Hope City.
An ordinary residential building.
As evening approached, lights flickered on one after another between the honeycomb-like buildings. The rich aroma of braised fish drifted from Zhang Shen's third-floor kitchen, mingling with the clatter of stainless-steel basins and reminders to "use less salt." On the sixth floor, Li Shu's pressure cooker hissed steam from the windowsill, while the scent of stewed ribs made the stray cats below crane their heads and yowl.
Cooking fumes billowed from the exhaust fans, weaving a thin mist through the dusk and creating an unmistakably real atmosphere of everyday human life.
"Dad, Mom, how many times have I told you not to wait for me downstairs? You're both almost a hundred. The children outside practically want to call me Old Monster. What, are you still going to treat me like I'm a teenager?"
Su Chan rubbed her shoulder as she walked, grumbling all the while.
"Hey, you can't put it that way. You're a lord now. No matter how you look at it, we two commoners should come to the entrance to receive you, right?" Su Ba said cheerfully, waving a large palm-leaf fan.
"Besides, Gu An insisted on showing us his cooking skills today and wouldn't let us stay home. If we didn't come to meet you, would you rather I take your mother for a stroll around the plaza?"
"Logical and irrefutable."
Su Chan smacked her lips. "It's rare for that kid to show off his cooking skills, but why is he being so secretive about it?"
"Who knows? He called this afternoon and gave us instructions." Su Ma looked back. "Where's Gu Chen? Is he still busy?"
"Yeah. People at the Research Institute don't exactly have fixed hours. I'll pack some food for him after we eat."
"Ah, no, you can't