Wen Jialuo's mother Luo Linyi had already asked someone to prepare dinner. Tonight, Jialuo's grandparents were not eating at home because they were going to meet their old comrades.
When Xu Shiqi followed Baohua in, she saw only three people sitting on the large sofa. In addition to Wen Jialuo, whose eyes widened when he saw her, there was also a boy. From his eyebrows and eyes, it was not difficult to tell that this should be Baohua's cousin.
"Aunt, this is my classmate, Xu Shiqi." Baohua took Xu Shiqi and walked over with a smile.
"Hello, Auntie." Xu Shiqi hurriedly greeted her. The woman standing opposite her with a smile looked to be in her thirties at most, very petite, and very classical. If she hadn't guessed who this was, she probably wouldn't have associated that awkward thin girl with this woman.
"Welcome, welcome." Luo Linyi had looked them over subtly since they came in. She nodded slightly, "Don't be restrained. Just think of it as a reunion for your classmates."
Wen Yu, who was sitting on the side, was full of curiosity. His aunt had been frowning because of Jia Luo's personal problems. He hadn't seen her smile so happily for a long time. When he turned around, he saw that Jia Luo had been emitting a cold aura of "keep away from strangers" since he didn't know when, and he couldn't help thinking that it seemed like he had missed something good.
But it doesn’t seem too late.
Someone came over to tell them that dinner was ready, and they walked through the lobby and crossed a wooden bridge into the dining room. There was water flowing under the bridge, and it seemed that there was a half-waterwheel in the distance. Xu Shiqi secretly admired the atmosphere of the house, and couldn't help but feel curious about who had the idea to make this villa so unique.
The white marble table in the middle of the dining room was already filled with delicacies, and two middle-aged women were waiting on the side. Before sitting down, Xu Shiqi went to the bathroom to wash her eyes and saw the bright red color on the table, which suddenly moved her heart. She whispered a few words to Baohua who came with her, and then returned to the table with a smile in Baohua's confused eyes.
The seats were arranged by the only elder present. Xu Shiqi was naturally arranged to sit next to Wen Jialuo, which was originally the seat of Wen Yu. He had to give up his seat and sit next to Baohua, then blinked wildly and asked her what was going on, but Baohua ignored him.
After Luo Linyi sat down with satisfaction, she whispered to her daughter, "Jia Luo, there are guests coming, why don't you say hello?"
Wen Jialuo turned his head slowly like a robot, and the corners of his lips curled up slightly: "Long time no see..."
Xu Shiqi was not affected at all and smiled naturally: "Yes. By the way, the soup Baohua made last time was delicious, wasn't it?"
The corners of Wen Jialuo's mouth stiffened, she frowned slightly and said nothing.
Luo Linyi quickly took over the conversation: "Yes, Baohua, next time you teach me how to make the soup you made, don't forget it."
Wen Baohua nodded quickly and agreed.
At this moment, Xu Shiqi seemed to have just discovered the dishes on the table and let out a soft "ah".
Luo Linyi noticed it immediately and couldn't help asking her, "What's wrong?"
Xu Shiqi smiled a little embarrassedly, then glanced at Baohua.
Baohua quickly understood what he meant, and pointed at the dishes on the table and said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you. Seventeen doesn't eat spicy food."
It turned out that Luo Linyi heard that they had Sichuan cuisine at Baohua's house that day, so they had Sichuan cuisine prepared on the table. The full of chili peppers made the table look very warm, and even the air was filled with a rich and joyful aroma.
"I'm so sorry." Xu Shiqi touched her ear awkwardly. This was indeed her usual little trick. "My voice becomes hoarse when I eat chili peppers."
Luo Linyi was also a little disappointed. She had hoped that this girl could stimulate her daughter's appetite, but she didn't expect... Suddenly Wen Yu winked at her. When she turned around, she was slightly surprised to see her daughter slowly picking up food from the plate with chopsticks.
Wen Jialuo took the first bite of the dish. The tender and delicious beef was topped with finely chopped red peppers. Auntie didn't seem to be good at making Sichuan cuisine, but she knew that Sichuan cuisine was spicy and numbing, so the beef was so delicious that it almost numbed her tongue. Although the taste was very special, she chewed and swallowed it slowly, then smiled and raised her eyes to look at Xu Shiqi: "That's a pity, this is a wonderful food."
Xu Shiqi smiled reluctantly: "It does look delicious..." Although she said so, she did not move her chopsticks, even hiding her hands under the table, and stepped back slightly, away from the table. It seemed that she could not stand the smell of the peppers, and she tried her best to resist the urge to leave.
Wen Jialuo was now swept away from her previous gloom. This woman had been aggressive at the dinner table twice in a row, so she was very satisfied with what she saw now. In order to further stimulate Xu Shiqi, she even ate a lot of food and praised the aunt's cooking skills. In the end, she kindly used Xu Shiqi's chopsticks to pick up some food for her, as if she didn't see Xu Shiqi's resistance at all and urged her innocently to taste it.
Xu Shiqi had no choice but to reluctantly take a small taste, then he covered his mouth and coughed violently. Under Wen Jialuo's sly gaze, he left the table apologetically and ran into the bathroom.
Wen Jialuo looked at her from behind, and then asked the aunt to serve her a bowl of rice in a good mood. She looked at the other three people at the table staring at her, shrugged slightly, and said regretfully: "It's really not my fault. I didn't expect that she couldn't even eat a bite of spicy food."
Wen Baohua coughed lightly and turned her head away as if reluctantly. In fact, she was avoiding Jia Luo's gaze and laughing secretly. I didn't expect that Shi Qi was so good at acting. When she coughed, tears could almost be seen in her eyes. Looking at the young aunt and Wen Yu, they seemed to be deceived as well. Only her old classmate knew that Shi Qi could eat spicy food. Although she didn't eat it much to protect her naturally charming voice, she definitely couldn't stand it.
I guess Seventeen should be giving himself a thumbs up in the mirror now.
To Luo Linyi, it didn't matter whether Baohua's classmates could eat spicy food or not. What mattered was that her daughter was eating heartily. Perhaps chili peppers really stimulated appetite, because she seemed to be eating very sweetly. At this time, Luo Linyi could only smile and carefully put the food into her daughter's bowl, instead of frowning and lecturing her for being disrespectful to the guests.
The rice was quickly finished. The spicy taste made her sweat a lot. Wen Jialuo wiped her forehead with a wet towel and looked back. The person who had hidden in the bathroom had not come out yet. It seemed that he was too embarrassed and was looking for a hole to hide in. Anyway, she was her cousin's classmate, not her guest, so when she saw her mother put down the dishes, she stood up and said, "I'll go back upstairs first."
After Wen Jialuo left, Xu Shiqi, who heard the noise, opened the bathroom door and came out.
"She has finished eating." Wen Baohua whispered to her, "You are amazing."
Xu Shiqi smiled: "That's nothing. As long as you can guess what she's thinking, you'll know how to deal with her."
Hearing this, Wen Yu seemed to understand something. He suddenly realized and pointed at the two people: "You... lied to Jia Luo?"
Seeing Luo Linyi also glaring at him, Xu Shiqi bowed and smiled apologetically: "Sorry, I was rude just now."
"So that's how it is." Luo Linyi didn't blame her. Anyway, she couldn't bear to say a word to her daughter in her hands, and she was also a treasure at home, so she never thought of using this method to solve the problem. This girl does seem to have some ideas.
After Wen Jialuo left, the atmosphere at the table became more cheerful. Xu Shiqi could see that perhaps as long as Wen Jialuo was at the table, everyone couldn't eat and drink to their heart's content, and would always be distracted by her.
After the dinner, Luo Linyi said she wanted to rest and left. Wen Yu also left when he saw that there was nothing exciting to watch. Wen Baohua took Xu Shiqi to sit by the waterwheel in the backyard to rest. Xu Shiqi listened to her saying that the stream flowing through the villa was real mountain spring water, and looked at the lights slowly lighting up above the waterwheel. Everything here had a very peaceful mood.
Wen Baohua, who had walked away to answer a phone call, came over and told Xu Shiqi: "My aunt just called me. She has already contacted the director of the Health Bureau. Your family's problem will be resolved."
"Thank you." Xu Shiqi said with a smile.
"Don't thank me, my aunt asked me to thank you." Wen Baohua also smiled.
"It's just to let her eat. How difficult is that?" Xu Shiqi said lazily. Suddenly he thought of something. "Your aunt is actually trying to ensure that our family has food to eat. In her opinion, it's not that difficult."
"Seventeen." Wen Baohua frowned.
"I don't mean anything else." Xu Shiqi patted her shoulder and stood up from the waterwheel: "I want to go back."
"I send you."
When they returned to the front yard, on the cobblestone path, they unexpectedly saw Wen Jialuo standing far away with his arms folded. The two looked at each other, not knowing what to do, and had to go up to him.
"Jia Luo, are you going out too?"
"Sister, go back. I'll send your classmates off for you."
The path was bright and clear, but Wen Jialuo's expression was unclear because he was standing under the shadow of a tree. There was no fluctuation in his words, neither too enthusiastic to be rejected, nor too cold to be rejected.
Just as Wen Baohua was about to say something, Wen Jialuo waved her hand and interrupted her: "Your house and her store are not in the same direction, right?"
Xu Shiqi frowned, vaguely guessing something. She smiled and stopped Wen Baohua from speaking again: "Okay, someone can take you home. You should go home soon. Xia Bang might have already gone home."
Although the two people who were talking were very calm, Baohua still felt something was wrong. In the end, she was unable to persuade them and could only watch Shiqi get into Jialuo's car and drive away.
Nothing will happen, Wen Baohua thought worriedly.
Wen Jialuo was an experienced driver, but Baohua was much more cautious than her. Xu Shiqi carefully fastened her seat belt and let her long hair fly wildly beside the open car window.
"I thought you were my cousin's guest today." Wen Jialuo finally spoke.
Xu Shiqi reluctantly pressed his hair behind his ears and asked casually, "And then?"
"So you were invited by my mother." Wen Jialuo's mouth curled up.
It seems that the previous play has been seen through, Xu Shiqi thought with some regret.
Wen Jialuo suddenly turned the steering wheel and stopped the car on the side of the road.
Xu Shiqi looked around. Although it was not a place where traffic rules were violated, she would not care even if it was - but what was this for
"This is the first time I've been teased like this." Wen Jialuo turned around and looked at Xu Shiqi, who looked a little embarrassed - his hair was messy, as if he had been struck by lightning.
Xu Shiqi slowly combed his tangled hair and smiled: "Tease? But what have you lost? Aren't you full?"
"I didn't lose much," Wen Jialuo said leisurely, "but you gained a lot."
Xu Shiqi stopped and looked at her quietly.
"I heard my mom was on the phone." Wen Jialuo suddenly laughed, "'Xu's Food Diary', the little restaurant I went to last time, it's yours, right? I have food poisoning, and you can find my mom to help, you're really amazing."
This was the first time Xu Shiqi looked at Wen Jialuo so closely and intently. Wen Jialuo's sudden smile made her see two small canine teeth - so this girl was definitely not an angel, but a devil with small black wings. She even seemed to see the little devil waving a thin steel fork, trying to hurt people and also trying to defend herself.
It was cute, so Xu Shiqi laughed. But soon her laughter faded under Wen Jialuo's glare, and she became expressionless.
"That's right. I heard that you are so thin because of anorexia. Your mother and others tried every means to make you eat normally, and even believed that a complete stranger like me could help. You are right, something happened in my restaurant. Although I don't want to ask for help, I can still shamelessly try to please your mother for the sake of my family. Even if it is embarrassing. But what about you?" Xu Shiqi narrowed his eyes, looked him up and down, and asked softly, "You only make your family worry about you and worry about you. Compared to you like this, am I embarrassed?"
Wen Jialuo originally wanted to laugh at this woman, but the smug look on her face disappeared without a trace, replaced by rapid breathing and a flushed face.
"What do you know? What do you understand?" Wen Jialuo yelled softly, her eyes red with anger. She clenched her fists tightly, shaking uncontrollably.
Who is the one who is being wronged now? Xu Shiqi tilted her head and looked at the girl who suddenly became excited after being easily teased, and sighed in her heart. She unbuckled her seat belt, turned around and looked at her: "I don't understand, and no one will understand if you don't tell me. But I have some free time now, how about you tell me?" She looked at the time on her phone and added, "Just to let you have a meal, your mother helped me a lot, I am very grateful, this is really worthwhile. So I decided to introduce a compensation policy and be your vent for once, okay?"
Wen Jialuo panted and fell back into the seat. She closed her eyes slightly, hiding all the bitterness behind her eyes. After a while, she straightened her waist and started the car again: "I'll take you home."
Xu Shiqi looked at Wen Jialuo's tightly pursed lips and had to sit back slowly. It was not until the car drove to the door of her store and stopped that she dared to ask softly: "I guess the person you have a crush on is someone you shouldn't love, right?"
Wen Jialuo almost jumped up, but she immediately calmed down and said coldly, "You are right." She leaned back in her chair, watching people coming in and out of the restaurant in front of her, and said, "Since you are so curious, I will fulfill your wish."