Lu Jingyao, "Huh??? Dad, that's not how you use the word 'lightbulb'..."
Before he could finish, Mrs. Lu scolded him again, "We haven't even talked to you yet. Did you go out for a late-night snack yesterday? I saw you in Xiao Xia's video, along with Lu Tong and Xiao Xu!"
"Uh..."
Lu Jingyao paused, then bravely admitted, "Yes, we went to eat the teppanyaki at Sister Xiaoxia's place. Even Chu Hao went and bragged about it on social media, so of course we had to go support Sister Xiaoxia! Besides, if it weren't for us, no one would have exposed Jiu Shan's dirty trick yesterday!"
That was true.
Xu Yanxia, who was nearby, quickly expressed her sincere gratitude to him, "That's right, I haven't even thanked you properly yet."
Only then did Mrs. Lu let him off the hook. "Since it's Xiao Xu's family's shop, it's fine. But you should eat less of other outside food. You have a competition coming up soon, don't let anything go wrong."
"Got it."
Lu Jingyao agreed, scooped a spoonful of crab roe with rice cakes, and started eating.
Mmm, the rice cakes had absorbed all the umami from the crab roe, soft, sticky, savory, and delicious.
Good thing I came home tonight, or I would have missed out big time.
After eating for a while, Mrs. Lu asked her eldest son, "By the way, Jingming, how is the company cafeteria situation now?"
"It's been handled,"
Lu Jingming said. "The relevant personnel have been taken away, and the evidence is well preserved. Next, legal will sue them to recover the losses. The logistics department is being overhauled, and from now on we'll have a contract with Wan Nong."
Wan Nong's vegetables are still trustworthy.
Mrs. Lu nodded. "That's good."
Chairman Lu reminded him, "Make sure to learn the lesson from this thoroughly. It's not just about financial loss. Once employees' health is affected, it becomes a serious matter."
"Okay."
Lu Jingming nodded, then said to Mrs. Lu, "The Jiu Shan divestment might not go so smoothly."
"A few years ago, during Jing Chuang's restructuring, a lot of shares were transferred out. Now we are only the third largest shareholder. And right now, it's not just us who want to pull out; several others do too. If no one internally takes over and we need external funds for acquisition, the price will be pushed even lower, and the losses could be greater. It might be better to wait and see for now."
"Then let's wait,"
Mrs. Lu said. "You handle this matter as you see fit. Just make sure they don't drag our name through the mud."
"I understand."
Lu Jingming nodded, then couldn't help but pick up another piece of fried toona fish to eat.
Mmm, crispy and delicious, with the unique flavor of toona, irreplaceable.
He was actually a disciplined person and knew fried food wasn't suitable for dinner. All the dishes today were delicious, but he just wanted to eat this.
The happiest part was, he was reminiscing about it at noon, and by evening he was eating it.
Coming home for dinner really is the best.
During the meal, Chairman Lu and his wife also gave their two sons various instructions.
After finishing, the family went their separate ways to rest.
Xu Yanxia also tidied up the kitchen and went for a stroll in the garden, feeding the cats along the way.
As soon as she brought out the homemade cat food, four kittens immediately emerged from all directions, meowing at her.
She divided the food for the cats and took the opportunity to pet each one while they ate.
Just as she was happily petting the cats, a voice suddenly sounded beside her, "When did the family start keeping so many cats?"
She turned her head and saw Lu Jingming standing beside her, not knowing when he had arrived.
It was past eight in the evening, the sky was completely dark, and he had also changed into casual home clothes—shorts and a T-shirt.
A few strands of his washed hair fell onto his forehead, making him look both handsome and boyish.
Xu Yanxia explained, "Actually, they're all stray cats from nearby, drawn here by the smell of food."
The Lu family didn't specifically keep pet cats. It's just that the mansion was located halfway up the mountain, so it was inevitable that stray cats wandering nearby would come in. Butler Zhang didn't have them chased away and would occasionally prepare some food for them.
It was good to have them catch mice in the yard.
After Xu Yanxia arrived, she would often cook leftover ingredients from the kitchen to feed them and had become quite familiar with them.
"At first, it was just this tabby and the black-and-white one. Later, this little orange cat and the little white one came over too,"
she introduced to Lu Jingming while petting the cats. "Would you like to pet them? They're all quite friendly."
"Really?"
Lu Jingming bent down, reached out tentatively, and gently touched the head of one of the white cats.
The little one twitched its ears but didn't stop eating, making munching sounds as it swallowed.
"Quite interesting."
He smiled slightly and said to Xu Yanxia, "I asked Jiu Shan this afternoon. The person who called you was a manager from one of their branches. He should have been fired by now."
Xu Yanxia hummed in acknowledgment. "I got a call this afternoon too. Their apology was much more sincere, and they even mentioned compensating us with funds or something, but I didn't accept it."
Then she smiled at him and said, "Thank you, President Lu."
"There's nothing to thank me for."
Lu Jingming said self-deprecatingly, "Now that we've become their major shareholder, we should also take some responsibility for this matter."
Then he asked her, "Are you free for lunch tomorrow? Let's have a meal together?"
A meal?
Xu Yanxia didn't quite understand. "Where are you planning to eat?"
Lu Jingming said, "Jiu Shan."
Jiu Shan?
Xu Yanxia was even more puzzled. "You're going to eat at Jiu Shan? Why?"
Lu Jingming was straightforward with her. "Right now, all their shareholders are in a hurry to sell, driving the price very low. Rather than taking a loss like them by transferring shares, I want to see if there's still a chance to save it."
Xu Yanxia began to understand. "You want to acquire them?"
Lu Jingming didn't deny it. "If it can be saved, why not? After all, the brand still holds some value."
Xu Yanxia nodded. "It's an old-established restaurant in Rong City, quite well-known throughout the region. It would indeed be a pity if it declined."
Lu Jingming smiled. "So, I'd like to invite you, the expert, to come along for an inspection. My parents' flight is tomorrow morning. You shouldn't have much to do at noon, right?"
Of course not.
The Lu family chef's job was to cook for the Lu family. Tomorrow, Chairman Lu and his wife were on a business trip, he would be at the company, Lu Jingyao was returning to school, and the second young lady of the Lu family was rarely home anyway. Xu Yanxia would certainly be quite free.
However, she was also straightforward. "I'm not very familiar with the management processes of such large restaurants. At most, I can give you some evaluation on the dishes."
"No problem,"
Lu Jingming said. "I'll come back to pick you up tomorrow at noon."
"Okay."
Xu Yanxia also nodded.
As soon as the words fell, Chairman Lu, who had also changed into home clothes, appeared from somewhere, greeting them cheerfully. "You're chatting here?"
"Chairman Lu."
Xu Yanxia quickly greeted him.
"Dad, you're out here too."
Lu Jingming also greeted him.
"Ah, I couldn't resist and ate a bit too much tonight, came out to walk it off."
Chairman Lu smiled and asked them, "What were you talking about just now? You seemed quite happy."
Lu Jingming didn't catch the deeper meaning in his father's words and simply said, "We were discussing some work."
Chairman Lu once again took pains to instruct his son, "Since you're off work now, you can relax a bit. Besides work, you could talk about other things."
Lu Jingming still didn't catch on, letting out another confused "Huh?" before adding, "And I petted the cat."
"..."
Xu Yanxia, standing nearby, felt the conversation between the father and son was a bit odd.
Seeing that the cats had finished their meals and gone off to play, she took the initiative to say, "Well, I should head back now."
With that, she left.
Only the Lu father and son remained on the lawn.
Chairman Lu lowered his voice slightly and said to his eldest son, "Xiao Xu is quite a good girl. I've already asked your mother; she won't be upset if you two date. Be bold and go after her."
Lu Jingming, "???"
"No, Dad..."
Before he could finish, Chairman Lu walked away with a cheerful chuckle.
