoiding these landmines, and kept it in mind.
"If I had known, I wouldn't have sent it to him. It's so rare that I have someone to go out for hot pot with..." Huo Mei Shu looked at the menu being taken away longingly, full of regret.
"It's alright, we can make it ourselves at home next time. I'll figure out how to make rice thread noodles, handmade noodles with more chew would be even better for hot pot."
Rong Dai reassured her, and Huo Mei Shu immediately smiled brightly with nods. She certainly hadn't forgotten the taste of those dumplings last night, she even drank up all the soup.
When the dishes were served, Huo Shao Ting arrived as well.
The private room had been quite spacious originally, but with his nearly 1.9 meter tall frame entering, it instantly felt cramped.
Rong Dai had prepared the dipping sauce for him. Seeing him come in already sweating on his forehead, she took some napkins from her bag and handed them to him: "Wipe off the sweat first."
"Hey hey hey, I'm here to eat hot pot, not sour lemons! And there's still a single person here!"
Huo Mei Shu looked at them reproachfully. These two were progressing too swiftly!
Rong Dai just smiled silently, using her chopsticks to place food into the copper pot to cook.
Huo Shao Ting sat down beside her, dissatisfied that there was too much space between them. He shifted his stool over several times until Huo Mei Shu was rolling her eyes at him.
"Eat more vegetables."
"Eat more meat, next time I'll have good beef air shipped over."
Huo Mei Shu: "..."
She bit down on her chopsticks, watching this married couple attentively caring for each other back and forth. She, the living person here, had become invisible air. Her entire mouth felt sour.
She was eating spicy hot pot! Not sour lemons!
Despite her sourness, she was still very happy at heart. The three ate with great enjoyment.
After eating their fill, while Rong Dai went to the bathroom, Huo Shao Ting stared at Huo Mei Shu to interrogate her.
"Why would people try to chat up my wife and you didn't stop them? As my sister, don't you know to protect her a bit?"
Huo Mei Shu felt this was unreasonable. She was very innocent okay? She just went to the bathroom!
With Sister-in-law's looks, unless they were blind, who wouldn't be attracted? Foreigners' thinking was open in the first place, she was also very helpless!
Huo Mei Shu was determined not to mention what had happened just now. Otherwise those three people would definitely be found even if her brother had to dig three feet into the ground, and she would be screwed along with them.
Before she could respond to Huo Shao Ting, they heard a commotion and loud noises outside the private room.
Huo Shao Ting immediately stood up and walked out. Huo Mei Shu was also worried something might happen. With her sister-in-law's face, ever since her transformation, her entire being radiated brilliance, more attractive than any big celebrity.
If she was bothered by another shameless person, the consequences would be unimaginable. Her brother might even "kill" them.
The siblings had just walked out, and saw Rong Dai blocked outside the hot pot restaurant. What rotten luck, it was those same three foreigners again!
Could the world really be so small?
In her heart, Huo Mei Shu could only mourn silently for the three men, perfectly demonstrating the idiom "if you don't court death, you won't die".
They were given a chance at the dessert shop, but actually ran into them again here. And approaching her so audaciously.
