Chapter 180 I have a bold idea: This woman might be cheating on me...

Xingchen Children's Welfare Home is, after all, a public welfare institution, so finding the director's phone number is not difficult.

Mingyue easily found Wenmin's phone number, but when she called to arrange a time to visit the orphanage, Wenmin told her that he really didn't have time recently.

Mingyue and Liu Yun were very depressed. They were depressed for a whole day. Then they came up with a solution: if the mountain won't come to me, I'll go to the mountain.

At 11:00 a.m., Mingyue and Liu Yun appeared at the entrance of the Little Star Cafeteria on time.

"Sister Yun, don't look so sneaky. We're here to eat," Mingyue reminded Liu Yun, who had been hunching over as soon as she entered.

Liu Yun chuckled and straightened his back.

Mingyue and Liu Yun were searching for the child at the cashier when a voice suddenly called out, "Welcome!" They were both startled. Mingyue was alright, and her face showed no abnormality, but Liu Yun turned pale with fright and kept crying out, "Oh dear, oh dear!"

Zhao Lin was also shocked. He had brought back milk for Wen Xinglan and greeted a guest, only to have the guest be so frightened. Zhao Lin quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I scared you."

Liu Yun calmed his racing heart and waved his hand, saying, "It's nothing, it's just that I wasn't paying attention."

Mingyue didn't see the child behind the cashier, so she asked directly, "Isn't the child working today?"

Zhaolin paused for a moment, then realized who she was asking about, and said with a smile, "You're asking about Xiao Ba? He went to the pet boarding house to supervise today, and I'm bringing him milk right now."

Mingyue nodded nonchalantly, then found a quiet spot to sit down.

Liu Yun sat down opposite him and said, "Madam, why did you ask so directly? What if he suspects us?"

Mingyue: "Didn't you say that the child has been here every morning recently, and many guests like to tease him? As someone who often teases him, it's normal for me to ask about him since I didn't see him today?"

Liu Yun: "But this is your first time here."

Mingyue: "There are so many people in the store, they can't possibly remember everyone."

Liu Yun suddenly realized: "That's right, Madam is truly amazing."

Mingyue: "Alright, stop calling me 'Madam' all the time when we're out. People might think we've traveled from the Qing Dynasty."

"We really should have brought Tiedun with us, then we could have gone to the pet boarding house," Liu Yun said regretfully.

Mingyue: "What, can't we enter the pet storage room without a pet?"

Liu Yun: "They didn't say it was impossible."

Mingyue: "Then let's go take a look."

Liu Yun: "Is this really a good idea? What if they find out we're after the child? Won't they kick us out?"

Mingyue: "Adopting children from orphanages isn't doing anything wrong. The government often encourages people to adopt children and give them a home. We just can't adopt right now and want to see the children first."

Liu Yun was persuaded, and the two ordered food. Before the food arrived, they went to the pet boarding house without any hesitation.

Zhaolin was breastfeeding Wen Xinglan when she saw Liu Yun approaching and said with a smile, "Didn't you forget to bring your dog today?"

Just now, Madam said they couldn't remember the guests, but they remember them very well!

Mingyue said directly, "We're here to play with the children."

"Hahaha." Zhaolin laughed, "I didn't expect Xiao Ba to be so attractive, hahahaha."

Wen Xinglan was playing with several cats at the pet park. Zhaolin was worried about bringing the cat hair back to the hotel, so he fed him milk through the fence. Wen Xinglan was lying on the fence, sucking on the nipple and drinking the milk. When he saw someone coming, he glanced over.

Mingyue found a small cat-shaped stool and sat down outside the fence. Looking at Wen Xinglan, she asked Zhaolin, "Is his name Xiao Ba?"

Zhaolin: "Yes, he was the eighth in his family, but now he's the ninth. We've gotten used to calling him that, so we've always called him that."

"You're so cute! How old are you?" Mingyue asked.

"Right, right? She's really cute, isn't she? Not only cute, but also sensible. She's only two and a half years old, but she understands everything." Zhaolin said without any modesty.

Mingyue didn't talk to Zhaolin for long. It was a bit inappropriate to inquire about the children's information without visiting the orphanage, but she was just too curious to ask.

After Wen Xinglan finished drinking her milk and played with her for a while, Zhaolin prepared to leave, and Mingyue and the others followed her back to the restaurant.

The dishes had just been served.

Mingyue can't handle spicy food very well, so she ordered non-spicy or mildly spicy dishes, including the restaurant's signature dish, stewed chicken with soybeans.

Before we even started eating, the aroma of soybeans was already wafting through the air.

"This chicken and soybeans smell so good!" Mingyue couldn't help but exclaim.

Liu Yun: "The dishes here are all made with fresh ingredients, the chef is very skilled, and the combination of ingredients is very innovative. The dishes are made with almost no seasoning, but they taste especially delicious."

As Liu Yun spoke, Mingyue couldn't resist starting to eat. The soybeans smelled delicious and tasted amazing. "So delicious! They're soft and chewy with a slightly charred flavor, and the chicken broth is so flavorful."

Seeing Mingyue enjoying the dish so much, Liu Yun was very happy. "Let me tell you, I was also very surprised when I first tasted this dish. They actually thought of roasting the soybeans before cooking them. We usually soak the soybeans until soft before stewing them with the pig's feet, and that's already very fragrant. They actually thought of roasting the dried soybeans until they are slightly charred. The soybeans are roasted until crispy, and then they are quenched in cold water. The outer skin peels off instantly, and the internal tissues all crack open. After cooking them briefly, they are added to the chicken and cooked together. The chicken broth easily soaks into the whole soybean, making it not only flavorful but also greatly saving stewing time. The person who invented this method is simply a genius!"

Mingyue smiled and said, "It seems that if Sister Yun goes out to eat a few more meals, we'll have new dishes at home."

Liu Yun: "Hehe."

The two also ordered a soup called "Soy Milk Hot Pot," which is made with plain soy milk and contains fish balls, fish slices, lettuce, tofu, and other ingredients. One bite and it was so delicious it made your eyebrows fall off.

Liu Yun kept exclaiming, "I always ordered spicy dishes when we ate here before, and I was worried that you couldn't handle spicy food and couldn't order the delicious dishes that I had eaten before. I didn't expect that the non-spicy dishes would be so delicious."

The soy milk was fresh, warm, and comforting. After a meal, drinking two bowls made her feel incredibly soothed. Mingyue smiled contentedly, her eyes slightly narrowed. "It's really good. I'll come again next time."

...

For several days in a row, Mingyue and Liu Yun would come to the Little Star Cafeteria at noon every day. They explored several new dishes each day and discovered that some dishes, although containing chili peppers, were only slightly spicy. For example, the pickled radish looked like it was covered in a layer of bright red chili peppers. One bite was all crunchy and fragrant, and you could only feel the slight spiciness after you finished eating it. But it was that slight spiciness that made it so unforgettable. There was also the corn and pork belly stir-fry. It was said that the corn kernels were crushed, mixed with chili powder, and put into a jar to ferment for more than a month. Then it became slightly sour corn flour, which was stir-fried with pork belly and some wild scallions. The corn flour absorbed the fat of the pork belly and also gave it a slightly sour flavor. The corn flour softened under the oil, and with the fragrant wild scallions, Mingyue didn't know how to describe the feeling of eating it. Anyway, she ate until she was full but still wanted to have a couple more bites.

The consequence of sneaking out to eat at noon every day and eating too much is that I have no appetite for dinner.

For two or three days in a row, He Chen noticed that his wife wasn't eating rice at dinner. Sometimes she would drink a bowl of soup, and sometimes she would eat a few bites of vegetables before putting down her chopsticks. "Are you on a diet?"

Mingyue: "Ah, no, I'm full."

He Chen was certain that his wife was secretly dieting, so without saying a word, he put a pig's trotter in her bowl. "You're not fat, don't diet. You still feel rough to the touch. You need to gain some more weight."

Mingyue: "..."

She didn't want to tell He Chen about things that were still uncertain, afraid that if she gave him hope, he might be disappointed again. So she could only grit her teeth and eat the big chunk of pig's foot in the bowl.

Before she could finish eating, another large piece of fish appeared in her bowl. Mingyue, in a panic, shouted, "He Chen, that's enough!"

He Chen was so startled that his chopsticks trembled. He was just putting some food on his wife's plate when he realized she was angry. Why was she calling him by his full name? Was it that serious? Weren't those dishes all her favorites?

Mingyue realized she had gotten a little excited and immediately lowered her voice, "I really can't eat anymore. It would be a waste if you gave me so much."

"Oh." He silently picked up the piece of fish and put it back in his own bowl.

...

The next day, He Chen spent the whole morning thinking about why his wife had suddenly gotten angry. He had asked her all night, but hadn't gotten any answers. He felt that things were becoming more suspicious.

The assistant came in to get He Chen's signature, and He Chen humbly asked, "Why do you think a woman doesn't eat?"

Assistant: "Maybe it's because he wants to lose weight."

He Chen: "But you're clearly not fat at all!"

Assistant: "Chairman, the standard for a woman being fat is different from what we understand. Haven't you heard? Losing weight is a lifelong pursuit for women."

He Chen still felt something was off. Jiao Jiao had never mentioned losing weight before, and there hadn't been any major events recently that required her to wear formal attire. It was impossible for her to suddenly want to lose weight. Moreover, as far as he knew, women who wanted to lose weight especially liked to weigh themselves, but Jiao Jiao hadn't even glanced at the scale after eating or taking a walk. "So, is there any other possibility besides losing weight?"

Assistant: "That means you're not hungry."

He Chen: "Why aren't you hungry?"

Assistant: "We've already eaten."

He Chen: "Have you eaten every day?"

Assistant: "I have a bold idea."

He Chen: "Speak."

The assistant said mysteriously, "This woman might be having an affair..."

"Impossible!" He Chen slammed his hand on the desk.

The assistant was so frightened that his heart almost jumped out of his chest.

He Chen: "Why do you say that?"

Assistant: "Think about it, if a woman goes out to eat alone or with her best friend, does she need to hide it? She can just come back and say she's already eaten. Why pretend she hasn't eaten and have another meal?"

He Chen: "What if the family rule is that you have to come home for dinner?"

Assistant: "What kind of family has such a ridiculous rule? We can't even go out for a meal?"

Seeing that the boss was staring at him without saying a word, the assistant steadied himself and continued, "That's impossible. Who would go out to eat alone every day? Even if you meet up with your best friend, you can't do it every day."

The assistant paused and said, "There's only one possibility: having dinner with a man, a man you're flirting with, every day. How exciting that would be!"

He Chen stared at his assistant speechlessly for a moment, then said weakly, "Alright, you can leave now."