1041 Good Weather

It was soon time to eat. Everyone just looked at He Ning in silence. They had absolutely no desire to eat with He Ning, but it was not as if they could ask the helper to pack food for He Ning to go. If the people outside witnessed that and word got out, they would say that the Xia family had no manners.

He Ning did not seem to notice anything amiss and happily joined them at the dining table. Xu Lan and Liu Fen could not find any reason to chase He Ning away, so they could only quietly endure his presence.

Fortunately, He Ning had some self awareness. He sat at one end of the table alone while all the Xia family members sat at the other end. The helper portioned all the dishes into separate plates and placed them in front of He Ning.

He Ning did not feel that there was anything wrong and he was actually quite happy to go along with it. For so many years, he was already used to eating alone and he did not like to share food with other people. What the Xia family did was actually in line with his requirements . It was as if so long as he could eat the fish dish, the Xia family could do no wrong in his eyes and he would not hold anything against them.

There was only silence during the entire meal. This was the most difficult meal that Qiao Mei had ever eaten.

Everyone held their breaths and watched discreetly as He Ning ate the fish. The Xia family members all knew that Qiao Mei had only stood next to the helper and gave instructions on how to cook the fish. She did not do the cooking herself. They did not know if He Ning could tell the difference.

“This fish… seems different from the previous dish. Did you change the cooking method?” He Ning asked as he looked at Qiao Mei.

The Xia family members all tensed up when they heard what He Ning said. They were afraid that He Ning would become unhappy if the truth was exposed. At this point in time, no one in the family was able to expend time and effort to handle the troublesome He family. After so many busy days, Xia Wen was already exhausted.

“Since you don’t have long to live, I use less seasonings in the dish. It’s just a simple stew seasoned with some salt.” Qiao Mei appeared nonchalant and answered He Ning’s question as she continued eating.

He Ning did not ask anything else. The previous dish he ate at the Xia family’s house was braised fish and it was more flavorful than the steamed fish today. He took it as Qiao Mei being concerned for him and he could not help but smile as he ate, even though Qiao Mei had just commented that he had a short lifespan.

Everyone in the Xia family heaved a sigh of relief.

After dinner, He Ning did not show any intention of leaving. Qiao Mei went to the study upstairs and wrote a receipt for He Ning. It clearly stated the amount of money she had received from him this round and the remaining amount that he still owed her.

“Take it and you can go,” Qiao Mei said as she slowly walked downstairs and handed the note to He Ning.

“Don’t tell me the Xia family can’t stand my presence. How can you chase a guest away after dinner?” He Ning said as he rubbed his round belly in satisfaction.

Qiao Mei shrugged nonchalantly and said, “The Xia family can, but I can’t. Haven’t you already finished eating the fish? Why are you still here? Don’t tell me you want to pay me more money?”

He Ning did not have any reply to that. He took the receipt from Qiao Mei and asked the bodyguards outside the door to put all the money into the house before they all left together. There was still a long way to go in the future and there would be plenty of opportunities for him to come to the Xia family house to eat fish.

Half of the crowd outside the main door had already left. There were still a few people who remained unrealistically optimistic. There were also people who stayed to observe the current dynamics between the He family and the Xia family so that they could try to predict what the future would hold.

“The sun feels nice today,” He Ning said as he looked up at the cloudy sky.

After saying that, he glanced coldly at the people outside the main door and read out their names to his subordinates one by one. He simply ignored those whom he could not recognize.

“This should be the Liang family’s nanny… That’s a distant relative of the Han family. Oh, there’s someone from the Jin family!” He Ning said as he slowly walked up to a young man.

“Join in the fun? What fun? Is it me or the Xia family that you find funny?” He Ning asked.

The Jin family had always been the He family’s lackey. Back when the Jin family was in dire straits, the eldest son of the Jin family, Jin Man, came to He Ning to ask for help. He knelt outside the main door of the He family’s house for one day and one night.

At that time, He Ning was still in good health and he was the one in charge of the He family’s business. He was extremely rich then and could make a lot of money even if he sat around and did nothing every day. He was so bored that he gave Jin Man 10,000 dollars and asked him to manage a shop, making Jin Man work for the He family.

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