Rebirth from the Ashes

The food was already served by the time Shen Xi and Fu Qingxuan came around. The spread was a bountiful feast of home-cooked dishes. There was seafood too.

While Shen Xi quickly took the seat next to Li Yuan, Fu Qingxuan wheeled himself to his designated place and noticed the pair had different tableware than the rest of them.

Shen Xi and Li Yuan’s chopsticks and bowls were engraved with a motif while the rest was porcelain white.

This was a case of sour grapes for Fu Qingxuan. Matching design for the couple, huh?

As the host, Li Yuan told Fu Qingxuan to help himself before shelling the shrimps and putting them on the plate before him. Since shrimps were in season, the plump orange flesh was rather appetizing.

Shen Xi dug in the crayfish and made recommendations to Fu Qingxuan. “Try this. This is made by the head chef of royal banquets. Our country’s top chef if I may say so.”

Fu Qingxuan was here to eat to begin with, but to share the same space with Li Yuan made him lose his appetite. No one gave a sh*t whether it was some royal banquet, and it was not as though he never enjoyed one before.

However, he was puzzled by the food arrangement. Fu Qingxuan was sitting in the middle with seafood to his left and home-cooked food to his right.

Jin Yu, who was sitting on his right, only had common dishes within reach. It would be quite a stretch for Jin Yu to satisfy his craving for seafood. Curling his lips, Fu Qingxuan inquired, “Aren’t you going to have some seafood, Mr. Jin Yu?”

Jin Yu explained with a smile. “I’m allergic to shellfish. Please help yourselves.”

Fu Qingxuan’s mind wandered off again. Dad was also allergic to seafood and Qingye inherited the gene. The allergic reaction could prove deadly upon contact with shellfish. He and Qingli escaped that fate.

Nevertheless, seafood allergy was one of the most common types of allergies. It did not mean anything.

After that day, Fu Qingxuan often popped in next door when Li Yuan was not around. So long as he did not lump Mr. Jin Yu and Li Yuan together, Fu Qingxuan was able to get along with Mr. Jin Yu.

Alas, Fu Qingxuan did not have a chance to realize the wish to try Mr. Jin Yu’s food since Qingli bombarded him with calls to return. Fu Qingxuan left with regret.

Fu Qingli was in China for business. He wondered if he had gone mad to drive all the way to the Shens’ residence and was even more upset when Fu Qingxuan emerged from the door alone. For some reason, Fu Qingli felt disappointed.

What was he thinking? What was he disappointed about? Was it because the girl was not there?

Having his cast removed just yesterday, Fu Qingxuan was still wobbly on his feet. He got into the car and got the ball rolling in conversation before being asked. “Xixi and Mrs. Shen are not at home. They went to visit Yu Yuanxi’s set. I don’t think you met Yu Yuanxi. He’s an actor in a film…”

Fu Qingli gave him a chilling look. It was apparent that Fu Qingxuan’s rambling was getting on his nerves.

Getting the message, Fu Qingxuan shut up but not for long. “Qingli, I met a person here. His name is Jin Yu. He’s a nice man and knows everything, you name it. He can cook. Oh, he does great woodwork too…”

“Zip it!” Fu Qingli did not come all the way here to be bored to death. He was not interested in the slightest about what his brother did or who he met here.

Mom’s birthday was around the corner, yet Fu Qingxuan was screwing around out there. Using the car accident as an excuse, Fu Qingxuan ditched his responsibilities at the lab and even forgot about Mom’s birthday. Shen Xi seemed to take priority over everything else!