Chapter 60: Chapter 60 Daughter-in-law
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"Cough, cough!"
Li Lan's cough suddenly rang out, startling both Chen Yu and Tong Ya.
The two instinctively moved away from each other as if they had been caught in an illicit affair.
Li Lan went straight to the kitchen, rolled her eyes at Chen Yu, and said,
"You're already like this, and you still reject her? When did you learn to be so roundabout? Are you planning to become a scumbag?"
Her scolding left Chen Yu feeling utterly embarrassed.
He had just acted on impulse.
Yet, the impulsive side of him was questioning whether he truly wasn't ready to accept Tong Ya.
If he didn't accept her, why did he hold her?
He found himself trapped in a loop of self-contemplation.
"Auntie, you've misunderstood. I accidentally got something in my eye from the seasoning, and he was just helping me blow it out," Tong Ya hastened to step in front of Chen Yu, her resolve firm as if she was protecting her husband.
Li Lan laughed helplessly and said, "Is there anything your old mom can help with?"
Chen Yu waved his hands repeatedly, "Please, go back and rest! In another hour, the waitstaff will arrive."
Li Lan didn't listen and directly grabbed a cleaning cloth and went upstairs to tidy up the tables and chairs.
Chen Yu had no choice but to take care of cleaning up the pig's head and knuckles himself.
Tong Ya also stayed by his side to help without leaving even for a step.
Today, Chen Yu planned to create five different flavors in five pressure cookers.
He had already prepared one with five spices and planned to add four more: soy sauce-flavored, spicy numbing, fragrant spicy, and a broth flavor.
The preparation methods for these seasoned dishes were mostly similar, differing mainly in the proportions and variations of ingredients.
However, the broth flavor was difficult to control.
Some people would use various kinds of animal bones to stew the broth, others might use poultry, and some would use sea fish.
Chen Yu, on the other hand, would build the flavor entirely from a balance of seasonings.
...
In a business hotel, Fang Yuan sat there feeling gloomy, flipping through a comic book.
The comic depicted the daily bustling scene of Chen Yu's shop.
After a while, Fang Yuan tossed the comic aside.
Ever since she finished recording the reality show, she had been nursing a sense of frustration.
Not only had she been overshadowed by other actors during the show,
but she had even been told that she lacked Su Rui's elegance!
This had caused her popularity to plummet in the past few days, and even the resources provided by her agency had diminished.
Thankfully, Han Mintao had been smoothing things over in various places, allowing her to retain her current opportunities.
However, one of the conditions for preserving these resources was to dine with some capital magnates.
After several such dinners, Fang Yuan began to question her life choices.
These so-called magnates always had bizarre and perverse demands.
If she hadn't kept her cool and handled the situations gracefully, she probably wouldn't be able to sit here unscathed.
Taking a deep breath, Fang Yuan glanced at the comic and saw Tuan Tuan's profile.
No matter how ruthless she might be, no matter how driven by her career, that was still her biological daughter.
It would be a lie to say she didn't miss her after all this time.
After sitting there in a daze for a while and adjusting her mood,
Fang Yuan immediately put on a trench coat, donned a mask and sunglasses, and wrapped herself up tightly.
Only then did she quietly head to the underground parking garage.
From her observations over the past few days, she knew that Chen Yu's shop opened at four in the morning, and at that time, there definitely wouldn't be many people.
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Moreover, even after the divorce, she still had visitation rights to Tuan Tuan.
The hotel was not far from Chen Yu's shop; in less than twenty minutes, she parked the car in front.
It was exactly four twenty in the early morning.
Inside the shop, as expected, there was no one around, not even the waitstaff had arrived.
Fang Yuan tiptoed into the shop and was immediately confronted by Li Lan, who was tidying up tables and chairs.
"Mom, where's Tuan Tuan?"
Even though Fang Yuan kept her voice very low, Li Lan was still startled.
She put down the rag she was holding and studied the person in front of her for a long time.
Not until Fang Yuan pulled down her face mask a little did Li Lan recognize her.
"Isn't this the great star Fang? What brings you here?" Li Lan deliberately raised her voice.
Fang Yuan suddenly felt afraid and quickly looked around.
Being a public figure now, if paparazzi captured her, they would immediately delve into her original family.
The headlines in tomorrow's newspapers would reveal all her past.
"Mom, keep your voice down. I'm just here to see Tuan Tuan and then I'll leave."
Tong Ya, who had just served the first pot of spicy braised delicacies, saw a customer and greeted them warmly.
"Hello, we are not open yet, we only have braised flavors..."
Before she could finish, Li Lan pulled Tong Ya over.
"Daughter-in-law, stay away from this woman, watch out she doesn't scratch you!"
Tong Ya was taken aback for a moment, that term 'daughter-in-law' was quite pleasing to her, even giving her the illusion that she was already together with Chen Yu.
"Daughter-in-law?" Fang Yuan's eyes widened: "She is?"
"Can't you tell? Doesn't she and Chen Yu make a well-matched couple?" Li Lan's words were quite sharp.
After all, Fang Yuan had been extremely mean when she stayed at their house.
She even forbid them from visiting Chen Yu in the city.
Now that they were divorced, and Chen Yu had such an outstanding woman like Tong Ya by his side, Li Lan finally had the chance to regain her dignity.
At this moment, Tong Ya also adjusted her breathing and brought out the aura of a lady of the house.
"Yes, I am Chen Yu's wife. May I ask what you want?"
Li Lan snorted lightly: "Daughter-in-law, she is the woman who abandoned your husband!"
Although the phrasing was awkward, it gave Tong Ya confidence.
"Oh, you are that actress, aren't you?" Tong Ya's demeanor suddenly changed.
The dignified and elegant wife she had just presented suddenly turned into an overwhelming and assertive stance.
Fang Yuan's visit to see Tuan Tuan was already surreptitious and not a proud moment.
The almost oppressive aura emanating from Tong Ya made it hard for Fang Yuan to breathe.
She had not anticipated that after the divorce from her, not only had Chen Yu's career flourished, but he also had such a perfect woman by his side.
"I don't have much time; I just want to see Tuan Tuan. Where's Chen Yu? I need to speak with him!"
Tong Ya immediately stepped to the side, blocking the view of the kitchen.
"My husband is very busy with numerous matters and furthermore, Tuan Tuan has school tomorrow morning, so it's not convenient for you to see him."
Fang Yuan clenched her teeth, her face showing frustration.
But her current status came with many limitations; she dared not make a scene, nor linger too long.
Who knows if any paparazzi will show up among the guests later.
"Fine, you will remember this!"
Fang Yuan left these words somewhat helplessly as she hurriedly exited and drove away.
At this moment, Tong Ya was exceptionally excited, although she knew that Li Lan had used her as a shield to some extent.
But at least, her status as daughter-in-law was acknowledged.