Chapter 466 - 223: Wait, How Come It’s Zhou Yan?

Chapter 466: Chapter 223: Wait, How Come It’s Zhou Yan?

In that moment, Duan Yu Yan found herself a little envious of Zhou Yan.

It was one thing that Xia Yao was beautiful, but her temperament, personality, and the way she carried herself faintly reminded Duan Yu Yan of her own grandmother.

Dignified and elegant, poised and unhurried.

She had plenty of wealthy friends who drove luxury cars and lived in mansions. They wore designer clothes, carried bags worth tens of thousands, and sat in cafés in Central drinking afternoon tea. All they ever talked about was where they were flying next week for concerts and music festivals.

But Xia Yao was different.

She was just so wonderful!

’No, wait. What did Zhou Yan do to deserve someone like her?’

’How did he manage to get a well-bred young lady from a prominent literary family to come all the way from Mountain City to Suji for an internship?’

’Sure, Zhou Yan was handsome, a great cook, ambitious, good at making money, emotionally intelligent, and pretty interesting.’

’But...’

’Even if he did deserve her, something about it just didn’t sit right with her.’

’This was her favorite painter’s daughter, for crying out loud!’

Huang Ying pursed her lips. ’When did this turn into a fan meeting?’

’Boring. I want to see a bloodbath!’

But looking at Xia Yao, who had a faint smile on her face as she lowered her head to speak with Zhou Momo, Huang Ying found she couldn’t bring herself to say anything to stir up trouble.

She had the gentle, delicate air of a woman from Jiangnan, yet somehow, you could tell she had a core of steel. She wasn’t someone to be trifled with.

From the kitchen, Zhou Yan had overheard their conversation.

He was a little surprised to hear about Xia Yao’s family background.

He had known her family must be well-off; after all, she was just an undergraduate, yet she could casually give away so many expensive gifts.

But he’d never imagined she came from a family of traditional Chinese painters, with her mother and maternal grandfather both being Grandmasters—the kind whose work appeared in Hong Kong auctions.

No wonder she had such an elegant air, cultivated by generations of family scholarship and tradition.

It was a different kind of elegance from that of a wealthy businessman’s daughter like Duan Yu Yan. It was more like that of a young Miss Qiu Qi Qiu—an elegance etched into her very bones.

As they chatted, the braised pork ribs and Kneeling Beef were the first dishes to arrive.

Zhou Momo closed the art book and made a graceful exit. "You ladies can go ahead and eat now. I’ll come play with you again in a little while~"

"She’s so sweet," Duan Yu Yan said with a laugh. "She completely understands how hungry a person can be when they’ve skipped breakfast."

"I didn’t eat breakfast either, actually. I’ve been looking forward to this lunch all morning." Xia Yao picked up her chopsticks, selected a piece of braised pork rib, and smiled. "Well, I’m starting. Please, help yourselves."

"Okay." Duan Yu Yan and Huang Ying nodded eagerly.

She lifted a trembling, glistening piece of braised pork rib to her lips. The meat fell right off the bone, and her eyes instantly lit up.

’This flavor... It’s incredible!’

’She had been craving these braised pork ribs ever since she went back to school, and now she was finally eating them again!’

’Why did she choose the Jiazhou Textile Factory?’

’If it meant she could eat braised pork ribs this delicious every day, what was there to even hesitate about?’

She served herself half a bowl of rice and began eating, alternating between the rice and the pork ribs, one bite after another.

After three pieces of pork ribs, she ladled a small bowl of Kneeling Beef soup for herself.

The first-run beef broth tasted just as exquisitely savory as she remembered.

She picked up a slice of beef, dipped it in the accompanying sauce, and popped it into her mouth. The soft, tender beef, coated in fragrant, spicy chili flakes, took the flavor to a whole new level.

"Huang Ying, let’s share. I can’t finish a whole portion by myself." Xia Yao slid her bowl of Kneeling Beef a little closer to Huang Ying and smiled. "There are so many new dishes, and I want to save room to try a few more."

"Okay," Huang Ying said, nodding with a grin as she also ladled herself a bowl of the beef soup.

The Fish-Fragrant Pork Slivers, braised vegetable platter, braised beef, and Twice-Cooked Pork also arrived at the table.

Xia Yao tried a bit of every dish, nodding in approval as she ate.

She was particularly fond of the Fish-Fragrant Pork Slivers and the braised vegetable platter.

The Fish-Fragrant Pork Slivers were sweet, sour, and spicy, with a very gentle flavor profile and a faintly sweet aftertaste. The winter bamboo shoots in the dish were exceptionally crisp and fresh, and the pork was silky smooth—a perfect dish to eat with rice. It was so much better than what they served at her school cafeteria!

’The braised vegetables were incredible!’

’Especially the lotus root and tofu skin—they were intoxicatingly delicious.’

’She even thought they were better than the braised beef; they were so tender and effortless to chew.’

Every single dish was a wonderful surprise. She normally didn’t eat fatty meat, but today she had several pieces of the Twice-Cooked Pork with garlic sprouts. The combination of the soft, gelatinous pork skin and the firm, springy lean meat was simply irresistible.

’Zhou Yan... he really is amazing!’

’The last time she was here, there were only a few dishes on the menu. One of her classmates had eaten noodles for three meals straight and still couldn’t stop talking about it.’

’Before she left, Deng Hong had hugged her and made her promise to eat a few extra pieces of braised pork ribs on her behalf.’

’She would have to write to them tonight and tell them that not only did she get to eat the braised pork ribs and Kneeling Beef, but also incredibly delicious Fish-Fragrant Pork Slivers, Twice-Cooked Pork, and other braised specialties.’

’Her wonderful internship had officially begun!’

Xia Yao never had a large appetite, but today she’d managed to eat a bowl and a half of rice and drink two bowls of beef soup.

After finishing the last bite of rice in her bowl, she firmly put down her chopsticks.

’Can’t eat another bite!’

’No matter how delicious it is.’

The restaurant was already full, and some of the workers who ate quickly had already left, making way for the second wave of lunch customers.

"Yaoyao?" Lin Zhiqiang and Zhao Dong walked into the restaurant, their faces showing surprise when they saw Xia Yao. "Didn’t An He say you were coming back to Suji with her today?"

"Uncle," Xia Yao said with a smile. "Auntie had a last-minute meeting and won’t be back in Suji until this evening. I took the shuttle bus over by myself this morning and checked in at noon, so I can start work first thing tomorrow."

"You couldn’t wait even half a day, could you?" Lin Zhiqiang said, shaking his head with a helpless smile. "So, for lunch..."

"I just finished eating with some new friends I made." Xia Yao then introduced Duan Yu Yan and Huang Ying to Lin Zhiqiang.