Chapter 23: Look carefully, we are specially invited by the Qiu family.
His steps stopped about half a meter away from Nan Jiao, his deep and beautiful eyes seeming to hold waves within them.
The two were very close.
Nan Jiao's breathing quickened considerably.
A guard hurried over, bent down in front of Lu Xiao, picked up the gold brooch, and handed it to him.
"Marshal, this is for you."
It turns out, it was just a brooch that had fallen off.
Lu Xiao nodded and continued walking forward without glancing at Nan Jiao once.
A nameless pain spread through her heart. Nan Jiao dug her nails into the flesh of her palm, telling herself that she had to stay awake.
The employee next to him also let out a surprised exclamation.
At the end of the red carpet stood an elegantly dressed elderly woman, surrounded by many servants; she was none other than Qiu Lian, the head of the Qiu family.
When Nan Jiao's gaze fell on Qiu Lian, she was slightly taken aback. Why did this person look so familiar? It wasn't until she glanced at Lu Xiao next to her that she realized where this sense of familiarity came from.
Lu Xiao and Qiu Lian look very alike, but Lu Xiao once said that all his relatives were dead, and only his master, who had promoted him, was still alive.
Lu Xiao had already reached the end of the red carpet. Qiu Lian looked up at him, tears welling up in her eyes, as if she was extremely excited. When she tremblingly reached out her hand, Lu Xiao had already walked past her and entered the banquet hall.
A faint sound of exclamations and murmurs could be heard from the surrounding area.
Both the fact that the marshal, who was far away on the first star, went to the banquet on the ninth star, and the fact that the marshal showed no respect to the host of the banquet, are puzzling.
Fortunately, Qiu Lian was a woman who had weathered many storms. She quickly composed herself, gently wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes with her jeweled ring-adorned fingers, and then walked into the banquet hall with the help of the butler.
The people around Nan Jiao then completely dispersed.
Nan Jiao turned to the employee beside her and asked in confusion, "I didn't have a chance to ask you earlier. Shouldn't you be in the kitchen right now? Why did you come out?"
"Oh, oh..." the employee said, "The soup we ordered is the same as the one made by Chef Qiu, so everyone sent me out to ask you for your opinion."
Nan Jiao followed him toward the kitchen, frowning slightly: "How could this happen? Wasn't the soup menu finalized a long time ago? Did they change it at the last minute?"
The employee shook his head: "I don't know... because the soup over there has already been served, so we need to make some changes."
"Let's go and see what materials we have."
The employee looked preoccupied and rested his chin on his hand, saying, "Boss, don't you think..."
"What?"
"I think the Marshal looks a lot like Brother Lu. Brother Lu's physique is probably quite rare, but their temperaments are different. Brother Lu isn't that cold... Although Brother Lu has never taken off his mask, I think he would be just as handsome as that interstellar marshal if he did!" the employee said with admiration.
"These two people have the same name, do you think they might be the same person?"
Before Nan Jiao could answer, he scratched his head and denied it, saying, "What am I fantasizing about all day? 'The Interstellar Marshal and I Work in the Same Restaurant'? Even novels wouldn't dare to write something like that..."
Nan Jiao felt a turmoil in her heart upon hearing the name. She emphasized, "From now on, don't mention him again. Whatever he does has nothing to do with us."
Seeing Nan Jiao's solemn expression, the employee nodded despite his deep doubts.
She ran into someone who was none other than Sang Lin, dressed in a gorgeous gown and exquisitely made up. She exclaimed in disbelief:
"Nan Jiao, how did you sneak in?" She looked around suspiciously and asked, "Did you deliberately follow me and Kelin in? What are you trying to do? You always try to find ways to appear in my and Kelin's lives!"
Xiao Chen, an employee who had worked at the restaurant for some time, naturally recognized the arrogant and domineering woman in front of him as his arch-rival, Sang Lin, who had opened her shop right across from his own.
"Hey, don't make baseless accusations! How did our store manager follow you and this Lin guy?"
“She knows it herself!” Sang Lin’s voice was shrill, her nails digging into her flesh. “She did it on purpose, she deliberately wanted to get revenge on me. She still has feelings for Klin and wants to break us up!”
In the past, Sang Lin would not have been so wary of Nan Jiao, because in her mind Nan Jiao was not worth mentioning at all. But ever since the last insectoid attack...
If she hadn't overheard Klin asking Nan Jiao to get in the car with her, she probably would have been fooled by Klin for the rest of her life! He didn't dislike Nan Jiao at all...
When did they start hooking up?
Sang Lin's face was contorted with jealousy and anger.
Nan Jiao looked at Sang Lin blocking her way like a crab and couldn't help but feel annoyed: "If you're sick, go get treatment. I could say you're deliberately following me and creating these coincidences with me everywhere you go."
"Nan Jiao, you shameless person!"
"You're the shameless one. You should get your delusions checked first. Do you really think your secondhand stuff is a treasure?"
"Ignore this lunatic, Xiao Chen, let's go."
"Stop." Sang Lin grabbed Nan Jiao's arm. "You still haven't explained yourself. How did a lowly orc like you manage to sneak in?"
Xiao Chen couldn't help but roll his eyes at her: "Ms. Sang, are you ever going to stop? We were formally invited by the Qiu family."
Sang Lin couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Do you think I'm stupid? Don't think I don't know that the Qiu family's banquets are always extravagant, and they would never invite powerless orcs! Besides, I've already seen the banquet guest list, and your names aren't even on it!"
Looking at her arrogant demeanor, Xiao Chen felt contempt: "We were specially invited here to complete the final Chinese dish."
Xiao Chen's words only made things worse, as Sang Lin laughed even more wildly: "This is getting more and more outrageous! Everyone knows the Qiu family is extremely particular, always inviting renowned culinary masters from across the galaxy. Even our family's chef has only been invited twice. Let me tell you the truth..."
"You probably don't know what this banquet is for, do you? Let me tell you, this is a welcome party hosted by the Qiu family on behalf of the Ninth Star to welcome my cousin, Princess Feng Ran of the royal family. How could a little-known restaurant like yours possibly be entrusted with this task? And the final dish? Bah!"
Upon hearing the name "Feng Ran," Nan Jiao was visibly taken aback for a moment. She genuinely didn't know the purpose of the banquet, and she never imagined that it would be related to the male and female protagonists.
No wonder Lu Xiao was at this banquet; this explains it.
Nan Jiao frowned slightly, hoping she wouldn't get involved in the main couple's relationship again.
Seeing Nan Jiao's surprised and pained expression, Sang Lin assumed her suspicions had been confirmed, and her smile grew even more arrogant: "How dare you sneak into such an important banquet!"
She shouted, "Security! Where's the security? Get these two thieves out of here!"
The security guards didn't arrive; instead, they attracted the attention of passersby, who, coincidentally, were their former classmates. Several of them arrived together, all dressed smartly and attractively.
"Sang Lin...? What are you shouting here?"
Sang Lin became even more excited when she saw them: "Look who's sneaked in here! Everyone knows she was abandoned by her six beast husbands, right? Well, she's still got a heart of gold and actually sneaked in to seduce Klin!"
"This...no way, didn't Nan Jiao say she wasn't interested in your beastly husband?"
"Then tell me, how did a lowly beastman like her get in? And what was her purpose in sneaking in? Just now she even had the audacity to say that she was invited by the Qiu family to cook Chinese cuisine. Isn't that outrageous?"
"This..." The old classmate's gaze towards Nan Jiao became subtle.
"Nan Jiao, I was so excited when I heard what you said last time, but your way of turning things around is to sneak into the banquet and lie?"
"You've had enough of the hard life, so you're planning to find a good beastman at the banquet and take him home? Or are you still hung up on Klin?"
A classmate kindly advised, "Nan Jiao, the Qiu family is notoriously ruthless. For the sake of our old friendship, I'm giving you this advice: this is really not a place for you to cheat and swindle. You should go back quickly."
"Yes, go back and find a job honestly, work hard and steadily, that's better than going down the wrong path."
...
Hearing the disparaging remarks in these people's words, Xiao Chen couldn't help but roll up his sleeves and take a step forward.
The boss is usually kind to them and even gives them bonuses, so of course he has to defend the boss!
Nan Jiao tugged at his sleeve and gently shook her head:
“I have already called the butler over and told him that someone is maliciously obstructing our preparations and deliberately ruining the banquet.”
Xiao Chen's eyes lit up, and he nodded quickly.
As footsteps sounded, Sang Lin rushed over to greet the slender figure.
"Butler Mo! You've come just in time! There are two thieves here!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
