As Shen Xiaoyan's words fell, Shen Xiaoming saw Lu Taobao outside stand up and walk directly towards the east wing room.
Several people watched Lu Taobao's silhouette approach, until he entered the room, and then they all looked towards the doorway in unison.
"I'm hungry, is there anything to eat?"
"Ha..."
Shen Xiaoming couldn't help but laugh when he heard Lu Taobao say this, and then looked at Shen Xiaoyan and said, "Eldest sister, you guessed it right."
"Guess what?" Lu Taobao was a bit confused about the current situation. What happened?
"Eldest sister just said that you must be hungry, and sure enough, Brother Taobao, you came." Shen Xiaoming said to Lu Taobao, suppressing a smile, and then laughed again.
"This shows that sister-in-law still cares about me and knows I must be hungry." Lu Taobao said playfully, then looked at Shen Xiaoyan and smiled, "Eldest sister-in-law, did you arrange anything delicious for little brother? Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, the meal must be very rich, right?"
As soon as food was mentioned, Lu Taobao's mouth began to water.
A person who had been half-dead from discomfort moments ago, suddenly turned into such a foodie, leaving everyone speechless.
"It's time, we should eat." Shen Xiaoyan nodded and said.
"Really? What delicious food is for lunch?" Lu Taobao said eagerly.
"But, shouldn't you go home for the Mid-Autumn Festival?" Shen Xiaoyan asked, puzzled.
"It's the same if I go back later tonight. Let's go eat first." Lu Taobao said, and was about to pull a few people over.
Shen Xiaoyan saw that although Lu Taobao was always joking and making light of the situation, the faint sadness in the depths of his eyes could not be hidden.
Shen Xiaoyan felt she had a realization. Lu Taobao was just putting on a brave front.
It was unclear whether he didn't want them to worry about him, or if it was for some other reason.
But since he was acting this way, Shen Xiaoyan and the others naturally wouldn't expose him.
The group went to the main room together and sat around the round table.
Not long after they sat down, Huo Fen came with the little girl to serve the dishes.
Because today was the Mid-Autumn Festival, the meal was exceptionally rich.
Cold dishes, hot dishes, and several kinds of soup were laid out on the table.
Looking at the table full of food and smelling the aroma, everyone's appetite was whetted.
Just as Lu Taobao was about to pick up his chopsticks to eat, Shen Xiaoyan stopped him.
"What's wrong, sister-in-law? If we don't eat now, it will get cold." Lu Taobao said, his eyes still darting towards the dishes on the table.
"The wine hasn't been served yet, what are you in such a hurry for?" Shen Xiaoyan said calmly.
"There's wine too?"
Lu Taobao put down his chopsticks as soon as he heard Shen Xiaoyan mention wine.
He often came here to mooch meals in the past two years, but no matter what they ate, Shen Xiaoyan and the others never drank wine.
He thought it was because Zheng Wei didn't like drinking, but unexpectedly, there would be wine today.
"What wine?" After a while, when no one brought the wine, Lu Taobao became a little anxious.
"What are you rushing for? It must have been prepared a long time ago." Zheng Wei glanced at Lu Taobao's impatient look and said calmly.
Lu Taobao sighed, picked up his chopsticks, and lightly tapped them on the table intermittently.
A moment later, Huo Fen came in with a wooden tray.
"Finally here, I was so anxious." Lu Taobao saw Huo Fen walk in, and no longer waited, picked up his chopsticks and took a piece of braised fish into his mouth, then closed his eyes in enjoyment.
Shen Xiaoyan ignored him, took the wooden tray from Huo Fen, and then told Huo Fen to go eat in the front.
On the wooden tray were six small crystal glass cups and a crystal glass wine bottle with a slender neck.
The wine in the bottle was purplish-red, and it looked exceptionally beautiful seen through the crystal glass from the outside.
Shen Xiaoyan arranged the wine glasses in order, uncorked the stopper, and then poured a full cup for each small porcelain cup.
"What kind of wine is this? Why is it so fragrant?"
Lu Taobao, who was closing his eyes and savoring the delicious food in his mouth, opened his eyes, attracted by the sudden aroma of wine.
When he saw what was in front of Shen Xiaoyan, his eyes instantly widened like copper bells.
"Quick, give me a cup."
Lu Taobao smelled the wine and eagerly called out to Shen Xiaoyan.
Shen Xiaoyan didn't say anything, asked Zheng Wei to hand him a cup, and then gave one to Sima Han and Yue Qingxin separately.
"Xiaoming, do you want some? This wine doesn't make you dizzy." Shen Xiaoyan said to Shen Xiaoming.
"Then I'll have a cup." Shen Xiaoming said after thinking for a moment.
Although Shen Xiaoyan said the wine wouldn't make him dizzy, he was still young, so it was better not to drink too much.
Shen Xiaoyan picked up the wine cup, brought it to her nose, and a faint smile appeared on her face.
Taking a shallow sip, the aroma of the wine instantly swirled in her mouth, making her feel exceptionally comfortable.
Apart from Shen Xiaoyan, Zheng Wei and the others also had intoxicated expressions, for no other reason than that the wine was too delicious.
"Eldest sister-in-law, give me another cup."
Suddenly, an abrupt voice interrupted their intoxication.
Shen Xiaoyan opened her eyes and indeed saw Lu Taobao looking at her with sparkling eyes.
Zheng Wei took Lu Taobao's porcelain cup and poured him a cup.
But as soon as the cup left his hand and reached Lu Taobao's, Lu Taobao tilted his head and downed the entire cup of wine.
Seeing Lu Taobao drink like this, Shen Xiaoyan felt a pang in her heart.
This was a brewing secret recipe that she and Lu Taobao had painstakingly researched for a long time. It had been brewed for several months, and this was the first time they opened a bottle.
What hurt Shen Xiaoyan even more was that in the moment she was lost in thought, Lu Taobao had already stood up, taken the wine bottle, and drunk cup after cup by himself.
By the time Shen Xiaoyan reacted, the wine bottle was already empty.
"Eldest sister-in-law, it's really too delicious. Where did you get it? Such good wine definitely wasn't bought. We don't have it here. Since it wasn't bought, it must have been brewed by yourselves. In that case, there must be more, right? When I leave later, you must let me take some away."
Lu Taobao became more and more excited as he spoke, almost dancing with joy.
However, he still tried his best to restrain himself. After thinking for a moment, he added, "I'll take it back for my father to try. He's a real drunkard. If he smells my wine and sees that I haven't brought him any, he'll definitely skin me."
After speaking, Lu Taobao looked at Shen Xiaoyan pitifully.
Shen Xiaoyan covered her forehead. How come Lu Taobao's brain works so fast when it comes to food?
Could it be that his brain cells develop differently from ordinary people, with all the emphasis on developing foodie cells?
Because Lu Taobao drank too much wine, he couldn't eat much, but he really couldn't stand Shen Xiaoyan and the others eating heartily in front of him.
While eating, they would describe the taste of the dishes in extremely extravagant language.
In the end, he couldn't help himself and started eating ravenously.
The final result was that he couldn't move again.
No, this time it wasn't that he couldn't move, but that he couldn't move at all.
He could only lean against the back of the chair and groan.
"I shouldn't have let you eat so much. If you keep eating like this, you'll only develop horizontally."
Shen Xiaoyan looked at Lu Taobao like this and didn't know what to say, so she could only say this, hoping to make him eat less.
It wasn't that she felt sorry for the food, but that binge eating was really not good.
"It doesn't matter, I'd rather be a happy fat person."
Lu Taobao said, patting his belly.
Shen Xiaoyan: ...
"If you become a fat person, haha..."
Zheng Wei had just come in and heard Lu Taobao say this, and couldn't help but continue, but didn't finish.