Chapter 58: Wine and Food Served

When Shen Siyuan returned to his residential compound after work, he saw Zhu Guangfa and his family of three standing right by the entrance.

Upon seeing Shen Siyuan, they immediately walked over to greet him.

"How did you know where I live?" Shen Siyuan asked with some surprise.

"Because I'm a courier, I can look up addresses," Zhu Guangfa replied.

As it turned out, not everything Shen Siyuan ordered online was delivered to his office.

"There's a constant flow of people at your company, and I was worried it might cause a bad impression, so I came to wait for you here," Zhu Guangfa explained.

As he spoke, he gave the items in his hands a slight lift.

"It's nothing special, I just hope you won't look down on it," Zhu Guangfa said.

While Zhu Guangfa was speaking, Du Xiuzhi stood smilingly behind him, acting exceptionally virtuous and giving him plenty of face.

Shen Siyuan glanced at the groceries hanging on the handlebars of his bicycle. He had bought them at the vegetable market on his way home, originally planning to cook himself a lavish dinner tonight.

Then he looked at the two bottles of liquor in Zhu Guangfa's hands. Their packaging boxes were slightly worn and peeling at the edges, suggesting they had quite a few years on them.

"That's some nice liquor," Shen Siyuan remarked.

"It's not all that fancy, but I bought it more than ten years ago," Zhu Guangfa said.

Hearing this, Shen Siyuan looked up and asked, "Can you cook?"

Before Zhu Guangfa could answer, Du Xiuzhi stepped forward and said, "Yes, my husband used to work as a cook for a while. Although he was mainly responsible for prep work, his cooking still tastes pretty good."

"Since that's the case, you have the liquor and I have the food, care to share a couple of drinks tonight?" Shen Siyuan smiled.

"Sure, we'd love to, sorry to intrude," Zhu Guangfa said, snapping back to reality and hurriedly accepting the invitation.

Thus, Shen Siyuan led the group into his apartment.

"It's not very big, please make yourselves at home," Shen Siyuan gestured for them to enter.

They all looked around curiously at the indoor furnishings.

A thought instinctively arose in their minds: *"An expert with such formidable abilities lives in a place like this?"*

However, since they had only just met, it wasn't appropriate for him to voice his thoughts.

Zhu Tingting looked around the room with curiosity, though she kept holding onto Du Xiuzhi's hand, appearing somewhat reserved.

Du Xiuzhi, on the other hand, was graceful and poised, pulling the little girl down to sit with her on the sofa. Shen Siyuan handed her an apple, but she just clutched it in her hands without eating.

Once inside, Zhu Guangfa immediately busied himself, and Du Xiuzhi went over to help him.

Shen Siyuan, conversely, showed no intention of lending a hand. He pulled over a computer chair and started making small talk with Zhu Tingting.

"How old are you?"

"What grade are you in?"

"Do you have a lot of homework?"

……

At first, Zhu Tingting answered Shen Siyuan mechanically, but gradually she began to talk more and grew increasingly relaxed.

"Mister, thank you for letting me see Mom," she clutched the apple tightly as she said to Shen Siyuan.

"You're very welcome. Besides, aren't your dad and the others here to thank me?" Shen Siyuan pointed at Zhu Guangfa, who was busy cooking.

Shen Siyuan's kitchen setup was very simple: a rice cooker, an induction stove, and a microwave oven.

Consequently, Zhu Guangfa could only stir-fry dishes on the induction cooker, which made him somewhat uncomfortable as it was hard for him to control the heat properly.

Still, since he was only cooking a couple of simple dishes, he had to make do.

Hearing this, Zhu Tingting added, "Mister, my mom says you're amazing."

"I'm all right. Not as amazing as you imagine."

"Mister, can you let my mom stay with us all the time?"

Shen Siyuan glanced back at Zhu Guangfa; this line must have been prompted by him.

The couple had been keeping their ears pricked, and seeing Shen Siyuan look back now, Zhu Guangfa's body stiffened slightly.

As for Du Xiuzhi, after glaring at him, her brows furrowed deeply, carrying a trace of subtle disappointment.

Turning back around, Shen Siyuan replied, "Even without me, your mom has always been with you."

"But... but I want to be able to see Mom all the time," Zhu Tingting pleaded in a soft voice.

"Tingting."

Du Xiuzhi looked at her daughter with a displeased expression.

"Mom~" Zhu Tingting called out, looking utterly aggrieved.

Du Xiuzhi looked at Shen Siyuan and said, "Mr. Shen, I'm so sorry. The child doesn't know any better; we certainly didn't teach her to say this."

Shen Siyuan waved his hand. "It's understandable for her to feel this way, but the worlds of the living and the dead are different, so it simply won't do."

Shen Siyuan rejected the request flat out.

Zhu Tingting lowered her head and whispered with a sad expression, "I'm sorry."

Zhu Guangfa paused his cooking for a moment, but quickly recovered and brought a freshly cooked dish to the table.

"Dinner is served! Dig in, everyone, there are a few more dishes coming right up," Zhu Guangfa said.

Since he was only eating for one, Shen Siyuan hadn't bought very many ingredients, so the preparation went quickly.

Despite Zhu Guangfa's urging, neither Shen Siyuan nor Zhu Tingting touched their chopsticks.

Just then, Zhu Tingting suddenly raised her head and asked Shen Siyuan, "I heard that after people die, they are reincarnated and become children again. Will my mom be reincarnated too?"

Shen Siyuan was slightly taken aback by the question and turned to look at Du Xiuzhi.

Du Xiuzhi stroked her daughter's head and said, "Of course she will."

Zhu Tingting didn't say anything more; she just stared at Shen Siyuan until he nodded, at which point she looked slightly happier.

Then she turned back to Du Xiuzhi and asked, "Mom, then can you please not rush to be reincarnated and become someone else's child?"

"Oh, why is that?"

"When I grow up, you can be reincarnated as my baby. I will love you just as much as you love me," Zhu Tingting said innocently.

Hearing this, Du Xiuzhi pulled her into a tight embrace, her eyes welling up with tears as she said, "Okay, Mom will wait for you."

A tomato dish, braised pork ribs, braised pork belly, and shredded pork with chili peppers.

Aside from the tomatoes, every single dish was meat.

It was rare for Shen Siyuan to cook a meal for himself. Naturally, he wasn't doing it to eat vegetarian, so he had bought plenty of meat.

"Have a seat."

Shen Siyuan motioned for Zhu Guangfa to sit down, then unhesitatingly opened a bottle of the liquor he had brought.

"Xifeng liquor."

Shen Siyuan glanced at the bottle. He had heard of this brand, but had never tasted it.

Shen Siyuan poured a glass for Zhu Guangfa first. Zhu Guangfa hurriedly stood up, repeatedly declining the honor, appearing extremely deferential.

Du Xiuzhi also stood up and said, "You two go ahead and drink, I'll pour the drinks for you."

Shen Siyuan didn't stand on ceremony with her and handed the bottle directly to her.

During the meal, Zhu Guangfa appeared quite restrained, hardly daring to reach for food too frequently, acting far less natural than his daughter Zhu Tingting.

However, after two glasses of liquor went down, he gradually loosened up, and his conversation flowed more freely.

"Mr. Shen, with your abilities, why do you live tucked away in such a small apartment, and why do you still have to go to work so hard every day?"

"What else would I do?" Shen Siyuan asked with a smile.

He continued, "Can a few petty tricks like mine really make me an overlord? At best, they earn me a bit of money. And then what? Start enjoying life? But aren't I already enjoying life right now?"

Zhu Guangfa wanted to say more, but Du Xiuzhi secretly pulled at his sleeve from the side, giving him a meaningful look to stop him.