Soon, a reply came:

"That's too much! You even made two flavors of crawfish? How are they? Tell me the truth. If you dare lie just to flatter your boss, I'll beat you to death!"

Zhu Yong was left speechless.

It's really like tagging along with Sister Lu, getting beaten eight times a day.

He didn't reply immediately. Instead, he looked at the others enjoying the crawfish and asked, "I have a friend..."

Before he could finish, his sister-in-law, Chen Yan, cut him off, "There are no outsiders here. Just talk about you and Lin Daiyu. You've been flirting under the Lin Ji topic every day. Who here doesn't know about you two?"

Zhu Yong's old face flushed red. He hadn't expected his attempt to ask discreetly, using a "friend" as a cover, to be so ruthlessly exposed by Chen Yan.

He cleared his throat and asked, "Lin Daiyu is always threatening to beat me to death. If I reply too slowly, she says she'll beat me to death. If I disturb her at work, she also says she'll beat me to death... What do you all think? Should I confess my feelings or not?"

This question made everyone pause for a moment before a heated discussion erupted.

"She definitely likes you! Why else would she say things like that?"

"I think a girl would only speak so unreservedly in front of people she's close to."

"Master Zhu, summon the courage you showed when you were tackling those crawfish and just go for it! A true warrior isn't shy about launching an attack!"

"I have a feeling that if you confess, you'll definitely succeed."

"She might say she'll beat you to death, but who knows how much she actually cares about you in her heart."

"If I ever told a man I'd beat him to death, I'd definitely be head over heels in love."

"..."

Soon, his sister-in-law, Dou Wenjing, Shu Yun, Zeng Xiaoqi, and others began to voice their opinions. Wei Qian and Ji Minghui also nodded in agreement.

Even Qin Wei looked eager to chime in.

Zhuang Yizhou, while nibbling on a river snail, timidly added, "Is there a chance... this is just her catchphrase?"

As soon as he said it, Chen Yan retorted, "How could it be a catchphrase? Anyone can see you've probably never been in love... Hey, wait a minute, you have a partner, right?"

Chen Yan glanced around and realized that everyone passionately discussing the topic was single.

The only ones with partners, Zhuang Yizhou and the brother-in-law, were engrossed in eating and hadn't participated much in the discussion.

As for her younger cousin, she was a classic case of being utterly devoted to her husband—best not to even bring her up.

Is it really only single people who enjoy meddling in others' relationship problems?

After glancing around, she stopped participating in the discussion and took a large gulp of her drink.

This bitter drink tastes like sorrow!

After finishing it, she took another sip. Why does it taste like alcohol?

Has Yuanqi Forest started making a beer-flavored drink?

She examined her cup and discovered that the Yuanqi Forest drink inside had, at some point, been replaced with beer, complete with a frothy head.

This...

How am I supposed to drive now? How can I take my cousin home?

Wait a minute. When I offered to drive Yueyue home earlier, I saw a murderous glint in that girl's eyes.

Could it be that this little rascal secretly poured it into my cup?

Seeing her drink the beer, Shen Baobao quickly feigned surprise and said, "Oh, Yan Bao, why did you drink my beer? How are you going to drive me home later?"

Chen Yan smirked.

Hmph, pretend! Keep pretending all you want!

She slung an arm around Shen Baobao's shoulder and whispered in her ear, "So, when you two went back this time... did you, you know... *do it*?"

Shen Baobao's expression turned a little unnatural. "What are you talking about with so many people around? Hurry up and eat your crawfish."

Chen Yan pressed on, "Want me to recommend some ultra-thin, effective... protective gear?"

This made Shen Baobao look at her in surprise. "Yan Bao, aren't you single? How do you know about these things?"

Chen Yan drained her cup, which now contained beer mixed with Yuanqi Forest, and said self-deprecatingly, "As a single woman, isn't it perfectly normal for my theoretical knowledge to be maxed out?"

"Then... what about practical experience?"

"Zero!"

"Ewww~~~~~ How tragic for a woman."

This remark instantly shattered Chen Yan's composure!

"You wretched Yueyue, I'm going to kill you!"

Shen Baobao laughed and dodged, retorting with the very logic Chen Yan had spouted moments before, "Didn't you just say that 'I'll beat you to death' is an expression of love?"

"It means love when I say it to others, but when I say it to you, I genuinely want to beat you to death!"

After the two 'sisters' bickered playfully for a while, they went back to eating crawfish.

Chen Yan had originally planned to drive and hadn't touched any alcohol. But now that she'd had some beer, her spirits lifted immediately. "Brother-in-law, where's that bottle of champagne I brought last time? Open it, open it! What's the fun in just drinking beer? Today is the first gathering of Lin Ji's core members; we absolutely must open a bottle of champagne to celebrate!"

Soon, the champagne was opened. Everyone poured themselves a glass, and even Zeng Xiaoqi accepted one.

She hadn't originally planned on drinking. However, after Shen Baobao mentioned that this bottle of champagne cost tens of thousands, she instantly felt it would be a huge waste not to have some.

But after taking a sip, she found...

It's not even as satisfying as a soft drink.

By 9 p.m., the crawfish on the table were nearly all gone, and most of the other dishes had been polished off as well.

Ji Minghui volunteered to cook some hand-pulled noodles for everyone. He served them with a ladleful of the remaining crawfish broth, and enjoying this delicious dish marked the perfect end to their feast.

Shen Baobao had drunk a large glass of beer.

While everyone was eating their noodles, the alcohol began to take effect. She picked up a silkworm pupa and muttered to herself, "Hmph, hmph. From this day forward, I'm no longer afraid of silkworm pupae!"

With that, she mustered her courage and popped the pupa into her mouth.

By now, the silkworm pupae had cooled and were no longer as crispy as when they had just come out of the pan.

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