The Guest

"Alright, let's serve the dishes."

In the kitchen, Ye Shuang had steamed a fish, prepared a portion of roasted goose, blanched choy sum, along with steamed spare ribs with fermented black beans and a chicken soup with morel mushrooms.

"One, two, three, four, five... five dishes, let's make it an even six." As Ye Shuang had Keke carry the dishes out, he counted them off. Since there were already five dishes, he might as well round it up to six—it sounds better that way.

"Let's steam an egg custard." Ye Shuang began beating the eggs.

"Ding—"

Right at that moment, the doorbell rang again. Without turning his head, Ye Shuang said, "Keke, could you get the door for me?"

"Sure thing!" Tang Keke trotted to the door. Only upon opening it did she see the woman standing outside.

She wore a simple white dress, her thick, jet-black hair slightly curled at the ends. With a beautiful, smiling face, she held a miniature handbag.

"Sister Chen Qin, good afternoon," Keke said upon recognizing her.

"Good afternoon, Keke." Chen Qin pinched Tang Keke's chubby cheek and walked in, her gaze immediately landing on Bai Yuyou and Aunt Xian.

Seeing the two sitting together and talking amiably, Chen Qin looked quite pleased. She then greeted them,

"Aunt Xian."

"Oh, Qin, dear. Are you off work today? You actually have time to come here." Aunt Xian was also a bit surprised to see Chen Qin and asked delightedly.

Chen Qin waved her hand, casually placing the things she was carrying on a chair. She grinned, "Ye Shuang and the others are moving into their new place today. Just sneaking away from work for a bit."

Then, leaning on the back of the sofa, she reached out and pinched Bai Yuyou's cheek, "Little Bai, have you seen your room yet? Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful. Thank you, Sister Chen Qin." Although she still wanted to sleep with Ye Shuang, Bai Yuyou really liked the decor of her own room. "I like it very much."

"As long as you like it." As Chen Qin spoke, she noticed Yi Wan approaching and rubbing against her leg. "Meow~"

"Well, well—little chubster." She picked Yi Wan up, noticing the cat had gotten even fatter. "Do you like the cat tree I bought you? Now you won't have to worry about not having a place to sleep."

"Meow."

If Yi Wan could talk, it would probably say: What a hard life I had before! Whenever there was no space, my bed would get shoved into a corner.

After chatting for a few more moments, Chen Qin put Yi Wan down and hurried with small steps into the kitchen. Seeing Ye Shuang bent over cooking, she playfully slapped his bottom, her tone mischievous,

"Hehe, need any help?"

"No, I'm almost done after steaming this egg... stop touching." Ye Shuang was covering the egg custard with plastic wrap, poking a few holes in it while swatting away Chen Qin's wandering hands.

"Oh, by the way, Ye Shuang, Chen Hai and Fugui are coming too," Chen Qin said cheerfully, massaging his shoulders from behind.

Ye Shuang paused, then turned his head in surprise, "Huh?"

"For a housewarming, of course they'd come. Seems like you didn't invite them, right?"

"I thought everyone's been pretty busy lately, and it's not really a big deal," Ye Shuang replied, then glanced back at the dishes. "In that case, this won't be enough."

He turned and opened the fridge, finding it mostly empty.

One reason was that their family rarely stocked up on groceries, usually buying just enough for half a day, sometimes even going down to buy more in the morning and afternoon. Another reason was the presence of a little foodie at home, so ingredients disappeared quickly.

"Luckily, there's some beef short ribs." Ye Shuang opened the freezer and found some beef short ribs and steak.

Pan-frying those will add two more dishes. If it really comes to it, we can always order some takeout.

"I can help with the short ribs!" Chen Qin volunteered eagerly.

"You just sit over there," Ye Shuang said.

"Stingy." Chen Qin puffed her cheeks slightly. "My cooking has improved a lot, you know."

"I'm mainly worried about you getting the smell of cooking oil on you," Ye Shuang said. Besides, Chen Qin's outfit was all clean and white; it wouldn't be good to get oil stains on it.

Hearing this, Chen Qin thought it made some sense.

Just then, the doorbell rang again.

"Keke, could you get the door?" Ye Shuang called out, assuming it was probably Fugui and the others.

"Sure thing! Door attendant number one, heading out!" Tang Keke replied, clacking over in her slippers to answer the door. A voice soon came from the entryway, "Yo."

"Eh, An Shiyu?"

Hearing the name An Shiyu, Ye Shuang turned his head in surprise, confirming that a short-haired girl indeed stood at the door.

"What are you doing here?" Tang Keke blinked.

"What do you mean 'here'... Didn't Bai Yuyou invite me?" An Shiyu frowned slightly, giving Keke a strange look. "Messing with me? Then I'll have to pop your balloon."

"You, what are you doing?!" Keke protectively covered her backpack.

"Keke, I invited Little Yu," Bai Yuyou spoke up.

"Oh, I see."

An Shiyu then strolled into the house, hands in her pockets. She looked around and asked, "Weird... why does the decor feel so similar to the apartment, just a bigger version?"

"Memory expanded," Keke chimed in.

"Well, that's pretty much it." An Shiyu first glanced at Ye Shuang in the kitchen, then wandered off towards the second floor. "Call me when it's time to eat."

"Huh?" Tang Keke watched her go up the stairs. Before she could say anything more, the doorbell rang once again.

"Coming, coming!"

Keke found it strange that there were so many guests today.

"Ah, Aunt Li." Upon opening the door, it was indeed Aunt Li, dressed flamboyantly in red and green with various studs, even her lipstick a deep green.

"Yo, if it isn't our precious Keke. Give Auntie a hug."

Aunt Li gave Keke a gentle hug, then pinched her cheek. "Hmm, you've lost weight. That's not good."

"Hehe, have I? I feel like I've gained a bit," Tang Keke scratched her head.

"Heh, sweetie." As Aunt Li entered, she noticed Bai Yuyou and her mother. Aunt Li was aware of who she was and greeted them with a smile.

Aunt Xian stared blankly at Aunt Li's eye-catching attire, then turned to ask Bai Yuyou, "She is..."

"Aunt Li. She's very good to us, a good friend of Ye Shuang's," Bai Yuyou said. She was quite fond of Aunt Li.

"Is that so..." Aunt Xian originally wanted to ask if she was a man or a woman, but ultimately chose not to.

Meanwhile, Aunt Li walked into the kitchen. "Little Shuang Shuang, what delicious dishes are you making?"

"Headache," Ye Shuang sighed helplessly. "Had I known you all were coming, I would have prepared more food."

"It's fine, I'm on a diet today," Aunt Li said, covering her mouth with a laugh.

"Fugui, if you get any thinner, you'll look like a spare rib," Ye Shuang remarked.

“How annoying~ I'm not perfect enough yet,” Aunt Li said, adding, “I actually wanted to bring that kid along today, but she said she was going to a friend's house, so never mind.”

"There will be plenty of chances in the future."

Just then, the doorbell rang again.