She was willing to give up her freedom for love; what if it were him?
Su Qingcai asked himself this question, but couldn't come up with an answer. He felt overwhelmed with emotion and guilt, making him afraid to step out and meet Su Xiaoning.
He sighed and was about to turn and leave when his sleeve accidentally brushed against a vase on the shelf. The vase wobbled a few times and then crashed to the ground with a "thud".
Su Qingcai jumped and instinctively hid around the corner. Su Xiaoning and the others looked in the direction of the sound and only caught a blurry glimpse of a hem of clothing.
"This...this can't be a thief, can it?" Ah Lian looked at the pile of broken porcelain shards on the ground, feeling somewhat frightened.
Su Xiaoning frowned and comforted her, "Don't be afraid. Even if a thief breaks in, with me and Young Master Jiang here, you will definitely be safe."
After saying that, Su Xiaoning gave Jiang Lin a wink. Jiang Lin understood, and the two of them grabbed a broom from the corner of the wall and quietly approached the corner.
Su Qingcai was about to leave when he realized he had been discovered. He hadn't even taken a few steps before a broom came flying at him, accompanied by Su Xiaoning's scolding.
"You audacious thief, you dare to steal here? I'll arrest you and hand you over to the authorities!"
The broom smacked Su Qingcai squarely in the face, covering him in dust. He was both amused and exasperated, and grabbed Su Xiaoning's wrist. Just as he was about to explain, someone dropped the broom and forcefully pulled Su Xiaoning towards him.
He forcibly pulled Su Xiaoning into his arms, staring at Su Qingcai with a wary expression. "What do you want to do?"
"Let her go." Su Qingcai didn't answer directly, staring at Jiang Lin's tightly gripping hands with some displeasure.
Nestled in Jiang Lin's arms, Su Xiaoning was enveloped by his overwhelming masculine scent, and her face flushed, turning red instantly to her neck.
Upon hearing Su Qingcai's voice, she was immediately startled, struggled to leave Jiang Lin's embrace, and stared at Su Qingcai with an incredulous look.
"What are you doing here? Why did you leave your comfortable residence to become a thief?"
"I..." Su Qingcai opened her mouth, feeling a little guilty, "I came here to eat."
"Eating?" Su Xiaoning looked him over suspiciously. "This place isn't even open yet, how can you be eating here? Your sudden appearance here...you weren't following me, were you?!"
Su Qingcai was speechless when Su Xiaoning exposed his lie.
He stood there awkwardly, apologetically saying, "I'm sorry, Bing Er told me you sneaked out. I was worried about your safety and wanted to give you a surprise. I didn't mean anything by it."
"How could you do this!" Su Xiaoning glared at Su Qingcai with her hands on her hips, her face flushed with anger.
Jiang Lin snorted coldly and mocked without any politeness: "Miss Su is no big deal. You won't even give her her freedom? You have to follow her out for a meal. If you can't treat her well, you might as well give her to me."
He truly remembered that the two of them were competitors at all times.
Su Qingcai's face immediately darkened, and she said coldly, "What I do is none of your business. If anyone is to blame, it's her. Who are you to interfere in our affairs?"
“Because I am Miss Su’s friend.” Jiang Lin raised an eyebrow, showing his full confidence in front of Su Qingcai. “I’m making this clear: if you treat her badly, I will take her away and you will never find her again.”
"You think I'd give you that chance?" Su Qingcai's eyes darkened, and he stared at Jiang Lin with a hostile gaze.
Jiang Lin scoffed, not backing down at all: "Who knows? If Miss Su is a discerning person, she will know what the right choice is. We can wait and see."
"Jiang Lin!" Su Qingcai called out Jiang Lin's name directly, his brows furrowed with anger, as if something earth-shattering was about to happen.
The two were locked in a fierce confrontation, and judging from their tense demeanor, Su Xiaoning was genuinely afraid they would tear down the restaurant.
She and A-Lian stepped forward and pulled the two apart, who were about to fight. She said with a smirk, "We're all friends, why do you have to make such a scene? A-Lian and I are here to eat. If you're so free, why don't you come and help me out?"
She hadn't originally planned to cook herself, but it seemed there was no better way to ease the tension.
Out of respect for Su Xiaoning, Su Qingcai and Jiang Lin did not insist any further. They both nodded in agreement, but when their eyes met, sparks seemed to fly, and a major battle was about to break out.
Seeing this, Su Xiaoning quickly pulled Su Qingcai into the kitchen, and A-Lian also carefully led Jiang Lin in after them.
There were plenty of ingredients in the kitchen, and after thinking for a moment, Su Xiaoning decided to make her specialty, fish soup. She scooped two fish from the fish tank, giving one to Su Qingcai and one to Jiang Lin, while she went to prepare the side dishes.
Su Qingcai had done a lot of work in Carp Village. As soon as he got the fish, he deftly gutted it, removed the internal organs, and then began to scale it. The whole set of movements was smooth and efficient, without any hesitation.
On the other hand, Jiang Lin was in a very awkward situation.
Jiang Lin was born into a family of military generals and had been practicing swordsmanship since childhood, but no one had ever taught him how to do delicate tasks like cooking.
He tried to handle the fish carefully, just like Su Qingcai, but the fish was too slippery and he didn't know how to handle it. The fish fell to the ground several times, and the inside was obviously not cleaned properly.
Seeing Jiang Lin's disheveled appearance, Su Qingcai felt very pleased.
He slowly scraped the fish scales, and deliberately said loudly, "These days, some rich kids can't even cook, yet they're thinking about taking someone away. If any girl goes with a guy like that, she'll only be able to stay at home cooking and cleaning. What kind of freedom is that?"
These words were full of sarcasm, and Jiang Lin immediately felt a surge of anger. He started scraping the fish scales in a fit of rage, and accidentally injured his hand in the process.
Seeing this, Su Xiaoning was both amused and exasperated. She quickly washed Jiang Lin's hands clean, tossed him a bottle of medicine powder and sent him to apply it, while she personally dealt with the fish that Jiang Lin had made a complete mess of.
"You can't even behave yourself while cooking, don't say anything more."
Although these words were meant to be reproachful, Su Xiaoning's face clearly showed no real blame.
Su Qingcai gave a nonchalant "hmm," and although he didn't say anything more, he gave Jiang Lin a smug look, which made Jiang Lin, who could only stare blankly, furious.
Su Xiaoning didn't say anything more and focused on preparing the ingredients. She and Su Qingcai worked together and quickly cooked a meal for four people.
The fish soup was served, and as always, it smelled delicious. The four of them were in high spirits and were just about to put down their spoons when suddenly a commotion came from outside the door. It seemed that someone was kicking the door violently.
Su Xiaoning and A-Lian exchanged a glance and rushed to the door. There stood Qin Sang and a group of people, looking menacing.
"This place can't be left here, smash it all!"
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