Jian Yan happened not to bring any soup today. She just wanted to take a small sip, but He Xiu directly served her a small bowl.

  "Thank you." Jian Yan took the bowl and thanked him. He Xiu said, "It's okay. I've mooched off your food several times, so it's my turn to show my gratitude."

  Jian Yan pursed her lips and smiled slightly. She picked up the spoon and took a sip. The pork rib soup had a hint of the sourness of olives, but after swallowing it, there was a touch of sweetness lingering between her lips and teeth.

  "It's delicious. You're quite good at cooking." Jian Yan was really a bit surprised. Although He Xiu had said last time that he was also good at cooking, she thought he might just be boasting... Now it seemed that this "melon" was indeed very sweet.

  He Xiu, who received the praise, seemed a little proud. "I used to cook at home when I was a child..." His voice stopped abruptly at this point, and the words that followed seemed to be forcefully swallowed back into his stomach.

  Jian Yan's eyes flickered. From this casual remark of He Xiu's, she could imagine a story of a hundred thousand words. However, she didn't ask anything. Instead, she pushed the Fish-Flavored Eggplant she made in front of him and said to him, "This is the Fish-Flavored Eggplant I made this morning. Try it. I can't just drink a bowl of your soup for nothing."

  The colleagues eating at the next table looked in their direction. Since when had Jian Yan and Manager He... become lunch buddies?

  Jian Yan managed to finish her meal within ten minutes according to the time. "Manager He, I'm done eating. I'll be leaving now."

  He Xiu watched as she tidied up the bowls and chopsticks and said, "Eating in such a hurry is not good for digestion."

  "I have no choice. There are too many people in the mall today. Having ten minutes for lunch is already a luxury."

  He Xiu: "..."

  Was this a veiled accusation that he, as the boss, was too harsh?

  He smiled and said to Jian Yan, "After this busy period is over, I'll treat you all to a nice meal again."

  "Thank you, Manager He." If she was still working at Starlight Department Store by then.

  As expected, she didn't get off work at 3:30 pm in the afternoon. She left the sales floor after 4 o'clock. When she got home, she flopped onto the sofa and didn't even want to move a muscle. Although she used to work overtime before, it was while sitting, and it just strained her eyes. But now, standing on the sales floor for a whole day and constantly talking to customers was really a physically demanding job.

  She didn't feel like cooking in the evening either.

  She took out her phone and browsed through the food delivery app. In the end, she ordered a pot of Mao Cai, which was her most frequently ordered dish. Just after she placed the order, Lin Zhen's call came in. "Jian Yan, have you gotten off work? I'm at Starlight Department Store right now. Let's have dinner together!"

  Jian Yan said feebly, "I just got home..."

  "……Then come out again."

  "No..." Jian Yan twitched the corner of her mouth. "You're still going to have dinner at Starlight Department Store. I bet you won't even be able to find a seat."

  "All the food is on discount today, and they're also giving out cash coupons! I'm already queuing up for a table!"

  Jian Yan: "……"

  "Then I wish you a pleasant meal. I've already ordered Mao Cai."

  "Alright then. I managed to grab a few top-grade steaks at the supermarket today. I'll bring one over to you later."

  "Two."

  Lin Zhen: "……" She had only managed to grab two in total, okay?

  "I won't talk to you anymore. I bought a lot of things with You You today, and I'm almost exhausted."

  "……" Jian Yan finally felt unbalanced. Why was it that she, who had spent a whole day in the mall, hadn't managed to buy anything! "Does You You still have time to go shopping at the mall? Doesn't she need to draw her manuscripts? Has she submitted this week's serialization?"

  Lin Zhen: "……"

  She really wondered who was You You's boss.

  "You have to spend money to be more motivated to draw manuscripts. They're calling my number now. I'll hang up."

  As soon as Lin Zhen finished speaking, she really hung up. Jian Yan pursed her lips and threw her phone aside. Ah, she also really wanted to eat delicious food. She hadn't managed to buy the desserts from Yu's either... But she had eaten the Pork Rib and Coix Seed Soup cooked by Manager He himself at noon, so it didn't seem like a great loss.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Thinking of He Xiu, she then thought of the two people who had come to the mall in the morning. She remembered their names were He Chen and Xu Ying. She sat up from the sofa, turned on the computer on the table, and searched for Starlight Department Store.

  She didn't expect that Starlight Department Store had an encyclopedia entry. She clicked in and noticed that in the column of the founder, it said He Jinglong.

  He Jinglong should be the father of He Xiu and He Chen, that is, the chairman of Starlight Department Store. His name was in blue, indicating that it was a clickable link. Jian Yan clicked on his name to go to his encyclopedia entry and read his introduction.

  He was a well-known entrepreneur in the country and had been on the cover of several financial magazines. At the beginning of this year, when Starlight Department Store celebrated its 30th anniversary, he and his wife had jointly accepted an exclusive interview from a magazine, in which they talked about his entrepreneurial history. Jian Yan was a bit curious, so she searched for this issue of the magazine online and actually found the electronic version on the magazine's official website.

  He Jinglong originally came from a construction background. In today's terms, he was equivalent to a foreman. The turning point of his career could be traced back to the government project he took on more than 30 years ago. At that time, City A was still in the development stage, and the government didn't have much money. Many projects were built, but the funds couldn't keep up, so they had to use land to offset part of the project cost.

  The land where the main store of Starlight Department Store was located was given to He Jinglong as payment for the project.

  Since He Jinglong was in the construction business, of course, he wanted to build something on the land. Everyone had different opinions on what exactly to build at that time, but He Jinglong insisted on building a department store despite the opposition of many people.

  Facts had proven that his decision was correct. Today, Starlight Department Store had become a giant in the domestic department store industry, and the fashion of Starlight Department Store had even become a dressing guide for young people. The main store located in Starlight Plaza accounted for more than 60% of the annual sales of all the branches across the country.

  The success of the main store of Starlight Department Store also relied on the development of Starlight Plaza. Today, Starlight Plaza was one of the earliest landmarks in City A, and the creator of Starlight Plaza was He Jinglong's wife, Zhao Yingfang.

  The magazine also wrote a lot about the love story of the successful entrepreneur and his wife. Jian Yan roughly understood it. Besides the land under the feet of Starlight Department Store, the rest of the land of Starlight Plaza belonged to the Zhao family. After learning that He Jinglong wanted to build a department store there, the Zhao family wanted to join hands to develop this area.

  He Jinglong built the department store, and they built a plaza and shops around it, and they even named the plaza "Starlight". This joint effort not only achieved great success in business but also led to a happy marriage between He Jinglong and Zhao Yingfang.

  The magazine specially included a photo of the two of them. Although they were both over fifty years old, they looked very sweet and affectionate.

  Jian Yan didn't expect that by reading a financial magazine, she would be fed such a big dose of "dog food" unexpectedly.

  The magazine also wrote about the sales performance of Starlight Department Store in recent years. He Jinglong said that at the end of last year, Yu's Dessert Paradise had moved into the main store of Starlight Department Store. He believed that in the new year, the sales of Starlight Department Store would achieve even better results.

  When Jian Yan read this, she remembered again that she had forgotten to buy the desserts from Yu's...

  She closed the magazine interview with a melancholy mood.

  Just then, the food she ordered was delivered. A pot of fragrant Mao Cai temporarily soothed the pain in her heart.

  In the evening, Lin Zhen finally finished shopping at Starlight Department Store and came to see Jian Yan with a large pile of spoils.

  Jian Yan was drawing in the workshop and was startled by Lin Zhen's shouting. She came downstairs and saw the big and small shopping bags that Lin Zhen had placed on her table. The corner of her eye twitched. "This is the people's fat and cream that you've extorted from us usually."

  Lin Zhen looked at her with a twitch of her mouth. "I've been very conscientious. Try changing to another brokerage company. Maybe you won't even own the copyright of your works."

  Jian Yan didn't say anything and rummaged through the things she brought. "Is this the top-grade beef you mentioned?"

  "Yeah. I really used all my strength to grab it. Those aunts were too terrifying. I couldn't even squeeze past them."

  Jian Yan laughed. She had also witnessed the combat power of the aunts in the supermarket. And every time she went to the supermarket to grab discounted goods, she would be looked down upon by the aunts, who would say that she was dressed so well but still came to compete with them for discounted items.

  "I can imagine today's battle situation. You've worked hard." She weighed the steak in her hand. It was almost enough for one person. "I want to fry the steak tomorrow morning, but it won't taste good if I keep it until noon, right?"

  Lin Zhen said, "What do you want to keep it until noon for? It's just this little bit. You can finish it in the morning."

  "I was thinking of letting Manager He try it too."

  After Jian Yan finished speaking, she was still picking through the other dishes. Lin Zhen had been stunned in place in shock. After a while, she finally grabbed Jian Yan's arm and asked her, "Do you know what you just said?"

  What had she said? Jian Yan thought for a moment and then realized what she had just said. She immediately felt embarrassed. "No, Manager He cooked pork rib soup today, and I drank a bowl. So I thought I should bring some better dishes tomorrow as a return gesture!"

  Lin Zhen was even more surprised. "He cooked soup for you to drink??"

  ……

  "No! He brought the soup himself. We were all having lunch in the cafeteria, and I just mooched a bowl."

  Lin Zhen looked at her suspiciously. "You usually feel uncomfortable when a man gets within three steps of you. How could you have lunch at the same table with him? And exchange food?"

  "……Because we're lunch buddies!"

  Lin Zhen: "……"

  She sized up Jian Yan for a while and finally understood something. Could it be that because she knew that the eldest young master He was gay, she wasn't so resistant to him?

  This was actually a good sign.

  She said, "Then you have to cook well tomorrow. Don't lose!"

  Jian Yan: "……"

  It wasn't like they were going to have a cooking competition in the cafeteria.

  Anyway, she managed to deceive Lin Zhen, and she felt a little relieved. As for why she could happily have lunch at the same table with Manager He, even a psychologist couldn't explain it, so how could she know.

  In short, just let things take their course.