Chapter 45

After the plot had Reloaded who knew how many times, Huo Jiu bought lottery tickets expressionlessly, went to First-Rank Pavilion to reserve a table expressionlessly, exposed First-Rank Pavilion's use of fake shark fin expressionlessly, and waited expressionlessly for Diwu Ling to walk into the trap...

Huh? Why had he used the phrase "walk into the trap"?

Whatever!

Watching the damned tyrant CEO volunteer to be the judge and swear he would declare Huo Jiu the winner, Huo Jiu clenched his fists and said murderously, "No need! A cooking competition is about culinary skill and knife work. Even if I'm inferior, I can't blame anyone else..."

Huh?

Diwu Ling looked at Huo Jiu in surprise. This kid seemed to hold a deep grudge against him! Had they had some sort of conflict before?

Diwu Ling pondered on his own. He racked his brains but could not recall ever offending Huo Jiu.

By then, Huo Jiu had already stepped onto the stage and begun the cooking competition.

After Reloading so many times, even without deliberately honing his skills, Huo Jiu's knife work and cooking had become far more refined than before. Thus, this crushing victory came without suspense.

This time, with greater confidence, Huo Jiu chose to make Squirrel Mandarin Fish.

It was hard to say whether he wanted to beat Yan Dongge or make Diwu Ling crave it. In any case, after tasting Huo Jiu's Squirrel Mandarin Fish, Diwu Ling took out his phone with sparkling eyes and begged to add him as a friend—only to be rejected by Huo Jiu without suspense.

Diwu Ling once again proposed the outrageous offer of one million per dish, and Huo Jiu refused without hesitation.

Saving the tyrant CEO's dog life out of kindness had already been more than enough. From then on, he wanted no contact whatsoever with that damned tyrant CEO!

Yet Huo Jiu's cold refusal somehow struck a nerve in Diwu Ling. Over the next week, the damned tyrant CEO displayed the tenacity of an adhesive plaster, sticking to Huo Jiu every day and refusing to let go. Even when Huo Jiu went to the market and happened to run into Nannan and Granny Yang, he could not shake Diwu Ling's ghostly presence...

Diwu Ling's contact with Huo Jiu also caused a stir within the Su family and Su Zhuo's maternal relatives—

That's right, those two families. After Huo Jiu defeated First-Rank Pavilion's head chef with his overwhelmingly superb culinary skills, Cao Old Master personally brought his son and apprentice to visit Huo Jiu at the Su family home, inviting him to serve as First-Rank Pavilion's honorary consultant.

Of course, Huo Jiu would not agree. But he had not expected the actions of the Cao family and Diwu Ling to draw the attention of both the Su family and the Bai family.

The Su family's intentions were easy enough to understand. Like Su Shiyuan, once they learned the full story, they immediately thought of having Huo Jiu become Su Garden's head chef and using that opportunity to suppress First-Rank Pavilion. Since Diwu Ling also thought highly of Huo Jiu, the Su family even planned to see whether they could use that connection to establish cooperation with Turing Group.

But the intentions of the Bai family—Su Zhuo's maternal grandparents' family—left Huo Jiu thoroughly confused.

They actually wanted Huo Jiu to prepare sick meals for Su Zhuo. Because Su Zhuo had endured illness for so long, his appetite was especially poor, to the point where he could barely swallow food.

Thus, Su Zhuo's grandmother and grandfather hoped Huo Jiu could cook for Su Zhuo, and they also wanted Huo Jiu to remain responsible for Su Zhuo's sick meals after the bone marrow transplant surgery.

Apparently, the proposal had been put forward by the Bai family's second daughter, Su Zhuo's aunt Bai Yueling. It had received unanimous approval from everyone in Su Zhuo's maternal family.

Su Zhuo's grandmother had even personally sought out Lu Manzhen, hoping she would persuade Huo Jiu to accept the proposal. She also said that as long as Huo Jiu was willing to cook for Su Zhuo, any demands could be negotiated—they were even willing to acknowledge Huo Jiu's status in the Su family and, like Su Shiyuan, treat Huo Jiu as their own grandson.

In short, as long as it benefited Su Zhuo, they could do anything and endure any grievance.

"Recognizing my status in the Su family counts as them suffering a grievance?" Huo Jiu truly could not understand the logic and could not help asking, "What the hell do they have to feel wronged about?"

"They tricked me into coming here from my hometown, forced me to donate bone marrow to Su Zhuo, and now they want me to make sick meals for him after the surgery. After making such shameless demands, they still think they're the ones being wronged?" Huo Jiu had gained an even deeper understanding of how thick-skinned these plot characters were.

"If I went to the hospital to work as someone's caregiver, the patient's family probably wouldn't dare make demands this excessive." Huo Jiu was so angry he nearly laughed. "Does your Su family have a throne to inherit? Is it worth me humiliating myself like this?"

Faced with Huo Jiu's biting sarcasm, Lu Manzhen also found it hard to save face.

At first, she had not realized that the Bai family's proposal was so excessive. She had even thought there was nothing wrong with it—he would merely have to make a few extra meals each day. Huo Jiu's cooking was so good anyway; having him cook for Su Zhuo could also be a way to win Su Zhuo over.

Lu Manzhen knew full well Su Zhuo's standing in both the Su and Bai families. If Huo Jiu could gain Su Zhuo's approval, then even if the Su family and Bai family disliked Huo Jiu, they would still acknowledge his existence. At that point, she and her son would have a firm foothold in the Su family.

"Why would I need the approval of the Su family and the Bai family?" Huo Jiu might as well have written the words "Are you sick?" across his forehead. "Am I short on money or short on brains, that I have nothing better to do than watch other people's expressions?"

"Get this straight! You're the ones begging me to donate bone marrow to Su Zhuo, not me begging the Su family to take me in." Huo Jiu said bluntly, "Do you really think having a little filthy money means you can do whatever you want? It's just money. Who doesn't have it?"

Lu Manzhen was so humiliated by Huo Jiu's mockery that she wished the ground would swallow her up. She could not help defending herself, "The tens of millions you won from the lottery are not even a drop in the bucket compared to the assets of the Su and Bai families."

"What does the Su family's and Bai family's money have to do with me? When Su Shiyuan dies, will I get half his inheritance? Will you get half the family fortune?" Huo Jiu sneered. "You haven't even managed to secure a place in the will, yet you're already scrambling to act like their dutiful son and virtuous grandson."

"If you want to be a filial daughter-in-law, I won't stop you. But don't use me as a bargaining chip to curry favor with the Bai family. People who aren't even remotely related to me dare come before me and act like elders."