Chapter 55: The Great Wind Rises - Prelude Four

  I immediately took two steps back, forcing myself to calm down and smile: "Puffy eyelids are normal, because I've had kidney problems since I was a kid. But what are you doing in the kitchen at this time? Haven't eaten yet? If not, go eat some spicy hot pot across the street first, it's on the company's expense account."

  He took a step forward, directly ignoring my concern and care: "But even if you applied a lot of makeup, I can still see the traces of dark circles under your eyes."

  "Huh... really?" I turned my head, not letting him look straight at my face. "That, dark circles and all that, who doesn't have a little bit? Don't believe me, take a look at your own, even with good skin, you've got a few burst blood vessels too. Only newborn babies don't have anything."

  "Ayao," he said, adjusting my head with his hand, a serious expression on his face almost touching mine, saying word by word, "You haven't had a good rest since you came back this morning, right?"

  Four eyes met, and I was stunned by the pitch-black pupils that were close at hand: "Yes..." Before he could continue, I immediately added, "But I have a reason... no, I mean, I have an excuse!"

  He blinked: "What...?" He paused for a moment, "reason?"

  As I watched him blink, I couldn't help but blink a few times too, and said in a low voice: "When I was about to sleep, I had a little red wine."

  "Red wine helps with sleep, wouldn't you sleep better if you drank it?" He was first startled, then smiled, but that smile looked nothing like a smile. "Is Ah Yao using wine to drown his sorrows, so he becomes more spirited the more he drinks?"

  "No," I said very seriously, "do you know what red wine is for?"

  He didn't hesitate: "Let you sleepless."

  I fell silent for a moment: "En, you're right, red wine can indeed help with sleep. Not only that, it also has beauty and weight loss effects, but the most unknown yet important point is... " I emphasized the last two words, "diuretic."

  His eyebrow twitched on one side: "L... urine?"

  "Ah!" I said, feigning disappointment. "But I didn't know red wine had this effect before. This morning, I wanted to get a good sleep, so I thought of using some external help. Happened that we had an opened bottle of red wine at home, so I poured some and drank it. When I lay down on the bed, the red wine started to fully exert its diuretic function. Every time I was about to fall asleep, a warm sensation would surge up from my lower abdomen, and I could only get up again and again to go to the bathroom. By the time I had completely expelled the red wine from my stomach, the sun had already risen for half a day. After such a long ordeal, not only did I lose all sleepiness, but my complexion also became so bad that I didn't dare to go out in public, which is why I put on this zombie makeup to cover up." I paused and said admiringly, "Unexpectedly, even with my face looking like this, there's still someone who can see through my dark eye circles and puffy eyelids. Little Qiao, your eyesight is truly unparalleled, just like X-ray vision!"

  The two older sisters who had been quietly listening suddenly chimed in.

  "This is Cao Cao pretending to be a corpse! The boss's wife is indeed his true fan!"

  "I thought it was just a red-eyed rabbit, but it's actually a zombie! The taste has gone up another notch!"

  "The boss's wife is really humorous, her complexion is so bad that she can't be seen by people, even Cao Cao who cheated death couldn't be seen by people." After finishing speaking, Lan sister burst into a loud laughter.

  "Boss lady, I'm also a clairvoyant because I can see your puffy eyelids too!" Xi Jie burst out laughing.

  Cheng Qiao fell silent for a moment, then raised an eyebrow and asked me: "A Yao, how much have you had to drink?"

  "Hey," I said in a much lower tone, "not many."

  "Not much?" He curved his eyes, smiling like an innocent and shameless little student who would ask such a question, "A little red wine can make you go to the bathroom that many times?"

  He continued laughing: "This has nothing to do with you, okay? Are you saying that the red wine A-Yao drank can reproduce itself in his stomach?"

  I dryly laughed and licked my lips, "Probably... about half a bottle."

  "Half a bottle?" He lowered his head and chuckled heavily, "I didn't expect, A Yao's capacity for liquor... is so good."

  I was stunned for a moment, wondering if it was my illusion. Just before he lowered his head, there seemed to be a flash of light in his eyes that looked like the legendary hurt look, but I didn't do anything to cut back on employee benefits!

  "A Yao, today Xi Jie taught me how to make chocolate pudding!" He suddenly lifted his head and revealed an extremely radiant smile.

  Huh? Weren't you just desperately worrying about my dark circles a moment ago, and now that you've gotten a satisfactory answer, you're suddenly coming up with a dramatic twist?

  Before I knew it, he had already quickly pulled me inside: "Come and try my skills, see if I'm already qualified to graduate... In the future when the store is busy, I can also come in to help..."

  Xi Jie immediately cooperated and opened the refrigerator, taking out several pudding molds from inside. Lan Jie sprinkled chocolate powder on top of the cans, then Cheng Qiao personally took the puddings out of the molds.

  They tasted it one after another, and I quietly waited for them to comment while eating.

  "It's too sweet," Lan Jie smacked her lips and slightly furrowed her brow. "There's a bit too much condensed milk."

  "Not at all, I think the sweetness is just right, and the young man has a good grasp of proportions, the butter is added just right, that's sweet but not greasy." Xi Jie said with a smile.

  Chao didn't say a word, just kept pursing his lips and smiling, with a slightly shy smile, but I always felt that his eyes lacked the usual sparkle. His gaze suddenly shifted to me, his expression slightly dull: "A Yao, why haven't you said anything? Is it because my cooking isn't good?"

  "Ah?" I swallowed the pudding in my mouth, cleared my throat and said, "No way, it's delicious! I think it's even better than mine. The color is pure and rich, the texture is dense and soft, with a sweet aftertaste that fills the whole mouth, full marks!"

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  Sorry for the delay, I'll post the second update at 11 pm tonight, don't forget to show your support. By the way, the author is currently crying profusely... The click rate is quite dismal, no good start or anything like that...

  Recommend a good friend's work, vote for it on the main site, and if you haven't collected it yet, please collect it!

  [Book ID == "The Original Lock"] Mutation changed his originally ordinary life.

  If it weren't for the unexpected turn of events, his life would have been just like that of many of his ancestors - unremarkably taking over the family's power and quietly passing away after a dull life.

  But his father died in front of him, and his mother was taken away from him, leaving the young boy to face all sorts of growth alone.

  He wants to know the truth, so he must have power.

  The path of cultivation is fraught with difficulties, yet I persist without complaint or regret.

  He stormed the heavenly palace, killed celestial beings and fought with gods!

  Nothing else, just one goal:

  Save Mother! Rebuild Origin!