When he met her bright eyes, Fu Rongchen paused, his heart softening. He quickly glanced at her, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she was alright.

He suppressed the urge to walk towards her and went straight to Madam Fu, saying, "Mother."

When Madam Fu saw her son, her stern demeanor completely changed from when she was facing Shangguan Yanran. She immediately became gentle and kind, smiling as she looked at her son and said, "You're finally back."

Fu Rongchen said, "Mother, why didn't you send someone to let me know before you came to Xuzhou, so that I could come and pick you up?"

Seeing her son's thoughtfulness, Madam Fu was very pleased and explained, "I was just a little worried about you. Since I had nothing else to do, I came to check on you. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I didn't send anyone to deliver a message because I knew you were busy with official duties." As she spoke, she hurriedly invited, "It's so late. You must be hungry. Please sit down and eat."

Fu Rongchen sat down on her left as instructed.

Shi Hua immediately and attentively ladled him a bowl of soup.

Shangguan Yanran had some reservations about Madam Fu's double standards.

So, her son gets hungry, but she doesn't?

At least, she's a guest now, so how could she let her guest wait with her?

Hey, if she really marries into their family, will she not even have the right to sit down and eat?

Thinking of this, she shuddered and hesitated.

Just then, a bowl of chicken soup was placed in front of her, and Fu Rongchen's pleasant voice came over, "Don't overthink it, it's already late, eat quickly."

Looking at the chicken soup in the bowl in front of her, and seeing the doting look in Fu Rongchen's eyes, Shangguan Yanran felt a warmth in her heart. Her hesitation disappeared, and she picked up the bowl and gulped down the soup.

As long as Fu Rongchen treats her well, Madam Fu is not a problem.

Seeing this, both Madam Fu and Shi Hua's expressions turned somewhat unpleasant.

Coming to her senses, Madam Fu placed a large chicken leg into Fu Rongchen's bowl and said with a pained expression, "You must have been working hard these past few days, and you've lost weight. You need to eat more."

"Thank you, Mother." Fu Rongchen's expression softened, and he hesitated for a moment. Although he didn't like chicken legs, if he gave the chicken leg to Shangguan Yanran, it would inevitably displease his mother, who would then take her anger out on Shangguan Yanran.

Thinking of this, he paused for a moment and then put a chicken leg on Madam Fu's plate.

“My mother traveled a long way to see me, and it must have been very tiring for her. She should eat more.”

Upon hearing this, Madam Fu was overjoyed, her smile practically reaching her lips. It seemed that her son still cared for her as his mother.

But her joy was short-lived. She saw him peel the skin off the big chicken leg in the bowl with chopsticks and put it into Shangguan Yanran's bowl after cleaning it.

Her expression changed.

A sweet feeling welled up in Shangguan Yanran's heart. She looked at Fu Rongchen with bright eyes, took a bite of the chicken leg, and thought it was incredibly delicious. The unpleasantness she had felt earlier because of Madam Fu completely vanished.

Fu Rongchen actually knew that she didn't like chicken skin.

Uh... she felt a little touched.

When Fu Rongchen saw her eyes, which seemed to be filled with mist, his heart fluttered. He tightened his grip on his chopsticks. Then, he turned his head to look at Madam Fu.

"Actually, I had already eaten out before I came back, so I wasn't hungry." He paused, then added, "Yanran is a guest, and it's really too much trouble for her to wait for me to eat together."

Upon hearing this, Madam Fu's expression stiffened.

Because of her prejudice against Shangguan Yanran, she forgot that Shangguan Yanran was actually a guest.

It was one thing for her to wait alone, but to make a guest wait so late was indeed extremely impolite.