Don't get married if you're reborn.

Chapter 359 An Early New Year's Eve Dinner
Fu Qianzhu was not rusty in cooking despite not having cooked for a long time. Having grown up doing chores, she knew everything by heart and had it ingrained in her very being.

Zeng Wenjie arrived around 3 p.m. as expected.

He brought two bottles of wine and several gift bags.

Fu Qianzhu said, "Why did you bring so many gifts?"

Zeng Wenjie said, "Can't I do it if I want to? Are all the dishes ready?"

Fu Qianzhu smiled and said, "Please sit down first. There are a few more dishes that are about to be prepared. Dinner should be ready around five o'clock."

Zeng Wenjie nodded and said, "I haven't eaten much on the way here, I've been waiting for your feast!"

Fu Yong chimed in, "We went out to buy groceries at seven o'clock. My niece has been busy since morning and hasn't even had time to drink water."

Zeng Wenjie immediately opened the gift bag he had brought, took out a bag of snacks and handed it to her, saying, "Here, have something to eat first, don't go hungry."

Fu Qianzhu said, "The smell of cooking oil makes me lose my appetite. I'm going to cook. Your second uncle will keep you company while you chat."

Then, she hurriedly turned around and went into the kitchen to get busy.

No one could dislike a sunny, cheerful, and hardworking girl like Fu Qianzhu; her virtuousness rivals that of Hakka women in Tiannan Province.

Fu Yong took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to Zeng Wenjie, saying, "Young Master Zeng, what kind of tea would you like? I'll go brew some."

“Black tea, please. Black tea in winter and green tea in summer,” Zeng Wenjie said. “If you have lemon, cut a slice and put it in.”

Then, he sat down on the sofa, lit a cigarette, and took a satisfying puff.

After making these few round trips between Baishui Town and Fengzhou, Zeng Wenjie increasingly missed the developed infrastructure of later years. At least he wouldn't have to drive on national highways anymore, only on a county road from the county seat to the town.

"I heard that Old Li was beaten to death with a club," Fu Yong said somberly.

"Yes, the criminals have been caught, three in total. They were incredibly audacious; after killing someone, they even went to the county town for a late-night snack," Zeng Wenjie said, shaking his head.

Fu Yong couldn't help but sigh and said, "Shooting gold medals is really dangerous. You have to be wary of the cops on one hand, and bad guys on the other. Old Li escaped one time before, losing a front tooth, but he wasn't so lucky the second time."

Zeng Wenjie sighed, "If you walk by the river often, you're bound to get your shoes wet. Have you seen the movie 'The Blade' starring Zhao Wenzhuo?"

Fu Yong paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "I've seen it."

"In the end of the movie, Ding'an avenged his father. Xiang Ling said he would come back from time to time, but in the end, he never saw him again. In fact, the implication is that Ding'an may have encountered an even more powerful master in the martial arts world, suffered a terrible fate, and never returned," Zeng Wenjie said.

Fu Yong smiled wryly and said, "Being in the underworld is indeed a dangerous job. I really didn't expect Old Li to fall for it."

Zeng Wenjie said, "It's normal for anyone to fail. There are so many ambitious people coming from all over the country to seek their fortune. Last year, my dad and I went to Yinziping to collect goods, and we almost lost everything on the first day!"

He told Fu Yong about the dangers he encountered during his first delivery, which terrified the latter.

If they had run a little slower and hadn't run into Wu Hongwu who happened to be handling the case, the two of them would most likely have been killed on the mountain.

Fu Yong said, "That's why I'm very grateful to you two, Mr. Zeng and Mr. Zeng. If it weren't for you taking me under your wing, I would still be stuck in Baishui Town, and who knows, I might end up like Old Li, dying at someone else's hands."

"The villain who harmed Lao Li has been caught, but many people died quietly, and no one can find out who did it."

"Ugh……"

Fu Yong, a man in his thirties, couldn't help but regret that he had wasted so much time over the past ten years. If he had realized this earlier, his elder brother and sister-in-law might not have ended up like this.

“Uncle Yong, just focus on working for us for two years, and then you can get married and buy a house,” Zeng Wenjie said with a smile.

“The women of Fengzhou are very arrogant and look down on country bumpkins like me,” Fu Yong grinned and shook his head.

"Haha, but when you were in the jewelry store, those older ladies really liked to buy gold jewelry from you, and you made quite a bit of commission!" Zeng Wenjie joked.

Fu Yong also lit a cigarette and chatted with Zeng Wenjie while drinking tea.

Looking back on the past year, Fu Yong realized that the only meaningful thing he did was to follow Zeng Wenjie and his son. The rest of the year was just drinking and gambling, and he lived like a piece of dog shit.

It wasn't until his sister-in-law, Jiang Liu, committed suicide by ingesting pesticide that he finally realized his mistakes and turned over a new leaf.

Fu Qianzhu was busy in the kitchen. Although she was tired, she was very happy.

At five o'clock sharp, dishes that weren't very appealing in appearance but smelled delicious were placed on the table.

"Boss, Second Uncle, dinner's ready!" Fu Qianzhu said happily, having served the rice, taken chopsticks and a wine glass. Zeng Wenjie laughed, "You should have called Uncle Yong first. What if he gets jealous if you put me before him?"

Fu Qianzhu was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "Of course we should greet our honored guest first. My second uncle will definitely understand."

"Right? Second Uncle!"

"Ah, yes, yes!"

Egg dumplings, braised pork belly, cured pork, stewed chicken, stir-fried duck, pig's trotters, sausage, steamed seafood, braised fish, stir-fried fish offal, stir-fried pickled radish with pork intestines, plus two cold dishes, for a total of thirteen dishes.

Zeng Wenjie looked at the table laden with food and couldn't help but smile wryly, saying, "Is this really necessary?"

Fu Qianzhu said, "Of course we need to. After all, it's New Year's Eve dinner. How can it be anything less than lavish?"

Fu Yong took out some wine, poured two glasses, and said, "Niece, you've worked hard. Have a drink with me."

Fu Qianzhu nodded, pushed the cup over, and said, "The boss is here, of course I have to be nice to him, otherwise what if he makes things difficult for me next year?"

Zeng Wenjie noticed that there were blisters on the back of her hand, which should have been caused by scalding from the oil. He paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "Thank you for preparing such a sumptuous meal to entertain me. Here, let's toast the first cup to Ms. Fu Qianzhu, who worked the hardest!"

"Thank you!"

Fu Qianzhu held the wine glass with both hands, a signature bright smile blooming on her face, and took a small sip.

Zeng Wenjie picked up the most conspicuous lobster and, knowing it was the largest, stuffed it into Fu Qianzhu's bowl, saying, "The person who worked the hardest to eat first should eat first!"

Fu Qianzhu was taken aback for a moment, then said, "I bought it especially for you."

“I feel bad if you don’t eat first, I’ll feel embarrassed to eat. Hurry up, I’m hungry!” Zeng Wenjie said.

"Oh, okay!" Fu Qianzhu peeled open the meat and took a bite, finding it very fresh and sweet.

She rarely eats seafood, let alone such expensive lobsters.

Zeng Wenjie raised his glass and clinked it with Fu Yong's. After taking a small sip, he said, "Come on, Uncle Yong, let's start eating. I'm hungry!"

Fu Yong laughed and said, "Alright, then let's celebrate New Year's Eve early!"

Fu Qianzhu silently ate the lobster; the lobster meat was sweet, and so was her heart.

This year should have been lonely, boring, and even frustrating.

But just because one person came, it became very happy, interesting, and joyful!

The three of them sat around a table with more than a dozen dishes and started eating, but there were just too many dishes to finish.

"Let's eat seafood first. Seafood can't be kept overnight. Come on, Ms. Fu Qianzhu, who has worked the hardest, should eat more!" Zeng Wenjie said with a smile.

“I can pick it up myself, you eat too, don’t worry about me,” Fu Qianzhu said.

While eating, Zeng Wenjie kept praising how delicious this was and how delicious that was, practically channeling He Jiong to shower the young chef surnamed Huang with compliments.

"This fish, oh my god..."

"This braised pork belly, oh my god..."

"This chicken soup, oh my god..."

The slightly exaggerated praise made Fu Qianzhu beam with joy.

Zeng Wenjie said, "It's so delicious! If you don't mind, I'll come over to you for a free meal every holiday!"

Fu Qianzhu said, "There's no way I would mind. I'm very happy that you came."

After saying that, she picked up her wine glass and said softly, "Now, it's my turn to toast you."

Zeng Wenjie lightly clinked his glasses with hers and drank the little bit of liquor in them in one gulp.

The three of them drank the two bottles of 53-proof Maotai-flavor liquor equally.

Zeng Wenjie was a little dizzy, but Fu Qianzhu was as if nothing had happened. It seems that when she's in a good mood, she can drink a lot without getting drunk.

(End of this chapter)