Chapter 50

When Xie Chen heard Lin Shuge's words, his handsome face looked so aggrieved, "Brother, don't you want me to come back so early?" He looked around at the people around him. In addition to Zhou Du, there were two men he didn't know.

But there is no Wei Huan.

Zhou Du quickly winked at Lin Shuge, and Lin Shuge smiled and said, "How could that be? Since you are back, then Erlang, happy birthday."

birthday?

Xie Chen's mind went blank, and he vaguely remembered that today was his birthday, so his brother sent him away to prepare for his birthday. At this moment, he felt surprised and guilty, and all kinds of emotions surged in his heart. The emotions in his eyes were churning, as if to swallow him up.

Zhou Du and one of the men started to make a scene, "Your brother is really something. He called me over early in the morning to do hard labor. I worked for the whole day without even a bite of food, and he even said he would wait for you to come back to eat together."

The man, Xu Yu, looked at Lin Shuge and Xie Chen with his peach blossom eyes, and an ambiguous smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, "But our young Master Wei seems to have some misunderstanding."

Lin Shuge glared at the two of them, then pulled Xie Chen, who was standing there stupidly, back to the main room. Before leaving, he gave Zhou Du a look, who received it and nodded at him.

Xie Chen hadn't reacted yet when he entered the main hall. Just as he was about to open his mouth, Lin Shuge interrupted him and asked him to wait. He went to the kitchen and cooked a bowl of noodles and handed it to him, "This is longevity noodles for the birthday star. You will be healthy and live longer if you eat it."

Xie Chen blinked and looked down at the noodles in his hand. The bottom of the bowl was warm. He heard himself saying, "Brother, did you send me out specifically for my birthday?"

This was the first time that Lin Shuge prepared a surprise, but he didn’t expect it to be discovered so quickly. “Ayuan must have been exposed.”

Xie Chen did not answer this question, "Brother, how did you know that my birthday is today?"

He himself had forgotten that his family had celebrated it a few times in the past, but not since the accident.

"Have you forgotten what I do?" Lin Shuge chuckled.

He was born as a minor official, and the population registration of the county passed through his hands. How could he not know Xie Chen's birthday?

"Eat quickly. You can't bite the longevity noodles into pieces. You have to eat it in one bite." He urged.

Xie Chen whispered, "Okay."

Lin Shuge smiled as he watched him finish his noodles. "Let's go. I've prepared a lot of dishes."

Xie Chen reached out and grabbed him, hugging him under Lin Shuge's stunned eyes. He buried his head in Lin Shuge's neck and said in a muffled voice, "Brother, thank you."

Lin Shuge reached out and stroked his back, "Are you overjoyed or frightened?

Xie Chen shook his head and said nothing.

After a long time, he slowly said, "I am very happy."

"As long as I'm happy..." Lin Shuge thought of Xie Chen's eyes when he came back, "No, you don't think I deliberately sent you away to do something bad, do you?"

Xie Chen clenched his hands and changed the subject, "Brother, who are the other two people in the family? Why have I never seen them?"

Lin Shuge pushed him away forcefully and said, "I'll go out and introduce you. Let's go."

Xie Chen followed him out. Lin Qingyuan and the other two had already returned, and Xu Yu was teasing them.

Seeing Lin Shuge coming out, Xu Yu immediately left Qian Ying, whose face was red with anger, and ran over to ask like a gangster, "Hey, are you done?"

Lin Shuge smiled and said, "If you don't talk nicely, then go out, turn left and go home."

Today, Xu Yu heard their movements and saw them from the other side of the courtyard wall, so he came uninvited and brought along the young master Jiang Gu.

As soon as he heard that it was Xie Chen's birthday party, he immediately raised his hands to show his friendship with Lin Shuge, and how could he not come to his brother's birthday party. Lin Shuge had no choice but to let him join in.

Xie Chen was not so polite to outsiders, and there seemed to be a flash of sword in his eyes. He didn't like the look of this person very much. It was as if he had seen through something but pretended to be profound, standing from the perspective of a bystander and laughing at him wantonly.

Jiang Gu stood in front of Xu Yu inconspicuously. Xu Yu touched his chest. With this kind of look, only Lin Shuge believed that his brother was a kind person. His words described him as a well-behaved and cute kitten. Is there a cat with such an aura?

"Let me introduce you, Zhongxuan. This is Mr. Xu Yu who lives next door to us, and this is Jiang Gu." Lin Shuge was just comforting Lin Qingyuan who was frustrated because he had not completed his task, and did not notice the confrontation between the two people.

He then said to Xu Yu and Jiang Gu, "My younger brother is Wei Zhongxuan."

Xie Chen nodded obediently, as if nothing had just happened. Xu Yu greeted him with a fake smile, "Hello, Captain Wei Sui. I have heard of your great name for a long time. Seeing in person is truly believing."

"Now that we've met, let's eat. I'm almost fainting from hunger." Zhou Du said indignantly.

Qian Ying sat down familiarly. Seeing Lin Qingyuan and Lin Xuan helping to serve the dishes, she ran to take a plate of scrambled eggs with leeks from Lin Qingyuan and put it on the dining table.

Upon hearing this, Lin Shuge quickly invited a large group of people to have dinner. Everyone sat around a round table. This table was brought by Xu Yu from home, otherwise there would not be enough space for so many people.

"Wow, what a rich meal." Qian Ying exclaimed.

The table was filled with a variety of food, with delicious colors and aromas, making people salivate. The steamed pork with rice flour looked golden and soft, the spare ribs were tempting and fragrant, the spicy chicken was fresh and spicy, and the red color was very pleasing. The vegetarian dishes were fresh and tender, and the meat dishes were mellow.

Zhou Du poured wine for everyone and said, "Don't be in a hurry to eat. Today is our Lord Wei's birthday. Come, let's wish Lord Wei a happy birthday together."

Qian Ying and Xu Yu were the first to respond, standing up and giving a long toast. Xie Chen accepted all the blessings and drinks.

Lin Shuge was afraid that he would feel uncomfortable in his stomach if he drank too much on an empty stomach, so he quickly asked everyone to start eating without going through the formalities.

Zhou Du was the first to pick up a meatball with chopsticks and squinted his eyes with happiness. These meatballs were made by Lin Shuge in the afternoon. Pork and eggs were mixed with seasonings and kneaded into meatballs and then fried in a pan. He secretly ate a lot of them in the afternoon. Now they were drizzled with sauce, making them even more delicious.

Seeing how fast he moved, the others didn't hesitate and started eating.

The chicken is firm, the fish is tender, the spareribs are fragrant, and after taking a sip of the mushroom soup, for a moment, no one spoke at the table anymore, leaving only the sounds of eating and chewing and the clattering of dishes and chopsticks.

Lin Shuge held a bowl of egg fermented glutinous rice soup and sipped it. Zhou Du shoveled rice into his mouth while pouring the remaining soup into the bowl, stirred it and put it into his mouth. It tasted so good that his eyes narrowed.

While eating, the little ones secretly asked Lin Qingyuan about something. Qian Ying took a bite of the fried water shield with pork and whispered in Lin Qingyuan's ear, asking him if he could send his cook to learn from Lin Shuge. He could pay for it. Lin Qingyuan was so angry that he rolled his eyes.

After eating and drinking, Xu Yu said, "Mr. Lin, the county magistrate, never shows his face. No wonder I can smell a fragrance every time I come back for dinner, which makes me look around. It turns out that it comes from your house? People say that a gentleman stays away from the kitchen, but it turns out that people are talking nonsense."

Zhou Du put down his chopsticks and said, "Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish. Brother Huai Ting can both govern a big country and cook a small fish."

Lin Shuge smiled and said, "It's just a tiny amount, so I can't bear the words of a saint. But if you really like it, I'll copy a recipe for you when I have time. You can cook it yourself when you go back, but the sauces are more troublesome."

Xu Yu said happily: "You said so. What if I use it to open a restaurant?"

“If I can eat for free every time, I’d consider it.” Lin Shuge joked.

"Of course, of course." Xu Yu glanced at Jiang Gu who had been silent. Jiang Gu understood and took out something and handed it to Lin Shuge, saying, "It's impolite to come here uninvited today, but I have to be thick-skinned even if it's for this delicious meal. This is a birthday gift for Young Master Wei, so we won't bother you."

"Wait, take this." It was a bag of baked cookies and snacks.

As soon as Lin Shuge spoke, he reached out to take it. Seeing Lin Shuge fiddling with it for a long time today, he had also been craving for it and had wanted to try it for a long time. He took out a piece and put it in his mouth, waved his hand, and went home with Jiang Gu.

Seeing this, Qian Ying and Wu Yuanguang glanced at Xie Chen shyly, "Lord Wei, I'm really sorry for bothering you today."

Lin Shuge distributed cookies and snacks to the two of them, and patted their heads with a smile, "What are you sorry for? Thank you both for your help today, right, Ayuan."

Lin Qingyuan nodded and said, "Thank you for today. I'll bring you the pie from the street shop tomorrow."

Qian Ying cheered, and Wu Yuanguang said timidly: "Lin County Magistrate, can I come and eat for free next time? I can work."

"Me too, me too. I can work and do anything." Qian Ying also said.

"You guys..." Lin Qingyuan was a little angry.

"Sure, you can come whenever you want and let Ayuan take you." Lin Shuge said, pulling Lin Qingyuan.

The two cheered and said goodbye to the Lin family and Xie Chen. Zhou Du said that the two were young and it was getting late, so he would send them back and then escaped with an excuse.

"Why are they all leaving?" Lin Qingyuan asked Lin Xuan.

Lin Xuan was packing her things and whispered something to Lin Qingyuan. Lin Qingyuan forced a smile and looked at Xie Chen with sparkling eyes.

Xie Chen was moving a table and noticed his gaze and looked over at him. Lin Qingyuan immediately looked away and pretended nothing had happened.

When everything was cleaned up, everyone was exhausted, but none of them wanted to go back to rest, so they sat in the house chatting. A gust of wind came and blew out the candle. Lin Qingyuan took the opportunity to say that he was going to find lamp oil, and then walked out in the dark.

Xie Chen and the twins sat together staring at each other.

Lin Qingyuan made small talk, "Erlang, did you know this a long time ago?"

Xie Chen said “hmm”.

"Don't blame me, it was my eldest brother's idea. He said he wanted to give you a surprise." Lin Qingyuan sold out his brother.

"I don't blame you. I'm very happy." The night was quiet and Xie Chen's voice seemed a little low.

The door opened with a sound, as if it was blown open by the wind. Xie Chen got up to take a look, only to see that Lin Shuge was holding something with a few candles burning on it, like the moon covered by dark clouds tonight, emitting a faint light.

"Zhongxuan, happy birthday. This is a belated surprise."