Jiang Zongyan walked into the house.
Jiang Ruitian came jogging down the stairs and happened to meet Jiang Zongyan’s expressionless face.
“Who upset him again?”
Mrs. Jiang shrugged. “I have no idea.”
Mrs. Jiang waved it off. “Forget about him. That boy’s mouth is the hardest thing about him.”
Zhou Suisui nodded in deep agreement and quickly stopped dwelling on it.
She held out the osmanthus cakes in her hands to Mrs. Jiang as if presenting a prized treasure.
“Auntie, I just bought these osmanthus cakes. Have one while they’re still warm.”
“Let me try one.”
Mrs. Jiang had always doted on her.
This was the daughter of her late best friend. She could never spoil her too much.
“So good! I could finish the whole box myself.”
Zhou Suisui said, “Don’t eat too many. They’re high in sugar.”
Mrs. Jiang beamed. “Oh, you really are my future daughter-in-law—”
“Mom!”
Before she could finish, the gloomy voice of the man inside interrupted her.
“When are we eating?”
“I never noticed you were so easily hungry before!”
Mrs. Jiang glared at him irritably.
Honestly, what a worry. If she didn’t help him out, would he ever manage to win himself a wife?
“Suisui, you must be hungry, right? Let’s go eat first. We can chat later!”
“Okay.”
“Come on.”
Jiang Ruitian affectionately took Zhou Suisui’s hand and pulled her toward the dining room.
She leaned close to Zhou Suisui’s ear and whispered excitedly, “I secretly ate a piece of spare rib just now. It was so delicious.”
Zhou Suisui had smelled the meat long ago and couldn’t help swallowing.
Inside the dining room.
Jiang Zongyan was already seated by the window. Sunlight fell across his broad shoulders as he lowered his head to look at his phone.
On the screen was a message Lin Zhou had just sent him.
[Other than going out with you, Miss Zhou has spent all her time at home or at the company. She hasn’t gone anywhere else… Mr. Jiang… I think… there’s really no need for you to be so suspicious of Miss Zhou and worry that she’s hiding another man outside. As men, we should have a little more confidence… Being constantly suspicious will make your wife run away…]
Lin Zhou had worked up quite a bit of courage before sending that message.
Jiang Zongyan felt a tightness in his chest. What did Lin Zhou mean by telling him to have more confidence?
Did he think that when Jiang Zongyan asked him to investigate whether Zhou Suisui had a boyfriend, it was because he was worried she had someone else and might put a green hat on him?
Hearing footsteps, Jiang Zongyan lifted his eyes and looked over. The sharpness in his gaze had yet to fade.
Zhou Suisui’s back stiffened in fright, and she instinctively wanted to keep her distance from him.
Just as she was about to sit in the farthest seat across from him, Mrs. Jiang caught her by the wrist and pulled her into the seat beside Jiang Zongyan.
“Sit here.”
Mrs. Jiang gave her no chance to refuse and took the seat on her right.
Jiang Zongyan was on her left.
She was surrounded by mother and son.
“Eat more. Look at you—you’ve gotten so thin. Have you been skipping meals again?”
Mrs. Jiang was as enthusiastic as ever.
Looking at the food piled high in front of her, Zhou Suisui felt warmth spread through her heart. Two shallow dimples appeared in her smile.
“Auntie’s cooking is still the best.”
The sweet-and-sour spare ribs were glossy and beautifully colored, absolutely delicious in both appearance and aroma.
Zhou Suisui was genuinely hungry. She hadn’t even had breakfast, so she picked up her bowl and chopsticks and began eating with gusto.
When it came to eating, she and Jiang Ruitian were both completely unrestrained.
Yet these two foodies had the kind of physiques that allowed them to eat as much as they wanted without gaining weight.
They had no idea how many girls in their class envied them for it.
Zhou Suisui’s mouth was slick with grease, and her cheeks were puffed out like a greedy little hamster.
Jiang Zongyan cast her an unimpressed glance, picked up his chopsticks, and took a spare rib.
Before he could put it in his mouth, Mrs. Jiang said, “Suisui, why aren’t you eating any crab? Crab tastes best when it’s hot.”
Zhou Suisui answered indistinctly, “I’ll eat it after I finish my spare rib. It’s not very convenient to peel it right now.”
“Isn’t there someone sitting right beside you?”
At those words, an ominous feeling rose in Jiang Zongyan’s heart. He raised his brows slightly and looked at Mrs. Jiang in disbelief.
Sure enough, in the next second, Mrs. Jiang’s gaze met his.
“Suisui can’t peel the crab right now. Peel it for her.”
“No, no, it’s fine—cough, cough…”
When Zhou Suisui heard that Mrs. Jiang wanted Jiang Zongyan to peel crab for her, she was so startled that she nearly choked.
Mrs. Jiang patted her back worriedly, then ordered her own son around. “Suisui’s choking. Go get her a glass of water.”
It was a family gathering, so Mrs. Jiang had given the household staff the afternoon off.
Jiang Zongyan had never imagined that one day he would be ordered around by his own mother to pour water for Zhou Suisui.
“What are you waiting for?”
He remained seated, so Mrs. Jiang frantically gestured at him.
How had she given birth to such a blockhead?
Was it too late to send him back for a second round of reeducation?
Jiang Zongyan knitted his brows tightly, but he still got up and went to the bar to pour some water.
Behind him, his mother’s deliberately lowered voice floated over.
“Don’t feel sorry for him. Men are meant to be bossed around. If you don’t boss him around, some little temptress outside will.”
“…”
Jiang Zongyan gazed indifferently out the window and let out an almost inaudible sigh.
With a bright smile, Zhou Suisui replied, “Auntie, I wouldn’t dare boss Brother Yan around.”
“I say you can, so you can. You’re my future—”
Before she could finish, Jiang Zongyan’s cold, low voice interrupted her again.
“Drink it.”
“Th-thank you.”
Zhou Suisui froze for a moment, then picked up the glass and took a sip. She looked toward Mrs. Jiang in confusion.
“Auntie, what were you saying just now?”
What had Auntie been about to call her? Her future what?
Mrs. Jiang smiled. “Nothing.”
Only then did Jiang Zongyan relax.
But the moment he sat down, Mrs. Jiang gestured for him to peel the crab for Zhou Suisui again.
“Peel it.”
Jiang Zongyan’s hand paused around his chopsticks.
Mother and son stared at each other for two seconds.
The man who could command the winds and clouds outside and whose word was law ultimately couldn’t escape the power of blood ties.
Jiang Zongyan resigned himself to his fate, put on a pair of gloves, and picked out the biggest, plumpest crab from the plate.
His long fingers pried open the crab’s shell, though his movements were visibly awkward.
“The claws too. You have to peel the claws as well.”
Zhou Suisui had no intention of letting him off easy. Taking advantage of having someone on her side, she puffed out her cheeks and said, “The meat inside is the most tender.”
Watching the hands that could casually sign hundred-billion-yuan contracts now clumsily wrestling with a crab, the corners of her lips rose higher and higher. She simply couldn’t hold back her smile.
Come to think of it, his helpless, resigned expression was a rare sight indeed.
Who would have thought that the all-powerful Jiang family's heir would have a day when he was utterly stumped?
Jiang Zongyan noticed her amusement. He turned his head and swept her a chilly sidelong glance.
Zhou Suisui immediately wiped away her smile, widened her eyes to look innocent, lowered her head, and shoveled another mouthful of rice into her mouth.
