When Ji Chen entered the kitchen, he saw Jiang Baiwan standing by the stove, concentrating on cooking. Wei Dao, on the other hand was resting on a small chair next to her. When he saw Ji Chen coming in, Wei Dao raised an eyebrow. “Boss Jiang, someone is here.”

Jiang Baiwan turned her head and saw Ji Chen standing there. She nodded at him. “You came in to warm up the food, right? Just leave the stuff here, I’ll handle them.”

“It’s fine, you go about your business.” Ji Chen, however, insisted on doing it himself. “I’m not so bad that I can’t even warm up two dishes.”

With that said, Ji Chen took out the food in plastic bowls and was about to put them in the microwave. Jiang Baiwan’s eyes were sharp. She saw Ji Chen’s movements and hurriedly stopped him. “No, no, plastic can’t go into the microwave.”

Ji Chen looked on blankly, holding a bowl in his hand and appearing inexplicably pitiful. Jiang Baiwan glanced at him, sighed, and put down the spatula in her hand. “Give it to me. Go to the cupboard over there and get two bowls.”

Wei Dao sat on the side, looking at the president of Haochen Group obediently obeying Jiang Baiwan’s words. Ji Chen went to get the bowls from the cupboard on the side. Jiang Baiwan lifted the lid off the plastic bowls and poured the food into the new ones. “There, this way you can heat them up.”

Ji Chen held a bowl and placed it into the microwave, then stood next to Jiang Baiwan. Inside the wok was pineapple fried rice. Jiang Baiwan’s face was full of seriousness as the spatula in her hand was flying. It looks quite decent.

It’s just that Ji Chen’s eyes were glued to Jiang Baiwan’s side face, not paying much attention to the situation inside the wok. At this moment, Jiang Baiwan looked very different from her usual self with her pursed lips and slightly furrowed eyebrows, and all her mind was focused on the fried rice. That look of concentration was something she rarely showed, making Jiang Baiwan look a little more attractive.

Wei Dao had already slipped out when the two of them were not paying attention, leaving Ji Chen and Jiang Baiwan alone in the kitchen. Ji Chen didn’t speak, but just quietly looked at Jiang Baiwan. While Jiang Baiwan, who was busy cooking, didn’t drove Ji Chen away.

An ambiguous atmosphere slowly spread in the kitchen, and Ji Chen felt his heart beating faster and faster, as if there’s a lively and strong deer inside it, constantly hitting his chest.

The inside of the kitchen was cramped and a little hotter than the outside. Ji Chen, who had been observing Jiang Baiwan, saw a drop of sweat running down the side of her cheek, slowly trailing downwards, looking like it was about to flow through her beautifully curved chin. His fingers moved and he subconsciously raised his hand, scraping the drop of sweat onto his fingertips.

Jiang Baiwan was caught off guard by Ji Chen’s touch and she was startled. “What is it?”

“I…… You were sweating just now and I wanted to wipe it off for you.” Ji Chen said very righteously. The hand that he used to wipe Jiang Baiwan’s sweat was brought behind his back as he subconsciously curled his fingers.

Jiang Baiwan felt that Ji Chen was a bit strange today. She glanced at him again, then took a pair of chopsticks from the side, and stuffed them into Ji Chen’s hands. “All right, it’s not a big deal. Don’t I know what you’re thinking?”

Ji Chen’s heart was pounding. He stared at Jiang Baiwan and wanted to ask what she knew, but it was as if his mouth was sealed shut, unable to speak.

“……What am I thinking?” Ji Chen stared at Jiang Baiwan closely, finally asking the question in his heart. Even he himself didn’t notice that the tone of his voice was vaguely tinged with some expectation.

He heard Jiang Baiwan laugh, and then pointed to the fried rice in the wok. “Don’t you just want to try pineapple fried rice? Don’t worry, I didn’t adjust the taste of the Malatang before, but you’ll definitely like this.”

As she spoke, Jiang Baiwan even urged, “Taste it quickly. If it’s too bland, I can still put some salt in.”

Ji Chen’s throbbing heart cooled down all of a sudden. He used his chopsticks to pick up the rice inside the wok and brought it to this mouth to taste. He then frowned and said, “It seems a bit bland?”

When Wei Dao came back to the kitchen door after the excuse of going around outside to see the situation of these two people, he heard Jiang Baiwan say, “Really? If it’s a bland, then I’d better add more salt.”

“En, don’t put too much, just sprinkle a little.” Ji Chen agreed.

Wei Dao: “……”

Such a good opportunity to be alone, Ji Chen, you and the little girl are just discussing fried rice?

Wei Dao’s face turned dark. He simply entered the kitchen and without saying a word, took the spatula from Jiang Baiwan’s hand. “All right, you two go out, I’ll handle it here.”

“No, just a little more.” Jiang Baiwan refused to stop. “This is my best fried rice!”

Wei Dao glared at her, and then signaled Ji Chen with his eyes to pull Jiang Baiwan out. However, Ji Chen, the uncomprehending one, even helped speak up for Jiang Baiwan. “Master Wei, Xiao Wan is almost finished. Let her do it. It will be okay.”

Wei Dao was about to laugh from anger. He waved the spatula in his hand and kicked out the two young people out of the kitchen without any explanation. “Go, go, go. Go out and play cards with Ms. Tan and Mr. Luo if you have nothing to do. Why do you insist on staying in the kitchen? Get out of here now!”

Jiang Baiwan and Ji Chen were driven out of the kitchen by Wei Dao, and the two stood at the kitchen door, looking at each other helplessly. Jiang Baiwan muttered, “Has Master Wei reached menopausal age? Why did he seem to have become irritable all of a sudden?”

“Forget it. Come, come, come, Ji Chen, let’s play cards.” Jiang Baiwan pulled Ji Chen’s sleeve and gently tugged. “Today I’ll show you what it means to be the best gambler!”

In the main room, Tan Mi and Luo Xiao were still sitting face to face. The two of them had been talking for some time and Tan Mi was very depressed now. She thought she was a worldly-wise person, but when it comes to Luo Xiao, not only had she failed to get anything out of this fellow, but she was also at a disadvantage.

Looking at Luo Xiao’s seemingly sincere smiling face, Tan Mi’s teeth itch from anger.

“Tan Mi, Luo Xiao, let’s play cards.” Jiang Baiwan suddenly intervened at this critical moment. She took two decks of poker cards and slapped them heavily on the table. “There happens to be me and Ji Chen, so the four of us will play a game of guandan^[1]a game of poker that originated in Jiangsu province, China.”

Luo Xiao took the lead in expressing his opinion. “Sure, it’s just as well since the meal isn’t ready yet, so let’s play two games.”

“Wait a minute.” Tan Mi held down the poker card and looked up at Jiang Baiwan. “This can’t just be a game of cards. Let’s add a bet.”

When Ji Chen heard about betting, he directly took out a card from inside his pocket and set it on the table. “Is this enough?”

Jiang Baiwan was dumbfounded by Ji Chen’s wealth. She picked up the card and stuffed it back into Ji Chen’s pocket with some difficulty. “This is too much. There’s no need to bet big when playing cards……”

As she stuffed the card back to Ji Chen’s pocket, Jiang Baiwan couldn’t help but steal a glance at it—— This card was also black. Do these wealthy people only have black cards?

Tan Mi smiled. “President Ji, there’s no need to talk about money when playing cards with friends. How about this, the penalty will be truth. There’re two people in a team so whichever team loses, the two people in that team will answer a question. What do you think?”

“Okay, this is good.” Jiang Baiwan’s eyes lit up and responded first, “I’m in a team with Tan Mi, and you two big men will work together, all right?”

Ji Chen and Luo Xiao looked at each other, and the two people who had been fighting secretly did not refute Jiang Baiwan on this issue, but agreed. Jiang Baiwan shuffled the cards with a smile, skillfully arranging them. “All right, today I will let you see what a trick master is.”

Luo Xiao smiled as Jiang Baiwan shuffled the cards. Suddenly, as if remembering something, he asked Ji Chen next to him in a low voice, “President Ji, do you know how to play cards?”

Ji Chen said coldly, “Not bad.”

“All right, I know you wealthy people usually go to casinos.” Lou Xiao raised his brows as if just chatting casually. “This kind of folk game, maybe you won’t be able to beat the two girls across from us.”

By this time, Jiang Baiwan had already shuffled the cards and started dealing. Ji Chen only had time to glance at her before he quickly sorted out the cards in his hand.

For a while, the atmosphere in the dining room became still. Except for Jiang Baiwan, who was carefree, the other three people were determined not to lose.

After one round, the combination of Ji Chen and Luo Xiao won.

“I still have one left! Dang, I have no moves! ” Jiang Baiwan was so angry that she wanted to bang her head on the table. “Forget it, forget it, I’m willing to admit defeat. What do you two want to ask?”

Luo Xiao beat Ji Chen to it. After asking Tan Mi a harmless question, he looked at Jiang Baiwan with ulterior motive. “Xiao Wan, my question to you is, what are your criteria in choosing a boyfriend?”

Jiang Baiwan didn’t even blink and answered without hesitation, “Rich. He must have money, preferably with another woman outside and partying every night, leaving me alone at home with tens of millions worth of mansions and bank deposits, alone until dawn.”

Luo Xiao: “……”

Tan Mi was uncontrollably laughing beside her that tears were coming out of her eyes. “Can you grow up?”

“Isn’t this a fear of poverty?” Jiang Baiwan looked at Ji Chen. “What about you?”

Ji Chen was unwittingly comparing himself with Jiang Baiwan’s standard in his mind, and before he could come to a conclusion, he was caught off guard by Jiang Baiwan’s question. He subconsciously asked Jiang Baiwan, “Is what you just said true?”

“Of course it’s true.” Said Jiang Baiwan solemnly. “Look at my expression, isn’t it very serious?”

Ji Chen pursed his lips and didn’t say anything more—— He seems to be quite wealthy and even have a good appearance, but there wouldn’t be another woman outside and partying every night was even impossible for him to do……