Receiving the Award

After lunch, he chatted with Grandma for a while, and it was already nearly two in the afternoon.

By sounding Grandma out indirectly, he also learned why his younger uncle was still living there.

The matter had infuriated him. His younger uncle had originally bought a house, but last year, that good-for-nothing had racked up more than three hundred thousand yuan in gambling debts.

The key issue was that he had not borrowed the money by writing an IOU. Instead, he had secretly taken the family's property deed to obtain a loan.

If he had merely lost the money gambling, there might still have been room to maneuver. After all, gambling debts were illegal. But this money was owed to the bank.

The bank did not care whether he had broken the law. When the deadline came, he had to repay the money. In the end, there was no solution, and the house was auctioned off by the court to repay the debt.

In the end, he could only continue mooching off Grandma.

What kind of situation was this? He really was hopeless.

He was already so old, and his child was nearly in high school, yet he still acted like he had been involved with the underworld, never doing anything properly.

Grandma had worked hard her entire life. After raising her own children, she had immediately gone on to raise her grandchildren. She had hardly enjoyed a single day of leisure.

In the end, she even had to support her unemployed, homeless younger son in his forties and worry about him.

It was nearly half past two when Lin Yuan left. He had arranged to meet Officer Li at around three.

Before leaving, Lin Yuan deliberately stopped at a nearby ATM and withdrew two thousand yuan, forcing it into Grandma's hands.

Near three o'clock, Lin Yuan arrived at the entrance of the Public Security Bureau right on time.

From a distance, he spotted Officer Li waiting there.

"Lin Yuan, it's been several days since we last saw each other. How have you been lately?"

"Officer Li, you personally waited for me at the entrance. I'm a little overwhelmed."

Li Hui glared at him. "Didn't I tell you not to be so formal? Just call me Brother Li or Old Li."

"You're dressed so smartly today, fully displaying the excellent spirit of the people's police in our city. I was filled with admiration and couldn't stop myself from calling you that."

"Haha, you're quite the smooth talker. Come on, come on. Our director has been waiting for quite some time."

With that, he slung an arm around Lin Yuan's shoulders and led him inside.

As last time, it was the same conference room and the same award platform. The only difference was that the slogan had been changed to "Awarded the Award for Bravery."

The first time was unfamiliar; the second time was easy.

Lin Yuan gave a brief, positive acceptance speech. After a round of applause, the award ceremony came to an end.

The prize money was twenty thousand yuan, tied with a red ribbon. Lin Yuan stuffed it directly into his pocket.

As luck would have it, there was someone he knew at this award ceremony—Han Shuyu.

As soon as they left the conference room, Han Shuyu followed after him.

"Great hero Lin, how does it feel to win an award?"

"Are you jealous?"

"I'm not jealous at all. Besides, didn't I deserve some of the credit for you winning?"

"Yes, yes, you're the strategist. By the way, what are you doing here today?"

"Don't you know that the procuratorate, court, and police are one family? My supervisor sent me here to study. What, is it not all right for a public servant serving the people to learn from an exemplary figure?"

"You haven't been a civil servant for very long, but you sure know how to talk like an official."

"What are you planning to do later?"

"Go home. What else could I do? Oh, right, I have something to give you."

"What is it?" Han Shuyu's eyes immediately filled with curiosity and anticipation.

"You'll find out later."

"Why are you being so mysterious?"

At that moment, Han Shuyu had already begun imagining various scenes in her head.

Soon, Lin Yuan emerged from Officer Li's office carrying a bag.

It was the bag of Wild Boar Meat.

"Here, this is for you."

Han Shuyu leaned over and glanced inside. She immediately let out an "eh."

"Pork?" Han Shuyu said with some disappointment. "Who gives a girl pork?"

"No, no, this isn't ordinary pork. It's Wild Boar Meat. Consider yourself lucky. Ordinary people can't even get to eat it when they want to."

"Isn't it still pork?" Han Shuyu pouted.

"Take it or leave it. If you don't want it, I'll give it to someone else."

"I want it, I want it!" Han Shuyu immediately snatched the bag of meat from him.

"All right, then I'll head home."

Seeing him about to leave, Han Shuyu immediately stopped him.

"You can't leave yet."

"You... This pork is too heavy. I can't carry it. You have to help me take it home."

Seeing her struggling to carry it with both hands, Lin Yuan took the bag back and glanced at his watch.

5:03.

"You haven't gotten off work yet, have you?"

"We're going to pass by the court anyway. By the time we get there, it'll probably be around five-thirty. Won't that be after work?"

Lin Yuan stared at her in bewilderment.

You really know how to exploit loopholes. What happened to wholeheartedly serving the people?

"Come on, come on, let's go. Today, I'll let you try my cooking. I just learned a new dish recently."

Han Shuyu pulled Lin Yuan toward the parking shed.

Such an intimate gesture left quite a few people at the Public Security Bureau astonished.

Han Shuyu was definitely famous in their line of work.

The reason was simple: her appearance and bearing were outstanding. She was the sort of exceptionally distinctive beauty with delicate features.

She gave people a pure, snowflake-like sense of noble purity, yet she did not have the cold, frostlike air of someone who kept others a thousand miles away. Instead, she possessed a touch more warmth and down-to-earth charm.

Besides her attractive appearance, she also came from a wealthy family. Almost every male colleague in the Hongyun County system knew her.

Unfortunately, aside from work, she hardly had any contact with men.

Usually, apart from her best friend, she always came and went alone.

Some loose-lipped men in the system had even spread a rumor that she was a lesbian.

Now that they saw her openly pulling a man along, it was only natural that some people at the bureau found it surprising.

Rainbow Bay Residential Area.

Lin Yuan followed Han Shuyu upstairs and entered her home.

After changing into slippers, Han Shuyu eagerly rushed into the kitchen, put on a floral apron, and began bustling around.

After putting the Wild Boar Meat in the refrigerator, Lin Yuan sat down on the sofa.

But before he could even warm the seat, Han Shuyu poked her head out of the kitchen.

"Are you just going to sit there? Do you still want to eat the meal I make? Hurry over and wash the rice."

"Han Shuyu, I've noticed that you're getting more and more comfortable ordering me around. Could you have some sense of boundaries?"

"No! Hurry up and come over. Stop dawdling."

When Lin Yuan still did not move, she immediately walked out of the kitchen, planted her hands on her waist, and assumed an expression that said she was about to teach him a lesson.

"Three! Two!"

"Coming, coming."

Lin Yuan entered the kitchen and took the inner pot out of the rice cooker. "Where do you keep your rice?"

"Over there. There's a rice container behind you."

He measured the rice, washed it, rinsed it, put it back in the rice cooker, plugged it in, and set it to cook, completing everything neatly and efficiently.

Lin Yuan was just about to leave, but after taking one step, Han Shuyu called him back.

"Hurry up and peel the garlic. Also wash some ginger and scallions."

"Good gracious, are you cooking or am I?" Lin Yuan looked at her speechlessly.

"Hurry up. I still have something important to do."

Han Shuyu tiptoed over to Lin Yuan from behind and pushed him back into the kitchen.

Then she took a bagged sea bass out of the refrigerator.

"I got up especially early today and went to the market to buy this."

"You, someone who never lifts a finger around the house, actually went to the market to buy groceries?"

"You're the one who never lifts a finger. This lady can do plenty of things. You'll get to taste my cooking soon."

Lin Yuan had no idea that she had bought it only because she knew he was coming today. She had even found time during work to study how to cook sea bass on Little Pink Book.

Han Shuyu tossed the fish into the sink, turned on the faucet, and began washing it.

As she washed it, she recalled the steps for making steamed sea bass.

"All right, I've prepared the scallions, ginger, and garlic."

"Fine, you're done here. Go out."

At that, Lin Yuan immediately slipped away.

After Han Shuyu watched him leave, her eyes spun, and she looked somewhat furtive.

She quietly walked to the kitchen door and cautiously poked her head out to look at him.

Seeing that he was absorbed in his phone, she closed the kitchen's glass door. Then she took out her phone and opened "Homestyle Sea Bass Recipes" on Little Pink Book.

Yes, she had forgotten!

Han Shuyu set her phone aside and began following the instructions.

Step one: rub the sea bass with salt.

She scooped out a large spoonful of salt from the salt jar, put it on the sea bass, and rubbed it evenly with her hand.

Wash her hands!

Step two: pour on cooking wine to remove the fishy smell.

A little bit. Right, not too much.

Wash her hands!

Step three: place the scallions, ginger, and garlic on top.

Wash her hands!

Step four: put the fish into a pot of cold water, place it on a rack, and steam it.

Wash her hands!

Done. Put on the lid.

Wash her hands!

"This is pretty simple." Han Shuyu propped her chin up with one hand and smiled confidently.

Once it was steamed, she only needed to pour hot oil over it, add special steamed-fish soy sauce, sprinkle on chopped scallions, and it would be complete.

"How many minutes did Little Pink Book say?"

"Right, eight minutes."

Han Shuyu set the timer. Before long, eight minutes had passed.

She lifted the lid and looked at the sea bass, which appeared fairly decent. Her face immediately filled with pride.

"As expected, I'm a genius."

But how was she supposed to take it out?

Steam billowed from the fish. Han Shuyu was just about to use two cloths to try taking it out, but the moment her fair hands felt the heat, she pulled them back.

"It's so hot, so hot."

With no other choice, she could only call Lin Yuan over.

Lin Yuan glanced at the steamed sea bass in the pot. "This is the dish you were going to make today?"

"Hehe, how is it? Not bad, right?"

"It looks all right so far."

"I guarantee it'll be so delicious you'll eat your tongue off."

Lin Yuan took the sea bass out and asked, "What next?"

"Next, of course, the master chef has to complete the final step."

Han Shuyu poured out the remaining water from the pot, then heated oil in it, looking rather confident.

But as soon as the oil temperature rose, she immediately retreated three steps, afraid that a splash of oil would suddenly leap out and hit her.

"Um... Lin Yuan, you do it. I'll tell you how."

"Wait... Chef Han, this is such an important step. Aren't you going to do it yourself?"

Han Shuyu glanced at the pot of oil again. She had initially wanted to try getting closer, but she shrank back once more.

"Come on, you do it. It's not an important step anyway. I've already taken care of the most important part."

"How do I do it?"

"Just pour the oil in the pot over the sea bass."

Lin Yuan gripped the pot handle, lifted it, and poured all the hot oil over the sea bass.

It let out a loud sizzle.

Seeing the oil pooling over the fish, Lin Yuan said, "Shu Yu, isn't there too much oil? It's almost covering half the sea bass."

"No, it won't be. Once I add the soy sauce and scallions, it'll look good."

Han Shuyu took a bottle of special steamed-fish soy sauce from the cabinet and drizzled it over the fish. Then she added the chopped scallions she had prepared on the cutting board.

"Ta-da! It's done. How is it? Doesn't it look pretty good?"

"Now that I look at it, it seems all right again, but..."

"No buts. It definitely tastes good."

Lin Yuan just felt that something was off, because it seemed somewhat different from the steamed sea bass his Mom made.

"Fine, take it out. I'll serve you some rice."

"Just this one dish?"

"Oh, come on. Why eat so much this late at night? One dish is enough."

The truth was, she had only learned how to make one dish that day.

Usually, she either ate in the canteen at work, at her aunt's place, or somewhere outside. She hardly ever cooked for herself.

Lin Yuan wore a bitter smile as he carried out the steamed sea bass, which was barely enough to fill the gaps between his teeth.

"Good thing I steamed a little extra rice just now."