The Chinese dining area on Hengyue's top floor was far more private than the banquet hall, and the round table by the window overlooked much of Capital City's nightscape.
Light spilled in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, mingling with the warm glow of the brass lazy Susan at the center of the table and giving the dishes an appetizing sheen.
Jiang Xun sat at the head of the table, with Shen Wangjing on his right. Half the chair on his left was empty, and Jiang Huaixiao draped his coat over it before settling into the seat.
The moment Duan Qizhao entered, he dragged Shen Yuxing over to the seats diagonally across from Jiang Xun. The two huddled over the menu, murmuring as they worked out how many extra orders of salt-and-pepper mantis shrimp to get.
From the moment the first dish arrived, Jiang Xun barely had to use his chopsticks himself.
Shen Wangjing's hand seemed equipped with radar. If Jiang Xun gave any dish an extra glance, it landed neatly in his bowl the next second.
Jiang Huaixiao was no less attentive.
He peeled shrimp at lightning speed, his fingers separating flesh from shell and arranging the whole peeled shrimp neatly on a small plate before pushing it in front of Jiang Xun.
"Try these."
Jiang Xun had just put the crab roe tofu Shen Wangjing had served him into his mouth when Jiang Huaixiao's little plate appeared right under his nose.
He looked down at the row of tender white shrimp on his left, then turned to his right, where Shen Wangjing was using the serving chopsticks to place a carefully deboned piece of sea bass belly into his bowl.
"Eat the fish first. It'll taste fishy once it gets cold," Shen Wangjing said.
"The shrimp won't taste good if