Lou Xiao'e panicked: "You, you've seen that bracelet too? That..."

Seeing that she couldn't speak for a while, Yu Li helped her add, "How could I not own it, right? Pshaw, what's so great about it? My daughter wore it when she was little!"

Yes, Chen Mengqi really did wear it. When she turned three, Fatty specially put it on her and even took a picture.

On her chubby little arms, which were as thin as lotus roots, was Lou Xiao'e's pure white bracelet, crystal clear and without a single blemish.

Lou Xiao'e's heart was pounding in her chest...

Your family is really something else. You clearly know the value of that bracelet, but you treat it like it's nothing!

Yu Li knew exactly what she was thinking at a glance, and said irritably, "We took all the precautions, we even laid out several mattresses. We just wanted to get a piece of your luxurious home!"

Lou Xiao'e was left speechless, knowing full well that she had lost the first round of their confrontation.

Yu Li sighed deeply, "You two really fooled me."

Lou Xiao'e felt a little guilty and didn't dare to look her in the eye: "W-what's wrong?"

Yu Li said in a low voice, "Back then, Fatty tricked me by saying that it was precisely because you left all the bracelets to him that there was no chance for the two of you to be together. That's why I believed his nonsense."

Lou Xiao'e was completely speechless. No matter how much she said, she was the one who had wronged Yu Li, while Yu Li had done nothing wrong to her.

Yu Li continued: "Back then, we were listening to 'Fate,' Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in E minor..."

Lou Xiao'e bit her lip tightly, and after a long while, she said, "Life is unpredictable."

"..."

Fortunately, at that moment, Liu Jia opened the door a crack and said into the room, "General Manager, can we serve the food now?"

Yu Li nodded and ordered, "Serve the dishes!"

Upon receiving the instruction, the first dish arrived at the door very quickly.

You all remember, right? Shandong cuisine is served in the form of cold dishes, large dishes, side dishes, and rice dishes.

The first dish served was a cold appetizer, but it was served in two separate portions, each on a beautiful plate.

Chen Mengqi took the initiative to go over and take the vegetables from Liu Jia's hands. She glanced at the two sisters and said, "I'll do it. Liu Jing can stay here."

Liu Jia handed her the plate, then leaned close to her ear and repeated what the fat man had just told her before turning around and going downstairs to leave.

Chen Mengqi carried the dishes into the house and placed them in front of Yu Li and Lou Xiao'e respectively, saying, "My dad said you two have to have a competition. How about we start with this dish? I'll say the name of the dish, and you two have to compose a poem, even a doggerel will do. Whoever can't do it will have to drink a cup of wine as a penalty!"

After thinking for a moment, Yu Li said first, "Okay, if it's about eating, then I'm bullying you."

Lou Xiao'e retorted, "Our family also owns a restaurant, specializing in Cantonese cuisine!"

Yu Li scoffed, "My fat husband said that the essence of Cantonese cuisine is only in Shunde. When it comes to your place, it becomes a hodgepodge. The rich people there only know how to pursue abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, and fish maw, and they're so obsessed with foreign things that they'll grovel to a tire seller. How could you possibly appreciate truly good food!"

Lou Xiao'e was furious: "You..."

After Yu Li finished stabbing her, she picked up a piece of cold dish with her chopsticks in a great mood and said to Lou Xiao'e with a sincere desire to show off: "This dish is called Luohan Du. It is made by stuffing pork skin and meat chunks into a pig's stomach, cooking it, pressing it down, and then slicing it. Luohan Du is firm and chewy, and the cross-section looks like granite. It is both beautiful and delicious."

After thinking for a moment, Yu Li had an idea. She then asked Lou Xiao'e to say, "You are the guest, you go first."

Lou Xiao'e also picked up a slice of tripe with her chopsticks, chewed it gently, and the bits of skin mixed in with the meat burst open in her mouth, releasing a fragrant aroma...

After finishing one piece, he sighed and said, "I accept the punishment."

After saying that, he took out a bottle of wine from the paper bag at his feet and said to Lily, "Do you dare to drink the wine I brought?"

Yu Li scoffed: "Are you afraid of me?!"

Lou Xiao'e raised her chin: "Let me tell you in advance, I drugged you."

Yu Li pointed to the dish and said, "The poem is ready-made. What's this dish called? Luohan Belly. That's it. A big belly can hold all the world's affairs. How about it, Lou Xiao'e, you've made your bet. I think this whole bottle of wine will end up in your belly."

Lou Xiao'e retorted angrily, "You only won one game by luck, what are you so smug about? Let's play again!"

Then he turned to Chen Mengqi and said, "Baby, pour wine for me and your mother."

Chen Mengqi glanced at the wine Lou Xiao'e had brought and said to Yu Li, "Mom, it's Wuliangye."

Unlike the northerners of this period who generally loved to drink Fenjiu, Erguotou, and Shaodaozi, Fatty preferred to drink Fengxiang-type and strong-aroma baijiu.

This Wuliangye is my absolute favorite. It's amazing that Lou Xiao'e still remembers it after all these years.

At that time, Wuliangye was not in glass bottles, but in earthenware bottles, with the words "Wuliangye" written on red paper in black characters.

Chen Mengqi forcefully broke the seal, and a fragrant aroma of wine filled the entire room.

Yu Li knew that opening a restaurant was a bold move, but after smelling the aroma, she said, "This wine must be at least ten years old and worth at least a hundred. Lou Xiao'e, you're really generous."

At that time, a bottle of Wuliangye sold for 8 yuan, and Xiao Huaihua's previous monthly salary was only enough to buy 5 bottles.

The longer baijiu (Chinese liquor) is stored, the higher its value becomes.

Lou Xiao'e smiled smugly: "Things are inanimate, but people are alive. If you don't drink it, even if you leave it for a hundred or a thousand years, it will just be a broken bottle of wine. Today, it is fortunate that we have drunk it, which is a great honor for it."

Before Yu Li could speak, Chen Mengqi giggled.

Lou Xiao'e liked the girl more and more the more she looked at her.

This is probably why people with sons want daughters, and people with daughters want sons.

Lou Xiao'e called Chen Mengqi over again and asked her to move a chair and sit next to her: "Why don't you sit next to Mommy and talk to Mommy?"

Chen Mengqi shook her head: "No, no, you two are like a boxing match, and I'm the referee. How can a referee sit down?"

This girl really knows how to talk.

Without a second thought, Lou Xiao'e took out the bag that was originally meant for Yu Li from the paper bag:

"Here you go, baby."

Chen Mengqi refused to answer: "I get agitated whenever I see a bag, like my schoolbag, which is always stuffed full of textbooks, test papers, and all sorts of workbooks! I bear pressure that I shouldn't have to bear at my age. Every day, I have to carry a heavy schoolbag to and from school..."

That's why they say dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and a rat's son knows how to dig holes.

Just look at Chen Mengqi; she inherited the fat man's eloquence perfectly!