Afternoon classes were fully booked, and it was already half-past five when they finished.
Qin Tian and Xia Nuannuan handed their books to their roommates, asking them to take them back, and then rushed home to prepare.
Ingredients to be used were taken out of the refrigerator, washed, and those that needed marinating were marinated.
With their cooperation, things were done quite quickly.
Before long, the doorbell rang.
Xia Nuannuan hurried to open the door and found Su Yan and Tian Jing arriving together.
"Nuannuan, happy birthday!"
"Happy birthday!"
The two quickly offered their blessings.
"Thank you, you arrived so quickly. Come in, come in, no need to change your shoes, just come straight in."
Xia Nuannuan, with a bright smile, invited them inside.
"We didn't have class for the last period and came straight over at half-past five. Has anyone else arrived yet?"
Su Yan asked with a smile.
"Everyone should be coming soon. You've arrived just in time. Come help me set up those decorations. I told him not to buy these, but he said that for young people celebrating together, the atmosphere needs to be right."
As Xia Nuannuan spoke, she led them to the living room.
Qin Tian, who was busy wearing an apron, turned to look at Su Yan and the two, and they greeted each other.
Then, the three girls began decorating the living room with the props they had bought.
After a while, Chen Zhuang and Zhuang Zhe arrived first.
Cao Mingliang had been assigned by Qin Tian to drive to the cake shop to pick up the cake and did not come with the two.
Shen Siqi, Cheng Meng, and Lu Lei from the girls' dormitory soon arrived as well.
Xia Nuannuan handed the task of decorating the living room to them and then went into the kitchen with Su Yan to help Qin Tian.
Once the preparations were mostly done, Qin Tian began cooking.
The enticing aroma quickly filled the house.
"It's been a long time since I've eaten dishes made by Brother Tian. This smell is too fragrant."
Chen Zhuang, without much backbone, swallowed his saliva and looked enviously towards the kitchen.
Shen Siqi rolled her eyes at him and said impatiently, "Why don't you learn from him? You don't need to be at his level, but being able to eat is also good!"
"Just being able to eat is good? Then I can do that!"
Chen Zhuang nodded righteously.
"You can?"
Shen Siqi expressed doubt.
"Yes, isn't it just steaming rice? Dipping everything in our Northeastern big sauce is great. Picking some fresh vegetables from the fields, and pairing it with our hometown big sauce, that's a meal, right?"
Chen Zhuang said with a chuckle.
Shen Siqi stared blankly, her face darkening, and gritted her teeth, "Chen Zhuang, let me be clear, I will absolutely not move to your Northeast region to settle down in the future. I'm afraid I'll starve to death there."
"Pfft!"
Cheng Meng was the first to burst out laughing uncontrollably.
"Haha..."
The others couldn't help but roar with laughter.
Chen Zhuang scratched his head and said sheepishly, "It's not that bad, not that bad. I'll make it for you to eat when I have the chance. It's really good. Otherwise, look at how I grew this strong? As the saying goes, scallions dipped in sauce, the more you eat, the fatter you get."
"No, I refuse."
Shen Siqi said with a straight face, resisting.
Just as Chen Zhuang was about to say more, Cao Mingliang's familiar shout came from outside the door.
"Someone, come! Open the door for me!"
"I'll go!"
Zhuang Zhe immediately got up and went to open the door.
"Old Zhuang, quickly lend a hand!"
Cao Mingliang stood at the door holding a two-tiered cake, smiling.
"This doesn't look heavy!"
Zhuang Zhe reached out and took the cake.
"You know, brother has been on a lot of dates recently, and my body is a bit weak."
Cao Mingliang patted his waist and said in a low voice.
Zhuang Zhe gave him a contemptuous look and walked into the living room with the cake.
"Wow, such a big cake. Nuannuan, your dad's cake has arrived."
Cheng Meng shouted to Xia Nuannuan, who was in the kitchen.
"Okay, we can eat the cake later, dinner is almost ready."
Xia Nuannuan turned her head and said.
"Okay!"
Cheng Meng responded loudly.
Soon, a table full of sumptuous dishes was served.
Xia Nuannuan took out the purchased drinks and handed them to everyone to help open.
"Everyone, please sit down. Don't stand."
"Nuannuan, you sit too!"
Shen Siqi beckoned.
"You all sit and eat first. I'll help carry the dishes, I'll be right there!"
Xia Nuannuan said with a sweet smile and quickly went to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, Qin Tian was dishing out the last stewed lotus root and pork rib soup.
"It smells so good, brother. I'll carry it."
Xia Nuannuan approached with a smile.
"No, this is hot. I'll do it!"
Qin Tian quickly refused and picked up the large bowl of soup himself.
Xia Nuannuan quickly moved aside and followed behind him.
"Brother Tian, there are so many dishes, don't bother anymore!"
"Yes, if you two hosts don't come, we don't dare to pick up our chopsticks. This is too torturous."
"Don't bother anymore, sit down and eat!"
Chen Zhuang and the others all said.
"There are no more dishes. Everyone eat quickly, don't be so polite!"
Qin Tian said with a smile as he placed the soup bowl in the middle of the dining table.
Xia Nuannuan came up behind him and reached out to untie his apron.
Then, the two took their seats at the head of the table.
The drinks had already been poured and were placed in front of him, and Xia Nuannuan had a glass of juice in front of her.
"Come on, everyone, let's clink glasses first and wish Nuannuan a happy birthday!"
Cheng Meng was the first to raise his glass and call out.
"Happy birthday..."
Everyone blessed her in unison.
"Thank you, thank you all!"
Xia Nuannuan thanked them with a beaming smile.
After everyone had a drink, they eagerly picked up their chopsticks and started eating.
"I can't wait any longer. Let me have a piece of this braised pork first. I'm dying of craving."
Chen Zhuang's target was accurate, and he directly picked up a large piece of oily braised pork.
As soon as he put it in his bowl, he felt a death stare from his side. He glanced over and saw Shen Siqi staring at him, so he immediately changed direction and put the braised pork into her bowl.
"Here, Siqi, you try it first!"
"Mmm!"
Shen Siqi smiled with satisfaction.
Seeing this, everyone exchanged glances and couldn't help but smile.
"Brother Zhuang, you're a dignified man from Northeast China, not one of those henpecked husbands from Sichuan like Shen Siqi. You're too spineless!"
Cao Mingliang took a bite of his dish and teased with a playful smile.
"Get lost."
Chen Zhuang glared at him fiercely, then picked up another piece of braised pork and said seriously, "What henpecked husband? In our Northeast, this is called cherishing your wife, understand? We Northeastern men, no matter how tough we are outside, at home we cherish our wives."
As he said this, Shen Siqi, who was sitting next to him, smiled even more brightly and put a piece of beef into his bowl as a reward.
"Give me a break, you really know how to talk!"
Cao Mingliang pouted.
"You scumbag don't understand anything, eat your food, and stop talking."
"Scram, I've been single for a year, how am I a scumbag?"
"Tsk tsk..."