Yan Shao had run into a lot of trouble with Zhu Qianying lately, so he was already quite thick-skinned. Chen Jing's tactful rejection didn't hurt him much; in fact, it was entirely within his expectations.

"Hmm, I'll ask her about her plans later."

Yan Shao secretly pondered that since they would definitely have to eat the New Year's Eve dinner together, if he couldn't persuade Zhu Qianying and Chen Jing to come to the Yan family, he would have Zizai come back here, and then he would bring his parents to eat together. Although it would be a bit crowded, the meaning would be the same!

Young Master Yan was so engrossed in his dream that he almost forgot he had a delicious bowl of noodles waiting for him.

"Young Master Yan, come and eat your noodles. They won't taste good if they get soggy!"

Zhu Qianying, who was serving the noodles, called out from the dining room.

Yan Shao snapped out of his reverie, quickly got up and walked to the dining room, only to find that there was only a bowl of noodles on the table.

Yan Shao glanced at the fragrant, steaming noodles and swallowed hard. "Ying'er, why is there only one bowl? Aren't you and Mom going to eat?"

Zhu Qianying, who had gone back to the kitchen to tidy up, came out of the kitchen to respond.

“You eat it. My mom and I don’t have that habit.”

The sound, combined with the rushing water, was exceptionally pleasant.

Out of politeness, Yan Shao still told Chen Jing, and only after receiving a negative reply did he pick up the noodles and start eating.

The moment Yan Shao tasted the smooth noodles infused with the savory flavors of beef and tomato, he almost cried!

This is the taste!

He had been longing for it for five years, but just when he had almost forgotten what it tasted like, God took pity on him and finally let him have a bite again!

And just as he expected, the taste was a hundred times better than he remembered!

"Ying'er, your cooking skills have improved again!"

Young Master Yan yelled towards the kitchen. He would never have done something so undignified before.

At this moment, all he wanted to do was praise her. Those damn table manners were completely unimportant, weren't they?

Yan Shao didn't realize that his former almost pathological nitpicking was gradually being corrected.

"Are you hungry?"

Zhu Qianying, having finished tidying up the kitchen, came out, glanced at him with amusement, reached for a hand cream from the shelf next to the dining table, squeezed a dollop into her palm, rubbed it in, and applied it to her palms, the backs of her hands, and between her fingers.

Yan Shao's attention was originally focused on the noodles, but now his gaze was drawn to her slender, jade-like fingers.

"Your hands are beautiful!"

What he really wanted to say was, "Wow, my wife is amazing! Not only are her hands beautiful, but she can also draw gorgeous designs, cook incredibly delicious noodles, and make desserts that I never get tired of..."

Zhu Qianying gave him a strange look. "Young Master Yan, are you a hand fetishist?"

It's not that she's overthinking things; rather, the expression on Young Master Yan's face as he looked at her hands was one of utter infatuation.

Yan Shao coughed twice, whether out of embarrassment or because he was genuinely choked, it was hard to tell.

"However, you do have good taste. My hand once won a hand modeling competition!"

Once Zhu Qianying relaxed, her facial expressions became quite rich. Zizai was just like her; when he smiled, the corners of his eyes curved, making him so cute that you wanted to rush over and give him a bite!

Yan Shao now realized that he was not only a hand fetishist, but also an eye fetishist, an eyebrow fetishist, a nose fetishist, a lip fetishist, an ear fetishist, and a face fetishist. In short, whenever he saw her, he always had the urge to pounce on her and take a bite!

Sure enough, they've been holding it in for too long!

At this moment, Yan Shao felt both joy and sorrow.

The good news is that she has finally returned to his sight, and it is not difficult for him to see her if he wants to.

Sadly, although she has returned, she is still far from being home, which means that the day when he can rightfully take her back is still a long way off!

However, to avoid being mocked by Zhu Qianying again, Yan Shao didn't dare to reveal his thoughts related to "humming and hawing." He picked up a piece of noodles with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth, chewing as he looked up at her, "Hand model?"

What is this thing? How come he's never heard of it before?

"Yes, back in college, I was really keen on participating in all sorts of competitions, like the best hand model competition, the most beautiful long legs competition, the most beautiful face competition... I participated in quite a lot of them!"

At this moment, Zhu Qianying was still full of reminiscence and excitement when she talked about the past, but Chen Jing, who was in the living room, felt very uncomfortable hearing these words.

Because she knew that her eldest daughter had participated in all those competitions not out of vanity, but for the prize money.

As for Yan Shao, he obviously didn't know Zhu Qianying's real purpose in participating in those competitions back then. He only thought that she was learning for fun, and also that she had the confidence that she couldn't help but admire her natural beauty.

"Besides winning the hand model championship, what other major awards have you received?"

When the old days were brought up, Zhu Qianying wasn't as bitter as Chen Jing thought. She laughed and said, "Besides being a hand model, I also won the title of the most beautiful long legs and the runner-up title of the most beautiful face!"

Yan Shao stared at her with a "Holy crap, how is this possible?" expression. "No way? Are the judges blind? With a face like yours, you only got second place?"

With Yan Shao's support, Zhu Qianying smiled happily.

"Haha, yeah, when I went up on stage to receive the award, I glanced at the champion standing next to me with my squinty eyes and cursed inwardly, 'What the hell are these judges thinking? This girl's face is as big as a ten-inch pizza, and she actually won the championship? Is this a car wheel judging contest? Whoever has the biggest and roundest face wins?!'"

Yan Shao almost spat out his noodles from laughing at her. Could this girl be any more sarcastic?

I reckon if the champion had mind-reading abilities back then, and heard what this girl was really thinking, he would have immediately hugged the trophy, squatted in a corner, and cried.

They probably got into a conversation, or perhaps out of consideration for the guests, while Yan Shao was eating noodles, Zhu Qianying actually pulled out a chair and sat down next to him, chatting about old times like the beauty contest and the long-leg contest.

Young Master Yan himself probably grew up living with Old Master Yan. While he might not be considered particularly old-fashioned, he certainly wasn't a very interesting person either.

In addition, he already knew at a young age that he would be the heir to inherit the businesses of the Yan and Tong families in the future. During his school years, apart from trying to absorb as much useful knowledge as possible, he had little other fun.

Firstly, it might be because he is arrogant and disdains to mingle with ordinary people.

Secondly, because he skipped several grades, he was only eighteen years old when he graduated from university, which created a huge generation gap between him and his classmates.