Tong Xiaohuai stared at him in surprise, "Could it be... the real thing?"

Yan Bo neither said yes nor no, but simply pointed to the painting and the vase.

"This painting and vase are my payment for this job!"

Tong Xiaohuai opened his mouth wide, unable to close it for a long time.

"This...this must be very expensive, right?"

Judging from Yan Bo's reaction just now, she was certain that the painting and the vase were genuine.

Yan Bo shrugged with a smile, "Who knows! Anyway, these are my dad's collection. He asked me for help that day, and the condition I set was that these two would be his reward. He agreed, so I went to help."

Tong Xiaohuai exclaimed, "Then aren't you taking advantage of the situation?"

Yan Bo smiled without saying a word.

What he didn't say was that the compensation he had proposed was for his father to accept Tong Xiaohuai.

But Yan Zhong refused no matter what. Yan Bo was also a man who knew what was important. In the face of national security, he couldn't just ignore it because of personal feelings.

Finally, he offered a condition that would absolutely make Yan Zhong wince in pain.

Yan Zhong refused the first one, and the second one, so he couldn't refuse again. He had no choice but to reluctantly part with it, instructing his youngest son to take good care of his treasure before handing it over to Yan Bo.

"I didn't! Anyway, if he doesn't think it's worth it, he can simply refuse me."

Tong Xiaohuai then realized that what Yan Bo did in front of her wasn't really being a scoundrel, but just playing around with his feelings.

In front of his father, Yanbo was the real scoundrel.

"Tsk tsk, you really need to upgrade your security here, with such valuable items..."

Tong Xiaohuai doesn't collect antiques, but her father does. They have a multi-story house specifically for storing antiques.

It's kept and cared for by dedicated staff; it's incredibly precious.

Yan Bo put his arm around her and turned around, walking towards the washroom.

"Don't worry, it's safer this way."

As he spoke, he pulled her hand under the tap, turned on the water, and carefully and gently washed her hands.

Tong Xiaohuai's mind was still on the two valuable items, and she was completely unaware of Yan Bo's doting behavior towards her like a daughter.

"Why? Your iron gate and door are both locked with ordinary locks. A thief with even a little lock-picking skill can easily open them."

Yanbo lathered up a large ball of soap with his hand soap and rubbed it on her fingers one by one.

“Silly girl!” He bent down and touched her head. “Thieves aren’t that educated. Just because they see a broken door and lock, they assume it’s not a wealthy family inside. If they did get in, they would only steal some cash. They would just think the painting and the vase are cheap knock-offs.”

After thinking about it carefully, Tong Xiaohuai realized that it seemed to be true.

"You're amazing!"

Being with Yanbo allows her to learn something new every moment.

Or perhaps it's something related to interpersonal relationships and social customs.

Or perhaps, it's some little-known fact she'd never noticed before.

"Of course, I'm your boyfriend!"

Yanbo started being arrogant again, rinsing the bubbles off her hands with boiling water and then wrapping her hands with a towel.

It was only then that Tong Xiaohuai realized that Yan Bo had washed and dried her paws while they were chatting.

"Cough... Why did you wash my hands for me?"

Tong Xiaohuai felt embarrassed; she was already eighteen years old, yet he still treated her like a child.

Yanbo let go of her hand and handed her the towel to hang up.

"I'm only doing this because of your generous dowry!"

Tong Xiaohuai blushed and felt hot from his teasing, and turned around and walked out.

As I came out, I ran into Aunt Xin carrying a steaming bowl of soup out of the kitchen.

"Miss Tong, dinner is ready."

"Oh, I'll help."

Tong Xiaohuai agreed and jogged to the kitchen to help bring out the food.

Aunt Xin set out the food and dishes, served them soup, and then took off her apron to say goodbye.

Tong Xiaohuai escorted her to the door, and after she stepped outside and closed the door, she made sure to lock it again.

Yan Bo watched her cautious demeanor from afar and couldn't help but find it amusing.

"If I had known you would be so nervous, I should have told you earlier that those two were fakes."

Tong Xiaohuai pouted, "Do you think I'm that easy to fool? I have a good eye for things, you know?"

Yan Bo just smiled at her without saying anything. When she came back with a pout, he pulled out a chair for her to sit down and pushed the soup that had cooled down a bit in front of her.

"Drink up, this is cordyceps soup. I specially asked Aunt Xin to make it."

Tong Xiaohuai nodded, "Yes, I heard this is very nourishing, you should drink more of it too."

Yan Bo watched with a smile as she drank half a bowl of soup, while he himself only picked up some vegetables and ate some rice, without drinking a drop of soup.

Tong Xiaohuai gave him a strange look. "Why aren't you drinking it? The soup is delicious!"

Tong Xiaohuai doesn't know anything about cooking. The soup she made that day was only done well with Uncle Guan's guidance the whole time.

But she has a discerning eye; she knows that this soup is of the highest quality in terms of both cooking time and ingredients, and someone like Yanbo shouldn't be so critical.

Yan Bo ignored her at first, picked up a piece of beef brisket, put it in his mouth, smacked it a few times, and nodded with obvious enjoyment.

"Mmm! It tastes great, and the meat is tender enough."

Tong Xiaohuai always felt that Yan Bo was acting strangely, as if he was hiding something from her.

Without hesitation, she picked up the soup he had set aside and held it directly to his lips.

"Try a little bit, it tastes really good!"

Yan Bo glanced down at the soup in the bowl, then raised his eyelids and stared intently at Tong Xiaohuai. "Are you sure you really want me to drink this soup?"

Tong Xiaohuai nodded, "Yes, you've been very tired lately, have something to nourish your body."

Yan Bo looked at her with amusement, unsure whether he should kindly offer her a word of advice.

"Drink it quickly, or it won't taste good when it gets cold."

Yan Bo sighed softly, "Fool, you only know that cordyceps is nourishing, but do you know what it nourishes?"

Tong Xiaohuai looked pleadingly at him, "What do you mean by 'supplement'? My parents drink it all the time too."

Yan Bo paused for a moment, then decided it would be better to tell her.

Otherwise, if she were to give him a bowl of cordyceps soup every day, he wouldn't be able to handle it.

"Besides nourishing the lungs, it also benefits the kidneys!"

After Yan Bo finished speaking, a smile of interest appeared on his face.

"Do you understand what tonifying the kidneys means?"

Tong Xiaohuai's face has turned red countless times today.

She certainly understood what tonifying the kidneys meant!

She angrily put down the soup, ignored him, and picked up the bowl herself to finish the rest of the soup.

Over there, Yan Bo had already served her a bowl of steaming hot white rice and handed it to her.

"Okay, stop being angry, let's eat."

Tong Xiaohuai took the bowl and shoveled down several mouthfuls of rice. Finally, she couldn't help herself and turned to glare at him fiercely. "Yanbo, is it fun to play tricks on me?"

Yan Bo quickly leaned in and kissed her. "Of course not! You insisted I drink it, but I didn't, did I? If you insist on asking, how could I not tell you?"

Yanbo is at the prime of his life, full of vigor and vitality. If he were to actually drink the soup, he would suffocate and die from the lack of excretion!