Yi Leng did not rush to protect his daughter because he had already seen that the person was Xian Mo’s younger sister, his sister-in-w, Xiang Bing.
Xiang Bing was ten years youhan Xian Mo. Back when he was dating Xian Mo, she was still in middle school. His sister-in-w had never liked him, so Yi Leng quietly turned around and walked away.
“Nuannuan, didn’t you notice the otion?” Xiang Bing noticed what was happening. Her niece’s hearing aid didn’t have good sensitivity; maybe if it was an expensive imported model worth 80,000, it could solve the problem.
But that wasn’t possible. When her sister passed away in the car act, no pensation was received. The case was still tangled in court. Xian Mo had worked hard to plete her PhD and stayed at the uy, but her sary wasn’t high, and they lived modestly. The only valuable thing in the family was the house she and her husband bought with a loan years ago. It had appreciated several times in value, and it would eventually be left to Nuannuan. How could they sell it? The me was still being paid by her sister-in-w every month.
Xiang Bing’s life wasn’t easy either. She roag thirty, struggling in all aspects—failed retionships, failed career. She couldn’t stay in the big city and couldn’t return to her hometown. Last month, she quit her job and still hadn’t found a new ohis time, she was relutly sent back to her hometown, Jiangwei, by her parents for a blind date.
It was destio be an unpleasant Christmas Eve.
Xiang Bing held Nuannuan’s hand as they returned home. Though they were mother and daughter, they looked like sisters from behind. Xiang Bing was 1.65 meters tall and weighed 98 pounds, while Nuannuan had ied her father’s height. At just 14, she was already 1.68 meters tall and weighed around 80 pounds—so they really did resemble sisters.
When they got home, Xiang Bing immediately felt the oppressive atmosphere. The furnishings hadn’t ged in over a decade: the old sofa, ndscape paintings on the walls, and the factory-issued dar. The wooden floors were worn and faded. This house was one her parents had gottehey married. It was a two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment, 78 square meters. The north-fag bedroom was where she and her sister grew up. It had a double-decker bed. Back then, it was where the two sisters slept, but now that her sister was gone, Xiang Bing and Nuannuan shared the room.
Nuannuan’s maternal grandparents both worked at the shipyard. Her grandfather, Xiang Dongming, graduated from uy but due to his personality, never achieved much. He was only a tei wheired, having lived a humble life.
Now, Xiang Dongming was sitting on the sofa reading a neer. When he saw his daughter and granddaughter e back, he put down his reading gsses and began to lecture.
It was all the same old rhetoric, starting with her sister’s unfortunate marriage. If only Xian Mo hadn’t insisted on staying in Jiangjiang and hadn’t married that unfortunate man, but had followed her parents’ advice to return to the shipyard and marry her childhood friend Ma Xiaowei, now she would have been the dignified wife of the deputy chief engineer. She wouldn’t have spe years as a widow or died in a car act, leaving her bck-haired husband to mourn her.
Based on these painful lessons, Xiang Dongming resolutely insisted that his younger daughter should return to Jiao find stability—take the civil service exam, or work at the shipyard for a state-owerprise, marry someone she knew well, and live a stable, happy life.
These were exactly the things Xiang Bing was desperately trying to avoid. She couldn’t stand the stifling atmosphere of a rge, deg state-owerprise, the rigid and corrupt bureaucracy, and the plicated retionships. The city felt lifeless, with no Starbucks, no Muji, and nothing or no one worth her staying for.
Her mother, Ding Yujie, came out of the kit holding a pte of fruit. She had beeop student at the shipyard’s vocational school and was quite popur, with suitors lined up from Workshop Oo Workshop Five. But she had made a terrible choice by rejeg the model worker Qin Deg and instead marrying the uy student Xiang Dongming. Now, Qin Deg was the chairman aary of the shipyard group, a real big shot, while she regretted her decision, with no oo turn to for fort.
From her mother’s experience, she also wanted her daughter to marry someoh a strong future from the factory.
The two elders had helped their daughter set up a blind date with someone whose family and prospects seemed det. They invited her back for the holiday to meet him.
Today was Christmas Eve, and the shipyard area was bustling. After Xiang Bing ged clothes to prepare for the date, she noticed her niece’s hopeful look and quietly asked if she wao go out.
Nuannuan eagerly nodded. She had no friends in Jiangwei and wao tact her cssmates from Jiangjiang, but her grandfather had taken her phone away. There was no puter at home, so she could only go to an i café to chat with her cssmates.
Xiang Bing, using a bit of charm, tricked her grandmother into letting Nuannuan join her for the blind date.
“Keep an eye on your aunt and make sure she doesn’t leave early,” her grandmother reminded as they left.
It was Christmas Eve, and the streets were crowded. Xiang Bing decided to take Nuannuan out for a meal first before heading to the blind date.
The blind date art of a di a high-end local restaurant, Blue Iseraurant. Xiang Bing had been on many blind dates and knew well that the food at such gatherings was never satisfying. It was better to eat beforehand, so she wouldn’t embarrass herself by looking hungry.
However, Xiang Bing was short on cash. After walking around, she spotted a small, restaurant and decided to eat there.
It was Yi Leng’s restaurant, Yumei Restaurant. Business was booming today. There were already three tables of ers by the time they arrived. It was the weekend and Christmas Eve, so all the local restaurants were packed. Even small pces like this one were being from the holiday rush.
Kang Peng and Xiao Hong had already left, leaving only Wu Yumei and Huang Pihu to run the pce. They worked effitly, oending to ers and the other handling the kit.
Yi Leng had t out the dishes himself. Just then, Xiang Bing and Nuannuan walked in, and Yi Leng’s heart, weathered by years of hardship, raced like a teenager in love. He could swear that he had never been this nervous, not even when defusing a nuclear bomb.
His daughter had arrived—was this the moment they would finally reize each other? But a sed ter, he realized he was overthinking it. They were just here to eat. Xiang Bing sat down and ordered: “Tomato scrambled eggs, sweet and sour shredded potatoes, stir-fried pork with chili, two bowls of rice.”
This was clearly just a meal. Yi Leng didn’t want to miss the ce to get close to his daughter, so he asked Wu Yumei to watch the stove and noted down the order. He then asked if she wanted soup—something warm for the cold weather.
“What soups do you have?” Xiang Bing asked.
“Seaweed and pork rib soup, cm tofu soup, abalone and sea cucumber soup…” Yi Leng listed off the soups, gng at Nuannuan. The 14-year-old girl was looking down, lost in thought, not even notig the unfamiliar chef.
“Tomato egg soup,” Xiang Bing ordered, pig something that wasn’t on the menu. She was trying to be frugal, not wanting to spend too much money.
“Didn’t you already order tomato scrambled eggs?” Yi Leng smiled awkwardly.
“I like it,” Xiang Bing snapped. She could feel his eyes lingering on her, and it made her unfortable.
“Alright, tomato egg soup it is.” Yi Leng nodded ao the kit.
Wu Yumei rolled her eyes, muttering to herself that every time Old Huang saretty girl, he’d go out of his way to attend to her. Men were all the same.
Huang Pihu quickly prepared the dishes for Table 4. They were simple, taking only five mio cook. Besides the tomato egg soup, he also sent over two bowls of abalone sea cucumber soup.
“Old Huang’s ag strange!” Wu Yumei thought to herself.
“On the house! No charge,” Yi Leng said, pulling a red apple from nowhere. He was about to pce it in front of his daughter when his sister-in-w snatched it away and took a bite.
---
"Thank you," Xiang Bing said.
"This is your sister, right? She’s in middle school now, isn't she?" Yi Leng tried to strike up a versation. "Kid, do you know how to say 'Merry Christmas' in English?"
The noise from the ers in the restaurant was deafening, with king gsses and ughter, so Yi Nuannuan, whose hearing was weak, couldn’t even hear what he was saying.
Wu Yumei couldn't hold baymore and walked over te Lao Huang to get back to cooking.
While Xiang Bing and Yi Nuannuan were eating, Feng Xiaoxiao and a few other boys headed across the street to the third floor i café. The boys, still in their sed year of middle school, hadn’t yet reached the age where they’d think about retionships. Going to the i café and f teams to py League of Legends was their favorite pastime.
A Toyota Land Cruiser passed by the entra was Yin Bingsong, returning home with his wife and child after a meal at his parents' house. Yin otted Feng Xiaoxiao’s figure and hurriedly asked his dad to stop the car.
Yin Bingsong, who doted on his daughter, pulled over without a sed word. Yin Weiran jumped out of the car and said, "I’m going to hang out with my cssmate. I’ll head home ter."
"Be careful, and call if anything happens," Yin Bingsong called after her.
"You spoil her too much," his wife muttered, though she didn’t stop her.
Yin Bingsong started the car and, through the rearview mirror, saw his daughter enter a metal gate leading to a staircase that went up to the sed-flame room and the third-floor i café. He said, "The café is run by one of my old buddies. Nothing’s going to happen."
---
After finishing their meal aling the bill, Wu Yumei didn’t give any dists. Lao Huang had secretly sent two bowls of abalone and sea cucumber soup without charging for them, but even so, Xiang Bihe meal was too cheap. "Everything baay not be great, but the cost of living is so low here. Living on the wages from Jiangsu is pretty fortable."
Leaving the restaurant and distang themselves from the rowdy drinkers and gamblers, the world seemed quieter. Yi Nuannuan said, "Aunt, the dishes here taste special."
"What makes them special?" Xiang Bing asked her.
Yi Nuannuan tilted her head and thought for a moment before saying, "It has a taste of Dad."
If Yi Leng had heard that, he would have likely burst into tears right then and there.
"What do you mean by that? Do you remember how your dad’s cooking tasted?" Xiang Bing asked, puzzled.
"It’s more of a feeling, not really the fvor of the dishes," Yi Nuannuan said as she gathered her words. "Dad used to travel a lot for work, but whenever he was home, he’d always cook. I was too young back then to remember the taste. Oh, wait, I have a photo. I’ll show you."
She pulled out a photo from her bag, showing the three of them together—warm and intimate, with the family dining table and a spread of dishes, proving that her brother-in-w was indeed a talented cook.
Xiang Bing hahe photo back to Nuannuan and checked her phone. "It’s time for me to go. What about you?"
Yi Nuannuan said, "I’ll pass. I’m going online. We’ll meet up ter."
The two women split up: Nuannuao the i café across the street, and Xiang Bio a nearby Blue Iseraurant.
tally, Yi Leng, carrying a pot of hot soup, stepped out and saw his daughter heading up the stairs across the street.
---
At the window-side table in the westeraurant, the boy had already arrived and was quite punctual. He was dressed appropriately, but his manners were somewhat... g. The restaurant even provided ashtrays, and the young man, holding a cigarette, had a pack of hard ese cigarettes oable, along with a leather-covered BMW car key. His down jacket hung on the back of his chair, revealing a white shirt with a fleece lining and an LV belt with a rge logo.
The boy’s name was Jian Xiaotian, the same age as Xiang Bing. They had added each other o and exged a few messages, but today was their first time meeting in person. Jian Xiaotian called the waiter over and ordered two Angus steak sets, a beer for himself, and a drink for Xiang Bing. He even thoughtfully asked her how she wanted her steak cooked.
"Well done," Xiang Bing replied. She usually preferred medium-rare, but she didn’t trust the quality or cooking skills at the local westeraurants, so well-do safer.
Jian Xiaotian ordered his steak medium-rare and, while waiting, lit anarette and started chatting, or more accurately, introdug himself.
"I work at the shipyard. After graduating from college, I joihe publicity department. My sary, including bonuses and bes, is around 3,500 a month. I have a house and a car—a BMW X1."
"My older brother is Jian Dayong, he’s in engineering, and he’s close to the factory director. They’re all like family..."
"My sed aunt works at the city’s education bureau, managing elementary and middle schools..."
"I have a great big brother who owns a shipping fleet..."
"I have a younger brother who got a project st year..."
Xiang Bing stifled a yawn. Jian Xiaotian wasn’t a bad guy, but he had no real achievements to speak of. All he could boast about were the people around him. Xiang Bing had no i in this type of man, but out of politeness, she didn’t want to shut him down directly. She o find a way for him to push her away instead.
"Um..." Xiang Biated slightly, then asked, "Big brother, could I have a cigarette?"
Jian Xiaotian froze in shock, but before he could answer, Xiang Bing grabbed a cigarette from his pack, put it in her mouth, and casually lit it with his lighter. She took a long drag, looking pletely rexed, as if sav every moment. She almost looked ready to say, "This is perfect."
---
Back at Yumei Restaurant, ers kept ing and going. Although each table’s bill wasn’t high, the steady flow of ers meant that the sums added up. If it were like this every day, business would be good.
Suddenly, a van pulled up to the door, blog half the entrance. Five or six people got out. The leader was slick-haired, wearing a bck leather jacket and carrying a small bag. He walked in with an air of fidence, followed closely by Kang Peng.
They were here to stir up trouble.
Wu Yumei wasn’t scared. This wasn’t 10 years ago, when street thugs would break in to smash and grab. The restaurant had cameras, and the police would arrive within 10 minutes, so she wasn’t worried.
But the group had clearly adapted to the times. None of them were carrying ons. They weren’t here to fight.
"Wu Jie, I’m Kang Peng’s brother. I heard you’ve been a little unreasohe slick-haired man said, sitting down and bringing a few people with folded arms behind him, all gring at her.
Wu Yumei g Kang Peng. "Xiao Peng, impressive, huh? ’t even ask for your own money, so you had t in someone from the streets? What’s your brother’s name?"
The slick-haired man replied, "My name is Rou Mingrui..."
Wu Yumei patted his shoulder. "Rou, since you're here, I 't ignore you. I won’t owe Xiao Peng a single t. But let’s be clear. Running a restaurant as a woman isn’t easy. I trusted Xiao Peng and Honghong as if they were my siblings. I never questioheir shopping bills. Honghong hahe payments, and the ats are a mess. I thought they were family, so I turned a blind eye if they earned a bit more. But what did they do? They started being zy—ing te, leaving early, and cooking as slow as a snail. If they’re like this, I might have to shut down!"
She spped her thighs as she spoke. Rou Mingrui scratched his head in fusion. He wasn’t afraid of tough talk, but dealing with a woman who spped her thighs was a different story.
Just then, Yi Leng stepped out of the kit with a steaming pot of soup. Kang Peng poi him. "That’s him! The oh the st name Huang!"
Rou Mingrui, not oue with a woman, was about to speak when Yi Leng fshed a sharp look, pced the soup in front of Rou Mingrui with force, and spilled it all over his pants.
"Today, if you don’t this up, I’ll kill you!" Rou Mingrui shouted, fuming.
But Yi Leng didn’t even look at him. He darted back to the kit, grabbed a wet towel, and rushed outside. Rou Mingrui lost his band fell, and his ckeys couldn’t catch up with Yi Leng’s swift movements. They could only watch helplessly as he rushed out.
Across the street, ohird floor, fmes erupted from the window of the i café. It was on fire.
This was a true life-or-death situation, but Nuannuan there. Without a
moment's hesitation, Yi Leng, without even looking back, ran into the burning building.
[----------------°-------------]
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