At the start, I had to choose one of four options, and I immediately picked the Brahmin from the cou

Although Li Xiao was very curious about what this special coming-of-age gift was, now was definitely not the time.

"Stop messing around, my dad's home today."

Zheng Hao on the other end of the phone was visibly taken aback, his voice immediately dropping eight octaves, "Uncle Li's back? Holy crap, why didn't you say so sooner!"

"I just got back too."

"Alright, alright, then we'll skip tonight. You spend quality time with Uncle Li and my Aunt Zhao. But I'll save that coming-of-age gift for you; we'll arrange something special for you another day—something you'll never forget."

"The more you say that, the less I think it's a good thing," Li Xiao said with a laugh.

"Don't worry, when have I ever cheated you? Alright, I'm not going to argue with you anymore. Give my regards to Uncle Li!" Zheng Hao said, and then hung up the phone decisively.

Li Xiao put his phone back in his pocket, turned around and walked back to the living room.

Zhao Xiulan was directing Aunt Liu to set the table when she saw him coming over. She smiled and waved, "Finished? Hurry up and wash your hands and eat. It's rare for your dad to have dinner at home. Let's have a good family get-together today."

Li Xiao responded, went to the restroom to wash his hands, and came out to find the dining table already fully set.

Aunt Liu went all out tonight: sashimi platter, teppanyaki Wagyu beef, lobster baked with cheese, fish maw and old chicken soup… Li Jianguo raised his glass and gestured to Li Xiao, “Come on, from today onwards you’re an adult, have a drink with Dad.”

Li Xiao walked to the dining table and sat down, glancing at the bottle of aged Moutai in front of his father that had already been opened. He didn't take the red wine that Aunt Liu had just decanted, but instead picked up a decanter and a small glass, pouring himself a small glass of baijiu as well.

"Alright, now that you're an adult, I'll have some real stuff with you." Li Xiao smiled and raised his glass.

Zhao Xiulan gently patted him and scolded, "You child, just take a small sip, don't drink too much and hurt your throat."

"A doting mother spoils her son. If it were in the past, an eighteen-year-old would be running around all over the place. What's wrong with him drinking a little liquor now?"

Li Xiao stood up, holding his wine glass with both hands, deliberately lowering the rim of the glass, and gently touched the wine glass in Li Jianguo's hand, then touched the juice glass in Zhao Xiulan's hand.

"Dad, Mom, this is a toast to you both."

After saying that, he tilted his head back and downed the glass of baijiu in one gulp. The aged, over 50-proof liquor burned down his throat and into his stomach, causing him to hiss softly, even his breath carrying the rich aroma of the liquor.

"Good lad, that was great!" Li Jianguo laughed heartily and downed the wine in his glass.

"Quickly, quickly, eat some food to calm your stomach." Zhao Xiulan picked up a sizzling piece of Wagyu beef and stuffed it directly into Li Xiao's bowl with heartache. Then she scooped up a large piece of cheese lobster meat. "Drinking on an empty stomach is the worst thing for your stomach. Even if you go out for business dinners in the future, you can't be so honest and drink on an empty stomach."

Li Xiao picked up a piece of Wagyu beef and chewed it heartily; the rich aroma of the fat neutralized the spiciness of the baijiu. Li Jianguo, unusually, put his phone on silent, refusing to answer any work calls.

The family of three sat around the dining table, none of them mentioning business or asking about each other's college entrance exam scores. Li Jianguo, unusually, opened up, not about company reports or project progress, but about embarrassing incidents from Li Xiao's childhood.

"Do you remember when you were eight years old?" Li Jianguo, emboldened by alcohol, picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks, pointed at Li Xiao, and laughed and scolded, "While your mother and I were away in the city for a meeting, you insisted on taking a tattered net and trying to catch koi in the pond in the yard. In the end, you didn't catch any fish, slipped, and fell into the water with a 'plop'."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiulan couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh. She then served Li Xiao a bowl of fish maw and chicken soup. "That's right! When Aunt Liu hurriedly pulled you out of the water and called me, I was so scared my legs went weak. And you, you were soaking wet like a mud monkey, clinging tightly to a large, half-meter-long three-colored fish, spitting out water and yelling that you wanted grilled fish for dinner. That fish your dad just bought for hundreds of thousands of yuan!"

Li Xiao blushed upon hearing this. Even with his thick skin from two lifetimes, he felt he couldn't hold back any longer.

With the fusion of memories deep in his mind, he could even recall the comical scene of himself clinging to that fat koi fish and refusing to let go.

"I only did it because you were young, otherwise I would have given you a good spanking." Li Jianguo picked up his wine glass, took a small, satisfying sip, and said with a look of deep emotion, "Time flies. In the blink of an eye, the little mud monkey who used to clamor for roasted koi fish is now eighteen years old and can drink with me at the same table."

"Dad, you're already feeling sorry for the fish?" Li Xiao picked up a piece of sea cucumber and joked with a smile, "When your son takes over your business and makes a lot of money, let alone hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Taisho Sanshoku, I'll get you a pond full of pure gold koi, so they can reflect light in your yard every day."

Li Jianguo burst into laughter, pointing at him with his chopsticks: "You brat, you've only had a couple of ounces of cat pee and you're already bragging to your old man, huh? Fine, I'll remember that bragging. If you can't get any goldfish next time, you'll see if I don't give you a good beating!"

"Alright, alright, the two of them are getting more and more out of line as they drink." Zhao Xiulan interrupted them with a smile, stood up and said, "Sister Liu, bring the cake over here, let Xiaoxiao make a wish."

Aunt Liu slowly pushed the food cart out of the kitchen, on which was placed an extremely exquisite three-tiered fondant cake.

The bottom layer is a ring of handmade fondant roses, each petal so thin it's translucent, the color gradation from deep red to light pink, vividly surrounding the cake.

The middle layer is decorated with smooth golden butter patterns, while the top layer features a plump fondant koi carp with its tail held high and its scales sprinkled with edible gold powder, which shimmers in the candlelight.

When Li Xiao saw the fondant koi fish, the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

"Mom, did you do this on purpose?"

Zhao Xiulan laughed so hard she bent over. "Your dad specially asked the cake maker to make it, saying that he didn't catch any fish when you were eight, so he'd make up for it when you turned eighteen."

"It's not even a real fish, it's made of fondant, it's only for looking at, not for baking." Li Jianguo said this with a serious face while holding a small wine cup, but the corners of his eyes were clearly wrinkled, he was trying very hard to suppress his laughter.

Li Xiao rolled his eyes. "Fine, go ahead and laugh. My glorious deeds back then are enough for you to laugh about for a lifetime."

Aunt Liu lit the candles, Zhao Xiulan turned off the lights, and the three of them sat down around the cake. The candlelight shone on Li Xiao's face. He clasped his hands together, closed his eyes, and made a wish.

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