On a bustling street, the antique-style facade bears the two large characters "Huaifu".
This restaurant is said to be the most popular restaurant this year, mainly serving Huaiyang cuisine, but also some Sichuan and Hunan cuisine, which is very popular with diners.
Everyone considered it an honor to have a meal at Huaifu.
To eat here, you have to make a reservation in advance, sometimes two or three days in advance.
To ensure everyone had a good meal, Wang Xiufen made reservations several days in advance, including in a private room.
At six o'clock in the evening, Ji Yang, who came to attend the twins' birthday party, arrived with his daughter Ji Tingting.
Then, Gao Baoliang arrived with Meng Jiao.
No one else was invited, just a few of my closest friends.
Before the food was served, Jiang Ning placed the eight-inch cake she had bought in the center and inserted eight candles.
Twins can celebrate their birthdays together, saving the cost of a cake.
However, they cannot skimp on candles; each person must have four.
Lin Chen lit the candle with a lighter, then, holding Jiao Jiao, said to them:
"Keep bragging, keep bragging to yourself."
Jiang Ning then picked up Tongtong.
The two little ones, with their cheeks puffed out, blew out their candles in one breath.
Then came the lively time to cut and eat the cake.
Ji Tingting looked at the two little ones, their faces covered in cream from eating, with a disdainful expression and inward contempt.
"It's like they haven't eaten in eight hundred years."
Little did she know that Jiang Ning was strict, and the twins rarely ate such sweet and greasy things.
Just as they finished eating the cake and were waiting for the restaurant to serve their food, a sudden shout rang out from the bustling hall:
"Where's our food? Why hasn't it arrived yet?"
Jiang Ning looked in the direction of the sound and saw Lin Tao with one hand on his hip, one leg on a chair, looking anxious.
The waiter immediately went over and explained to him that the restaurant takes longer to serve food at this time of day, and that ordering in advance would make the process faster.
It turns out that today is Jiang Jianguo's birthday. Jiang Rou had asked him to reserve a table long ago, but he just wouldn't move. When the day came, he found that there was no room left.
Jiang Rou spent ten yuan to buy a seat from someone else.
Jiang Rou looked around and found that besides Jiang Rou, Lin Tao, Feng Shuyao, and Jiang Jianguo, there was also a woman dressed in plain clothes at the table, who should be Jiang Jianguo's nanny.
It seems the caregiver is taking good care of him; he can now come out in a wheelchair, and his speech is not affected.
Feng Shuyao looked dazed, tapping her chopsticks on the porcelain plate and muttering to herself.
Years later, when she saw them again, she felt a mix of emotions.
With memories of two lifetimes awakening, she really doesn't want to have anything to do with them, but is it really okay for her to abandon her parents like this?
They are already either disabled or mentally challenged, and their lives are extremely tragic. What is she still concerned about?
When Lin Chen saw that she had suddenly quieted down, he took her hand and asked her what was wrong.
She pointed outside and said:
"See that table? Those are my parents, and Jiang Rou's husband, Pete."
Lin Chen looked at them one by one, and felt a pang of sadness.
How could a perfectly healthy person turn out like this?
However, that Pete... he seems kind of familiar.
He then pointed it out to Wang Xiufen, who immediately said:
"It has the shadow of Lin Tao."
Jiang Ning suddenly realized that she had always felt that Pete looked like someone, and now that she looked at it this way, his eyes did indeed resemble Lin Tao's.
However, apart from the eyes, everything else has changed.
Jiang Ning suspected that Lin Tao had come to the capital after undergoing plastic surgery.
However, if it's true, can cosmetic surgery in this era achieve this level of technology?
To confirm their suspicions, Lin Chen decided to test the waters.
Just then, Jiaojiao heard someone outside hawking candied hawthorns and insisted on going out to buy some.
Wang Xiufen smiled and took her hand as they walked outside. "Today is Jiaojiao's birthday, so Grandma will buy her whatever she wants to eat."
After she led Jiaojiao out, Lin Chen also took a glass of water and walked out.
When she walked up to Lin Tao, she deliberately bumped into him, and the cup in her hand fell onto Lin Tao's chest.
Lin Tao instinctively took the cup with his right hand and handed it to Lin Chen. When he looked up, he froze.
I actually saw my good cousin here!
The resentment that had been dormant in my heart surged within me.
He couldn't compete with others in earning money, he couldn't compete with his wife, and he even burned his mother so badly that he didn't dare to go home.
Memories flooded his mind, and he wanted nothing more than to tear Lin Chen to pieces, but he suppressed his anger and forced a smile.
"Bro, be more careful next time."
After Lin Chen returned, he said to Jiang Ning, "It wasn't Lin Tao. He's been left-handed since he was a child. He just subconsciously used his right hand to take the cup."
Jiang Ning nodded, temporarily setting aside her doubts.
Just then, a commotion broke out outside, which seemed to include Jiaojiao's crying.
"You guys eat first, I'll go check on things."
Jiang Ning greeted everyone politely and then went outside the restaurant.
Wang Xiufen took Jiaojiao to buy candied hawthorns. Just as she got one in her hand and was about to give one to Tongtong, a crazy woman ran out and snatched all the candied hawthorns away.
Jiaojiao cried out in distress, "My candied hawthorn!"
Wang Xiufen also said to the vendor, "You can't do this. I paid for two."
The vendor was frantic and tried to snatch the candied hawthorn back from the crazy woman, and the two of them ended up grappling with each other.
When Jiang Rou came out and saw this scene, she quickly pulled her mother away and handed the vendor ten yuan.
"Is this enough? It's just a few candied hawthorns."
Unexpectedly, Feng Shuyao was holding a bunch of candied hawthorns and took a liking to the one Jiao Jiao was holding, insisting on snatching it from her.
Wang Xiufen was furious. She quickly shielded Jiaojiao behind her and started yelling and hitting them.
"Where did this crazy woman come from, stealing even children's things?"
Jiang Ning also arrived and immediately instructed Wang Xiufen to take Jiaojiao back to the hotel to prevent a larger conflict.
After they went inside, she said to Jiang Rou:
"Since she's not conscious, we need to keep a close eye on her when we bring her out."
After saying that, Jiang Rou exploded like a firecracker.
"Jiang Ning, how can you say such a thing? She is your mother. You treat your mother-in-law like your own mother, but you don't care about your own mother. How can you live with yourself?"
Jiang Ning retorted, "Since you enjoy all their pampering, you should also bear the responsibilities. If I'm not mistaken, Dad still has a fixed deposit account that he hasn't withdrawn from, right? If he hadn't promised to give you that account, why would you be so eager to please them?"
Jiang Rou was stunned. How did she know all this?
It wasn't about the little money Jiang Jianguo had. Even his two sons didn't know that it was the money he embezzled from the company when he was the factory director—a full 20,000 yuan.
Interest rates are high now; if I withdraw it when it matures, I can get 22,000 yuan.
She immediately fell silent, stopped arguing with her, and pulled Feng Shuyao into the restaurant.
However, their argument caught the attention of the restaurant owner.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
