It's said that some friends are coming, Lin Luoran's previous situation wasn't good, so many classmates didn't keep in touch. Now going to notify others would give off a showy feeling, so actually it's just Baojia and Wang Jie who are coming.

  But behind Baojia, there was still someone following him, wearing a straight suit and gold-rimmed glasses. Wasn't that Liu Zhaoming?

  Mr. and Mrs. Lin had met Baojia before and knew she was good to Lin Luoran, so they liked her very much. However, when they saw Liu Zhen, who was elegant and refined, and obviously not from the same social class as them, they felt a bit awkward.

  Luckily, Cui Pangzi didn't come today because of something, otherwise the golden necklace on his neck would be too dazzling. Wang Miao'e has money, but looking at her dark and sturdy build, she's wasted the high-end fashion on her body, but it suits Lin Ma's taste, feeling like they're from the same country.

  Liu Zhao brought two big bags of gifts, calling them "Uncle" and "Auntie", polite and elegant, which made Li Erniang sigh to Lin Mama behind his back, "Xiao Ran is now unstoppable, the people he associates with are all dignitaries."

  Comparing hearts, no matter how good the relationship is, when Lin's mother saw that Li Erpo's family suddenly became rich and powerful, she would also have some small dissatisfaction. She patted Li Erpo on the back: "What are you talking about? No matter how high her status is, shouldn't she still call you 'Erpo'?"

  Li Er Shu felt at ease and continued picking vegetables again.

  Liu Zha wasn't a talkative person, but at this moment, looking at such an exquisite house, sitting in the living room drinking tea, he couldn't help but slightly raise the corner of his mouth: "Living in a 20 million yuan house with a salary of several thousand yuan from Zhenbao Xuan, if we spread this out, it would be great publicity for us. Should Lin Dakuai consider it? If we cooperate, we can also hype it up."

  Seeing Lin Luoran's face turn red, Bao Jia pounded on Liu Zhen once: "Liu Daxiao, your family's mansion is not small, I haven't been so rude to you!"

  Liu Zha didn't mention that anymore, and instead talked to Wang Miao'e about some business matters. Originally, within the province, Fumanlou was the only dominant one, but since Liu's entry, they gradually formed an alliance with scattered households like Wang Miao'e and Cui Pangzi, so several families had a lot of business dealings, and it was indeed possible to talk about them together.

  Baojia watched them discuss business and pulled Lin Luoran to help in the kitchen. As for Lin Dad, being introverted and afraid of saying something wrong that would embarrass his daughter, he had already taken Luo Dong to the backyard to go fishing.

  The vegetables, of course, all came from Lin Luo Ran's space, freshly picked and cooked on the spot. The beef and pork ribs were bought by Bao Jia, while Wang Jie brought a box of wine, which was very much in line with her usual style.

  Bao Jia is not a delicate and dainty young lady who doesn't get her hands dirty, she can do chores like husking rice and picking vegetables, and even some simple dishes.

  When Lin Luo Ran and the others arrived, Lin's mother was reducing the sauce for the braised pork belly. The lean meat was tender and soft, while the fatty meat was oily but not greasy, just like one of Lin's mother's signature dishes. When Lin Luo Ran was young, their family conditions were poor, so they could only have this kind of braised pork belly during festivals.

  Liu Zhaohe and Baojia, as well as Wang Jie, which one of them didn't grow up eating the delicate dishes in the city? Lin Luoran was afraid they wouldn't be used to Lin Mama's greasy dishes, so he let Lin Mama take a break and prepared to stir-fry two more dishes himself.

  Baojia, however, was not polite and "stole" a piece of braised pork, getting burned in the process and letting out a loud yelp. She then gave Lin Mama a thumbs up, which made Lin Mama laugh so hard that she forgot about being deprived of her stir-frying rights.

  Lin Luo Ran took two heads of bok choy produced in space, only selecting the tender middle part and cutting it into thin strips. After steaming them until they were cooked, she poured on a refreshing sauce, making a dish of crisp and delicious bok choy. The yellowish-colored vegetable hearts had a texture similar to that of egg yolks, and were garnished with two sprigs of cilantro, making the dish visually appealing.

  As for the unused leaves, Baojia took the initiative and chopped them up with a knife, then ran to feed the goldfish.

  Originally, when feeding fish food, some lazy goldfish were too fat and sluggish, but when they smelled the scent of bok choy in the air, they suddenly became frantic and competed for it. Baojia shouted loudly, attracting Li Ershu to come out and watch the commotion.

  Only Lin Luo Ran and his mother were left in the kitchen, Lin's mother glanced at the living room and quietly pulled Lin Luo Ran to ask what her relationship with Liu Zhen was.

  Lin Luo Ran wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, explaining for the third time that they were just ordinary friends. Lin's mother seemed to half believe him, lowering her head and muttering as she chopped the pork ribs.

  Lin Luoran had no choice but to tell Lin's mother that Liu Zhen was Baojia's fiancé, and only then did Lin's mother believe they were not related. However, Lin Luoran had good hearing and still heard Lin's mother mutter a sentence "What a pity", heaven knows what she was regretting.

  Baojia and Li Ershu finished feeding the fish and came back, Lin Luodong ran back to the kitchen, still holding a big carp of two or three catties in his hand, Xiao Zhengtai's excited little face was red all over, full of expectation looking at Lin Luo.

  Lin's father was fishing in the backyard, and Lin Luoran asked gently, "Did you catch it?"

  Xiao Zhengtai nodded: "Dad Lin!"

  He can talk to people, it's not easy, Lin Luo Ran doesn't force him, as long as he can understand the meaning. This fish seems to be caught by Lin Dad after all, looking at the pond water is still relatively clear, who knows there is such a big carp hidden.

  Xiao Luo Dong struggled to hold onto the carp, which was very slippery. Lin Luo Ran took a basin from him and said to his mother, "It seems that there are still many fish in the pond. One day we'll drain the water and catch them slowly!"

  Bao Jia nodded, "When catching fish, you must call me, haha."

  Lin Luoran spat at her: "You're still a young lady, aren't you? One listen and you're more excited than anyone else!"

  Baojia Queen went to make a move to tease her, which made Lin Ma and Li Er Sao laugh, not to mention that even Lin Luodong's small face had a smile on it.

  Lin's mother looked at the big carp and was in a dilemma: "What a pity it's a carp, the smell is too strong, otherwise steaming would be fine."

  Lin Luo Ran pressed down on Lin Mama's shoulder: "You go rest, watch me make a carp hot pot, guaranteed no fishy smell!"

  Li Er Shu heard that she was going to do this, and quickly killed the fish, cutting it into thick slices, and put it in a mixture of white wine, refined salt, pepper powder, fragrant vinegar, ginger, and scallions to remove the fishy smell. Lin Luo Ran then added two tablespoons of beer.

  Bao Jia was among the crowd, stretching his neck to learn a new dish. Even Lin Luo Dong couldn't help but stare, making Lin Luo Ran wonder if this was actually a boy who loved cooking?

  Jian Baojia wanted to learn, and then scooped out the fish meat that had been marinated for two minutes, instructing her to code the flavor.

  Li Er Shu smiled and said "How could she", while cracking an egg, only beating the egg whites onto the fish meat, and then adding seasonings.

  Bao Jia finally managed to grab a stirring job, a pair of chopsticks stirring with great enthusiasm. Seeing Lin Luodong's interest, he handed the chopsticks over to him, and both people were very excited.

  Lin Luo Ran cut a large plate of pickled ginger, pickled peppers and sauerkraut for later use, added lard and vegetable oil to stir-fry until fragrant, then poured in the sauerkraut and various seasonings, added small millet pepper rings, and finally mixed in fresh broth.

  When the soup is boiling, the carp can be cooked for 3 minutes and then served. Sprinkle some chopped scallions and shallots, and the aroma will make your mouth water.

  On the dinner table.

  Wang Miao'e saw that the dishes were arranged neatly and pointed at a plate of cold-dressed tomatoes, "Is this also the flavor you brought to my family?"

  Lin Luoran nodded, and Wang Miaoer focused on dealing with the plate of tomatoes in front of her.

  Baojia had a piece of bok choy in her mouth, but her eyes were still fixed on the carp hot pot. Li Ershu watched as everyone else was calling out for vegetarian dishes and thought to herself while eating braised pork, these city people are strange, only eating vegetables and not meat.

  Huh, no, why do the two old men of the Lin family only eat vegetarian food? Li Er Shu tried to pick up a chopstick of stir-fried spinach, and that refreshing sweet flavor instantly made Li Er Shu give up her braised pork, her chopsticks never stopping.

  The Lin family's vegetarian dish is really delicious! Li Ershu only had this thought left in her mind.

  After dinner, Li Ershen was going back tomorrow, so Lin Luoran went to see off Liu Zhen and the others.

  Wang Miao'e is a man of action. After eating and drinking enough, she hugged a pile of dishes and stepped on the accelerator, disappearing without a trace.

  On a winter night in R City, although it wasn't as cold as the north where water would freeze into ice, the wind was still biting. Liu Zhen opened the car door, as if he had just remembered something, and asked while holding onto the door: "I heard from Mrs. Cui that you're going this time too?"

  Lin Luoran was momentarily stunned, and it took her a few seconds to react. She guessed that they were talking about this trip to the China-Myanmar border, and she felt a bit embarrassed. She had been taking advantage of Liu's kindness by constantly asking for leave to attend to personal matters, and she didn't know how to explain herself to Liu Zhuang.

  "I..."

  Liu Zhao seemed to have noticed her embarrassment and smiled, saying: "I see you're very interested in the jade, and Mrs. Cui also said you have a talent for it. Why don't we make you a procurement consultant instead? The salary will be basic plus commission, what do you think?" Actually, Wang Miao's original words were that Lin Luo Ran was a god of wealth who spit out money, and it would be a waste not to use him when his luck was so good.

  Lin Luoran had long felt that as she got busier, the work of selling jewelry and jade was too inflexible and no longer suited her. She just couldn't bear to part with the spiritual energy that Zhen Bao Xuan didn't charge her for. Now, hearing Liu Zhu's words, this was a win-win situation.

  She only needs to go to the scene each time to pick some original stones, which won't be too expensive, and won't let the Liu family lose money. She has a legitimate reason to absorb spiritual energy everywhere, which is perfect for her. This is what she thinks in her heart, how can Lin Luoran refuse? Of course, she quickly nodded in agreement with Liu Zong's opinion.

  "Is Baojia going?"

  Baojia was wearing thick cotton clothes, but still shivering with cold, her teeth chattering: "I'm not going, in two days I'll be going to the capital with my grandfather, who knows when I'll be back!"

  Her Majesty snorted, chuckled twice: "You help me keep an eye on Liu Zuo, lest he takes a liking to the Yunnan girl, best to stick close by."

  Liu Zhaoying pushed her glasses up and gazed at Lin Luoran with a sideways glance before turning back.

  She didn't mention Lin Luo Ran going back to explain to Lin Dad and Lin Mom how she could afford such a big house, but said that Liu Zhen and Bao Jia were on the road, Bao Jia had sharp eyes, saw the smile at the corner of his mouth, and muttered:

  "If you like someone, you should say it early! Proud people don't even get a chance to drink soup!"

  Liu Zhen slammed on the brakes, almost hitting the guardrail. After a fright, Bao Jia didn't expect that his casual remark would have such power, and he shrank back, not saying another word.

  Liu Zhaogazed at her for a moment, wanting to make some excuses, but didn't know where to start.